Stephen J Donovan

• Columbia University

This article introduces a ?younger at-risk sibling? design to study progression from other psychopathologies to their substance use disorder (SUD) complications. The design selects not-yet-SUD adolescents with high-risk-for-SUD psychopathology only if an older sibling has SUD. This "proof of concept' pilot study examines the design?s feasibility if...

The rapidly increasing use of sibling comparisons is a welcome development in epidemiology. Although sibling designs have been used by epidemiologists since the mid-20th century, contemporary researchers are extending the range of applications, clarifying appropriate methods1 and introducing novel strategies. The proliferation of sibling studies ha...

There is a noticeable lack of targeted treatment options for marijuana dependence, in particular pharmacologic approaches. This is the first study evaluating a targeted pharmacologic approach for marijuana dependence. The goals of the study were to determine if such patients would seek pharmacologic treatment, whether these patients could be retain...

The relationship between verbal skills and retention among adolescents in substance abuse treatment is understudied. In order to assess verbal predictors of retention, twenty-eight 16-19 year old adolescents in a therapeutic community for substance abuse were evaluated between 30 and 90 days after admission. These adolescents were then followed pro...

To examine whether "outer-directed irritability," a mood construct from the adult literature, characterizes a subgroup of disruptive behavior disordered children and adolescents previously shown to improve on divalproex, a mood stabilizer. A sample (N = 20) of disruptive youth (aged 10-18 years) entering a divalproex treatment study of temper and i...

The authors sought to replicate open-label findings showing that specific criteria for explosive temper and mood lability identify disruptive youth who improve while receiving the anticonvulsant divalproex sodium. Twenty outpatient children and adolescents (ages 10-18) with a disruptive behavior disorder (oppositional defiant disorder or conduct di...

Because depression with atypical features is poorly responsive to imipramine, treatment trials including a tricyclic antidepressant arm should assess depressive subtype. Sotsky and Simmens had previously reanalyzed data from the National Institute of Mental Health Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program (TDCRP) providing independent...

In spite of the virtually ubiquitous nature of the initial 10-day placebo run-in period (IPR) in drug trials, there is little empirical data establishing its relevance. Data from 593 subjects were examined retrospectively to determine whether or not the prognosis of subjects minimally improved during the IPR was different to those who were unimprov...

The authors examine the use of anticonvulsants/mood stabilizers To treat patients with substance use disorders. Although there is high comorbidity of bipolar and substance use disorders, there has been little research oil the use of these medications to treat bipolar disorders in patients who also have a substance use disorders. However, symptoms o...

The literature is inconclusive on the role of antidepressant medications in treating drug dependence. Studies have either not focused on depressed patients or have selected patients with depressive disorders based on cross-sectional symptoms rather than a syndromal diagnosis. A clinical trial of an antidepressant was, therefore, conducted on drug-d...

The authors examine the use of anticonvulsants/mood stabilizers to treat patients with substance use disorders. Although there is high comorbidity of bipolar and substance use disorders, there has been little research on the use of these medications to treat bipolar disorders in patients who also have a substance use disorders. However, symptoms of...

Unmedicated depressed outpatients were tested on dichotic syllable and complex tone tests prior to receiving 16 weekly sessions of cognitive therapy (n = 31) or 6-12 weeks of placebo treatment (n = 45). Cognitive-therapy responders had twice the right-ear (left hemisphere) advantage for syllables when compared with nonresponders but did not differ...

To report an open trial of divalproex sodium in 10 adolescents with chronic temper outbursts and mood lability. Ten adolescents meeting screening criteria for chronic temper outbursts and mood lability were followed for 5 consecutive weeks on open divalproex sodium treatment. Temper outburst frequency and mood swings severity at pretreatment and po...

Background: To report an open trial of divalproex sodium in 10 adolescents with chronic temper outbursts and mood lability. Method: Ten adolescents meeting screening criteria for chronic temper outbursts and mood lability were followed for 5 consecutive weeks on open divalproex sodium treatment. Temper outburst frequency and mood swings severity at...

We attempt to identify the time when patients whose conditions are unimproved while receiving antidepressants are unlikely to respond and should have their treatment changed. A total of 593 patients were studied. The course of treatment for patients was examined to determine the weeks at which patients who received drug therapy had a better chance...

General principles for treatment-resistant psychiatric disorders include reevaluation of diagnosis, search for hidden comorbidity, and systematic trials of alternative treatments and treatment combinations. For the combination of refractory depression and substance abuse, alternative approaches to both problems need to be tried, as suggested in the...

Historically, the psychoanalytic community has rejected the use of psychotropic medication, on the basis of the belief that using medication to suppress symptoms such as depression and anxiety would obstruct access to psychic conflict and thereby impede the progress of analytic treatment. However, it would appear that many psychoanalysis have recon...

Mood and anxiety disorders are common and treatable but may cause considerable morbidity if left untreated. This is especially so in opioid-dependent individuals, for whom diagnosis is difficult and rehabilitation easily compromised. Clinicians need guidelines to distinguish the patient with an independent mood or anxiety disorder from the more com...

The objective of our study was to demonstrate that additional antidepressant benefit occurs between weeks 4 and 6 in adult outpatients, even when dose is not increased. Response between weeks 4 and 6 was studied among depressed outpatients randomly assigned to imipramine, phenelzine, or placebo under double-blind conditions. Patients were selected...