Rejection attitudes, poor parental bonding, and stressful life events in heroin addicts' families.

Background: The influence of family factors on the development and/or on maintenance of heroin addiction still remains unclear.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate family factors, which might be associated with heroin addiction in a sample of male individuals.

Methods: A group of 40 heroin addicts' families was compared with a group of 17 families with a member presenting schizophrenia and a group of 27 families with mentally healthy members in regard to (1) parents' rejection attitudes toward their adult child, (2) quality of parental bond, as perceived by the adult child, and (3) stressful life events in the nuclear family.

Education in mental health promotion and its impact on the participants' attitudes and perceived mental health.

Background: Although the promotion of mental health (MHP) through education and training is widely accepted, there is scarce evidence for its effectiveness in the literature from outcome studies worldwide. The present study aimed to assess the effect of a three-semester MHP educational program on the recipients' opinions towards mental illness and on their own self-assessed health.

Methods: Respondents were 78 attendees who completed the assessment battery at the first (baseline) and the last session (end) of the training course.

Diachronic trends of employment outcome of prevocational training in psychiatric rehabilitation.

Background: Although many rehabilitation programmes of prevocational training for chronic mentally ill persons living in the community have been funded, there is scarce literature about the diachronic trends of their long-term employment outcome. Thus the aim of the present study was to compare the 2-year employment outcome of three groups of chronic psychiatric outpatients, having attended similar prevocational rehabilitation programmes in different periods of time.

Methods: The first group (1984 to 1986) comprised 67 rehabilitees, the second (1988 to 1989) 53 rehabilitees and the third (2000 to 2001) 56 rehabilitees.

Using the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Generic for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders in a Greek sample with a wide range of intellectual abilities.

We studied the interrelationship between the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Generic (ADOS-G), the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) and DSM-IV clinical diagnosis, in a Greek sample of 77 children and adolescents, referred for the assessment of a possible pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) and presenting a wide range of cognitive abilities. The agreement of the ADOS-G and the ADI-R with the clinical diagnosis was estimated as satisfactory and moderate, respectively, while both instruments presented with excellent sensitivity for the diagnosis of autistic disorder along with satisfactory specificity. ADOS-G/ADI-R agreement was estimated as fair.

Childhood depression: a place for psychotherapy. An outcome study comparing individual psychodynamic psychotherapy and family therapy.

Background: Although considered clinically effective, there is little systematic research confirming the use of Individual Psychodynamic Psychotherapy or Family Therapy as treatments for depression in children and young adolescents.

Aims: A clinical trial assessed the effectiveness of these two forms of psychotherapy in treating moderate and severe depression in this age group.

Methods: A randomised control trial was conducted with 72 patients aged 9-15 years allocated to one of two treatment groups.