Family history of mental illness provides important information when evaluating pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD). However, such information is often challenging to gather within clinical settings. This study investigates the feasibility and utility of gathering family history information using an inexpensive method practical for outpatient…

Aberrant salience is the unusual or incorrect assignment of salience, significance, or importance to otherwise innocuous stimuli and has been hypothesized to be important for psychosis and psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Despite the importance of this concept in psychosis research, no questionnaire measures are available to assess…

Longitudinal validity of Brief Symptom Inventory subscales was examined in a sample (N = 318) with schizophrenia-related illness measured at baseline and every 6 months for 3 years. Nonlinear factor analysis of items was used to test graded response models (GRMs) for subscales in isolation. The models varied in their within-time and between-times…

Eight predictor variables from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, the Bender Gestalt, and a Malingering Scale differentiated 20 prison inmates faking insanity from 40 nonfaking controls. A second experiment with 22 substance abusers faking insanity and 20 schizophrenics also supports the use of the test battery to detect faking. (SLD)