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Results for “Impulsive Behavior”

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At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources

PubMed2002

Specifying the impulsivity of female inmates with borderline personality disorder.

Impulsivity is regarded as a core feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD; M. C. Zanarini, J. G. Gunderson, & F. R. Frankenburg, 1989) despite lack of evidence from laboratory research (D. M. Dougherty, J. M Bjork, H. C. G. Huckabee, F. G. Moeller, & A. C. Swann, 1999). This study examined impulsivity in incarcerated women with BPD using a passive avoidance task (J. P. Newman & W. A. Schmitt, 1998) and the Impulsiveness-Monotony Avoidance-Detachment inventory (IMD; D. Schalling, 1978). As predicted, incarcerated women diagnosed with BPD committed more passive avoidance errors and reported more impulsivity on the IMD than controls. These findings identify disinhibition as a potentially important component of the impulsivity that characterizes BPD. Specifying the impulsive behavior identified with BPD may contribute to the effective assessment and management of the disorder.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

The Kleine-Levin syndrome as a neuropsychiatric disorder: a case report.

The Kleine-Levin syndrome (KLS) is characterized by periodic, sudden-onset episodes of hypersomnia, compulsive hyperphagia, and behavioral-emotional disorders (typically indiscriminate hypersexuality, irritability, impulsive behaviors), lasting from a few days to a few weeks, with almost complete remission in the intercritical periods. Depression, confusion, and thought disorders are frequently associated with the critical symptomatology, and they may suggest other psychiatric diagnoses (schizophrenia, mood disorder, conversion disorder) or a substance abuse. A diencephalic-hypothalamic dysfunction is suspected, even if this composite symptomatology cannot easily be linked to a simple mechanism. The aim of this article is to illustrate problems in differential diagnosis, using a case approach. History, course, and therapeutic intervention in a 21-year-old patient with KLS, associated with a clear psychiatric symptomatology and a critical affective pattern, is reported. Psychiatric correlates of KLS are discussed, including the relationship with affective disorders and the possible emotional impact of the attacks. Implications regarding a combined psychological and pharmacological treatment are also discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1988

Clinical significance of premenstrual dysphoric changes.

Women who report premenstrual dysphoric changes are more likely to have had prior (and are at increased risk for subsequent) episodes of major depressive disorder than are women who do not experience these changes. Women who are currently depressed tend to have premenstrual exacerbations or changes in their symptoms. During the premenstrual period, there is an increased likelihood of suicidal, aggressive, or impulsive behavior and for admission to a psychiatric facility. The authors discuss the possible influence of menstrual cycle phases on the evaluation and treatment of women by investigators and therapists.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed1975

Defining borderline patients: an overview.

This review of the descriptive literature on borderline patients indicates that accounts of such patients vary depending upon who is describing them, in what context, how the samples are selected, and what data are collected. The authors identify six features that provide a rational means for diagnosing borderline patients during an initial interview: the presence of intense affect, usually depressive or hostile; a history of impulsive behavior; a certain social adaptiveness; brief psychotic experiences; loose thinking in unstructured situations; and relationships that vacillate between transient superficiality and intense dependency. Reliable identification of these patients will permit better treatment planning and clinical research.

Affect↗

PubMed1986

The use of hypnosis in establishing a holding environment to facilitate affect tolerance and integration in impulsive patients.

This paper is concerned with the use of hypnosis in establishing a facilitating and holding environment in the treatment of impulsive behavior across a range of diagnoses. The reason for this cross-diagnostic viewpoint is to underscore the common sources of such action and the needs to be met in its treatment. Illustrations from work with two patients are presented: One was a hypomanic and bulimic woman who was successful in her profession; the other was an underemployed and sometimes unemployed schizophrenic man. Both were inclined to self-defeating impulsive action-bulimia in the woman, assault in the man.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Overweight and basal metabolic rate in boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

