Behavior In Schizophrenic Patients Research Articles

Association between catechol O-methyltransferase genotype and violence in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.

The authors previously reported a relationship between an allele encoding the low activity variant of catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT) and aggressive behavior in schizophrenic patients. This study replicates and extends these findings by using more direct measures of violent behavior. Fifty-five white patients (34 men, 21 women) with DSM-IV diagnoses of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were selected to form two groups (violent and nonviolent) on the basis of history of aggressive behavior. COMT genotypes were determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. A significant association was found between COMT genotype and history of violent behavior. Sixty-four percent of patients homozygous for the low-activity COMT allele were violent; 80% of patients homozygous for the high-activity allele were nonviolent. The gene determining the activity of an important regulatory enzyme in catecholamine inactivation is associated with violent behavior in patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.

Negative symptoms and behaviour in schizophrenic patients

Negative symptoms and behaviour in schizophrenic patients

Clozapine reduces compulsive water drinking behavior in schizophrenic patients with psychogenic polydipsia

Clozapine reduces compulsive water drinking behavior in schizophrenic patients with psychogenic polydipsia

Abnormal growth of cultured skin fibroblasts associated with poor premorbid history in schizophrenic patients

The relations of abnormal growth of cultured skin fibroblasts, as manifest in prolonged doubling time, and a history of impaired childhood premorbid functioning, separately for social and school (instrumental) functioning were examined in 22 schizophrenic patients. Prolonged doubling time (>2 weeks) was significantly associated with poorer childhood social functioning, even after controlling for variance due to age, sex, race, and age at onset of illness. Doubling time was not associated with school performance scores. The findings indicate that the cellular or molecular process(es) underlying abnormal growth of skin fibroblasts may be involved in, or associated with, aberrant biological processes that contribute to early dyssocial behavior in schizophrenic patients.

Error-correcting behavior in schizophrenic patients

According to Frith (1987) the positive symptoms of schizophrenic patients result from an impaired central monitoring of their own actions. For motor behavior, this impairment implies deficient corrections of erroneous movements. Several studies found that schizophrenic patients did correct erroneous movements less frequently than various control groups. In these studies, movement errors were induced by instructing subjects to alternate between 18 alcoholic controls were subjected to a similar task. Spatial and symbolic compatibility between stimuli and responses were varied in order to induce errors. Schizophrenic patients responded more slowly and took more time to reverse wrong movements than both control groups. They did not show fewer error corrections or increased correction latencies. These results did not support the supposed deficit in central monitoring of action. Schizophrenic patients exhibited more short latency movements with multiple changes of movement direction than the control groups. This may indicate a failure to inhibit the initiation of competing responses.

Repetitive Behaviors in Schizophrenic Patients Admitted to an Acute-Care Unit

Repetitive Behaviors in Schizophrenic Patients Admitted to an Acute-Care Unit

Coping behavior in schizophrenic patients in terms of a situation/operation theory of stress and coping

Many anti-stigma campaigns emphasize biogenetic causes to convey that schizophrenia is an “illness like others”. A growing body of studies shows that although biogenetic explanations reduce blame, they tend to reinforce prognostic pessimism and harsher treatment of people with schizophrenia. In contrast, psychosocial explanations attenuate prognostic pessimism and perceived otherness, but seem less suitable to reduce blame. We hypothesized that a vulnerability-stress model that combines biogenetic and psychosocial explanations would yield clearer stigma-reducing effects than the mono-causal models. In an online-experiment, 416 participants from the general population randomly received either a vulnerability-stress, biogenetic, psychosocial or control-intervention, which consisted of information text and video presentation of a case-example. Causal beliefs, stereotypes and desired social distance were assessed by self-report. Baseline causal beliefs were weakly associated with stereotypes. The vulnerability-stress intervention did not reduce stigma more effectively than the biogenetic or psychosocial intervention and was less effective in reducing perceived blame than the biogenetic intervention. Compared to the control-intervention, no intervention showed significant stigma-reducing effects, but the psychosocial and vulnerability-stress conditions both increased blame. We found no evidence for vulnerability-stress explanations as a mean to reduce stigma. We propose further research to identify more effective ways to tackle stigma.

