Dysphoria in male alcoholics with a history of hallucinations.

This paper examines severity of depressive symptoms, as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory, in chronic alcoholics with and without a history of hallucinations. We found a) alcoholics entering alcohol treatment who have experienced hallucinations during detoxification report higher levels of subjective depression than alcoholics who have never experienced hallucinations, b) the level of subjective depression in alcoholics with a history of hallucinations remains higher at the end of inpatient alcohol treatment than in alcoholics without hallucinations, and c) hallucination is the important variable; alcoholics with blackouts, seizures, and delirium tremens, do not experience higher levels of depression during detoxification. The reporting of a significantly higher level of depressive symptoms by alcoholics with a history of experiencing hallucinations during withdrawal suggests that in some alcoholics, there exists a vulnerability for mood abnormalities which includes a predisposition toward other abnormal mental phenomena such as perceptual distortions.

Replicated factor structure of the Beck Depression Inventory.

The factor structure of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was examined in an initial sample of 407 patients and replicated in a sample of 370 patients, using principal components analysis and varimax rotation. The entire sample was 98% male, with ages ranging from 22 to 88 years. The incidence of alcoholism was 72%, and the incidence of major mental illnesses was 17%.

Patient-predicted length of stay and diagnosis-related-group reimbursement.

Comparing patient-predicted to actual length of stay of 127 general psychiatric inpatients, the authors found excessive length of stay among demented geriatric patients and young patients with personality disorders. They recommend altering treatment provision to reduce stays to diagnosis-related-group standards.

MMPI correlates of the degree of generalized impairment based on the Halstead-Reitan Battery.

The relationship between personality, as measured by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), and neuropsychological status as measured by subtests from the Halstead-Reitan Battery was explored for 63 male veterans. Multiple regression analysis indicates only Ego Strength and Masculinity-Femininity contributed significantly to the regression equation. Results suggest less cognitive impairment is correlated with greater emotional stability.

Personality organization as an aspect of back pain in a medical setting.

The MMPI profiles of 74 low back pain patients who had previously been classified as "functional,""organic," or "mixed" were sorted into six profile groups. The six profile groups were those used by Pichot, Perse, Lekous, Dureau, Perez, and Rychewaert (1972); denial, "conversion V" without defensiveness, "conversion V" with defensiveness, depressed/anxious, psychotic and normal. Results indicate that all six profile types are well represented in the low back pain group.

Personality dysfunction and lateralized deficits in cerebral functions as measured by the MMPI and Reitan-Halstead Battery.

Previous research using the MMPI has failed to show personality differences between right and left hemispheric brain-damaged patients. The purposes of the present study were, first to determine whether lateralized deficits in cortical functioning as measured by neuropsychological testing are systematically associated with neurotic-psychotic distinctions on the MMPI. Secondly, we wished to determine the strength of predictive association in the relationship between lateralized functional deficits and personality organization.

The use of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory with low back pain patients.

The MMPI was administered to 36 male low back pain patients at the Seattle Veterans Administration Hospital. The patients were divided into three groups of 12 each. The organic group contained patients who had an organic basis for their pain.