Goldine C. Gleser’s research while affiliated with University of Cincinnati and other places

Data are reported which extend the applicability of the Gottschalk-Gleser scales for the content analysis of speech samples to adolescents. The data were gathered on 112 youngsters aged 11-18 stratified by age, race, and sex in a balanced design. Girls had higher Anxiety scores and relatively lower scores on Hostility Directed Inward, Ambivalent Hostility, and Social Alienation and Personal Disorganization than did boys. Blacks spoke less words and expressed more Overt Hostility Outward than did Whites. These latter scores increased with age, as did Hostility Directed Inward. The affect scores for this normative group are also compared to those for "normal" adults and to an adolescent clinic and a juvenile delinquent population. Correlations with three paper-and-pencil inventories (Adolescent Life Assessment Checklist, Defense Mechanisms Inventory, and Rotter I-E scale) are presented.

Two groups of adolescents seeking psychotherapy (N = 91 and N = 198) and a normative group (N = 112) provided 5-minute verbal behavior protocols which were content analyzed for social alienation-personal disorganization (SA-PD). The data supported the hypothesis that adolescents applying for help in 1974 to 1975 showed greater pathology than those seen in 1972 to 1973. The normative adolescents were significantly healthier than either of the two Adolescent Clinic groups. In the clinic samples, older adolescents were more disturbed than those in the younger ranges. The SA-PD scale is a useful addition to tools available for the assessment of emotional states of adolescents. The data support the idea that there appears to be an increasing severity in the problems presented by adolescents in very recent years.

Interview reports on 381 adult survivors of a dam disaster were scaled multidimensionally for psychopathology by having reviewers rate each report using the Psychiatric Evaluation Form (PEF) developed by Spitzer and his associates. Two independent reports were available for each individual, one made by a neuropsychiatrist hired by the coal mining company (M reports), the other by one of several mental health professionals (UC reports) who interviewed the survivors for purposes of litigation. A preliminary study was made in which four raters were trained and then each scored 40 reports on 20 subjects. Estimates of scoring reliability were obtained for the major summary and cluster scales under differing assumptions regarding the number and manner of assignment of raters per protocol. Estimates ranged from.63 to.77, using one rater. This could be increased to.74 to.87 by using two randomly assigned raters, but would require 400 additional man-hours. Furthermore, our estimates indicated that correlations between the two reports would be only minimally improved by the increase in scoring reliability. Hence, it was decided to use only one rater per report and assign reports randomly to all available raters. Validity of the PEF scores in this context was assessed a) by obtaining correlations between scores on the two reports; b) by comparing profile of mean scores with published profiles for inpatient and outpatient samples; c) by obtaining correlations between the PEF and scores on a symptom checklist administered to 231 survivors at the time of the UC interviews. Correlations of summary cluster scales for protocols obtained on two occa-sions in different environs by interviewers with vastly different backgrounds and viewpoints and scored by different raters ranged from.28 to.38. All correlations with corresponding dimensions of the symptom checklist were highly significant. The mean score profile (M and UC scores averaged) ap-peared quite similar to that of an outpatient sample. It was concluded that the scores obtained were meaningful and useful for further studies to ascertain relations between aspects of the disaster and psychopathology.

A new 40-item behavioral checklist, the Adolescent Life Assessment Checklist (ALAC), was devised to be used with patient and nonpatient samples. A comparable form obtains information from a parent or guardian. Responses of 356 adolescents from three sources were analyzed for differences attributable to race, sex, age, sample source, and their interactions. A factor analysis was carried out on the average within-race-sex-source subgroup correlation matrix, resulting in seven meaningful and six usable oblique factors. Subscales were developed and corrections were computed to remove estimated differences due to race, sex, and age. Corrected scales significantly differentiate the three samples.

The effect of attitudes of therapists, patients and researchers on the conduct and outcome of combined drug and psychotherapy research was examined in a brief crisis-oriented psychotherapy clinic. Seventy-seven consecutive patients were given one of two anti-anxiety drugs or a placebo in conjunction with the typical psychoanalytically-oriented treatment used in the clinic. The therapists' attitudes favouring psychotherapy over drug therapy (and psychotherapy research) were clearly conveyed to the patients. Indicative of this are the following: (a) 82 per cent of the patients dropped out of drug taking, although a similar percentage remained in treatment; (b) only a third of the patients perceived it as being important to their therapists that they should take medication; (c) 87 per cent of the patients were rated as improved; and 75 per cent of patients completing forms considered that most or all of their improvement was attributable to talking. The research team, made up of members of the same department who therefore had similar values as the therapists, diligently collected outcome data, but ignored its responsibility to enforce drug-related portions of the protocol. Overall, patients remained in therapy, improved and participated in completing forms, so that only the research goals of combined therapy were thwarted, while traditional clinic service and training goals proceeded as usual.

