Use of depression rating scales in chronic fatigue syndrome.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the performance of three commonly used depression rating scales in a hospital sample of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

Methods: Sixty-one patients with CDC criteria for CFS completed the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D) and the depression subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-D). Current psychiatric status was assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R.

Convergent and discriminant validity of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Symptom Checklist.

Background: The factor structure of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Symptom Checklist (Y-BOCS-SC) has been well established, but its convergent and divergent reliability have yet to be studied.

Methods: Fifty-six obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients were administered the clinician-administered Y-BOCS-SC and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD), together with the self-administered Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), Padua Inventory (PI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).

Results: Overall, the correspondence between the Y-BOCS-SC and self-administered measures of OCD symptoms was poor to moderate.

Objective assessment of personality disorder in chronic fatigue syndrome.

Objectives: This study aims to objectively assess the prevalence and nature of personality disorders in depressed and nondepressed chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients and compare this to depressed and healthy control groups.

Methods: Sixty-one patients attending a tertiary referral clinic with chronic fatigue syndrome, 40 psychiatric inpatients with depressive disorder and 45 healthy medical students completed the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R Diagnoses (SCID-II) in addition to providing routine clinical and demographic information.

Results: Thirty-nine percent of the CFS group, 73% of the depressed group and 4% of the healthy group were diagnosed with personality disorders.

Relation of neurological soft signs to nonverbal memory performance in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Few studies have examined the relation between neurological soft signs (NSS) and neuropsychological performance in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Thirty outpatients with primary OCD and 30 matched normal controls were administered the Cambridge Neurological Inventory and the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT). A series of multiple regression models tested the relationship between NSS and performance on the RCFT.

Declarative and procedural learning in individuals with subclinical obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

Previous neuropsychological research suggests that psychometrically defined subclinical obsessive-compulsive (OC) individuals perform worse than non-OC controls on specific tests of executive functioning. This study aimed to extend these findings by comparing the performance of 25 subclinical OC and 28 non-OC control subjects on measures of declarative learning (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test), motor procedural learning (star maze), spatial problem solving (single administration of the 3-disk version of the Tower of Hanoi; TH3), and "cognitive" procedural learning (repeated administrations of the 4-disk version of the Tower of Hanoi; TH4). In addition, the subjects were administered measures of general intelligence, anxiety and depression.

Neural correlates of anxiety associated with obsessive-compulsive symptom dimensions in normal volunteers.

Background: The neural correlates of anxiety associated with obsessive-compulsive symptomlike provocation in normal volunteers are unknown.

Methods: Ten healthy volunteers participated in four functional magnetic resonance experiments. Subjects were scanned while viewing alternating blocks of emotional (normally aversive, washing-relevant, checking-relevant, or hoarding-relevant pictures) and neutral pictures, and imagining scenarios related to the content of each picture type.