Multivariate data and type I error.
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Analysis of Variance↗
Biomedical subjects
I Blignault
Publications and source records attributed to I Blignault.
Neurotic depression: delineation of symptom profiles and their relation to outcome.
Ninety-one subjects diagnosed clinically as having a 'neurotic depression' were interviewed and then re-assessed at 6 weeks and 20 weeks. Four symptom profiles of clinical features were derived: 'negative cognition', 'lack of drive', 'anxiety', and 'arousal', the last being independent of the other three dimensions and of the severity of depression. Symptom profile scores were then examined against antecedent risk variables and outcome. Links between profile scores and personality variables suggest that personality may colour the clinical presentation of neurotic/reactive depressions, and challenge the assumption that a typology of these depressive disorders based on clinical features is achievable. The break-up of an intimate relationship in the preceding 12 months was a strong predictor of a good outcome. Further analyses suggested, firstly, that there was a distinct subgroup delineated by this life event, with features weighted to the 'arousal' symptom profile, including many symptoms often associated with diagnosis of 'endogenous depression'; and, secondly, that this life event and a good outcome were directly linked, being uninfluenced by personality or other mediating variables.
Anxiety↗
Quality of attachment in a sample of 1-year-old Australian children.
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Anxiety↗
Coping behaviors as predictors of the course of clinical depression.
We assessed a large sample of nonmelancholic, depressed subjects, using a self-report measure we developed, to determine behavioral coping dimensions and the predictive validity of the measure. A principal-components analysis of measure scores suggested dimensions of distraction, support seeking, self-consolation, recklessness, affect reduction, and help seeking, largely replicating findings in nonclinical groups. Factor scores on each dimension were calculated for the subsample of depressive subjects consulting a psychiatrist. Those baseline scores were examined against subsequent improvement in depression levels at six and 20 weeks. A significant and consistent predictor of a poor outcome was a higher initial score on the self-consolation dimension. A better outcome was weakly associated at six and 20 weeks with higher scores on affect reduction, whereas higher distraction scores were weakly associated with a poorer outcome at 20 weeks. The study thus confirmed the relevance of coping behaviors in a clinically depressed group and demonstrated the predictive strength of the measure.
Adaptation, Psychological↗
Predicting improvement in patients with non-endogenous depression.
Forty-three patients with non-endogenous depressive disorders were assessed shortly after psychiatric referral, and reassessed at six and at 20 weeks. The pattern of improvement appeared to be set shortly after the initial consultation, but could be most clearly predicted by the degree of improvement at the end of the third week. Key baseline factors predicting a more marked improvement at each follow-up were a more severe depression, the break-up of an intimate relationship, and the presence of weight loss. Positive life events occurring after the initial assessment predicted improvement at six and at 20 weeks, while the presence of a neutralising event (which negated an earlier threatening life event) predicted improvement at 20 weeks.
Adult↗
Locus of control and contraceptive knowledge, attitudes and practice.
A series of 100 interviews with women attending ante-natal clinics at two Sydney public hospitals assessed their contraceptive knowledge, attitudes, and practice and locus of personal control (whether they believed they controlled their own lives). Multiple regression analyses showed that locus of control was significantly related to their attitudes to contraception, but not to their contraceptive knowledge or practice. The implications of that finding for family planning programmes and sex education are discussed.
Adolescent↗
Psychosocial predictors of outcome in subjects with untreated depressive disorder.
Untreated community volunteers (n = 66) with a significant reactive or neurotic depressive disorder were assessed at interview to determine predictors of improvement at 6 and at 20 weeks. The degree to which subjects improved by 6 weeks could be predicted by their pattern of improvement one week after initial interview and more definitely at the third week. Key baseline predictors of improvement both at 6 and at 20 week were the break-up of an intimate relationship in the preceding 12 months and weight loss, replicating findings in a study of depressive patients receiving psychiatric assessment and psychotherapy. Other isolated variables appeared to be predictors more of response to the non-specific therapeutic effects of the assessment process.
Adjustment Disorders↗