Depressed subjects unwittingly overreport poor social adjustment which they reappraise when recovered

Article Abstract:

When patients are acutely depressed, there is the potential that their symptomatology will lead to bias when they report social maladjustment. That is, depressed people may report greater social maladjustment if questioned while they are depressed than they will report for the same period if they are not depressed. Using a test-retest design, this hypothesis was tested with patients who were hospitalized for depression. Prior to treatment, social maladjustment in 25 subjects was measured for the four-month period prior to hospitalization using a structured interview. Depressive symptoms were measured as well so that improvements after treatment, if apparent, could be ascertained. After the initial evaluation, patients were given antidepressant drugs for an average of 19.5 days. Not all patients responded to drug treatment; only the responders were re-evaluated. Overall, the scores obtained during the social maladjustment interviews prior to treatment were significantly higher than the scores obtained after treatment. These patients reported more social maladjustment when questioned during an acute phase of depression than when questioned in a non-depressed state about the same period of time. When patient self-assessments were compared with more objective ratings of social maladjustment, the reports of patients in the non-depressed state were more accurate. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Psychological aspects, Measurement, Surveys, Depression, Mental, Depression (Mood disorder), Psychotherapy patients, Perception, Perception (Psychology), Social adjustment

---

The effect of personality on placebo response in panic patients

Article Abstract:

The effects of personality on the placebo response (responding to a neutral treatment as though it were a real one) were investigated in 28 panic disorder patients who formed the placebo arm of a drug treatment study for panic disorder. Twelve subjects completed only 3 weeks of the study (noncompleters) and 16 completed more than 3 weeks (completers). Three tests that measure personality disorder were used to assess the patients. Results showed that noncompleters had a higher frequency of personality disorders than completers; this was true in virtually every diagnostic category. Treatment was least effective for paranoid and borderline personality types. No difference was found in the rate of panic attacks between patients with personality disorders and those without, eight weeks after the study began. A brief discussion of relevant research literature concerning personality disorder and panic disorder. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Care and treatment, Research, Diagnosis, Personality disorders, Panic disorder, Dropouts, Placebos, Panic attacks

---

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Assessment and treatment of sleep disorders in children and adolescents. Behavioural treatment for sleep problems in children with severe learning disabilities and challenging daytime behaviour: effect on daytime behaviour
• Abstracts: Comparison of nutrient intake among depressed and nondepressed individuals. Interpersonal predictors of diet practices among married couples
• Abstracts: Childhood antecedents of antisocial behavior: parental alcoholism and physical abusiveness. Sexual abuse histories and sequelae in female psychiatric emergency room patients
• Abstracts: Witch doctors and mental illness in mainland China: a preliminary study. Neuroleptic malignant syndrome in 12 of 9,792 Chinese inpatients exposed to neuroleptics: a prospective study
• Abstracts: Supervising the therapy of patients with eating disorders. Lewis R. Woldberg, M.D.: 'hypnosis and psychoanalytic therapy (hypnoanalysis)'

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