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PubMed1975

Moral judgment in sociopathic and normal children.

Mental age- and IQ-matched normal and sociopathic children were administered Kohlberg's moral development interview and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. The results revealed that level of moral reasoning was higher for normal than for sociopathic children at both mental age levels. Within each group, high-mental-age children tended to have higher moral judgment scores than low-mental-age children, suggesting the presence of a general cognitive factor underlying moral development. The poorer performance of the sociopathic children was interpreted as supporting the formulation that sociopathy is related to an arrest in moral development. Discussion focused on the relative lack of opportunities for role-taking and identification in the families of sociopathic children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Destructive cultism.

Bizarre cults harmful to the physical and emotional health of adolescents, young adults and their families have been increasing in our society. Destructive cultism is a distinct syndrome. It includes behavioral and personality changes, loss of personal identity, cessation of scholastic activities, estrangement from family, disinterest in society and pronounced mental control and enslavement by cult leaders. Management of this sociopathic problem requires confrontation, rehabilitation, sociologic, psychotherapeutic and general medical measures.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Matching alcoholics to treatment. Failure to replicate finding of an earlier study.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether sociopathic alcoholics respond differentially to different types of treatment. An earlier study found that alcoholics with antisocial personality disorder had somewhat better outcomes if treated in individually focused versus relationship-focused cognitive-behavioral treatment. The present study was designed to attempt to replicate these findings. One hundred and forty-nine alcoholics (42 of whom scored high on a measure of sociopathy) were randomly assigned to receive either individually focused cognitive-behavioral treatment or a relationship-focused community reinforcement approach. Follow-up evaluations were conducted every 4 months for 2 years. Results failed to support the study hypothesis. Drinking outcomes were similar for sociopathic alcoholics in both treatment conditions. Directions for future research are identified.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

The Zurich Study: XV. Suicide attempts in a cohort from age 20 to 30.

The life-time prevalence of suicide attempts in a Swiss population, interviewed four times between the ages of 20 and 30 years, was 3.8% (females 5.4%, males 2.1%). One fifth of the 30-year-olds reported persistent suicidal ideation. In comparison with controls, attempters reported a more disturbed childhood, and subjects with multiple attempts reported more sexual abuse. Over 10 years attempters persistently showed more negative affectivity, more feelings of helplessness and lower self-esteem. At age 30 they were higher on the scales neuroticism, masculinity and aggressivity in a personality test. Over ten years, a higher than expected comorbidity appeared of suicide attempts with depressive and anxiety disorders, with substance abuse, and with sociopathic features.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Premorbid personality and psychopathological dimensions in first-episode psychosis.

BACKGROUND: Broadening our knowledge of the relationship between personality and psychopathological dimensions in psychosis would provide insights into the nature of their underlying pathophysiology. Research, to date, has been carried out in chronic samples and the possibility that the personality assessment may have been contaminated by the psychotic episode cannot be ruled out. The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between personality and psychopathology in a 'first-episode psychosis' sample using a dimensional approach. METHOD: Premorbid personality dimensions of 94 consecutively admitted 'first-episode psychosis' patients were assessed through the information collected from parents or a close biological relative. A semi-structured interview (Premorbid Assessment Schedule; [Tyrer, P., 1988. Personality Disorders: Diagnosis, management and course. Wright, London]) was used by a rater, blind to the patients' psychopathological symptoms. Associations between dimensions of premorbid personality and psychopathology were examined through Pearson correlation coefficients. RESULTS: The negative dimension was strongly associated with higher scores on the schizoid dimension. Additionally, trends towards significant direct associations were found between the negative dimension and both the passive-dependent and the schizotypic dimensions, between the hostility/suspiciousness dimension and both sociopathic and passive-dependent dimensions, and between the manic dimension and the obsessional dimension. Canonical correlation analysis demonstrated that premorbid personality dimensions explained 17% of the variance of psychopathological dimensions. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that premorbid personality dimensions may shape the expression of psychosis. Moreover, we hypothesize that certain personality dimensions, such as the schizoid dimension, should be considered nonspecific risk factors for expression of higher levels of negative symptomatology at the beginning of psychosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

MMPI changes in briefly hospitalized non-narcotic drug users.

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was administered to 66 non-narcotic drug abusers as part of an intensive study of polydrug abuse. Patients were classified into four primary drug-of-abuse groups using either stimulants, barbiturates, other sedative-hypnotics, or a combination of these drugs. It was readministered to 42 of these patients after 2 weeks' hospitalization. At admission, the group's MMPI profile was consistent with psychosis. At discharge, most of the MMPI T-scores were sharply reduced, and the groups' profile was consistent with sociopathy. The admission MMPI profiles of the four primary drug-of-abuse groups did not differ. At discharge, the stimulant group's profile remained psychotic, while the profiles of the other three groups were not psychotic. Such results raise the possibility of a toxic psychotic effect of chronic non-narcotic drug abuse. The group of stimulant abusers appeared schizophrenic, while the other groups of non-narcotic drug abusers appeared sociopathic.

Amphetamines↗
PubMed1982

Reduced electrodermal response to conflict, failure to inhibit dominant behaviors, and delinquency proneness.

Antisocial behavior patterns have been hypothesized to result in part from a reduced physiological component of fear, anxiety, and avoidance responses. Electrodermal correlates of antisocial personality have been consistent with such a model, but evidence that the reduced electrodermal response (EDR) of sociopathic and delinquency-prone individuals actually plays a role in their behavior is sparse. This article examines whether the reduced EDR of undersocialized individuals should be conceptualized in terms of reduced inhibitory control rather than in terms of reduced aversive processes and whether the reduced EDR actually relates to relevant behavior of undersocialized young adults. Subjects high and low on a socialization scale (California Psychological Inventory) performed a nonstressful response-conflict (or interference) task while the EDR was recorded. As predicted by the weak inhibitory conflict than on control trials less frequently than did high-socialization subjects and, correspondingly, committed more errors by failing to inhibit a dominant behavioral response.

Adolescent↗