We investigated a possible association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and overweight by measuring weight status and energy expenditure (basal metabolic rate, BMR) in 39 ADHD-boys with hyperactivity (mixed hyperactive/impulsive and inattentive or predominantly hyperactive/impulsive) and 30 healthy boys. The age range for the total group was 8-14 years. Weight and height were measured by a calibrated scales and stadiometer. Body mass index standard deviation scores (BMI-SDS) were calculated. BMR was determined by indirect calorimetry. Significant differences were obtained between the ADHD- and the control-group, but not between ADHD-subgroups. Both BMI-SDS and BMR were higher in the group of ADHD-boys, whereby the differences were more marked when they were older. More overweight and obese subjects were found in the ADHD-sample. Impulsive behavior in ADHD-boys with hyperactivity may lead to an increased food intake, which is then likely to overcompensate the heightened energy expenditure.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Opiate addicts lack error-dependent activation of rostral anterior cingulate.

BACKGROUND: Healthy individuals performing response suppression tasks activate anterior cingulate cortex with occurrence of false alarm error responses to nontargets. Fundamental questions include whether this error-related activation provides a signal contributing to behavioral control and, given generally poorer performance on such tasks by addicts, whether this signal is disrupted in addiction. METHODS: We used rapid, event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging to study 13 individuals with opiate dependence and 26 healthy control individuals performing a Go/NoGo task. RESULTS: Compared with controls, opiate addicts exhibited an attenuated anterior cingulate cortex error signal and significantly poorer task performance. In controls, the individual level of event-related anterior cingulate cortex activation accompanying false alarm error positively predicted task performance, particularly sensitivity in discriminating targets from nontargets. CONCLUSIONS: The attenuation of this error signal in anterior cingulate cortex may play a role in loss of control in addiction and other forms of impulsive behavior.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Impulsivity in self-mutilative behavior: psychometric and biological findings.

This paper examines impulsivity as a central factor in moderate/superficial self-mutilation such as skin-cutting and burning. A sample of 165 subjects were divided into four groups, namely self-mutilators, patients with any modes of impulsive behavior other than self-mutilation, patients without any impulsive behavior, and normal probands. All were administered the 10th version of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, and the Inventory for the Assessment of Factors of Aggressiveness. They also were interviewed carefully in regards to both impulsive and self-mutilative behavior. A d-fenfluramine challenge test was administered to 36 females and prolactin levels were measured. On the whole results implicate impulsive personality functioning as a major factor in subjects with moderate/superficial self-mutilative behavior whose trait pathology is similar to personality disordered patients with other modes of self-harming impulsive behavior.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Impulsivity among adolescents with ADHD and bronchial asthma.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the level of impulsivity of adolescents diagnosed as suffering from ADHD, Bronchial Asthma and Healthy adolescents (without any chronic disease). METHODS: All participants (n=97) had completed the Barrett (Bis 10) questionnaire. RESULTS: The adolescents suffering from Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) scored the highest points 51.6; the control group without any chronic disease was second with 25.2 and the asthmatic adolescents were third with 23.4 points for their impulsivity. CONCLUSION: It should be made clear to the people that the child comes in contact with his impulsive behavior is uncontrollable, and there is no justification for being angry with him nor any punishment. Patience and education is the answer. These adolescent should be under professional care in order to help him define more acceptable ways and means of deportment according to the norms and standards of his society.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

A pilot genetic study of the continuum between compulsivity and impulsivity in females: the serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism.

According to some authors the obsessive-compulsive (OC) spectrum includes on one extreme, the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and on the other extreme the most impulsive behaviors. This is a controversial idea and other authors define the OC spectrum in different ways. The serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene is one of the main genes that control serotonergic function. A polymorphism in the promoter area of this gene classifies subjects with low expression as S individuals (s/s or s/l) and subjects with high expression as L individuals (l/l). This polymorphism was studied in female OCD patients (n = 24), non-impulsive controls (n = 112) and impulsive suicidal patients (n = 118) to support the OC spectrum hypothesis from a genetic perspective. A linear association exists among the serotonin transporter promoter functional genotypes (S versus L individuals) (chi2 linear by linear association = 8.9; df = 1; p = 0.003). The frequency of S individuals (s/l or s/s) was lowest in OCD (54%, 13/24); intermediate in non-impulsive controls (71%, 80/112) and highest in impulsive suicide attempters (82%, 96/117). More importantly, future studies need to consider that genetics may be related to behavioral dimensions (compulsivity to impulsivity) instead of to specific psychiatric disorders defined in clinical terms.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1985

Medicolegal pitfalls in the treatment of borderline patients.

