Mothers' views on hyperactivity: a cross-cultural perspective

To examine cultural variation in mothers' perceptions of hyperactive behaviors in school-age boys, we surveyed 135 mothers in 3 ethnic groups: Puerto Rican, Central and South American, and Anglo. Mothers read or heard 8 taped vignettes of boys with behaviors related to DSM-IV hyperactivity criteria. In 50% of the vignettes, Spanish-responding mothers were less likely to consider the boys' behaviors expected than were the English-responding mothers. In 62.5% of the vignettes, Latina mothers expressed more interest in discussing behaviors with their physicians than did the Anglo mothers, and in 62.5% of the vignettes, Spanish-responding mothers expressed more interest in discussing behaviors with their physicians than did the English-responding mothers. We found no association of the 2 scores by the bicultural scale. Mothers' perception of hyperactivity boys varies both with ethnicity and language of response. Latina mothers, especially Spanish-responding mothers, seem interested in discussing children's behavior with physicians.     

Serological markers for leishmania donovani infection in Nepal: Agreement between direct agglutination test and rK39 ELISA

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is an important vector-borne disease caused by Leishmania donovani in the Indian subcontinent. The actual incidence and role of asymptomatic infections in the region are not wellknown. We used the direct agglutination test (DAT) and the rK39 ELISA as L. donovani infection markers in 10 VL endemic villages in Nepal. DAT titre distribution showed two subgroups in the population (infected and non-infected individuals), while rK39 did not. The agreement between both tests was moderate (j = 0.53; 95% CI 0.49–0.57). More research is needed to develop validated markers for Leishmania infection.     

The stress sensitization hypothesis: understanding the course of bipolar disorder

BACKGROUND: The influence of psychosocial stress on the course of bipolar disorder has been increasingly recognized. The authors tested hypotheses about both stress and early adversity "sensitization" on the course of bipolar disorder over a one-year period. METHODS: The participants were 58 adults (29 male and 29 female) with a diagnosis of bipolar I disorder. They were evaluated every three months for one year. Stressful life events and the presence of early adversity were assessed by structured interview. RESULTS: There was no significant interaction between stress and episode number in the prediction of bipolar recurrence. The interaction of early adversity severity and stressful life events significantly predicted recurrence in a manner consistent with the sensitization hypothesis. Participants with early adversity reported lower levels of stress prior to recurrence than those without early adversity. Individuals with early adversity also had a significantly younger age of bipolar onset. LIMITATIONS: The sample size was small and the number of past episodes was determined retrospectively, mainly through self-report. CONCLUSIONS: Severe early adversity may result in a greater effect of stress on bipolar recurrence and earlier onset of bipolar disorder, suggesting the need for further studies of stress mechanisms in bipolar disorder and of treatments designed to intervene early among those at risk.     

Personality disorders and violence among female prison inmates

The current study seeks to expand our understanding of the increasingly well-documented relationship between mental disorder and violence, specifically by examining the relationship between Axis II disorders and community and institutional violence among a cohort of 261 incarcerated women. Drawing from an initial screening of 802 female inmates in maximum security, we sampled to identify 200 nonpsychotic women who met criteria for one of the four Cluster B personality disorders, and 50 nonpsychotic women who did not meet criteria for these disorders. Each inmate was interviewed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders (SCID-II). Information regarding instant offense and institutional behavior was obtained from prison files and a self-report inventory. The analyses indicated a high degree of comorbidity between the various Cluster B diagnoses and a significant association with various types of violent crime and nonviolent criminality. Significant relationships were found between Antisocial Personality Disorder and institutional violence, and Narcissistic Personality Disorder and incarceration for a violent crime. Cluster A diagnosis was unexpectedly found to be associated with both incarceration for a violent crime and incarceration for prostitution.