Adoption Study, 1975-1982

The purpose of the Iowa Children and Family Services and Lutheran Social Services projects was to assess environmental and genetic influences on subsequent antisocial and/or substance abuse among adoptees and matched controls. The 246 participating families in the study consisted of 136 males and 110 females. The comparative research design resulted in a final sample of 143 participants within the experimental condition, and 103 participants who served as members of the demographically-matched control group. The Lutheran Social Services projects consisted of 214 participating families of which 118 participants (60 males and 58 females) were included in the Alcoholism project, and 96 participants (66 males and 30 females) were included in the project on antisocial behavior. Roughly half of the participants in each project were adoptee control participants matched to the target adoptee participants. All samples were predominantly White. Data were collected in 1975 and included data on adoptee participants with biological family histories of psychiatric dysfunction, the adoptive family, and on the adoptees' matched adoptee controls. Data were collected for the Lutheran Social Services Antisocial project during 1979 and 1980, and data for the Lutheran Social Services Alcoholic project were collected during1981 and 1982. Each project gathered data on adoptee participants with biological family histories of antisocial and alcohol related problems respectively, the adoptive family, and on participants' matched adoptee controls. Variables assessed in both studies included genetic factors (e.g., adoptee physical development, and health), and environmental factors in the adoptive home (e.g., alcohol, antisocial and other behavior problems, death and divorce of adoptive parent(s)). The Murray Archive has numeric file data from both studies

The person with alcoholism

177+hlm.;23c

Psychiatry in primary care

xiii+383hlm.;23c

Psyctuatry in primary care/ Cadoret

xi, 383 hal.; 23 cm

Clozapine\u27s Effect on Negative Symptoms in Treatment-Refractory Schizophrenics

Clozapine has proven to be more effective than typical antipsychotics in treatment-refractory schizophrenic patients, and some evidence suggests that it may be particularly useful in treating the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. However, it is unclear whether this observation reflects improvement in primary or secondary negative symptoms. We hypothesized that a portion of clozapine\u27s effect on negative symptoms would be related to an improvement in positive (psychotic and disorganization) symptoms, a decrease in extrapyramidal side effects (EPSE), and/or a decrease in depressive symptoms. The remainder of its effect would be related to a direct effect on the neural circuits or pathologic processes responsible for the negative symptoms. Twenty-nine treatment-refractory schizophrenics treated with clozapine for 6 weeks were studied. The core negative symptoms measured by the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms ([SANS] affective flattening, anhedonia/asociality, avolition/apathy, and alogia) all improved with clozapine treatment. Overall, there was a 31% improvement in negative symptoms, a 32% improvement in psychotic symptoms, and a 35% improvement in disorganization. The improvement in negative symptoms was correlated with improvement in disorganization, but not with improvement in psychotic symptoms, depression, or drug-induced EPSE. Although there was a correlation between improvement in negative symptoms and improvement in disorganization, there was a suggestion that the two are changing in parallel, but are independent of each other. It appears that at least a portion of clozapine\u27s effect on core negative symptoms is mediated through a direct effect on the underlying pathophysiology of schizophrenia associated with negative symptoms