To examine the psychological characteristics of those who terminate treatment for headaches prematurely, this investigation employed 179 post‐tramatic headache patients and 67 nontrauma headache patients who underwent electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback therapy. Dependent variables included the patient's age, socioeconomic status, duration of headache, forehead EMG levels, and MMPI. Multivariate analyses of variance revealed no significant differences between the drop‐outs and non‐drop‐outs among the trauma headache patients, but three MMPI scales (Psychopathic‐Deviate, Paranoia, and Mania) were significantly higher among the nontrauma headache patients who dropped out of treatment. These data imply that different characteristics underlie the drop‐out behavior for different pain conditions and that efforts to uncover a single drop‐out pattern may not be realistic.
Data from 194 outpatients in a private medical center were used to determine whether the MMPI or a Utilization Prediction Scale (UPS) predicted decrease in outpatient medical utilization following psychotherapy. Although none of the 13 MMPI scales discriminated differences, a UPS cutoff score correctly categorized 75% of the original sample. When the UPS was applied to a cross-validation sample, two thirds were correctly identified.It is widely recognized that some patients seek medical care for problems that may be more effectively treated with psychotherapy. Furthermore, a convincing body of research has shown that one effect of psychotherapy is the reduction of subsequent medical utilization in a significant percentage of patients (Follette & Cummings, 1967;Mumford et al., 1984). These studies, referred to as the "offset literature" because of a common assumption that the cost of psychotherapy will be offset by the subsequent savings in medical care, have caused considerable excitement in the professional community (Cummings, 1977;Yates, 1984). Indeed, if psychological services can be shown to reduce the overall cost of medical care, then the presence of psychologists in third-party
A short‐form WPPSI was administered to 58 prekindergarten boys, who were tested subsequently as to school progress at the end of the kindergarten, first‐, and second‐grade years. IQs were not correlated significantly with kindergarten test scores, but significant correlations were obtained with Listening and Mathematics in grade one and with Listening and Writing Skills in grade two. A restricted range of IQs apparently led to the relatively low rs obtained in this study. Until more impressive predictive validity data are obtained, caution is advised with regard to the use of the short‐form WPPSI for school admission purposes.
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