Examined closed patient files for scores from the Psychological Screening Inventory between 1977-1979. Files (N=123) were assessed for suicidal inclination in five categories, ranging from "no suicidal ideation" to "serious attempt." Results yielded a significant value for "discomfort," with lower discomfort scores…

Assessed and compared the interpretive accuracy of the standard Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and two MMPI short forms with a sample of geriatric psychiatric inpatients. Psychiatric teams evaluated the accuracy of the interpretation. Standard form interpretations were rated significantly greater than the interpretations…

Compared vocabulary and block design subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and its Puerto Rican counterpart, the Escala de Inteligencia Wechsler para Adultos (EIWA), in hospitalized Latins and Trans-Caribbean Blacks. EIWA scores were significantly higher than WAIS scores. Equivalence of EIWA and WAIS estimates is questioned.…

Families care for their elderly even when the burden is enormous, suffer guilt when institutionalization becomes necessary, and maintain contact after institutionalization. Policies must be developed to reduce premature institutionalization, help families cope with the process when it becomes necessary, and provide institutional care to those…

In an examination of methodological issues involved in interviewing retarded persons, alternatively worded or structured questions were embedded in interviews with 52 severely, moderately, and mildly retarded institutionalized children (11 to 17 years old). (Author)

Significant differences were found in three of the behavior categories: more institutionalized children exhibited stereotyped behavior which decreased with age for home children, and children living at home exhibited more appropriate communication behaviors and more appropriate other behaviors. (DB)

A significant relationship was found between distance of parental home from institution and frequency of parent-child contact, but not between frequency of parent-child contact and the variables of child age or level of retardation of the child. (Author)

Results indicated that adolescent males who maintain a relatively high level of acting out during residential treatment, in spite of firm and consistent treatment approaches, perceive their parents differently than do adolescents who exhibit increased self-control in the treatment setting. (SBH)

To develop alternatives to institutionalization, more emphasis needs to be placed on supports permitting care within the family unit. Presents an example of one family that deinstitutionalized an older confused family member. (Author)

Describes use of a self-charting method of therapy with 39 adolescent inpatients. (SS)

Reviews and evaluates recent research examining the effects of control, perceived choice, and enhanced competence on the well-being of the institutionalized aged. (Author/GC)

The characteristics of a group of 17 mentally retarded institutionalized individuals (ages 6 to 51) with self-injurious behavior (SIB) were compared with those of 14 patients without SIB. Among findings were that 65 percent of the SIB group were females, that the SIB group had an elevated pulse rate, and that they slept less. (PHR)

It was found that time-out was generally used for physical aggression in younger, brighter persons with shorter histories of institutionalization. (Author/SBH)

Presents a case report of a retarded person with elementary reading, writing and spelling skills being trained to use graduated physical and verbal prompts in order to teach another retarded patient. Over an eight-week period, the student mastered the alphabet and learned to spell and read 50 words. (Author/SJL)

Interviews with institutionalized elderly parents and their middle-aged children question the common stereotype that institutionalization reflects a breakdown in family solidarity. Data suggest that institutional care can serve to enhance family relations, particularly when family ties have been strained by needs of the older member. (Author)