No association between a polymorphism in the promoter region of the MAOA gene with antisocial personality traits in alcoholics.
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AIMS: We analysed the MAOAuVNTR functional polymorphism in the promoter region of the X-chromosomal monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene. Genotypes with three-repeat alleles were reported to be associated with antisocial as well as impulsive traits. METHODS: The repeat number (3-5) of the MAOA polymorphism was determined in 169 male alcoholic subjects and 72 controls of German descent. Behavioural and personality traits were evaluated using the Brown-Goodwin Assessment for History of Lifetime Aggression, the Buss Durkee Hostility Inventory, as well as the Barrat Impulsiveness Score. A median split in Brown-Goodwin, Buss Durkee Irritability, Buss Durkee Assault and Barrat Impulsiveness Score was conducted. RESULTS: High scores were found, i.e. 47.9% in Brown-Goodwin, 65.7% in Buss Durkee Irritability, 63.3% in Buss Durkee Assault and 59.8% in Barrat Impulsiveness Scale, indicating high impulsiveness, irritability and antisocial behaviour. Based on the results of these questionnaires, we detected no significant differences between the frequency of the three-repeat allele and high or low scores in alcoholics and controls. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these findings suggest that the three-repeat allele of the MAOAuVNTR 30-bp polymorphism is not associated with impulsive and aggressive personality traits. (+info)
Reward craving and withdrawal relief craving: assessment of different motivational pathways to alcohol intake.
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AIMS: Craving for the rewarding effects of alcohol may be evoked by conditioned alcohol-like effects whereas conditioned compensatory responses may induce withdrawal relief craving. We tested the hypothesis that drinking in positive emotional states is associated with appetitive reactions to alcohol-associated cues and contributes to reward craving, while conditioned withdrawal is associated with drinking in negative situations and distressful, obsessive preoccupations with alcohol. METHODS: In 38 detoxified alcoholics, the Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale was used to assess the craving factors 'impaired control', 'interference with social functioning' and 'obsession'. Affective responses to alcohol-associated visual stimuli were measured with the affect-modulated eyeblink startle reflex, positive and negative drinking situations with the Inventory of Drinking Situations (IDS) and withdrawal-like symptoms preceding alcohol intake with the revised Clinical Institute Assessment for Alcohol Scale (CIWA-Ar). RESULTS: Appetitive reactions to alcohol-associated cues correlated positively with drinking in positive situations and contributed significantly to the craving factor 'interference' with social and work functioning. The severity of withdrawal-like symptoms preceding alcohol intake contributed to the craving factor 'obsession'; however, contrary to our hypothesis, this measure of conditioned withdrawal correlated with drinking not only in negative but also in positive situations. CONCLUSIONS: Drinking in positive and negative situations, appetitive reactions to alcohol and withdrawal-like symptoms contributed differentially to the craving factors 'obsession' and 'interference', supporting the notion of different craving factors with separate underlying mechanisms. (+info)
An examination of suicide probability in alcoholic in-patients.
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AIMS: This study evaluated correlations of self esteem, depression, and state-trait anxiety with suicide probability in alcohol dependence. METHODS: The sample consists of 70 patients who were hospitalized in the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Treatment Unit in the Psychiatry Clinic of Ankara University between the years 1999 and 2000. Patients' histories, the Suicide Probability Scale, the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Scales were used. Correlation, linear regression and t-test statistical analyses were performed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: It was found that self-esteem, depression and trait anxiety predict suicide probability. Suicide probability was higher within the sub-sample with a history of a suicidal act in comparison to those without such a history. (+info)
Reliability, validity and psychometric properties of the Greek translation of the Major Depression Inventory.
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BACKGROUND: The Major Depression Inventory (MDI) is a brief self-rating scale for the assessment of depression. It is reported to be valid because it is based on the universe of symptoms of DSM-IV and ICD-10 depression. The aim of the current preliminary study was to assess the reliability, validity and psychometric properties of the Greek translation of the MDI. METHODS: 30 depressed patients of mean age 23.41 (+/- 5.77) years, and 68 controls patients of mean age 25.08 (+/- 11.42) years, entered the study. In 18 of them, the instrument was re-applied 1-2 days later and the Translation and Back Translation made. Clinical diagnosis was reached with the use of the SCAN v.2.0 and the International Personality Disorders Examination (IPDE). The Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) and the Zung Depression Rating Scale (ZDRS) were applied for cross-validation purposes. Statistical analysis included ANOVA, the Spearman Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, Principal Components Analysis and the calculation of Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: Sensitivity and specificity were 0.86 and 0.94, respectively, at 26/27. Cronbach's alpha for the total scale was equal to 0.89. The Spearman's rho between MDI and CES-D was 0.86 and between MDI and ZDRS was 0.76. The factor analysis revealed two factors but the first accounted for 54% of variance while the second only for 9%. The test-retest reliability was excellent (Spearman's rho between 0.53 and 0.96 for individual items and 0.89 for total score). CONCLUSION: The current study provided preliminary evidence concerning the reliability and validity of the Greek translation of the MDI. Its properties are similar to those reported in the international literature, but further research is necessary. (+info)
Somatic panic-attack equivalents in a community sample of Rwandan widows who survived the 1994 genocide.
