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Biomedical subjects

L Mann

Publications and source records attributed to L Mann.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Decision-making competence and self-esteem: a comparison of parents and adolescents.

This study examined the relationship between parents' and adolescents' confidence and competence in making decisions. Data were obtained from a survey sample of 584 adolescents, aged 12-18 years living in Adelaide, South Australia. Data were obtained from a sample of 352 parents of the adolescents by means of a mail survey. Parents' decision-making self-esteem was related to the self-esteem of young adolescents. The relationship was stronger for males than females. There was a relationship between mothers' decision-making competence and the competence of young female adolescents. Thus, partial support was provided for modelling theory in regard to the role of parents in the socialization of decision-making skills and confidence.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

A metacognitive analysis of decision making in adolescence.

Samples of 43 early (CA = 13 years) and 41 middle (CA = 15 years) adolescents were compared on three categories of metacognitive knowledge as they relate to decision making--person knowledge, task knowledge and strategy knowledge. Metacognitive knowledge was assessed using a 19-item questionnaire. Consistent with our hypothesis, middle adolescents showed significantly greater metacognitive knowledge than early adolescents on all three scales. Self-reported decision making style (using the Flinders Adolescent Decision Making Questionnaire) and decision making performance on a hypothetical scenario were also measured. Middle adolescents reported a more competent decision making style than early adolescents, while group differences on the scenario were not found. Adolescents completing the scenario scored significantly higher on all measures of decision making metacognition. Significant correlations were found between metacognitive knowledge of decision making, self-reported decision making style and performance on the decision scenario task. By middle adolescence understanding of what is involved in the activity of decision making is well developed. This growth in understanding, accompanied by changes in social domains, plays a part in decision execution and style.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Decision making in clinically depressed patients. A transcultural social psychological study.

One of the most important cognitive deficits in depression is said to be the patient's inability to make decisions. A research design involving a cross-cultural comparison between Australian and Japanese normal controls (N = 309 and N = 743, respectively) and clinically depressed patients (N = 59 and N = 45, respectively) was used to examine the influence of culture on illness and decision-making behavior, and whether deficits in decision making may be related to culture. It was found that depression had a greater effect on decision making in Australian patients than in Japanese patients. While many differences were found between Australian and Japanese nondepressed students, few differences were found between Australian and Japanese depressed patients. Thus, there appears to be an important interactional effect of culture and depression on decision making. The theoretical and clinical implications of the results are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

The relationship between family structure and process variables and adolescent decision making.

This study examined the relationship between family structural and process variables and adolescent participation in family decisions and vigilant decision making. Data were obtained from a survey sample of 585 adolescents aged 12-18 years living in Adelaide, South Australia. Adolescents from one-parent families participated in a greater number of family decisions than those from two-parent families. Adolescents from families adaptable in allocating roles and setting rules participated in more family decisions than those from low adaptable families. Family socio-economic status was significantly linked to the adolescent's self reported vigilance. High family cohesion, good parent-adolescent communication and sound parental conflict resolution skills were also significantly related to adolescents' vigilant decision making, testifying to the importance of family environment in the socialization of adolescents for decision making.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Adolescent decision-making: the development of competence.

This article reviews evidence relating to the development of competence in decision-making during adolescence. The review focuses on cognitive aspects of decision-making and discusses nine indicators of competence: choice; comprehension; creativity; compromise; consequentiality; correctness; credibility; consistency; and commitment. The evidence suggests that by the age of 15 years many adolescents show a reliable level of competence in metacognitive understanding of decision-making, creative problem-solving, correctness of choice, and commitment to a course of action. Young adolescents (12-14 years) are less able to create options, identify a wide range of risks and benefits, foresee the consequences of alternatives, and gauge the credibility of information from sources with vested interests. No evidence is available relating to age differences in willingness to make choices, devise compromises, and show consistency of choices. Barriers to achieving competence in decision-making during adolescence include attitudinal constraints (e.g. beliefs about the proper age for making decisions), peer group pressures to conformity, breakdowns in family structure and functioning, and restricted legal rights to make important personal decisions (e.g. to donate blood or body tissue).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

A study of depression in two cultures: a transcultural study with Japanese and Australian clinically depressed patients.

Recently there has emerged a growing interest in transcultural aspects of depressive disorders. Unlike earlier studies, recent research has concentrated on using standardized assessment and evaluation procedures in an effort to reduce "differences" associated with research techniques. The following paper reports a study which, using the WHO developed Standardized Assessment of Depressive Disorders (WHO/SADD) schedule, examines the nature of depressive symptomatology in Australian and Japanese clinically depressed patients. While results supported the presence of a "symptom core" common to both cultures, some unexpected findings in relation to "feelings of guilt" and "severity of depression" were noted.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Genetic aspects of tuberous sclerosis in the west of Scotland.

