Personality assessment of substance-dependent patients in a therapeutic community.

The design and implementation of a personality assessment system for severely substance-dependent men in a therapeutic community (TC) are described. The system was designed from a treatment utility perspective (Hayes, Nelson, & Jarrett, 1987) and uses the Personality Research Form E (Jackson, 1984) to provide each patient with feedback (a) describing his normal personality traits, (b) predicting his probable pattern of adjustment to the treatment setting, and (c) prescribing specific actions he can take to address potentially problematic behaviors. Discussing the the results with the patient helps him cope with the TC. Reviewing the assessment results with the staff promotes their empathy for the patient as a person whose behavior can be understood as an interaction of his personality with the specific demands of the TC rather than seeing the patient in exclusively pathological terms. Specific suggestions for behavior change guide both the patient and the staff and are potentially useful in various treatment settings.

Self-reported symptoms of stress in Finnish patients with craniomandibular disorders.

This study compared the stress reports of Finnish craniomandibular disorder patients and nonpatients by using the Symptoms of Stress Inventory as a screening device. A comparison of Finnish and American craniomandibular disorder patients' stress reports was made in the same manner. The overall stress level of craniomandibular disorder patients was higher than that of nonpatients. The patients had elevated scores on somatic subscales, with muscle tension symptoms being the most characteristic. These results are in accordance with American results. However, statistically significant differences were not found for emotional symptoms.

Assessing depression in substance abusers: Beck Depression Inventory and SCL-90R.

The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and two subscales of the Symptom Checklist-90R (SCL-90R) were compared for assessing depression by giving both instruments to 32 inpatient and 22 outpatient substance abusers. For the inpatients (N = 27), 1-month test-retest reliabilities were .82, .87, and .84 for the BDI and the two subscales of the SCL-90R respectively. For both inpatients (two occasions) and outpatients, the BDI correlated highly (.82 to .90) with the two depression subscales of the SCL-90R. Using both the BDI and the SCL-90R in the same study may simply provide redundant information rather than a more comprehensive assessment of depression in substance abusers.

Distress, jaw habits, and connective tissue laxity as predisposing factors to TMJ sounds in adolescents.

Immediately before a craniomandibular examination and measurement of wrist laxity, 96 adolescents answered a questionnaire about jaw habits, jaw activities, symptoms of stress, facial trauma, and TMJ sounds. The sample was divided into five subgroups on the basis of history and stethoscopically detected TMJ sounds. Some groups with TMJ sounds had significantly more jaw habits, jaw activities, and symptoms of stress than the control group (without history and clinically detected TMJ sounds). No significant differences emerged in angular measurement of wrist laxity between groups with TMJ sounds and the control group. This preliminary study indicates that an adolescent's distress may be associated with TMJ sounds. Further studies on subgroups of adolescents with different TMJ-related symptoms and signs are urged.

Ankylosed teeth as abutments for maxillary protraction: a case report.

It has been recognized that using the maxillary teeth to deliver extraoral force to the maxilla not only results in sutural remodeling but also periodontal remodeling and tooth movement. In patients with severe maxillomandibular malrelationships, the potential for tooth movement often limits the amount and duration of extraoral force and, consequently, affects the success of treatment. This case report describes a technique to intentionally ankylose deciduous teeth in a patient with severe maxillary retrusion. The ankylosed teeth were used as abutments to deliver an anteriorly directed intermittent extraoral force. After 12 months of treatment, the anterior crossbite was nearly corrected. At that point the ankylosed teeth loosened because of root resorption and the treatment was terminated. Cephalometric superimposition demonstrated that the occlusal correction was the result of anterior maxillary movement with little mandibular growth and no movement of the ankylosed teeth. The results suggest that intentionally ankylosed teeth may be used as abutments for extraoral traction in patients with a severe disturbance in maxillary growth.

Migration of craniofacial periosteum in growing guinea-pigs.