Dangerous behavior by Viet Nam veterans with schizophrenia.

The military histories of 80 Viet Nam era veterans diagnosed as schizophrenic by DSM-III criteria were examined in relation to measures of dangerous and violent acts. Thirty of the subjects had been in Viet Nam, and 20 of these had been in combat. A stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that high scores on several inpatient and outpatient measures of violence and dangerousness were significantly related to combat experience in Viet Nam and particularly to either killing or witnessing killings of the enemy. It appears that violence-related activities learned in Viet Nam continue to influence the behavior of schizophrenic patients.

Schizophrenic behavior as a function of role expectation.

The hypothesis that the behavior of schizophrenic patients is determined in part by role expectation was investigated. The Holtzman Inkblot Technique and a word association task were administered to the same patients under two conditions: (1) Ss were led to believe that the interviewer was unaware of their patient status and expected them to behave in a normal manner; and (2) Ss were informed that the interviewer was interested in their behavior as mental patients. The results indicated that there was less evidence of pathology on the Holtzman when Ss were told that the interviewer expected them to behave in a normal manner. More specifically, there was less Pathognomonic Verbalization and more Form Appropriateness in the normal expectation condition. The findings are consistent with current views as to the pathogenic effects of labeling and institutionalization.

Gathering naturalistic, objective data on the behavior of schizophrenic patients.

A behavioral observation system, consisting of 12 behavior categories and an apparatus for recording them, was designed as a tool for gathering objective, naturalistic data on the ongoing behavior of hospitalized schizophrenics. After the system was tested and evaluated, it was used to draw behavioral profiles of 62 schizophrenics on two psychiatric wards of a Veterans Administration hospital. The results indicate the labeled schizophrenic is typified by a lack of adaptive behavior, a blankness, and a failure to get involved with his environment.

The home behaviour of schizophrenic patients living in the community and attending a day centre.

With large numbers of psychotic patients now living in the community, there is growing appreciation of the influence of family life on the long-term social outcome of chronic schizophrenia. From the work of Brown, Birley and Wing (1972) it appears that to achieve and maintain optimum clinical stability in ‘typical’ chronic schizophrenia, it is desirable that face-to-face contact between patients and emotional relatives should be held to a minimum and that phenothiazine drugs should be used to soften the impact on the patient of sudden and stressful life changes. Reviewing the many social problems which accrue from this general treatment approach, Stevens (1973) noted a distinct lack of evaluative study of psychotic patients who actually live in the community.

Results and Trends of Conditioning Studies in Schizophrenia

This chapter describes some methodological problems in higher nervous activity (HNA) studies, HNA alterations in schizophrenia, special features of the HNA in various forms and stages of schizophreni, and changes of the HNA in schizophrenia under treatment. The basis of stupor, negativism, delusions, and some hebephrenic features in the behavior of schizophrenic patients is proposed to be an external, trans-marginal inhibition, taking place in different cortical mechanisms. Thus, investigations on the HNA in schizophrenia have contributed to a better understanding of the pathogenetic and pathophysiological mechanisms involved in this severe mental disease and in its various forms and stages. The practical results of value are demonstrated to prognostic prediction and to evaluation of recovery. Further lines of research on the HNA in schizophrenia are suggested.

Biochemical correlates of behavior in schizophrenic patients. Schizophrenic patients receiving tryptophan and methionine or methionine together with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor.

IN THE FIRST part of this longitudinal study, 3,6 a reduced intake of methionine and tryptophan failed to affect schizophrenic behavior conclusively. During this period of seven months of continuously controlled tryptophan intake we found that increases of urinary indoles occurred independently of tryptophan intake when schizophrenic symptoms in some of the patients grew worse spontaneously. The excretions of catecholamines 34 and urinary steroid hormones 28 were also elevated with accompanying motor hyperactivity, increased tension and anxiety. The objective of the second part of this investigation was to study the behavioral responses to increases of methionine and tryptophan as well as that of methionine given together with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI). Both improvement and worsening of behavior have been reported for normal, schizophrenic, and depressed subjects. 9,14,27,32 It appeared, therefore, of interest to study urinary excretion patterns in relation to amino acid intake and accompanying