Patients with the borderline syndrome, although not always the sickest patients, often cause the most difficulty because of their intense and contagious affects, their often impulsive behavior, and the strains they place on the treaters' countertransference. The author explores the hitherto ignored area of medicolegal problems that often arise in treatment of borderline patients. Specifically, he addresses the issues of legal ignorance of the syndrome, the effect of dynamic processes such as splitting and psychotic transference, problems regarding limit setting and related management approaches, and problems arising from countertransference phenomena. He suggests approaches to these problems as well.

Borderline Personality Disorder↗

PubMed1985

[Attention and distractibility in hyperkinetic children. Methods and results of research].

Sustained attention in children was investigated with a new method in which 4 measures of attention are recorded simultaneously over a period of 30 minutes during a self-paced operant task. A preliminary study with 56 normal children revealed that performance speed and brief lapses in attention have low validity as measures of attention, but errors and especially impulsive reactions have high validity. Impulsive behavior is thus characteristic not only for hyperactive children but also for normal children with attentional problems in everyday situations. The subjects in the main investigation were 12 hyperactive boys aged 8 to 11 years old. Hyperactivity had to be the major complaint, with the diagnosis substantiated by a pediatrician's findings and by a high motor-activity score in a teacher's assessment. Twelve normal boys matched for age, IQ and grade in school served as control subjects. All children attended regular schools and were of normal intelligence. The validity of the selection procedure was confirmed by the significantly lower heart rate found in the hyperactive group. Attention was assessed for 30 minutes under quiet and distraction conditions. The groups differed significantly in number of errors and number of impulsive reactions, but only in the absence of distraction. The stress of sustained attention for 30 minutes did not increase the differences; on the contrary, they decreased. A special type of attentional deficit in hyperactive children could not be confirmed. Our results do not support the hypothesis that hyperactive children are more distractible, have more frequent brief lapses in attention or have a poorer ability to sustain attention than normal children. Rather, they suggest that the attentional deficits represent a personality trait.

Attention↗

PubMed1979

Analyses of changes in verbal behavior following a cognitive-behavioral treatment for impulsivity.

Analyses were conducted to examine further the results of a cognitive-behavioral treatment for impulsivity in emotionally disturbed children (Kendall & Finch, 1978). The verbal behaviors of treated impulsive children, impulsive controls, and reflective children, recorded during MFF performance at pretreatment, posttreatment, and follow-up, were examined. The results indicated nonsignificant effects for several specific codes; however, the impulsive children that had received treatment evidenced a significant increase in total on-task verbal behavior at posttreatment. Discussion includes a consideration of these findings in regard to the efficacy of the cognitive-behavioral treatment and the need for research on the assessment of cognitive variables in children.

Behavior Therapy↗

PubMed2003

Issues in the diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children.

This paper provides a brief overview of the nature of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and the current criteria used in its clinical diagnosis. While the disorder continues to be viewed as one of inattention and/or hyperactive-impulsive behavior, theories of ADHD are beginning to focus more on poor inhibition and deficient executive functioning (self-regulation) as being central to the disorder. Problems have been identified by research pertaining to the clinical diagnostic criteria outlined in the DSM-IV that, at present, remain unresolved. Clinicians should be aware of these problems and the adjustments that need to be made to them when dealing with special populations that were not represented in the field trials used to develop these criteria.

Attention↗

PubMed1994

Is there any drug treatment of choice for the borderline patient?

