Non-verbal communication in meetings of psychiatrists and patients with schizophrenia

Objective Recent evidence found that patients with schizophrenia display non‐verbal behaviour designed to avoid social engagement during the opening moments of their meetings with psychiatrists. This study aimed to replicate, and build on, this finding, assessing the non‐verbal behaviour of patients and psychiatrists during meetings, exploring changes over time and its association with patients' symptoms and the quality of the therapeutic relationship. Method 40‐videotaped routine out‐patient consultations, involving patients with schizophrenia, were analysed. Non‐verbal behaviour of patients and psychiatrists was assessed during three fixed, 2‐min intervals using a modified Ethological Coding System for Interviews. Symptoms, satisfaction with communication and the quality of the therapeutic relationship were also measured. Results Over time, patients' non‐verbal behaviour remained stable, whilst psychiatrists' flight behaviour decreased. Patients formed two groups based on their non‐verbal profiles, one group (n = 25) displaying pro‐social behaviour, inviting interaction and a second (n = 15) displaying flight behaviour, avoiding interaction. Psychiatrists interacting with pro‐social patients displayed more pro‐social behaviours (P < 0.001). Patients' pro‐social profile was associated reduced symptom severity (P < 0.05), greater satisfaction with communication (P < 0.001) and positive therapeutic relationships (P < 0.05). Conclusion Patients' non‐verbal behaviour during routine psychiatric consultations remains unchanged, and is linked to both their psychiatrist's non‐verbal behaviour and the quality of the therapeutic relationship

Space Habitat, assembly and repair facility

Integrated Space Systems (ISS) has designed a Low Earth Orbit Assembly Facility for submission in the 1992 AIAA/LORAL Team Space Design Competition. This facility, the Space Habitat, Assembly, and Repair Center (SHARC), will be used to construct, assemble, and service space vehicles. SHARC's primary mission will be the construction of interplanetary vehicles, but it will also be able to perform repair and refueling operations of craft which are in an Earth orbit. This facility has been designed using only present and near-present technology. The emphasis is on minimizing cost

[Psychiatric disorders in emigrants. III. Follow-up after two and a half years].

In the first and the second part of this study we reported about first examination and a six month follow-up in patients who had left East-Germany in 1989. In this third and last part, findings of a two and a half year follow-up in 52 patients are shown. 92% of the patients reported further improvement, 87% stated to have an adequate job, and also 87% to have satisfactory accommodation. Frequency of complaints and level of psychopathological symptoms were clearly reduced. This positive change was not due to psychiatric treatment

Negative Symptoms and Avoidance of Social Interaction: A Study of Non-Verbal Behaviour.

BACKGROUND: Non-verbal behaviour is fundamental to social interaction. Patients with schizophrenia display an expressivity deficit of non-verbal behaviour, exhibiting behaviour that differs from both healthy subjects and patients with different psychiatric diagnoses. The present study aimed to explore the association between non-verbal behaviour and symptom domains, overcoming methodological shortcomings of previous studies. SAMPLING AND METHODS: Standardised interviews with 63 outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia were videotaped. Symptoms were assessed using the Clinical Assessment Interview for Negative Symptoms (CAINS), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Calgary Depression Scale. Independent raters later analysed the videos for non-verbal behaviour, using a modified version of the Ethological Coding System for Interviews (ECSI). RESULTS: Patients with a higher level of negative symptoms displayed significantly fewer prosocial (e.g., nodding and smiling), gesture, and displacement behaviours (e.g., fumbling), but significantly more flight behaviours (e.g., looking away, freezing). No gender differences were found, and these associations held true when adjusted for antipsychotic medication dosage. CONCLUSIONS: Negative symptoms are associated with both a lower level of actively engaging non-verbal behaviour and an increased active avoidance of social contact. Future research should aim to identify the mechanisms behind flight behaviour, with implications for the development of treatments to improve social functioning

[Psychiatric disorders in emigrants. II. Follow-up over six months and attitudes of the patients].

In the first part of this study we investigated people who had left East Germany and sought psychiatric help within six weeks after their move. 94 patients were re-examined approximately six month later. Meanwhile 40% had found an adequate job and 44% satisfactory accommodation. 65% stated that some of their original hopes had remained unfulfilled in the west. However, in general patients viewed significantly fewer problems associated with integration in the West, than in the first interview. Symptoms were clearly improved according to clinical and self-ratings. Only three patients reported an overall deterioration. Sociodemographic and clinical variables as assessed in the first interview--including diagnostic classification according to ICD-9 and DSM-III-R-, allowed only a limited prediction of different outcome criteria