Spanish version of the link´s perceived devaluaton and discrimination scale / Versión española de la escala Perceived Devaluation and Discrimination de Link

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to translate, adapt and validate the «Perceived Devaluation and Discrimination Scale» (PDD) in Spanish in a sample of people with schizophrenia. METHOD: A total of 130 people between 18 and 65 years and with a diagnosis of schizophrenia according to DSM-IV-R criteria from Barcelona and Vitoria were included. The patients were assessed with the translated version of the PDD, the Social Functioning Scale (SFS), the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), the Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI-S) and the Self-perception of Stigma Questionnaire for people with schizophrenia (SSQ). RESULTS: The questionnaire scored a Cronbach's a of .868 regarding its internal consistency reliability. Two components were found in the factorial analysis explaining 40% of the variance of the instrument (component 1 associated with individual self-perception and component 2 refers more to social stigma). The stability of the instrument measured using the intraclass correlation coefficient on both occasions oscillated between .415 and .806. Significant correlations were found with SSQ and SFS. CONCLUSIONS: The Spanish version of the PDD seems a good instrument for the assessment of self stigma

ANTECEDENTES: el objetivo de este estudio es traducir, adaptar y validar la «Perceived Devaluation and Discrimination Scale» (PDD) en español en una muestra de personas con esquizofrenia. MÉTODO: se incluyeron un total de 130 personas de entre 18 y 65 años con un diagnóstico de esquizofrenia según los criterios del DSM-IV-R de Barcelona y Vitoria. Los pacientes fueron evaluados con la versión traducida de la PDD, la Escala de Funcionamiento Social (SFS), la Evaluación Global de Funcionamiento (GAF), la escala Clinical Global Impresión (CGI-S) y la autopercepción de Estigma Cuestionario para las personas con esquizofrenia (SSQ). RESULTADOS: la consistencia interna del cuestionario, evaluada utilizando a de Cronbach, fue .868. Dos componentes fueron encontrados en el análisis factorial explicando el 40% de la varianza del instrumento (componente 1 asociado a la auto-percepción y el componente 2 individual se refiere más al estigma social). Los valores de estabilidad temporal medidos utilizando el coeficiente de correlación intraclase en ambas ocasiones oscilan entre .415 y .806. Se encontraron correlaciones significativas con SSQ y SFS. CONCLUSIONES: la versión española de PDD parece un buen instrumento para la evaluación del auto-estigma

Spanish version of the Link's Perceived Devaluation and Discrimination scale.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to translate, adapt and validate the “Perceived Devaluation and Discrimination Scale” (PDD) in Spanish in a sample of people with schizophrenia. METHOD: A total of 130 people between 18 and 65 years and with a diagnosis of schizophrenia according to DSM-IV-R criteria from Barcelona and Vitoria were included. The patients were assessed with the translated version of the PDD, the Social Functioning Scale (SFS), the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), the Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI-S) and the Self-perception of Stigma Questionnaire for people with schizophrenia (SSQ). RESULTS: The questionnaire scored a Cronbach’s a of .868 regarding its internal consistency reliability. Two components were found in the factorial analysis explaining 40% of the variance of the instrument (component 1 associated with individual self-perception and component 2 refers more to social stigma). The stability of the instrument   measured using the intraclass correlation coefficient on both occasions oscillated between .415 and .806. Significant correlations were found with SSQ and SFS. CONCLUSIONS: The Spanish version of the PDD seems a good instrument for the assessment of self stigma.

Double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the efficacy of reboxetine and citalopram as adjuncts to atypical antipsychotics for negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we assessed the efficacy of 2 pharmacodynamically different antidepressants, citalopram (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) and reboxetine (a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor), as adjunctive therapy to risperidone and olanzapine for the treatment of negative symptoms in schizophrenia. METHOD: We performed a 6-month, multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial. The recruitment period was from November 2008 to December 2011.The sample comprised 90 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia (DSM-IV criteria) who exhibited negative symptoms. The patients were recruited from 10 centers in different cities of the Spanish State. The primary efficacy measure was change in score on the negative subscale of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) between baseline and 6-month assessment. Other efficacy measures were changes in the PANSS subscales and total score, as well as the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) subscales and total score. RESULTS: For statistical analysis, we employed mixed-effects models. We did not find statistically significant differences between the placebo group and the 2 treatment groups at 6-month assessments for the PANSS total (P=.6511), any PANSS subscale (negative [P=.5533], positive [P=.1723], or general psychopathology [P=.2083]), or the SANS (P= .5884). Cohen d measure showed a small effect size below the 0.5 threshold for all comparisons. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, our results do not support adjunctive use of citalopram or reboxetine with risperidone or olanzapine for the treatment of negative symptoms in schizophrenia. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01300364.

Toronto alexithymia scale for patients with eating disorder: [corrected] performance using the non-parametric item response theory.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the performance of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in patients with eating disorders. As a secondary objective, we analyzed a subset of items in order to determine whether the total score is a good tool for classifying these patients and whether the items are ordered according to the difficulty of choosing a particular answer depending on the severity of the patient's condition. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We administered the TAS-20 to 103 consecutive patients who met DSM-IV-R criteria for anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or eating disorders not otherwise specified. Mokken scale analysis, nonparametric item response theory (NIRT), and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to test the psychometric properties of the scale. To improve our understanding of the structure underlying the TAS-20, we used an automated item selection procedure based on the Mokken scale. RESULTS: We identified a subset of 13 independent and clinically interpretable items that are potentially sufficient to rate patients with alexithymia. This subset was considered a unidimensional reduction of the TAS-20. However, the scale composed of this subset needs to be validated. Thirteen of the 20 items were maximally related to alexithymia because they have a one-dimensional structure. The NIRT and CFA enabled us to identify a maximal subset of items that conform to the requirements for good measurement of alexithymia in patients with eating disorders.