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A C Mezzich

Publications and source records attributed to A C Mezzich.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

International experience with DSM-III.

The authors investigated various aspects of the international use of and experience with DSM-III through a consultation by mail sponsored by the World Psychiatric Association. The respondents were 175 expert diagnosticians nominated as such by the national psychiatric associations of 52 countries spanning all continents. The United States diagnostic system was used by 72% of the participants, only slightly less than the internationally official International Classification of Diseases, Injuries, and Causes of Death, ninth revision (ICD-9) (77%). Furthermore, DSM-III was perceived to be considerably more useful than the current international classification manual. The leading difficulties encountered with DSM-III involved problematic boundaries or definitions of diagnostic categories and the lack of suitable categories in some cases. The most frequent recommendations offered for the advancement of diagnostic systems included the improvement of patient evaluation procedures, the greater use and refinement of multiaxial diagnosis, and the empirical validation of diagnostic systems.

Cross-Cultural Comparison↗

A data-based typology of depressed adolescents.

To develop a data-based classification of depressive adolescents, a face valid depression scale for adolescents was applied to MMPI protocols of 212 adolescent psychiatric patients of ages 12 to 18, to identify a depressive subsample which turned out to have 36 females and 10 males. Complete linkage cluster analysis was applied to this subsample and three hierachically organized depressive groups were obtained: "Restless" and "Socially Frustrated", which joined into a higher order group, and "Endogenous". Discriminant function analysis was applied for differentiating and cross-validating the obtained groups.

Adolescent↗

Symptomatology of depression in adolescence.

The symptomatology and dimensions of depression in adolescence were studied using the MMPI protocols of 212 adolescent psychiatric patients. A Face Valid Depression Scale for Adolescents was judgmentally developed by five child psychiatrists and psychologists. It included symptoms common to depressive adults and adolescents as well as symptoms peculiar to adolescents, which was confirmed by comparison with adult depression scales. Factor analysis of the scale yielded the following six factors: lack of self-confidence, social abandonment, loss of interests, sadness, somatic symptoms, and acting-out. The second and sixth factors appeared to be particularly characteristic of adolescents.

Adolescent↗

Coping capacity in female adolescent substance abusers.

Female adolescents who qualified for a DSM-III-R diagnosis of Psychoactive Substance Use Disorder were not distinguishable from depressed and conduct disorder subjects on measures of coping but were differentiable from normal controls. Age of onset of substance use, interval between age of first use and age of diagnosis of abuse, and severity of substance use involvement did not correlate with coping capacity. These findings indicate that deficient coping is not specifically related to drug abuse but rather, where present, is concomitant to comorbid psychopathology among females who have a substance abuse disorder.

Adaptation, Psychological↗