Psychotropic medication is used extensively in the borderline patient in an effort to treat the cognitive, affective, impulsive-behavioral and anxious-fearful symptoms which comprise the state symptoms and trait vulnerabilities of BPD. This paper reviews the efficacy of neuroleptics, antidepressants (TCA, MAOI and SSRI), lithium carbonate, carbamazepine and benzodiazepines against these 4 symptom domains. There is currently no single drug treatment of choice in BPD. Current research supports acute treatment. Maintenance trials are generally lacking or show limited efficacy. A dimensional approach is recommended for clinical practice and future research trials, targeting specific symptom domains with selective medication. Pharmacotherapy should be viewed as a useful adjunct to psychotherapy in the long-term treatment of the borderline patient.

Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic↗

PubMed2001

Is it time to pull the plug on the hostile versus instrumental aggression dichotomy?

Psychologists have often categorized human aggression as hostile or instrumental. Hostile aggression is "hot," impulsive behavior that is motivated by a desire to hurt someone; instrumental aggression is "cold," premeditated behavior used as a means to some other end. This dichotomy was useful to the early development of aggression theories and continues to capture important features of nonhuman aggression, but it has outlived its usefulness as a descriptor of fundamentally different kinds of human aggression. It is confounded with the automatic-controlled information-processing dichotomy, and it fails to consider aggressive acts with multiple motives. Knowledge structure models of aggression easily handle these problems. Taking extreme measures to preserve the hostile-instrumental dichotomy will delay further advances in understanding and controlling human aggression. Therefore, this seems a proper time to "pull the plug" and allow the hostile-instrumental aggression dichotomy a dignified death.

Aggression↗

PubMed1995

Antisocial tendencies and cortical sensory-evoked responses in alcoholism.

Alcohol-dependent patients with antisocial, aggressive, and impulsive behaviors form a subgroup, in which a dysfunction of the brain serotonin system is discussed as a pathogenetic factor. Early onset and a transmission from fathers to sons (type II alcoholism; Cloninger, 1987) are supposedly further characteristics of this subgroup. The response pattern of primary auditory cortices to auditory stimuli with different intensities is discussed as a noninvasive indicator of the level of central serotonergic neurotransmission. A strong intensity dependence of these responses is supposed to indicate low serotonergic neurotransmission and vice versa. A strong intensity dependence is therefore expected to characterize patients with antisocial tendencies. Auditory-evoked potentials (N1/P2 component) to stimuli in five different intensities were recorded in 53 hospitalized patients after 1 week of withdrawal. Dipole source analysis was performed to separate responses of primary and secondary auditory cortices. Patients with antisocial tendencies showed a significantly stronger intensity dependence of their evoked responses of primary auditory cortices (tangential dipoles). Age at onset and family history were not related to the intensity dependence of the evoked responses. The results support the notion that alcohol-dependent patients with strong intensity dependence and antisocial tendencies form a subgroup with a serotonergic hypofunction. These patients may respond favorably to a relapse prevention with serotonergic drugs.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Premenstrual symptoms in adolescents.

To assess the prevalence and severity of premenstrual symptoms in adolescents, we administered the Premenstrual Assessment Form, a 95-item instrument previously validated in adults. Adolescent females (n = 207) at a suburban-based adolescent health service completed the form. Subjects had a mean age of 17.6 years, 89% were white, 59% were in high school, 28% were in college. Almost all subjects reported at least one premenstrual change of minimal (96%) or moderate (89%) severity, while many reported changes they considered severe (59%) or extreme (43%). The most commonly reported changes in physical condition were general discomfort and water retention symptoms, fatigue, and autonomic physical changes. The most commonly reported changes in mood and behavior included impaired social function, depressive changes, and impulsive behavior. These changes matched almost exactly those previously reported in adults and were most severe in those adolescents who reported having dysmenorrhea and were not on an oral contraceptive. We believe that clinicians and researchers who evaluate and treat adolescents should view the physical and emotional complaints of teenagers in the context of our findings.

Adolescent↗