Broad Range Of Psychopathology Research Articles

Psychobiology of the borderline disorders--a heuristic approach.

A psychophysiologic approach to understanding borderline behavior is presented in which psychological and biological explanations complement, rather than exclude, one another. Descriptive-objective diagnoses or a target symptom approach are not sufficient to explain borderline behaviors. Phenomena are described that suggest underlying pathophysiologic processes, although they are usually accorded ego psychological explanations. Their underlying common denominator may be inadequate limbic system "filtering" of irrelevant stimuli. Each patient must be seen as an individual, rather than be fitted to a chosen model. Though the borderline constitutes a unique descriptive category, borderline behaviors result from processes generalizable across a broad range of psychopathology.

The Inpatient Behavioral Rating Scale: a 26-item scale for recording nursing observations of patients' mood and behavior.

The Inpatient Behavioral Rating Scale is an inventory designed to record daily nursing observations of mood and behavior of patients in a clinical setting. It has 26 items characterizing a broad range of psychopathology and is suitable for use where change in mood and behavior is relevant to clinical investigation. The format is an optical scan sheet for ease of computer entry and analysis. In over a year of use on two clinical research wards, the scale has been found sensitive to behavioral change, reliable, and easy to use by the nursing staff.