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The present study is the first to attempt to determine rates of panic attacks, especially 'somatically focused' panic attacks, panic disorder, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression levels in a population of Rwandans traumatized by the 1994 genocide. The following measures were utilized: the Rwandan Panic-Disorder Survey (RPDS); the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI); the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ); and the PTSD Checklist (PCL). Forty of 100 Rwandan widows suffered somatically focused panic attacks during the previous 4 weeks. Thirty-five (87%) of those having panic attacks suffered panic disorder, making the rate of panic disorder for the entire sample 35%. Rwandan widows with panic attacks had greater psychopathology on all measures. Somatically focused panic-attack subtypes seem to constitute a key response to trauma in the Rwandan population. Future studies of traumatized non-Western populations should carefully assess not only somatoform disorder but also somatically focused panic attacks. (+info)
Decision making in humans: the effect of manipulating the central noradrenergic system.
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OBJECTIVES: Damasio has proposed an influential model of human decision making-the Somatic Marker Hypothesis (SMH), where he argues that somatic feedback to the brain influences decision making in humans. It is proposed that when choosing between options that differ in relative risk, a somatic marker (for example, a "gut feeling") feeds back to the brain and influences cognitive appraisal. This study tested the hypothesis that the noradrenergic system may play a part in this afferent feedback process. METHODS: Thirty healthy young adults were randomly allocated to receive placebo, 4 mg, or 8 mg reboxetine (a new selective noradrenergic reuptake inhibitor that acts to increase central noradrenergic activity). It is hypothesised that enhancement of central noradrenergic activity may amplify the effect of afferent feedback, and lead to altered decision making. All subjects completed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), a computerised card playing game where the player is instructed to try and win as much money as possible over 100 selections from one of four decks. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the three groups in gambling task performance. CONCLUSION: This result suggests that central noradrenergic activity may not be critically involved in the afferent feedback mechanism that is central to the somatic marker hypothesis. (+info)
The Washington Psychosocial Seizure Inventory (WPSI): psychometric evaluation and future applications.
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The Washington Psychosocial Seizure Inventory (WPSI) clinical scales were developed via an empirical item selection approach and have been used widely to measure aspects of psychosocial functioning of patients with epilepsy. However, these empirically derived clinical scales have not been assessed psychometrically using a modern item response theory-based model. The goals of this study were to: (1) evaluate how items in each clinical scale performed in such a way as to represent the underlying constructs being measured; and (2) derive a shorter version while maintaining measurement precision. WPSI item response data from 145 adults with epilepsy collected for an evaluation study of an intervention to pact negative attributional style in epilepsy were used. The dichotomous Rasch model suitable for the true-false response choices was used to analyse each clinical scale separately. Most items within each scale fit the measurement model well, with very few exceptions. All items, therefore, were retained. A method, based on computerised adaptive testing (CAT), is offered for shortening the WPSI using a psychosocial outcomes item bank derived from the study. Individuals' specific levels of functioning are used to derive measures of their psychosocial functioning with a minimum number of items. (+info)
Correlates of substance use disorder among psychiatric outpatients: focus on cognition, social role functioning, and psychiatric status.
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This study compared psychiatric outpatients who were never, former, and current substance abusers on psychiatric, social, and cognitive functioning. Fifty-six outpatients with schizophrenia spectrum and bipolar disorders volunteered to complete diagnostic and social role function interviews, self-report inventories, and neuropsychological tests. Multinomial logit regression analyses indicated that current and former abusers reported greater subjective feelings of distress than those who never abused. Contrary to expectations, however, both groups of substance abusers performed better on nonverbal cognitive tests compared with those who never abused. Differences in social functioning were also observed: former abusers demonstrated better instrumental role functioning than those who never abused. This pattern of findings challenges assumptions about additive effects of comorbid disorders on cognitive and social functioning. (+info)