Comprehensive psychiatry
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Comprehensive psychiatry · Jul 2007
Comparative StudyDysfunctional cognitions in hospitalized patients with psychotic versus nonpsychotic major depression.
Previous research suggests that psychotic major depression (PMD) is associated with greater illness severity and functional impairment as well as poorer treatment response to antidepressants and psychotherapies compared with nonpsychotic major depression. Although patients with PMD exhibit a number of neurobiological abnormalities, little research has been conducted to date on possible psychological factors that are related to illness in this depression subtype. In the current study, baseline data were pooled from 2 clinical trials in which depressed patients (n = 235) were recruited during a psychiatric hospitalization for an acute episode. ⋯ Furthermore, higher levels of depressive cognitions were related to poorer psychosocial functioning and suicidality in PMD patients. Results suggest that elevated levels of common negative cognitions in depressed patients may be associated with the presence of more severe psychotic symptoms. Adapted cognitive-behavioral treatments may be useful for treating patients with PMD specifically.
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Comprehensive psychiatry · Mar 2007
Early maladaptive schemas and body mass index in subgroups of eating disorders: a differential association.
The objectives were (1) to examine whether 3 eating disorder subgroups, as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) classification system, exhibit a specific profile in terms of early maladaptive schema (EMS) factors, and (2) to investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and EMS factors in each of the individual eating disorder subgroups. ⋯ The findings of this study indicate that EMSs based on Young's conceptualization of EMS, as measured by the Young Schema Questionnaire, differ significantly among eating disorder subgroups defined by the phenomenological approach used by the DSM-IV diagnoses. These results are consistent with the notion that dysfunctional cognitions may play an important role in the development and maintenance of the symptoms that underlie the DSM-IV classification of the eating disorder subtypes.
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Comprehensive psychiatry · Jan 2007
Relationship of alexithymia to cardiovascular disease risk factors among African Americans.
Alexithymia, a deficit in emotional awareness and expression, may contribute to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and other diseases. African Americans have a high prevalence of CVD, but almost nothing is known about alexithymia in this ethnic group. This study examined the relationship of alexithymia to a range of risk factors for CVD among African Americans. ⋯ This pattern of relationships is consistent with findings on ethnic majority samples and suggests that alexithymia as measured with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 is a valid construct among African Americans. It correlates with socioeconomic and emotional variables in this population, but only minimally or not at all with behavioral or physiological factors. If alexithymia influences CVD and other diseases, it appears to do so through social and emotional pathways.
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Comprehensive psychiatry · Nov 2006
External-cause mortality after psychologic trauma: the effects of stress exposure and predisposition.
Research suggests that exposure to psychologic trauma is associated with mortality from external causes, including homicide, suicide, drug overdoses, and unintended injury. However, the etiology of this association is unclear. We examined the survival time and cause of death among a national sample of 15288 US Army veterans by posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) status 30 years after military service. ⋯ Among theater veterans, PTSD remained significant for external mortality, even after controlling for all variables and combat exposure (HR = 2.2, P = .002). Combat exposure was not associated with external mortality once all variables were controlled. In addition, theater veterans who volunteered for Vietnam and those with dishonorable discharges were at increased risk for external-cause mortality.
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Comprehensive psychiatry · Sep 2006
Multicenter StudyDéjà vu experiences in patients with schizophrenia.
To investigate whether déjà vu experiences are psychopathologic phenomena, we studied the frequency and characteristics of déjà vu experiences in patients with schizophrenia. One hundred thirteen patients with schizophrenia and 386 nonclinical control subjects were evaluated with the Inventory of Déjà vu Experiences Assessment. The frequency and features of déjà vu experiences were compared between the 2 groups. ⋯ They appeared to have the experiences under unpleasant mental or physical states. Their déjà vu experiences are not primarily different in nature from those of the nonclinical subjects. The decreased frequency of the experiences in the patients may suggest déjà vu experiences as nonpathologic phenomena.