Studying schizophrenia outside the psychiatric setting

Two groups of college students were identified using the MMPI as a screening device: those with normal profiles and those with schizophrenic profiles. All those with previous psychiatric treatment were eliminated. A third group of hospitalized schizophrenics was matched to the first two along lines of age, sex and socioeconomic status. The three groups were then studied via a semistructured interview and compared for the clinical features of hospitalized schizophrenics and for objective enironmental stresses. As predicted, a group of well-functioning, untreated schizophrenics was delineated. The usefulness of the MMPI as a screening device is clarified, and the question of the true prevalence of schizophrenia is discussed. Contrary to prediction, the well-functioning schizophrenics were similar to the hospitalized schizophrenics, not to the normal controls, with regard to objective environmental stresses. The possible meaning of this is discussed considering the concept of subjective environmental stresses.This research is in part supported by USPHS grants MH-18991, MH-19477-01, and State of Illinois 131-13-RD, State of Illinois 218-12-RD.This reasearch is part of an extensive program investigating schizophrenia which is being conducted jointly by the Psychosomatic and Psychatric Institute of Michael Reese Hospital, the Department of Psychiatry, Pritzker School of Medicine, the University of Chicago, and the Illinois State Psychiatric Institute.Received M.D. from Northwestern University. Served psychiatric residency at the Psychosomatic and Psychiatric Institute of Michael Reese Hospital. Main interest is in psychotherapy and psychodynamics of youth.     

Political Cleavages in Sweden and Norway

The topic of the article is a comparison of voter reactions in Sweden and Norway towards some current political issues. The analysis is based upon nationwide election surveys in 1976 (Sweden) and in 1977 (Norway). Despite the fact that the party systems are different in several ways, the patterns of political attitudes in the two electorates are surprisingly similar. The analysis suggests that political cleavages are basically the same in these two neighbouring countries. Likewise the location of corresponding parties in the two systems is approximately the same in relation to specific cleavages.     

Sense of Belonging Among High School Students Representing 4 Ethnic Groups

The authors investigated the dimensions and mechanisms of belonging relevant to motivation and achievement among high school students representing 4 ethnic groups. Using survey data from 9th to 12th grade students (N = 5,494) attending 7 ethnically-diverse high schools, structural equation modeling was employed to explore, independently for each ethnic group, the relationships between students’ perceptions of their belonging (encompassing relationships with teachers and peers, extracurricular involvement, and perceived ethnic-based discrimination), motivation (efficacy beliefs and valuing school activities), and academic success. All 4 measures of belonging were significant for European-American and Latino students. However, friendship nominations were not significant for all groups, suggesting potential variability in perspectives across ethnic groups. The strength of the structural model postulating belonging as a mediator, including statistically significant indirect paths, supported the hypothesis that the belonging construct accounted for much of the relationship between student motivation and success across groups.Beverly Faircloth is a doctoral candidate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research interests include the developmental and motivational processes that support adolescent school engagement in ethnically diverse settings.Jill Hamm is an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1996. Her research interests are adolescents’ peer relations in ethnically diverse schools and classrooms.     

Acute selenium poisoning: suicide by ingestion

Selenium is a ubiquitous element in the environment essential to the human diet and widely utilized in industrial processes. Fatal human selenium intoxication is rare. The authors report a case in which investigators recovered a bottle of gun-bluing agent beside a 24-year-old man. He exhibited signs and symptoms typical of acute selenium intoxication presenting with nausea and vomiting, followed by pulmonary edema and rapid cardiovascular collapse approximately 3 to 4 h after ingestion. Classic electrocardiographic (EKG) changes, which have been reported to occur in acute selenium intoxication, included sinus tachycardia with ST wave alteration. Toxicological results confirmed elevated blood and tissue concentrations. The cause of death was ascribed to acute selenium intoxication, which ensued rapidly after oral consumption. The manner of death was suicide. This case report, which presents an overview of acute and chronic selenium poisoning, underscores the value of thorough toxicologic analyses of tissue and body fluids in humans.     

Prevalence of trauma, PTSD, and dissociation in court-referred adolescents

This study examines the prevalence of trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and dissociative symptoms in adolescents. The sample consisted of 76 females and 76 males, between the ages of 12 and 18, referred to the Child Guidance Clinic of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for a psychological evaluation. Two sets of analyses were conducted. One set included the entire sample; the second set excluded those individuals whose listed referral problem included only being a victim of abuse. Results of the study suggest a high prevalence of trauma in both genders; however, females had significantly higher rates than those reported in males. Similarly, female adolescents demonstrated significantly higher prevalence rates of PTSD symptoms compared with their male counterparts in the entire sample and showed a trend toward significance in the analysis of the subsample. There was a low prevalence of dissociative symptoms across both genders.     

TexPool's Experiences in the 1990s: Policy Implications for Other State Investment Pools

The State of Texas's local government investment pool, TexPool, has faced major challenges in the 1990s. This article provides an overview of two major events involving TexPool: (1) a $2.2 billion "run" on the pool in 1994 and (2) the out-sourcing of TexPool's functions in 1997. The article describes these events and analyzes potential implications for other state-administered investment pools. The article addresses issues such as: (1) the need to develop investment policies and practices that are suitable for a particular pool's objectives and purpose, (2) whether a state government has a responsibility to ensure that participants in a state investment pool do not incur losses, (3) the possible implications of having an elected official as the person with primary responsibility for overseeing the pool, and (4) concerns related to the outsourcing of state investment pools. This article is intended to encourage debate on the policies and practices of state investment pools, which currently are serving more than 15,000 local governments in the United States.