[Prediction of developmental problems and functional disabilities in infancy]. / Prediksjon av utviklingsvansker og funksjonshemning hos spedbarn.

Methods to identify developmental problems in children have been requested for a long time. We wanted to find out whether high scores of cumulative non-optimality during infancy indicated disability or developmental problems. In a prospective study, a population of children (n = 1,217) was followed from pregnancy until the age of four. Medical, motor, and neurological data, as well as information about attention and social interaction were added in a cumulative non-optimality score. Information about family and environment was also included. When the children were four years of age, multiple methods were used to identify those with disability and developmental problems. Complete data were obtained for 926 children. The predictive values of the instrument were based on children diagnosed as functionally disabled at the age of four (n = 32). The sensitivity was 87.5%, specificity 93%, positive predictive value 30.8% and negative predictive value was 99.5%. These values are higher than those of comparable methods. The method could be implemented in the normal Norwegian "child health centre" without difficulty. The discussion in this article focuses on whether or not the method should be implemented in the ordinary health care system.

The Extended Staff Observation Aggression Scale (SOAS-E): development, presentation and evaluation.

The Staff Observation Aggression Scale (SOAS) was developed as a scale for reporting aggressive incidents involving psychiatric in-patients. The SOAS -- Extended Version (SOAS-E) has the same aim, but has additional categories and subcategories. The SOAS-E clearly distinguishes between violent and non-violent aggressive behaviour and characterizes in more detail the associated situation. However, the main contribution of the SOAS-E is the introduction of a category of 'warning signals' that precede the releasing 'provocation factor' as a separate and primary aspect of the cyclus of aggressive incidents. The development of the SOAS-E is described, and the testing and inter-rater reliability of the warning signals category are examined. Compared to the SOAS, the additional categories of the SOAS-E are found to increase the scope for a detailed characterization of aggressive behaviour in psychiatric wards.

Changes in heritability across increasing levels of behavior problems in young twins.

The present study addresses the issue of differential heritability with increasing severity of parent-reported internalizing and externalizing behavior problems assessed by the Child Behavior Checklist. The sample includes 526 identical and 389 fraternal same-sexed twin pairs from five national birth cohorts, aged 5-6, 8-9, and 12-15 years. Heritability (h2), common environment (c2), and changes in these parameters as a function of proband score were analyzed by multiple regression models (Cherny et al., 1992). Internalizing and externalizing behavior showed significant heritability. A small increment in h2 and a reduction of c2 with increasing severity of externalizing behavior were independent of sex and age. For internalizing behavior h2 increased and c2 declined with increasing severity for the 5-6 and 8-9 year olds. Logarithmic transformation of scores lowered h2 and increased c2, particularly for externalizing behavior. The changes in heritability with severity were nonsignificant for the transformed variables.

Affects and affect consciousness : initial experiences with the assessment of affect integration.

Affect consciousness (AC) was operationalized as degrees of awareness, tolerance, nonverbal expression, and conceptual expression of nine specific affects. A semistructured interview (ACI) and separate scales were developed to assess these aspects of affect integration. Their psychometric properties were preliminarily explored by having 20 former psychiatric outpatients complete the interview. Concurrent validity was assessed by using DSM-III-R Axis I and II diagnoses, the Health-Sickness Rating Scale, SCL-90-R, and several indexes from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. Satisfactory interrater reliability and high levels of internal consistency supported the construct validity of the measure. Results suggest the most meaningful use of this instrument is in measuring specific affect and overall AC. Clinically, the ACI has provided highly specific and relevant qualitative data for use in planning psychotherapeutic interventions.

Personality disorders and psychosocial changes after intensive psychotherapy: a prospective follow-up study of an outpatient psychotherapy project, 5 years after end of treatment.

This report presents the results of a 7-year prospective outcome study designed to examine the psychosocial changes during and after therapy among 25 outpatients suffering from personality disorders and psychoses. The therapeutic approach was based mainly on object relations theory and psychodynamic self-psychology, and focused in particular on affect consciousness, parental images, self-image and interpersonal relations. Twenty patients completed the form which measured psychosocial changes during therapy, and 21 persons participated at follow-up. The data show statistically significant changes in the capacity to tolerate intimate relationships and actually establish such relationships, improved quality of contact in relationships with friends, a general raising of socioeconomic status and reduced use of ordinary health and social services. Both the global psychosocial outcome at follow-up as measured by HSRS and the general level of symptoms measured by SCL-90 suggest that 76% of the sample had reached a level of psychosocial functioning and adaptation that can be defined as "no-caseness".

No differential heritability of intelligence test scores across ability levels in Norway.

The possibility of differential heritability of intelligence test scores across levels of ability has been raised in several recent reports. In the present paper intelligence test data from 862 monozygotic and 1325 dizygotic male twin pairs tested at about 19 years of age were analyzed in search for changes in heritability and shared environmentality as a function of ability level. The analyses were performed by means of multiple regression models (e.g., Cherny et al., 1992). No evidence of differential heritability across different ability levels was detected.