The use of a carbon particle tattoo provided stable periosteal markers and a means of recording periosteal movement both anteroposteriorly and transversely during growth in guinea-pigs. In general, the periosteum migrated toward the cranial sutures. The radial pattern, demonstrated on the frontal bones and indicated on the nasal and parietal bones, showed that a periosteal envelope is identifiable with each bone. The area of origin of this centrifugal pattern of migration coincided with the ossification centre of that bone. Trabeculae and vascular canals tended to point in the direction of periosteal migration. The anteroposterior periosteal migration was proportional to but less than the anteroposterior growth of the craniofacial bones studied. The absolute medial periosteal marker migration, similar on the frontal and parietal bones, was directed in the opposite direction from the slight transverse bone growth. This may indicate a biophysical response to tension on the fibrous periosteum from the principally anteroposterior craniofacial growth. The amount of growth at the frontonasal, coronal and midline sutures diminished from anterior to posterior. The observed histological and morphological sutural characteristics concurred with these growth changes which correlate with the decreased cranial and increased facial growth during the age period studied. Although the fibrous periosteum is continuous over the separate membranous bones its behaviour appears to be intimately related to the growth of the craniofacial bones which it covers. The blending of the fibrous periosteum within the transverse sutures may prevent significant migration across craniofacial bones. It seems that the observed migratory patterns result from a close association of the fibrous periosteum with each growing craniofacial bone. The relationship of the fibrous periosteum to the growth of the craniofacial bones is a question requiring further investigation.

Migration of craniofacial periosteum in guinea-pigs with unilateral masticatory muscle paralysis.

The amount and direction of movement of the fibrous periosteum of the nasal, frontal, and parietal bones in the guinea-pig have been documented after experimentally induced unilateral paralysis of the masticatory muscles. Marked craniofacial asymmetries and muscle atrophy were observed after electrolytic lesions of the trigeminal motor nucleus were made. The induced muscle paralysis had only a small effect on the periosteal migration. The direction of migration was slightly less medial on the operated as compared to the non-operated side. The periosteal migration of the non-operated side closely paralleled the direction of movements observed in the control animals studied previously. There was an increase of bone apposition at the coronal sutural margins on the operated side and an associated convexity of the midline toward the operated side. Additional research on the dynamic relationship of the muscle-periosteum-bone interface is necessary in order to understand better the morphogenetic controls of craniofacial growth.

Sutural morphogenesis in the mouse calvaria: the role of apoptosis.

Sutural morphogenesis was studied in calvariae of fetal and newborn 16- to 26-day postconception C57B1/6J mice. The squamoid pattern characteristic of most calvarial sutures appeared to be established during the phase of approach of the adjacent bone territories as they assumed different ecto/ifendocranial planes within the desmocranium. When this stratification failed, apoptosis, a form of cell death, was seen to occur upon physical contact of the leading osteogenic cells of each heterotopic bone territory. Apoptosis appeared as part of a secondary morphogenetic mechanism preventing physical contact and resultant fusion of adjacent mineralized zones, as well as enhancing appearance of the usual pattern of overlap of calvarial sutures.

Cranial synostosis and intra-uterine compression: a developmental study of human sutures.

The following hypothetical statements can be made. 1) Increased intra-uterine compression of the human cranium during the third trimester appears to produce sagittal synostosis by irreversibly altering the still immature sutural tissue that separates the parietal bones. 2) Intra-uterine compression does not cause facial sutures to fuse because they are physically shielded by the larger neurocranium and their ligaments are sufficiently mature to survive a chronic compressive force. 3) Postnatal compression of cranial and facial sutures normally does not result in bony fusion because their vascularized, differentiated, mature ligaments are capable of repair and regeneration.

Sculpture preferences and personality traits.

Factor analyzed the preference ratings of 70 male and 70 female undergraduates for 36 slides of sculpture. A principal factors solution with orthogonal rotations yielded 6 factors: ambiguous abstraction vs. controlled human realism, mildly distorted representation, emotional detachment, traditional portraiture vs. surrealism, highly distorted representation, and geometric abstraction. Some of these factors were similar to the Apollonian, the Dionysian, and the Pythagorean dimensions previously postualted by Nietzsche and Knapp. Preference scores for each factor were computed and correlated with scores on the 16 PF and with selected educational and physical variables. A few small, significant (p less than .05) correlations were found, supporting the hypothesis that artistic style preferences resemble the personality traits of the spectator.