Biomedical subjects

G Bovasso

Publications and source records attributed to G Bovasso.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

The long-term treatment outcomes of depression and anxiety comorbid with substance abuse.

The impact of the comorbidity of psychiatric disorder and substance abuse on treatment outcomes was estimated using data from a longitudinal survey of 1,920 individuals who were followed nearly 15 years. Individuals with anxiety or depression symptoms at baseline generally experienced increased distress at follow-up; those who received mental health treatment experienced decreased distress at follow-up. Individuals with substance abuse/dependence symptoms who received treatment at baseline had a higher risk of follow-up disability; treated individuals with substance abuse who had comorbid anxiety and depression symptoms at baseline were at lower risk of disability at follow-up. Individuals with anxiety and depression symptoms at baseline had a higher incidence of chronic illness during follow-up; those who received treatment or had substance abuse symptoms did not. The results may improve understanding of the degree to which treatment of a primary disorder may prevent the incidence or reduce the prevalence of a secondary comorbid disorder.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Suggested specifications for a standardized Addiction Severity Index database.

The Addiction Severity Index (ASI) has become one of the most widely used instruments in the addictions field. As a result of its wide popularity, there are multiple versions of the instrument in use, and a wide range of computer systems used to collect and/or store ASI data. Thus, it has been difficult for different users and systems to share ASI data. This difficulty significantly reduces the value of the information for treatment providers, policy makers, and researchers. This article provides operational definitions and specifications for a "Standard ASI Database." Descriptions for standard variable names, data types, field lengths, value labels, range checks, and programming notes for all items in the fifth edition of the ASI are available electronically from the senior. Examples from the full protocol and the rationale for producing the Standard ASI Database elements are illustrated here. It is hoped that the format suggested will become the "industry standard" for ASI data storage among all users of the ASI and that, regardless of the software used or the method of data collection, there will be a single, standard format for all ASI databases. The potential applications from such a database would benefit treatment providers/clinicians and researchers as well as payers and policy makers.

Databases as Topic↗

PubMed2001

Staff beliefs about addiction treatment.

In 1999, the National Institute on Drug Abuse established a researcher/provider partnership designed to test the effectiveness of research-based innovations in community-based treatment settings and facilitate the transfer of those innovations throughout the national treatment system. As a preliminary step in developing their local Clinical Trials Network, researchers and treatment providers within the Delaware Valley Node surveyed 317 staff members concerning their beliefs about addiction treatment. More than 80% of respondents supported increased use of research-based innovations, 12-step/traditional approaches, and spirituality in addiction treatment, while only 39% and 34%, respectively, endorsed the increased use of naltrexone and methadone maintenance. Also, 35% of respondents indicated that confrontation should be used more, and 46% agreed with discharging noncompliant patients. Individuals with more formal training tended to be less supportive of confrontation and more supportive of the increased use of medications. Implications for the clinical trials and technology transfer are discussed.

Alcoholics Anonymous↗

PubMed2001

Socioeconomic status and depressive syndrome: the role of inter- and intra-generational mobility, government assistance, and work environment.

This paper assesses the hypothesis that depressive syndrome is associated with socioeconomic status, using longitudinal data from the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area Followup. Socioeconomic measures include those used in most studies of status attainment, as well as measures of financial dependence, non-job income, and work environment. Analyses include inter- and intra-generational mobility, and replicate the basic aspects of the status attainment process, as well as psychiatric epidemiologic findings regarding gender, family history of depression, life events, and depressive syndrome. But the involvement of depressive syndrome in the process of status attainment, either as cause or consequence, is small and not statistically significant. There are strong effects of financial dependence and work environment on depressive syndrome. The findings shed doubt on the utility of the causation/selection/drift model for depression, to the extent it is based on linear relationships and socioeconomic rank at the macro level, while lending credibility to social-psychologically oriented theories of work environment, poverty, and depression.

Baltimore↗

PubMed1997

Self-reference effect in perceptual judgments by individuals and groups.

The existence of a "self-reference" effect in perception, such as that found in memory, was tested in groups and individuals. Subjects who judged a self-relevant stimulus were more accurate than those who judged a stimulus which was not self-relevant. No differences were found in the perceptual accuracy of groups versus individuals, and the self-reference effect was not more pronounced in groups or individuals. The effect may be explained in terms of the greater epistemic curiosity aroused by a self-referent stimulus and by the activation of hypothesized central nodes in the neural networks which produce perceptual judgments.

Ego↗

PubMed1993

A graph theory model of the semantic structure of attitudes.

The semantic structure underlying the attitudes of pretreatment and posttreatment drug addicts was modeled using a network analysis of free word associations. Measures of graph theoretic properties were used to assess structural differences in the associative networks of the two populations. These measures modeled the information processes of associative networks proposed in the spreading activation theory of semantic processing. As expected based on graph theory, the structure of the associative networks of posttreatment subjects was more dense, less constrained, and more hierarchically organized by the self concept. In a test of the network model, the subjects' evaluations of concepts in the associative network were found to be a function of their evaluations of semantically similar concepts. Although preliminary and limited, the results suggest that graph theory may provide a broad mathematical foundation for diverse models of cognitive systems.

Attitude↗

PubMed1992

Assessing treatment effects through changes in perceptions and cognitive organization.

This investigation tested the Associative Group Analysis (AGA) for its analytic sensitivity in assessing perceptions and attitudes and in mapping changes in cognitive organization indicative of substance abuse. Based on inferences drawn from the distributions of thousands of spontaneous, free associations elicited by strategically selected stimulus themes, AGA offers an unstructured approach to assess images and meanings, and to map systems of mental representation evasive to the more direct methods of using questions or scales. This article compares pretreatment and posttreatment samples, tracing the psychosocial effects of treatment. The investigations focus on variables related to substance abuse such as self-image, social nexus, and perceptions of illicit substances. The results indicate a sensitive approach, useful in treatment evaluation.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Types of panic attacks and their association with psychiatric disorder and physical illness.

The differentiation of three types of panic attacks is proposed to be significant for understanding the course and etiology of panic and other psychiatric disorders and physical illnesses. The present investigation is based on longitudinal data from the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) Study of 1980 to 1981 and its 1994 to 1996 follow-up. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) of panic symptoms identified three types of panic which were consistent over time and for which reliable scales were constructed to measure derealization, cardiac panic, and respiratory panic. Unlike panic disorder, none of the three types of panic attacks predicted the incidence of depression. Derealization was associated with a broader variety of psychiatric disorders than the other two types of panic, including simple phobias, but was not associated with physical diseases. Cardiac panic attacks were associated with a history of heart disease and predicted the incidence of agoraphobia but were not comorbid with depression, unlike the other two forms of panic. Respiratory panic attacks were consistently symptomatic of dysthymia and predicted a higher risk of hospitalization for breast cancer and myocardial infarction (MI).

Adult↗