Relation of Psychiatric Symptoms with Epilepsy,Asthma, and Allergy in Youth with ASD vs. Psychiatry Referrals

The present study aimed to characterize the association of psychopathology with the clinical correlates of epilepsy, asthma, and allergy within and between neurobehavioral syndromes. Participants were consecutively evaluated youth (6–18 years, 75 % male) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; n = 589) and non-ASD outpatient psychiatry referrals (n = 653). Informants completed a background questionnaire (parents) and a psychiatric symptom severity rating scale (parents, teachers). Youth with ASD had higher rates of epilepsy and allergy but not asthma than psychiatry referrals, even when analyses were limited to youth with IQ ≥ 70. Somatic conditions evidenced variable associations with medical services utilization, educational interventions, family income, and maternal education. Youth with ASD with versus without epilepsy had more severe ASD social deficits (parents’ ratings) and less severe ASD repetitive behaviors (teachers’ ratings). Epilepsy was associated with more severe depression, mania, and schizophrenia symptoms in youth with ASD. Youth with allergy (psychiatry referrals only) had more severe anxiety and depression symptoms (parents’ ratings) but less severe aggression (teachers’ ratings) thus providing evidence of both context- and diagnostic-specificity. Youth with ASD versus non-ASD psychiatry referrals evidence a variable pattern of relations between somatic conditions and a range of clinical correlates, which suggests that the biologic substrates and psychosocial concomitants of neurodevelopmental disorders and their co-occurring somatic conditions may interact to produce unique clinical phenotypes.     

Psychiatry,psychoanalysis and sociology in the work of H.S. Sullivan

Abstract

Conci, M. Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis and Sociology in the Work of H.S. Sullivan. Int Forum Psychoanal 1997;6: 127–135. Stockholm, ISSN 0803-706X.

The author tries to illuminate H.S. Sullivan's complex professional identity. With E. Fromm he shared a basic humanistic orientation, and also the project of creating an interdisciplinary new science of man. This is the perspective he inherited from W.A. White, who tried to make psychoanalysis a major ingredient of psychiatry and social science. Sullivan's pioneer work with schizophrenic patients changed the prognosis of these patients, represented the basis of his interpersonal theory of psychiatry and of his collaboration with Chicago social science. Not only is the epistemological sophistication of his definition of psychiatrywhich includes the biological, intra- psychic, cultural and social dimensions-very relevant today, but so is the work he conducted, through the Washington School of Psychiatry (1936) and the journal Psychiatry (1938), with the aim of creating what he called a “psychiatry of peoples”, leading to world peace and greater social justice. In his view, psychoanalysis was more than a profession: it was a fundamental instrument of personal, cultural and social change.     

舍勒对苏格拉底问题的回答——一门现象学的规范伦理学之导引

在威廉姆斯(B.Williams)看来,苏格拉底问题是道德哲学最好的出发点,它要优于‘我们应当做什么’或‘我们怎样才能是善的’甚或‘我们如何才能幸福’这些问题,因为这些问题中的任何一个都已经预设了太多的东西,而人们又总是很难在这些所预设的东西上达成一致。(Williams,p.4)这在一定意义上也构成了在当代道德哲学或伦理学研究中充满混乱的原因。     

Gender,Race, and Delinquent Behavior: An Extension of Power-Control Theory to American Indian Adolescents

Research testing Hagan’s power-control theory has largely been tested with samples of non-Hispanic whites. We extend prior research by testing the theory’s merits with a sample of American Indian (AI) adolescents. Overall, we find mixed support for the theory’s merits. However, we find that our measure of patriarchy is a robust predictor of AI female delinquent activity. We also find that a grandparent in the household serves to greatly reduce involvement in violent behavior among AI females. Compared to a sample of non-Hispanic whites, these results reveal the importance of testing explanations of deviant behavior across racial and ethnic groups.     

Book Reviews: Introduction to the Technique of Psychotherapy: Practice Guidelines for Psychotherapists,by Samuel I. Greenberg,M.D., Charles Thomas, 1998, 106 ps

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

H.M., word knowledge, and aging: support for a new theory of long-term retrograde amnesia

This study develops a new theory of long-term retrograde amnesia that encompasses episodic and semantic memory, including word knowledge. Under the theory, retrograde amnesia in both normal individuals and hippocampal amnesics reflects transmission deficits caused by aging, nonrecent use of connections, and infrequent use of connections over the life span. However, transmission deficits cause severe and irreversible retrograde amnesia only in amnesics who (unlike normal persons) cannot readily form new connections to replace nonfunctioning ones. The results of this study are consistent with this theory: For low-frequency but not high-frequency words, a famous "hippocampal amnesic" (H.M.) at age 71 performed worse than memory-normal control participants in a lexical decision experiment and a meaning-definition task (e.g., What does squander mean?). Also as predicted, H.M.'s lexical decision performance declined dramatically between ages 57 and 71 for low-frequency words, but was age-invariant for high-frequency words.     

Social Support,Loyalty to Delinquent Peers,and Offending: An Elaboration and Test of the Differential Social Support Hypothesis

While most research focuses on the positive effects of social support on adolescent development, Cullen hypothesizes that social support may promote crime and delinquency under certain conditions. Specifically, when social support is derived from deviant sources, it may promote offending behavior. In this study, we test an elaborated version of this “differential social support” hypothesis. The results indicate that, among adolescents who associate with delinquent peers, peer social support is associated with an increase in delinquent behavior. These findings highlight the potential “dark side” of social support. Implications for criminological theory and crime control policy are discussed.     

An Introduction to the Art. Review of Nonlinear Dynamics: Techniques and Applications in Psychology, by R. H. Heath

Richard Heath is a professor in the Discipline of Psychology at the University of Sunderland, England. He obtained his B.Sc. (Hons.) at the University of Newcastle, Australia in 1970 and a Ph.D. in psychology as a Commonwealth Scholar with Professor Stephen Link at McMaster University, Canada, in 1976. Heath's research has emphasized the role of new mathematical and computational techniques to the study and modeling of complex and nonlinear aspects of cognition. His experimental work has examined signal detection, categorization, memory, fatigue, handwriting, and the detection of behavior change. He has also developed nonlinear system identification models of attention and interference, nonstationary versions of the random walk model of choice response time, and adaptive, novelty sensitive models of human memory.Andrew Heathcote is an associate professor in the School of Behavioural Sciences, University of Newcastle, Australia. He obtained a B.Sc. (Hons.) at the University of Tasmania in 1984 and a Ph.D. in psychology as a Commonwealth Scholar with Professor D. Mewhort at Queen's University, Canada, in 1991. His research interests include nonlinear analysis and modeling of response time, skill acquisition, and recognition memory.     

Review of Planning for uncertainty: living wills and other advance directives for you and your family, 2nd edition by David John Doukas, M.D., and William Reichel, M.D

The Estrogen Elixir: A History of Hormone Replacement Therapy in America by Elizabeth Siegel Watkins is a thoroughly documented cautionary tale of the information and advice offered to women in the perimenopausal period of their life, and the consequences of exposure to sexual hormones on their health and wellbeing.