Arch Gen Psychiatry
June 1986
In nationwide surveys of the extent and nature of psychotherapeutic drug use conducted in 1970 and 1979, respondents were also questioned about their knowledge of tranquilizers and attitudes toward the use of these medications in general and in specific situations. In both 1970 and 1979, most Americans believed that tranquilizers were effective; by 1979, however, we found a sharp increase in the proportion of respondents who believed that these medications were overprescribed. Reservations about the effects of tranquilizers on health, mood, and behavior had also become more widespread by 1979.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough it has been well documented that narcotic addicts derive the bulk of their income from criminal activities and that there are major differences between black and white addicts, interview data presented in this paper show little difference between the two races with respect to the degree of dependence on criminal income. However, the results also highlight the diversity among narcotic addicts in that there are some individuals who derive none of their funds from illegal sources, thus suggesting that not all addicts should be treated in the same manner.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn a study of the interrelationships among 12 separate indices of social pathology, including drug abuse, in which census tracts were the units of analysis, moderate to high intercorrelations among all indices were observed. A subsequent components-types factor analysis revealed only a single eigenvalue greater than unity, suggesting that the interrelationships among the several indices may be most parsimoniously explained in terms of a single underlying construct-generalized social pathology. Exact factor scores on this construct were computed for each tract, and those may be viewed as estimates of the degree of social upheaval present.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA method is reported for classifying survey respondents according to syndromes resembling some of the anxiety disorders as defined by DSM III, using responses to a standard clinical symptom checklist administered on a large scale in the U.S.A.
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