A review of the literature on self-destructive behavior reveals the existence of enough clinical data to identify a diagnostic entity, "The Deliberate Self-Harm Syndrome" (DSH). A diagnostic formulation of the DSH syndrome in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) format is presented. (Author/BL)

The prevalence and cost of chronic pain is a major physical and mental health care problem in the United States today. As a result, there has been a recent explosion of research on chronic pain, with significant advances in better understanding its etiology, assessment, and treatment. The purpose of the present article is to provide a review of…

The diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in preschool children is challenging because the behavioral manifestations of the disorder are not uncommon for many children this age. Therefore, the assessment of ADHD in preschoolers needs to be multifaceted and requires the use of a variety of assessment measures. A systematic…

Identifying and Assessing Depression is essential to ensuring access to appropriate treatment and services. Unfortunately, limited literature exists on identifying and assessing depression in prelingually deaf people. In a literature review, the authors critically examined relevant published studies. The earliest reported information on depression…

The purpose of this article is to analyze parental use of an online support group about their children with disabilities. A content analysis was conducted of 1718 emails from a listserv support group for parents of children who have been diagnosed as eligible for special education services. Key topics included the following: How to deal with…

Archival records of 43 children referred for diagnosis and treatment for academic difficulties were examined. Results revealed a significant difference for age at first referral and diagnoses. Those with disorders such as learning disability and severe emotional disturbance tended to be older, while the ADHD and dysthymic disorders tended to be…

This article surveys research and opinion on Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS), its causes, symptoms, and treatment and the implications of each for women. Researchers and medical service providers are urged to consider all factors--physical, social, and emotional--which play a role in causing PMS before diagnosing and treating the disorder. (JL)

Reviews history of psychiatric nosology and the use of interview data as a vehicle for formulating clinical inferences. Focuses on qualities of structured interviews as well as procedures for constructing these indices and methods for establishing their psychometric properties. Reviews practical and theoretical limitations relating to formal…

Problems and solutions associated with accurate assessment and diagnosis of conduct disorder are reviewed. Problems addressed include client deceitfulness, parent and teacher misinformation, counselor countertransference, diagnostic comorbidity, and confounding cultural and situational circumstances. Methods for increasing diagnostic accuracy are…

Early differential diagnosis of dementia is becoming increasingly important as new pharmacologic therapies are developed, as these treatments are not equally effective for all types of dementia. Early detection and differential diagnosis also facilitates informed family decision making and timely access to appropriate services. Information about…

While the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) has retained its popularity within the clinical community for over 40 years, some investigators have criticized its ability to provide an accurate diagnosis. Codetype systems of MMPI score interpretations were developed and a predictive relationship between codetypes and diagnoses was…

Currently, research is being performed in the area of nonsurgical and nonchemical means for influencing the body's threshold for pain. Today, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is being widely used for this purpose. Application of this treatment can be confusing, however, because determining such things as selection of the proper…

This literature review traces the recognition of child abuse. Starting with the first known treatise in pediatrics, the review examines evidence produced throughout the centuries on the recognition of physical child abuse. (Author/CL)

A review of analysis of autism from standpoints of behaviorism, psycholinguistic theory, and social-interaction theory discusses the influences of these theories on clinical interactions. It is asserted that only the social-interaction theory offers a method of evaluating the quality of clinical interactions from the autistic child's point of…