Impulsive-compulsive sexual behavior

Impulsive-compulsive sexual behavior is a little studied clinical phenomenon which affects approximately 5% to 6% of the population. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition-Text Revision, it is classified as an impulse control disorder not otherwise specified or a sexual disorder not otherwise specified. It may be placed in a possible new category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition called substance and behavioral addictions. This clinical entity is reviewed and the merit of classifying it as an addiction is assessed. Information is presented regarding its diagnostic criteria, epidemiology, types of behavior it can involve, relationship to hypersexuality, comorbidities, treatment, and etiology. The data regarding this disorder and its overlap with chemical addiction is limited. If the two disorders are to be grouped together, further data are needed.     

Some practical uses of “a natural lifetime”

Then Wendy began to see that one didn't stay at two for the rest of one's life. Indeed two is the beginning of the end. The end is being grown-up. Once you get to twenty one or so, you can never be ungrown-up again. But Mrs. Darling did not tell this to Wendy. Between two and twenty one, there was lots of time for her to find out.     

What makes it a heap?

On the epistemic view of vagueness, a vague expression has sharp boundaries whose location speakers of the language cannot recognize. The paper argues that one of the deepest sources of resistance to the epistemic view is the idea that all truths are cognitively accessible from truths in a language for natural science, conceived as precise, in a sense explained. The implications of the epistemic view for issues about the relations between vague predicates and scientific predicates are investigated.     

Youth's Dilemma: To Be or To Become

Youth should be engaged in three basic intellectual and moral activities: (a) selecting life purposes, (b) limiting their concern for immediate satisfaction, and (c) striving to become their highest and best potentiality. Teachers and counselors have a responsibility to aid growth in confronting the dilemmas inherent in these problems.     

Psychological profiles of adult children of alcoholics in search of therapy

Adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) and adults from dysfunctional families of origin are increasingly recognized as high risk groups for psychiatric disorders. However, there has been little empirical investigation of the psychological characteristics of these populations. This study compares clinical samples of these two groups using the Symptom Checklist-90, (SCL-90), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Irrational Beliefs Test (IBT), as well as DSM-III-R diagnoses and demographic information. The two groups did not differ significantly on the psychological tests and showed similar demographics and diagnoses. Both groups showed levels of psychopathology comparable to other psychiatric populations. It was concluded that clinical samples of ACOAs and adults from dysfunctional families of origin have many problems of clinical proportion. Assessment and treatment of these groups is best done by properly trained professional staff and because of their similar problems and treatment needs the two groups may be treated together.     

Relationship orientation, quality of prior relationship, and distress among caregivers of Alzheimer's patients

Communal orientation and closeness of the caregiver-patient relationship were investigated as predictors of distress among caregivers of Alzheimer's patients. Persons high in communal orientation were less depressed than those low in communal orientation. Caregivers reporting a close relationship with the patient before illness onset felt less burdened than those whose relationship had not been close. Communal orientation interacted with closeness when data were analyzed separately for men and women. Among men, being low in communal orientation and having a relatively poor prior relationship were associated with the highest levels of depression, levels that put them at risk for clinical depression. Among women low in communal orientation, higher levels of depression were related to having a close prior relationship with the patient.     

Reliability and validity of children's reports of migraine headache symptoms

The present study was concerned with whether children's responses to a questionnaire correspond with parents' reports of the child's headache symptoms and whether these responses correlate with self-monitored headache activity. Twenty-eight children, ages 7 years–16 years, participated in the study. Using a questionnaire format, data on a wide variety of headache characteristics were gathered from parents and children. During the subsequent 4 weeks, children monitored their headache activity and medication usage. Results were generally supportive of the validity and reliability of children's reports via a questionnaire format. The responses to the frequency of headache and medication usage were found to predict the responses over the next month, whereas the response on the duration of headache did not. Significant correlations for most headache-symptom items indicated that children and parents agree on their presence and severity. This investigation is the first step in developing a systematic assessment procedure for childhood headache.