A science of personality disorders?

Article Abstract:

The concept of personality disorders presumes that individuals exhibit distinct and long-lasting characteristics. Today, a patient's deeply ingrained patterns of maladaptive behavior, as well as his thinking, feeling and relating patterns, are thought of as constituting his personality style. Patients usually enter treatment with complaints of personal or interpersonal conflicts and stressors, social inadequacies or fears which tend to result in symptoms such as anxiety, alcoholism, depression or phobias. In the 1980s, the status assigned to personality disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders (third edition) reflected the growing reliance of clinicians on such classifications. In his book ''Personality Disorders: Diagnosis, Management, and Course" (1988), Peter Tyrer (Ed.) has provided readers with a historic overview of the field, and with descriptions of ways in which the study of personality disorders has flourished and advanced with the help of psychometric diagnostic tools. Empirical research investigating the reliability and validity of personality measurements has promoted personology into a science with a solid basis in methodology and qualitative and quantitative science. There now exist specific diagnostic criteria for each personality disorder, which greatly enhances clinical assessment and facilitates treatment approaches. Tools explicitly designed to diagnose types of personality disorders have evolved from purely projective (e.g., ink-blot) tests and self-report inventories to new structured interview schedules and clinical rating scales, which are described in detail. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Methods, Evaluation, Bibliography, Personality assessment

---

Changes in Ca(super 2+)-binding proteins in human neurodegenerative disorders

Article Abstract:

Calcium-binding proteins act as buffers and transporters of calcium as well as activators of calcium-dependent processes especially in the nervous sytem. These proteins vary from one neural cell to the other but they all have a consistent EF-hand structural motif enabling detection using immunohistochemical techniques. Neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy were found to be associated with changes in the expression of calcium-binding proteins in the brain. These studies, albeit conflicting, may be important in the formulation of diagnostic tools and therapeutic modalities in the future.

Research, Nervous system, Nerve degeneration, Calcium-binding proteins, Calcium binding proteins

---

Weighting criteria in the diagnosis of a personality disorder: a demonstration

Article Abstract:

The manner by which clinicians use symptom information and diagnostic criteria to make a diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) was examined. Psychiatrists and clinical psychologists were asked to diagnose case histories in which some contain NPD criteria whose number and face validity were varied across case histories. A comparison of three models on the use of diagnostic criteria, namely the polythetic, additive and weighting models, was made. Results were found to be most supportive of the weighting model.

Models, Narcissism

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: In search of personality: reflections on the case of King George. The psychological impact of terrorism: policy implications
• Abstracts: Nonverbal counting in humans: the psychophysics of number representation. Invited editorial: Psychological response to the Oklahoma City bombing
• Abstracts: The emergence of postculturalism. Narratives in cultural socialization. Cultural practices, oppression, and morality
• Abstracts: A time of epistemic transformation and responsibility. The social criteria of adulthood. The meaning of independence and responsibility
• Abstracts: Are reaching movements planned to be straight and invariant in the extrinsic space? Kinematic comparison between compliant and unconstrained motions

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.