Jeri A. Doane

Communication deviance in families of schizophrenic and manic patients.

Levels of communication deviance (CD) distinguish parents of schizophrenic patients from parents of nonpsychotic patients, but the prevalence of intrafamilial CD in other psychotic disorders has not been examined. Levels of CD were compared across biological parents of schizophrenic (n = 39) and bipolar manic (n = 16) patients and across patients themselves. CD ratings were based on Thematic Apperception Test protocols (parents only) and family interactions (parents and patients). Total levels of CD did not distinguish between groups of parents or patients. However, instances of odd word usage were more frequent among parents of manic patients than among parents of schizophrenic patients on both CD measures. Also, during the interaction task, odd word usage was more frequent among manic patients, whereas schizophrenic patients made more ambiguous references. Results suggest that high levels of intrafamilial CD are not unique to schizophrenia.

Family factors in the onset, course, and treatment of schizophrenic spectrum disorders: an update on current research.

Recent findings from several research projects on the role of family factors in the onset, course, and treatment of schizophrenia are discussed. The report emphasizes several key issues facing researchers in this field such as how family characteristics associated with onset are related to the course of schizophrenia, replicability of findings on expressed emotion and relapse rates, and the construct validity of measures of familial characteristics. Ongoing studies employing neuroleptic treatment and family therapy are outlined, and the implications of these preliminary findings are discussed.

Effects of Emotion on Perceptual Asymmetry in Adolescent Inpatients with Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

OBJECTIVE The authors studied the hemispheric functioning of adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in relation to this groups response to positively toned emotional stimuli. METHOD Dichotic word tests were used to measure perceptual asymmetry in 21 adolescent inpatients and 24 control subjects. Ten patients had ADHD; 11 did not. Subjects were tested under four emotional conditions by using combinations of neutral, positive, and negative words. RESULTS the ADHD group had lower right ear advantage (REA) scores when presented with stimulus pairs containing positive words than when presented with pairs not containing positive words. By comparison, the non-ADHD patient group and the control group had higher REA scores under positive emotional conditions than under non-positive conditions. CONCLUSIONS The abnormal response to positive emotional tone supports the reward system dysfunction hypothesis of ADHD and may also have implications for learning problems, behavioral difficulties, and disturbed interpersonal relationships in this population.

Communication Deviance in Adolescence and Adulthood: A Longitudinal Study

Measures of communication deviance (CD) on the TAT were obtained for a sample of nonpsychotically disturbed adolescents and repeated 15 years later. For both males and females, total amount of CD significantly increased from adolescence to adulthood. The proportion of certain types of CD in an individuals speech was relatively stable across time, but further analysis indicated that the phenomenon was significant only for the females. Low amounts of CD in adulthood were associated with absence of any psychiatric disturbance throughout the 15-year follow-up period.

Parental communication deviance and schizophrenia: a cross-cultural comparison of Mexican- and Anglo-Americans.

Levels of parental communication deviance (CD), as measured on the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), were compared among families of schizophrenic patients in two culturally distinct groups. Spanish-speaking Mexican-American parents of schizophrenics completed the TAT in their native language, and CD was coded from their stories by a Spanish-speaking rater. Mexican-American parents had levels of CD that were nearly identical to those of a carefully matched sample of English-speaking Anglo-American parents. Factor scores that measure distinct subtypes of CD also did not differ across groups. The data suggest that levels of CD, despite discriminating between parents of schizophrenics and nonschizophrenics, do not vary across different languages and cultures.

Familial Characteristics of Adolescents Vulnerable to Subsequent Antisocial Disorders

Are there intrafamilial attributes that are uniquely characteristic of families of antisocial young adults? The UCLA Family Project was designed specifically to answer questions such as this. In 1965 the project began with the goal of studying the family’s contribution to the etiology of schizophrenia, (table 19-1). The project is a longitudinal, prospective study of groups of disturbed adolescents thought to vary in their degree of risk for subsequent schizophrenia and schizophrenia—like conditions. Although the original aim was to attempt to identify marker variables which could serve as predictors of schizophrenia, analysis of the first five year followup of this sample revealed that in addition to those who developed schizophrenic disorders, there were also a sizable number of individuals who developed an antisocial personality. The emergence of this subgroup provided a unique opportunity to compare and contrast the familial attributes of antisocial young adults with those who developed other psychiatric disorders.