Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M L Selzer.
Men alcoholics scored significantly higher than women alcoholics on 7 of 24 items of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test; over-all, however, the test appears to be equally effective for both sexes.
A limited self-rating depression scale given to male and female factory workers indicated that subclinical depressive symptoms were correlated with visits to the factory health service for females and with absenteeism from work for males. In general, the females acknowledged more depression symptoms.
A self-administered questionnaire was used to compare selected psychosocial variables of 306 convicted male drunk drivers with those of 294 alcoholics and 253 controls. The drunk driver group fell between the other groups on many parameters but resembled the alcoholic group on many others. While over 68% of the drunk drivers appeared to be alcoholics, in general they showed significantly less psychosocial incapacity than the alcoholic comparison group. The differences between the alcoholic and presumed non-alcoholic drunk drivers were not sufficient to clearly dichotomize the drunk driver group.
The authors surveyed 124 attorneys by mail questionnaires regarding their use of and attitudes toward psychiatric referrals. They found that, compared with a similar survey in 1965, fewer attorneys made referrals, but those who did made more. As in 1965, domestic problems were the usual reasons for referral in 1975; however, substantially more referrals of criminal defendants were made in 1975.
The authors investigated closeness and other variables measuring depression in 22 identical and 13 fraternal twin pairs. Each twin rated him/herself on a two-part questionnaire; part 1 included questions on demographic characteristics and the twin relationship, and part 2, the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, measured depressive symptoms. There was a high degree of agreement across all variables for the total sample, and degrees of depression were comparable to that in the general population. Closeness was found to be inversely correlated with depression. The authors suggest that future studies include other groups (siblings, spouses, etc.) and follow-up data.
A self-administered questionnaire was used to compare selected demographic, drinking and psychosocial variables of 306 convicted drunken drivers with those of 289 alcoholics and 269 controls. The drunken-driver group fell between the other groups on many parameters but resembled the control group on as many others.
The research of Holmes, Rahe, and their associates disclosing that life events and stress are related to the onset of physical illness is extended to the psychological domain in the present study. Using a modified version of their life events checklist, it is shown that an accumulation of life events is correlated with self-reported tension and distress, with emotional disturbances manifested by depression, paranoid thinking, suicidal proclivity, and anxiety, as well as with behavioral indications of stress such as drinking and traffic accidents. Most importantly, it is shown that these relationships do not hold for desirable life events but primarily for undesirable events. Thus, the authors suggest that the quality of the events in terms of their desirability is the crucial determinant of stress and the above-mentioned relationships rather than simply the life change produced by the events, as suggested in earlier studies. Methodological and theoretical implications for future research are discussed, emphasizing the importance of studying additional stress-relevant dimensions such as anticipation of the events and control over their outcome.
The Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test and a shortened 13-item version can reliably be used as self-administered questionnaires.
The concept of stress as causative in human illness has been documented in studies relating significant illnesses to major life changes (i.e., marriage, parenthood, divorce, employment changes, etc.). Although some studies have related accidents to stress, the various types of stress involved were either poorly-defined or narrowly delineated by the specific interests or professional training of the investigators. Our current study represents an attempt to investigate traffic accidents as a function of multi-dimensional stresses which result from life changes experienced by the driver. In addition we have attempted to assess the subject's feelings and responses to these life changes as well as his general adjustment to the total environment. Our ultimate goal is to develop a questionnaire to identify drivers who are highly susceptible to traffic accidents. This questionnaire will be designed to be self-administered and easily scored. It is intended to provide help in traffic safety countermeasure programs that will focus on cause rather than effect. Only by developing a comprehensive stress-accident model will comprehensive and workable accident prevention programs be developed to replace the current patchwork of existing programs.
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