ABSTRACT
At present, there is a lot of concern about the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Efforts are being made to educate the public about AIDS, so that individuals can take precautions against acquiring or transmitting the disease. Many people with a mental handicap may not benefit from the current education campaign because of limitations in their general understanding and poor or non-existent reading skills. Two cases are presented to illustrate the difficulties encountered in educating people with a mental handicap about AIDS.
Subject(s)
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/prevention & control , Education of Intellectually Disabled/methods , Health Education/methods , Sex Education/methods , Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/transmission , Adult , Bisexuality/psychology , Female , Humans , Intelligence , Male , Risk Factors , Sexual BehaviorABSTRACT
This paper examines the family background, premorbid personality traits and adverse life events preceding childhood depression. The non-depressed group proved more likely to have experienced pre-school bereavement and familial disturbance, and to come from the more deprived background; there was also an excess of premorbid anxiety and hysterical personality traits in this group. School phobia and premorbid obsessional traits were associated with the depressed group. Although there was an association between depression and the total number of adverse life events, this was more substantial when the perceived impact of the events was taken into account. Of the individual classes of life event, only illness and a change in social relationships were associated specifically with depression.
Subject(s)
Depressive Disorder/psychology , Life Change Events , Personality Development , Social Environment , Adaptation, Psychological , Adolescent , Child , Child of Impaired Parents/psychology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Depressive Disorder/diagnosis , Depressive Disorder/epidemiology , England/epidemiology , Female , Humans , Incidence , Male , Mothers/psychology , Personality Assessment/statistics & numerical data , Psychometrics , Risk Factors , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
A total of 275 successive referrals to a university child psychiatry unit out-patient department were examined using the Child Depression Inventory. Of these, 95 children were examined further by a structured clinical interview, and the relationship between different instruments for the assessment of depression in childhood was investigated. Just over one-third of the children (35%) had significant depression, and it was found that depression may be missed unless children with other psychiatric diagnoses are examined closely. Multivariate analyses of the clinical data provided factorial validation of diagnoses when employing different clinical diagnostic schemas.
Subject(s)
Depressive Disorder/diagnosis , Personality Assessment , Personality Development , Adolescent , Child , Child Behavior Disorders/classification , Child Behavior Disorders/diagnosis , Child Behavior Disorders/epidemiology , Child Behavior Disorders/psychology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Depressive Disorder/classification , Depressive Disorder/epidemiology , Depressive Disorder/psychology , England/epidemiology , Female , Humans , Incidence , Interview, Psychological , Male , Neurotic Disorders/classification , Neurotic Disorders/diagnosis , Neurotic Disorders/epidemiology , Neurotic Disorders/psychology , Phobic Disorders/classification , Phobic Disorders/diagnosis , Phobic Disorders/epidemiology , Phobic Disorders/psychology , Psychiatric Status Rating ScalesABSTRACT
Two cases of late onset faecal soiling as a result of anal masturbation in children who were neither mentally handicapped nor psychotic were studied. The role of soiling in aiding the young person and his family to avoid separating and maturing is highlighted. We suggest that the association of anal masturbation and resistant nocturnal soiling may be unrecognised.
Subject(s)
Anal Canal , Encopresis/psychology , Masturbation/psychology , Adolescent , Child , Humans , Male , Mother-Child Relations , Neurotic Disorders/complicationsABSTRACT
Fifty-one school phobic children, aged nine to fourteen years, were assessed for psychiatric diagnosis; this revealed the presence of two clinically meaningful sub-groups--depressed and residual school phobic. A wide range of symptoms were studied to identify those which might prove useful in diagnosing adult-type depression in childhood and early adolescence, both in terms of frequency of symptoms in the depressed group and the extent of the distinction between the two groups. Eleven such key symptoms were identified and based on these, a formula for diagnosing adult-type depression was evolved. The validity of several different ways of classifying the above cases were explored; these covered: kind of disorder; type of onset; adolescence versus pre-adolescence; and sex of the child. However, on only one dichotomy--depression versus absence of depression--were there many significant discriminants. Affective symptomatology of more recent onset was contrasted with pre-morbid personality traits, usually associated with school phobia. There was no evidence to support the concept of 'masked depression' in childhood.
Subject(s)
Depressive Disorder/diagnosis , Phobic Disorders , Adolescent , Age Factors , Child , Depressive Disorder/classification , Depressive Disorder/genetics , Family Characteristics , Female , Humans , Male , Phobic Disorders/etiology , Sex FactorsABSTRACT
A double-blind trial failed to demonstrate any significant short-term effects of clomipramine in doses recommended for use in general practice (in addition to the usual range of psychotherapeutic help) in the treatment of children with school refusal and neurotic disorder. Patterns of improvement were also studied for the sample as a whole irrespective of treatment. Neither age nor sex were significantly related to improvement, except on one behavioural measure where girls initially did better than boys. In addition, it was found that there was a rapid relief of depression but neurotic symptomatology tended to persist.
