The diagnosis of neurological disorders in older adults

Are neurological disorders overdiagnosed in older adults? Previous reports suggest that age bias may lead to diagnostic inaccuracies for older adult clients. In the present study, the average test scores for community-dwelling 38-year-old and 74-year-old individuals were presented as the results for a 38-year-old client and a 74-year-old client, respectively. Neuropsychologists did not make diagnoses of neurological disorder or dementiafor either of the clients. The results from this study indicate that age bias is not as serious a problem among neuropsychologists as many psychologists once believed.     

Ontario Child Health Study: reliability and validity of the general functioning subscale of the McMaster Family Assessment Device

The reliability and validity of the 12-item General Functioning (GF) subscale of the McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD) is reported here. Psychometric properties of the FAD have been previously determined, but no independent assessment has been made of the GF subscale, which was used to measure family functioning in the Ontario Child Health Study (OCHS). Reliability was measured by Chronbach's alpha and split-half correlation. Validity was assessed by hypothesizing the relationships expected between the GF scores and other family variables included in the OCHS data set. The results indicate good reliability, and all hypotheses of validity were supported. The brevity and ease of administering the GF subscale recommend it for further use in survey research in which a global assessment of family functioning is required.     

Use of change scores in redundancy analyses of multivariate psychological inventories

Both canonical and multiple-regression redundancy analyses were computed on the 20 separate subscale change-scores for the Eight State Questionnaire (8SQ) and the Differential Emotions Scale (DES-IV), using a sample of 212 undergraduate students. In comparing the measurement overlap of the two measures, it was important, since state-change dimensions were of interest, that across- occasions difference scores be used rather than single-occasion absolute scores. Viability of this approach was demonstrated and only minor redundancy was evident for the 8SQ and DES-IV instruments. On the present evidence, it appears that both inventories are tapping essentially discrete psychological variance (allowing for trait contamination) and that probably neither instrument alone is an adequate measure of the total ‘mood-state sphere’.     

Gender differences in parent-child conversations about past emotions: A longitudinal investigation

Sex Roles - In this longitudinal investigation, we examined the emotional content of 17 white middle-class parents' conversations about past events with their children at 40 and 70 months of...     

Examination of the reliability and validity of the personality assessment inventory

The reliability, discriminant validity, and construct validity of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) — a multidimensional self-report measure of abnormal personality traits — were examined within the Australian context. Subjects included 151 normals, 30 alcoholics, and 30 schizophrenic patients. A subsample of 70 nonpsychiatric adults responded to the PAI items twice over a test-retest interval of 28 days. The resulting median retest coefficient was 0.7, indicating less than optimal stability. The median alpha (KR₂₁) coefficient was 0.8, suggesting somewhat narrow measurement scales. A significant multivariate main effect was obtained across groups after the effects of age and gender were removed. Multiple comparisons for each of the PAI scales revealed significant differences between the respective groups, as discussed. A higher-order scale factoring did not strongly support the purported PAI structure. In reanalyses of the correlation matrices included in the Professional Manual, the purported PAI factor structure was unable to be replicated for the standardization clinical sample (N=1246), and a confirmatory factor analysis using the normative (validation) correlational data (N=1000) revealed poor fit indices, raising further concerns about construct validity.     

Children's motivation analysis test (CMAT): An experimental manipulation of curiosity and boredom

The present study investigated the influence of manipulating the states of curiosity and boredom on the 10 scales of the Children's Motivation Analysis Test (CMAT). The CMAT is a multidimensional objective (T-data) instrument measuring several important dynamic motivation traits among primary school children. The CMAT was administered to 202 grade 6 and 7 children, pre- and post-exposure to either curiosity, boredom, or control (neutral) conditions. Scores on the Unintegrated Curiosity scale of the CMAT increased for the children in the Curiosity condition. For children in the Boredom condition, Unintegrated Pugnacity, Unintegrated and Integrated Narcism scores increased in response to the mildly aversive experimental manipulation. Evidently, a number of the dynamic traits measured in the CMAT are sensitive to situational stimuli as hypothesized in the dynamic calculus theory of motivation.     

Evaluation of the diagnostic interview for children and adolescents for use in general population samples

This article presents evaluative data on the use of the Diagnostic Interview for Children and AdolescentsRevised (DICAR) to classify DSM-IIIR disorders in the general population. Data for the analyses came from a probability sample (N=251) of parentchild/adolescent dyads aged 6 to 16 separately administered the DICAR on two occasions, 10 to 20 days apart, by trained lay interviewers and child psychiatrists. Data are presented on prevalence,testretest reliability, parentchild/adolescent agreement, and trained lay interviewerchild psychiatrist agreement. High prevalences of oppositional defiant disorder derived from parent assessments and overanxious disorder and dysthymia derived from adolescent assessments suggest that these disorders may be overidentified. Interview data provided by 6 to 11year olds to classify the internalizing disorders were too unreliable to be useful. Agreement between parentchild/adolescent dyads was generally low while agreement between trained lay interviewerschild psychiatrists was generally high.This work was supported by funds from the National Health Research and Development Program (grant number 6606-3760-42) and the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services, and was carried out by the Child Epidemiology Unit, Department of Psychiatry, McMaster University and the Child and Family Centre, Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals, Hamilton, Ontario. Dr. Boyle is supported by a William T. Grant Foundation Faculty Scholar Award; Dr. Offord by a National Health Scientist Award, Health and Welfare Canada; Dr. Szatmari by a Research Fellowship, Ontario Mental Health Foundation; and Dr. Fleming by a NARSAD Young Investigator Award. The authors wish to thank the Hamilton Board of Education, particularly Mr. Keith Reilly and Mr. Owen Jackson; principals and teachers of the Board; and parents and students for their help on this project. Our appreciation also extends to Ms. Barb Hall who assisted in the analysis of the data.     

Proof of situational sensitivity of mood states and dynamic traits—ergs and sentiments—to disturbing stimuli

A separation of state and trait factors, and an allocation of modulation values to situations, was attempted by giving the Eight State Battery (8SQ) and the Motivation Analysis Test (MAT) to two groups, each under two situations, one aversive. The difference scores between a pre- and postexposure to the mild and the severe aversive situations were significant on all 8SQ factors but mainly on ergs, not sentiments, in the MAT. The state changes, notably on Anxiety, Regression, Depression and Guilt, were greater on the more shocking stimulus, while Fear rose and Narcism fell significantly on the MAT. Changes were greater on unintegrated than integrated motivational components, confirming hypotheses by others.     

OPERANT PROCEDURES AND THE COMATOSE PATIENT

Operant procedures were tested on three patients who had been in vegetative coma for 6 months, 10 months, and 38 months. A discrete trial procedure was used to test compliance to verbal requests for three behaviors for each patient, including lateral head movement or finger movement, eye focus or eye squeeze, and mouth movement. The design for each patient consisted of multiple baselines across three behaviors with a withdrawal phase and a reinstatement phase (ABAB) for one behavior. Baseline phases were followed by contingent music phases in which 15-second taped excerpts of patients' preferred music sounded immediately following the emission of targeted behaviors. The contingent music treatment affected all three behaviors for Patient 1, but was less effective for two out of three behaviors for the second and third patients who had been in coma for more extensive periods of time. Results are discussed in terms of the potential contributions of the use of operant assessment and treatment procedures in an area of medicine where they have not been used before.