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Biomedical subjects

A C Serrano

Publications and source records attributed to A C Serrano.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Current status of family-based outcome and process research.

OBJECTIVE: To review family-based treatment research. A growing body of research and several meta-analytic reviews demonstrate that family-based treatments are effective for a variety of child and adolescent disorders. In addition, an emerging tradition of family-based process research has begun to identify important ingredients of effective family psychotherapy. This article reviews these advances and their implications for future research. METHOD: Selected studies on the treatment of schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, attention deficit, conduct disorder, and substance abuse are reviewed, as well as several process research and meta-analytic studies. RESULTS: Family-based therapies have been shown to be effective for treating schizophrenia, conduct disorder, and substance abuse. Some data support their effectiveness in the treatment of eating disorders. Few studies have targeted internalizing disorders. A process research tradition is emerging, but it is in need of methodological advances. Meta-analytic studies suggest that family-based therapies are as effective as other models. CONCLUSIONS: More well-designed studies with diverse populations are needed to assess accurately the effectiveness of this increasingly popular treatment approach.

Adolescent↗

Language barriers in pediatric care.

Language differences between pediatrician and parents can create a barrier in the doctor-patient relationship. Use of a translator to overcome that barrier introduces other potential problems such as a diminished sense of privacy, inadequate data collection, and misinterpretation of medical or family history due to translator distortions. Physicians should carefully choose the translator, avoiding persons who are linguistically incompetent, culturally insensitive, and medically unsophisticated. Physicians also should avoid assuming that parents who "speak English" are fluent. A determination of their language preference and their degree of English proficiency may lead the pediatrician to use a translator even with partially fluent families.

Child, Preschool↗

Haloperidol -- its use in children.

Haloperidol is safe and effective in children for relieving psychotic symptoms associated with childhood autism, schizophrenia and mental retardation. It is the drug of choice for Tourette's syndrome, and may be useful in nonpsychotic hyperactive or aggressive children to control acute episodes, or when the stimulants normally useful in hyperactive children are ineffective. Such children taking haloperidol not only become calmer, but are often better able to respond to other modalities of therapy and to school instruction. Dosage, initially low, is increased gradually to minimize drowsiness and extrapyramidal symptoms, the most common side effects. Haloperidol in children is usually well-tolerated.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗

Effects of a program for evaluating child psychiatry fellows.

The authors describe their experience with the implementation of a systematic evaluation of child psychiatry fellows and adult psychiatry residents rotating through a child psychiatry program. They found that the semiannual evaluations not only defined the competence of fellows and residents but also enhanced the program by pointing out areas of weakness. The evaluation process had many other beneficial effects on the program, the faculty, the child psychiatry fellows, and the adult psychiatry residents.

Adult↗