Complete ascertainment of tuberous sclerosis was attempted in the west of Scotland (population 2,763,000). A total of 101 patients was identified, giving an overall minimum prevalence of 1 in 27,000, but for children under 10 years of age the minimum prevalence was 1 in 12,000. Both parents of 84 of the ascertained cases were assessed for signs of tuberous sclerosis. In 51 pairs of parents no evidence of the condition was seen, indicating that up to 60% of the cases were new mutations. The mutation rate was estimated at 2.5 X 10(-5) mutations per gene per generation. Analysis of parental ages for the new mutations did not show a significant age effect. Thirty-five patients occurred in 13 families containing other affected subjects. The pattern of inheritance was consistent with an autosomal dominant trait in these families. In one sibship, non-penetrance or gonadal mosaicism resulted in affected sibs with normal parents. Of two further sibships where non-penetrance was suspected, one was shown to represent a single new mutation in monozygotic twins and the other to involve non-paternity.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Psychiatric disturbance and decision-making.

The relationship between psychiatric disorder (as measured by severity of psychoneurotic status and depression) and decision-making behaviour was examined in a sample of 39 hospitalised patients. Measures based on the conflict theory of decision-making of Janis and Mann (1977) and the expectancy-value theory of decision-making of Edwards (1961) were administered. Patients who scored highest on measures of psychoneurotic disorder--the Middlesex Hospital Questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory--were least confident about their decision-making. They also reported a high use of maladaptive decision-making coping patterns, in particular decision avoidance. Slightly over one-half of the patients demonstrated an ability to make rational decisions, while the remainder made either irrational decisions or avoided making any decision at all. Observation in the test session revealed that patients were strikingly slow in answering the questionnaires and often attempted to make no response. The importance of this area of research for patient assessment and treatment is discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Parenteral nutrition-induced gallbladder disease: a reason for early cholecystectomy.

Patients who receive long-term parenteral nutrition have an increased incidence of both calculous and acalculous cholecystitis. In an attempt to establish guidelines for the clinical management of patients with TPN-induced gallbladder disease, we have reviewed the records of 35 patients who have undergone cholecystectomy for this problem since 1976 at the UCLA Medical Center. The mean age of the 23 adult and 12 children who had cholecystectomy was 29.1 years. Forty percent of these patients required emergency cholecystectomy. The overall operative morbidity was 54 percent, and the hospital mortality was 11 percent. Significant factors contributing to this high rate of complications included a delay in diagnosis, especially in the young children, and increased operative difficulty due to extensive adhesions and intraoperative hemorrhage. Our analysis suggests that patients receiving long-term TPN should have a program of ultrasound surveillance for gallstone formation, elective cholecystectomy when stones first appear, and consideration of cholecystectomy at the time of laparotomy performed for other reasons. Whether TPN-induced gallstones can be prevented through daily stimulated gallbladder emptying awaits the results of future studies.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

The Genain Quadruplets: psychological studies.

A series of behavioral studies is reported on the Genain Quadruplets. These monozygous women, all of whom have suffered or are suffering from schizophrenia, were studied previously at the National Institute of Mental Health (1955-1958) and were the subject of an extensive report by Rosenthal (1963). Although the Genains are genetically identical, the expression of the schizophrenic disorder is unequal among the quads, and this circumstance has led to speculation about the relative contributions of nature and nurture (or diathesis and stress in Rosenthal's terminology) in the development of this disease. Two goals were pursued in this investigation: one concerned a comparison of the status of the Genains in 1981 as compared with 1958; the other concerned whether data from the armamentarium of newer behavioral and neurobiological techniques invented and employed since 1958 might shed some light on the unequal expression of schizophrenia among the quadruplets. We conclude that the Genains are functioning about as well as they ever have in their adult lives, and scores on attentional tests show improvement as compared to 1958 measures. This is probably attributable to the medication (primarily neuroleptics) and other supportive treatments they have received over the years. With respect to the varying degrees of illness seen in the Genains, scrutiny of the biochemical, physiological, neuroradiological, immunogenetic, and behavioral test data leads to speculation that certain unique biochemical findings interacting with differing types and amounts of cerebral pathology constitute a major cause of the variable expression of the schizophrenic diathesis.

Antipsychotic Agents↗
PubMed1984

Computerized tomography and neuropsychological test measures in adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The authors administered CAT scans and neuropsychological tests to 16 adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (mean age +/- SD = 13.7 +/- 1.6 years) and 16 matched controls. The patients had a mean ventricular-brain ratio (VBR) significantly higher than the controls' and showed spatial-perceptual deficits similar to those found in patients with frontal lobe lesions. Memory, reaction time, and decision time did not differ significantly from controls'. Neurodevelopmental examination of seven patients yielded a high frequency of age-inappropriate synkinesias and left hemibody signs. These results suggest CNS dysfunctioning in children with obsessive-compulsive disorder, with possible right cerebral involvement. However, the patients' neuropsychological test deficits and VBRs were not correlated.

Adolescent↗