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Biomedical subjects

M Hersen

Publications and source records attributed to M Hersen.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Psychiatric illness in the mothers of anxious children.

The authors compared maternal lifetime psychiatric illness for children with separation anxiety disorder and/or overanxious disorder (N = 58) and for children who were psychiatrically disturbed but did not manifest an anxiety or affective disorder (N = 15). The vast majority (83%) of mothers of children with separation anxiety disorder and/or overanxious disorder had a lifetime history of an anxiety disorder. Moreover, over one-half (57%) of the mothers presented with an anxiety disorder at the same time at which their children were seen for similar problems. Both of these rates significantly differed from those obtained for control subjects.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Separation anxiety and school phobia: a comparison using DSM-III criteria.

Children who met DSM-III criteria for separation anxiety disorder (N = 48) or a phobic disorder of school (N = 19) were compared with respect to demographic characteristics, symptoms, associated psychiatric disorders, and maternal psychiatric illness. More children with separation anxiety disorder were female, prepubertal, and from families with lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Children with separation anxiety disorder were less likely to exhibit school refusal than children with school phobia. However, they were more likely to meet criteria for an additional DSM-III diagnosis. Finally, their mothers had a rate of affective disorders four times greater than that of mothers of children with school phobia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Assessment of social skills in visually-handicapped adolescents.

The present study provided a comprehensive behavioral assessment of social skill in visually-handicapped adolescents. Role-play tests, standardized interviews, parent ratings and judgements of physical attractiveness were employed to evaluate level of social functioning among: (1) 18 visually-handicapped adolescents in a residential school; (2) 17 visually-handicapped adolescents in public schools; and (3) 17 sighted adolescents in public schools. Results indicated that visually-handicapped adolescents exhibited deficits on selected verbal components of social skill. Moreover, these deficiencies were most apparent in visually-handicaped Ss from a residential setting. Findings are discussed in terms of the utility of social skills training for a subset of visually-handicapped adolescents and the importance of additional controlled research with visually-handicapped persons.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Patterns of attrition for psychosocial and pharmacologic treatments of depression.

Patient characteristics associated with early termination from psychosocial and pharmacologic treatments of depression were delineated. Patients were 125 female primary nonbipolar depressives randomly assigned to 12 weeks of protocol treatment in one of four conditions: social skills training plus placebo; short-term psychotherapy plus placebo; amitriptyline alone; and social skills training plus amitriptyline. Results indicated that premature terminators from pharmacotherapy tended to be mildly depressed and intolerant of medication side effects. In contrast, dropouts from psychosocial treatment were more severely depressed and dissatisfied with the lack of early response which often accompanies interventions of this type. These findings may support the use of short-term psychosocial approaches in lieu of pharmacotherapy in mild nonendogenous depressions. However, antidepressant medication, either alone or in conjunction with psychosocial treatment, should continue to be considered the treatment of choice in more severely depressed melancholic patients.

Amitriptyline↗
PubMed1984

Social skills training and endogenous depression.

The clinical response to social skills training was studied in four women with definite endogenous depression (melancholia) to ascertain if a behavioral intervention could be effective with more severe and pervasive affective syndromes. Three of four patients responded to social skills training, although both patients available for longitudinal follow-up relapsed within 24 months post-treatment. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Symptomatic volunteers in depression research: a closer look.

Seventy-nine carefully screened volunteers were compared with 46 clinically referred outpatient primary depressives to assess the validity of use of symptomatic volunteers in research on depression. Overall, symptomatic and clinical referral samples were similar on the majority of demographic and symptomatic variables, although volunteers were less likely to be single, had slightly lower Hamilton scores, less self-reported anxiety, and a longer index episode of depression. Symptomatic volunteer and clinical referral groups had a similar prevalence of endogenous depression by either RDC or DSM-III criteria. Results in 60 patients treated with amitriptyline indicated that both groups were comparable with respect to overall dropout rate, side-effect attrition, dosage of amitriptyline received, and clinical response. Only the proportion of patients who dropped out between completion of assessment and initiation of treatment significantly differed between groups (symptomatic volunteers = 19%; clinical referrals = 0%; p less than 0.05). These findings support use of rigorously screened symptomatic volunteers in outpatient depression research.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

An examination of the efficacy of social skills training for chronic schizophrenic patients.

To study the efficacy of social skills training and day hospital treatment for schizophrenic patients, the authors treated 20 chronic schizophrenic patients in a 12-week day hospital program and 44 patients in the same program supplemented by comprehensive social skills training. While both groups of patients who completed treatment showed improvement immediately following treatment, during the six-month posttreatment period patients who had received social skills training either continued to improve or maintained their gains on most measures, while the patients receiving day hospital treatment alone either maintained gains or lost them. The authors discuss the implications of these findings as well as the finding that almost half of the patients in both groups were hospitalized at least once in the year following treatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Validation of a Hamilton subscale for endogenomorphic depression.

The current study examined the validity of a subscale for endogenomorphic depression derived from the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. In a sample of 147 women outpatients with primary depression, subscale (HES) scores were bimodally distributed around the mean score of 7.38. High-HES patients had significantly elevated scores on measures of depressive symptomatology, generalized symptomatic distress, and social impairment relative to low-HES patients. Classifications based on HES scores significantly predicted RDC and DSM-III subtype diagnoses of endogenous and nonendogenous depression. Diagnostic predictions based on the subscale's items were superior to predictions made using the 'non-endogenomorphic' Hamilton items. Potential applications for research are discussed.

Depressive Disorder↗
PubMed1983

A behavioral program for the management of anorexia and bulimia.

The results of a behavioral treatment program for two cases of anorexia and bulimia are presented. The program involved inpatient contingency management for weight gain, thought stopping, flooding, response prevention for bulimia and emesis, and training in self-monitoring skills of caloric intake and weight. The results for both cases indicate that the inpatient program was associated with specific increases in body weight and caloric consumption which were generally maintained at 2-year follow-ups. Flooding and response prevention also appeared to be generally successful in reducing both emesis and bulimia urges and episodes, whereas thought stopping did not appreciably change these behaviors. Serum pituitary gonadotropins (follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone) were also restored to normal or near normal levels. Self-monitoring of eating behaviors including caloric intake, emesis, and bulimia seemed to be a useful maintenance strategy and provided timely data for the application of booster treatments during later follow-up intervals.

Adolescent↗