A double-blind clinical trial of alprazolam, imipramine, or placebo in the depressed elderly.

The efficacy and safety of alprazolam as compared to imipramine or a placebo added to weekly interpersonal psychotherapy was compared in a 6-week double-blind randomized clinical trial of 35 ambulatory elderly patients with major depression. The average maximum dosage of alprazolam was 2.2 mg and the average maximum dosage of imipramine was 97.

The effects of age and sex on depression ratings in children and adolescents.

The self-reports of depressive symptomatology of the 89 children and the parental reports of 62 parents whose children had such symptoms from a sample of 220 children, aged 6 to 23 years, in a family-genetic study of children at high and low risk of depression were examined for the effects of the age and sex of the child. The age of the child at interview proved to have a significant effect upon the dating of the onset of dysphoric episodes and the dating of the worst ever episode of dysphoria. The older girls reported about two more depressive symptoms on average than the younger girls.

Psychiatric diagnoses of treatment-seeking cocaine abusers.

In a sample of 298 cocaine abusers seeking inpatient (n = 149) or outpatient (n = 149) treatment, rates of psychiatric disorders were determined by means of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Research Diagnostic Criteria. Overall, 55.7% met current and 73.

Psychiatric disorders in relatives of probands with opiate addiction.

Previous research has documented high rates of major depression and antisocial personality in opiate addicts. This study was designed to investigate the relationship of dual diagnosis in opiate-addicted probands to family history of psychiatric disorders and substance use disorders in biological relatives. Psychiatric disorders and substance use disorders were evaluated using direct interview and family history in a sample of 877 first-degree relatives of 201 opiate addicts and 360 relatives of 82 normal controls.

Inverse relationship between defensiveness and lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorder.

Defensiveness (the tendency not to report unfavorable information about oneself), as measured by the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, has been shown to be inversely correlated with self-reported symptoms. In this family study of depression, direct interviews with 380 subjects combined with relatives' reports revealed a similar inverse relationship between defensiveness and lifetime prevalence of any psychiatric disorder, especially when diagnostic status was most certain and among those at greater risk for psychopathology. The authors conclude that the Marlowe-Crowne scale measures a factor or trait associated with the relative absence of psychiatric disorder, not the underreporting or denial of disorder.