Conducted a study concerned with relationships among 3 different methods of evaluating psychotherapy outcome: final status scores, pretreatment to posttreatment difference scores, and direct ratings of global improvement. 50 outpatients with acute stress reaction were seen by 7 therapists for approximately 6 wks of brief crisis-oriented treatment. Pre- and posttherapy status measures consisted of the Symptom Check List, filled out by the S, and the Psychiatric Evaluation Form and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale filled out by a research psychiatrist. These measures were oriented primarily toward symptomatology and daily functioning as deemed appropriate for a brief-treatment service. Ratings of global improvement were also available from the therapist and the S. Generally, final status measures correlated highly with each other and also with the direct improvement ratings. Global improvement ratings were not related to initial scores. Use of difference scores tended to obscure convergence of posttreatment measures. Similarities and differences among these relationships and those previously reported in the literature are discussed, and inferences are drawn concerning optimal methods of evaluation. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Conducted a study concerned with relationships among 3 different methods of evaluating psychotherapy outcome: final status scores, pretreatment to posttreatment difference scores, and direct ratings of global improvement. 50 outpatients with acute stress reaction were seen by 7 therapists for approximately 6 wks of brief crisis-oriented treatment. Pre- and posttherapy status measures consisted of the Symptom Check List, filled out by the S, and the Psychiatric Evaluation Form and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale filled out by a research psychiatrist. These measures were oriented primarily toward symptomatology and daily functioning as deemed appropriate for a brief-treatment service. Ratings of global improvement were also available from the therapist and the S. Generally, final status measures correlated highly with each other and also with the direct improvement ratings. Global improvement ratings were not related to initial scores. Use of difference scores tended to obscure convergence of posttreatment measures. Similarities and differences among these relationships and those previously reported in the literature are discussed, and inferences are drawn concerning optimal methods of evaluation. (32 ref)

Twenty-seven asymptomatic children with confirmed chronic increased lead absorption were compared with 27 matched control children for evidence of neuropsychological impairment. Evaluation of each child included a complete history, physical examination, quantitative neurological tests, and comprehensive psychological tests. There was significantly increased incidence of hyperactive behavior in the subjects with increased lead levels, but there was no significant difference in any of the quantitative test results. Uncontrolled variables, especially lead absorption in infancy and adverse environmental pressures other than lead, still leave questions about the relationship between chronic lead exposure and behavior of intelligence.

Among 85 adolescents referred for psychiatric evaluation from the adolescent medical services of the Cincinnati General Hospital, 36.4% suffered an earlier parental loss. In unscreened samples from schools in the area, 11.6% had suffered a similar loss; in unscreened clinic samples 16.6% had a similar loss. There were no significant differences related to sex or race. The difference between referral and contrast groups is significant at the.001 level. In all groups "father loss" occurred with about twice the frequency as "mother loss." A review of the literature revealed little about earlier parental loss in an adolescent population who came with illnesses to a medical service. The importance of our study is the emphasis on a developmental dimension. Additional research to understand further relationships between earlier parental loss and illness in adolescence is needed.

: A [beta]-adrenergic blocking agent, propranolol (60 mg orally in three divided doses over a 12-hr period), significantly reduced basal anxiety scores in 12 healthy, nonanxious subjects as compared to a placebo in another 12 similar subjects. In response to a 10-min stress interview, anxiety scores increased to equal levels, whether subjects were on propranolol or a placebo. On placebo, anxiety scores correlated positively (+0.70) with average plasma FFA. On propranolol, anxiety scores correlated negatively (-0.55) with plasma FFA and the average pulse rate was significantly lowered. The experimental findings suggest that basal or resting anxiety may be maintained by peripheral afferent autonomic biofeedback, and the latter can be reduced by [beta]-adrenergic blocking agents; whereas, the magnitude of acutely aroused anxiety is mediated more through the central nervous system. Copyright (C) 1974 by American Psychosomatic Society