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Biomedical subjects

E D Massie

Publications and source records attributed to E D Massie.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Somatic symptoms in anxious-depressed school refusers.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the most common physical complaints in a sample of adolescent school refusers with comorbid anxiety and depressive disorders. Whether somatic symptoms are more likely to be associated with high levels of anxiety or high levels of depression was also explored. METHOD: Forty-four adolescents in a treatment study were evaluated at baseline with structured psychiatric interviews and measures of anxiety, depression, and somatization. RESULTS: The most common somatic complaints were in the autonomic and gastrointestinal categories. In simple regression analyses, anxiety level as measured with the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale and depression level as measured with the Beck Depression Inventory each significantly predicted the severity of somatic symptoms. The correlation between percentage of days absent from school and severity of somatic symptoms approached significance (r = .27, p = .074). CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge that somatic complaints are commonly an expression of underlying anxiety and depression may facilitate more rapid referral for psychiatric assessment and treatment and thereby help avoid unnecessary medical workups and sequelae from school refusal.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Alcohol effects on the facial expressions of anxiety patients undergoing a panic provocation.

Using subjects with panic disorder, we investigated the effect of alcohol on expressive-emotional facial reactions to a well-known laboratory panic provocation procedure (inhalation of 35% carbon dioxide). Subjects consuming alcohol (vs. a placebo) displayed lower levels of emotional masking and fear/distress facial responses; however, differences were significant only for emotional masking. A composite variable combining the masking and fear/distress scores was also significantly lower in the group consuming alcohol. To the extent that masking behavior is a valid proxy for fear/distress responding, then the latter finding supports the conclusion that alcohol reduced negative affectivity associated with the inhalation. However, we also note the possibility that alcohol reduced masking directly without affecting fear/distress. We make parallel recommendations for future research that treats masking behavior as a nuisance variable on the one hand, or a dependent variable of potential importance on the other. We conclude that expressive-behavioral measures appear to be both feasible and potentially informative in alcohol research.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Family dimensions in anxious-depressed school refusers.

The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale II (FACES II) was administered to 46 adolescents with comorbid anxiety and major depressive disorders and to their parents in a treatment study of school refusal. FACES II measures cohesion and adaptability dimensions, as well as family type (balanced to extreme). Generally, adolescents and parents reported low cohesion (i.e.. disengagement) and low adaptability (i.e.. rigidity) on FACES II. Adolescents and parents described their ideal families as significantly less disengaged and less rigid than their own families. Fifty percent of adolescents, 38% of fathers, and 24% of mothers classified their families as the extreme type. Adolescents in extreme families, when compared with adolescents in more balanced families, reported significantly higher scores on two of three depression instruments and on a measure of somatic symptoms. Family therapy to improve cohesion and adaptability and treatments focused on improving depression and somatic symptoms may improve family functioning and decrease the severity and course of school refusal.

Adolescent↗