The purpose of this study is two-fold: (a) to analyze self-concept, self-esteem, and psychopathological symptoms in individuals with and without intellectual disability; and (b) to explore whether there were gender differences in these same variables in both groups. The sample is made up of 170 participants aged 19 to 40, 128 without disability and 42 with intellectual disability. The methodology is descriptive. To measure the variables, three assessment instruments were applied: the “Listado de adjetivos para la evaluación del autoconcepto en adolescentes y adultos” (LAEA; Garaigordobil, in press), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE; Rosenberg, 1965), and the Revised Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90; Derogatis, 1983). The ANOVA showed that participants with intellectual disability scored significantly lower in self-concept and self-esteem, and higher in all the psychopathological symptoms except for somatization. The ANOVA did not reveal significant gender differences in any variables in either of the two groups.

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is a small-vessel disease of the brain that is characterized by headache, recurring lacunar strokes, mood changes and progressive cognitive deterioration. The disease is transmitted with an autosomal dominant pattern and usually starts during midadulthood (at 30–50 years of age). Cognitive deficits in patients with CADASIL develop slowly. The dementia causes frontal-like symptoms and it typically develops after a history of recurrent stroke. We describe three patients from one Spanish family affected by this disease. All three cases underwent comprehensive clinical and neuropsychological examination, and were monitored for seven years. The results obtained in this study describe a) a significant loss of the intelligence quotient (IQ) and noticeable damage to abstract ability (g factor), b) mood and psychopathological disturbances (major depression and dysthymia), and c) a personality with neurotic features.

The purpose of this study was to analyze self-concept, self-esteem, and other personality traits and psychopathological symptoms in subjects with and without visual impairment. The sample was made up of 90 participants aged 12 to 17: 61 with no impairment and 29 with visual impairment. The ANOVA showed that there were no significant differences in self-concept and self-esteem in the samples, but the visually impaired adolescents scored significantly higher in various psychopathological symptoms as well as in their capacity for kind behavior. The ANOVA revealed no gender differences in any variables in adolescents without visual impairment. However, women with visual impairment scored lower in self-esteem and higher in various psychopathological symptoms. Pearson coefficients revealed negative relations between self-concept/self-esteem and all the psychopathological symptoms, and neuroticism, as well as a positive relation with extraversion. Low psychoticism, high extraversion, and low hostility were identified as predictors of high self-concept.

This paper describes the demographic, gender violence and psychopathological characteristics of 399 men in a specialized treatment programme for gender violence. Furthermore, a comparison of all the variables studied among the subjects referred by the court to the treatment programme (n = 276) and those who were imprisoned (n = 123) was conducted. The results showed the existence of numerous statistically significant differences between groups, primarily in psychopathological variables and in cognitive bias about women and violence use. In general, imprisoned batterers showed more irrational beliefs both about women and about violence as a strategy to cope with everyday difficulties. Moreover, batterers in prison had significantly higher scores on all psychopathological symptoms as assessed by SCL-90-R, as well as in most of STAXI-2 subscales. According to these results, batterers in prison showed a higher severity in variables studied than those who were referred by the court to the treatment programme. Implications of these results for further research and clinical practice are also commented on.

The Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) is an example of the efforts to integrate categorical and dimensional assessment methods. The latest editions of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Youth Self-Report (YSR) included the DSM-Oriented Scales, constructed in rational manner based on the items making up these inventories. Objective: To analyze the psychometric properties of the DSM-Oriented Scales of the CBCL and YSR. Method: A clinical sample of 420 children and adolescents (aged 8-17 years) was assessed with the CBCL and YSR, with a structured diagnostic interview and with measures of functional impairment to study the reliability and validity of the DSM-Oriented Scales. Results: Internal consistency ranged from moderate to good for all the scales except the DSM-Anxiety Problems Scale. Agreement between parents and children ranged between moderate and low values. Kappa coefficients showed moderate agreement in the different symptoms. The DSM-Oriented Scales presented acceptable diagnostic power for DSM-IV disorders and a significant relationship with measures of functional impairment. Conclusion: The DSM-Oriented Scales constitute a useful approach from the dimensional model to the DSM-IV disorders in Spanish clinical population.

In the past two decades, there has been a growing theoretical and empirical interest on the role of shame, namely internal shame, on the conceptualization of human functioning and several interpersonal and emotional problems. The current study explores the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Internalized Shame Scale (ISS), a self-report measure which assesses trait shame, composed by an Internal Shame subscale, measuring internalized shame, and a Self-Esteem subscale. The factor structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability and convergent and discriminant validity for both subscales, are presented, in a sample of 385 college students. The Principal Components Analyses reveal that both Internal Shame and Self-Esteem subscales present a one-dimensional structure which explains, respectively, 48.54% and 57.7% of the variance. The subscales present high internal consistency, with high Cronbach'alphas (.95 and .85) and moderate to high item-total correlations. The two subscales present an excellent temporal stability. Convergent and discriminant validity of the subscales was corroborated through the moderate correlations with a measure of shame and of social comparison, and through the low and moderate correlations with the subscales depression, anxiety, and stress. The Portuguese version of the ISS is a valid and reliable instrument to measure internalized shame.

El modelo de Foulds, que propone una estructura jerárquica de cuatro clases de la enferme-dad mental, representa una dimensión interesante de la investigación y el debate psiquiátricos, y proba-blemente tiene un potencial significativo sobre el diagnóstico, la taxonomía, la terapéutica y la teoría. Se investigaron los síntomas psiquiátricos en un grupo de 244 pacientes esquizofrénicos con el propósito de analizar la idea de Fould y Bedford de que los smtomas psiquiátricos se disponen jerárquicamente. Para lograr esto, se administró la versión R (reciente) del Inventario de Ideas, Smtomas y Estados Delirantes (DSSI) en forma de una entrevista construida para estos pacientes. Se verificó la disposición jerárquica de los síntomas psiquiátricos, ya que una gran mayoría de los casos (un 80,8%) produjo patrones de smtomas que se ajustaban al modelo jerárquico. Sin embargo, los pacientes con una duración de la enfer-medad superior a 10 años comunicaron patrones que se ajustaban al modelo en un porcentaje más bajo (77%), mientras que informaba de este tipo de patrones el 84,6% de los que tenían una duración de la enfermedad inferior a 2 años. Los patrones que no se ajustaban eran aquellos en los que había ausencia de ideas delirantes integradas en presencia de ideas delirantes de desintegración, ausencia de síntomas neuróticos en presencia de ideas delirantes integradas, y ausencia de estados distímicos en presencia de síntomas neuróticos.

En un estudio anterior de 15 pacientes con trastorno de angustia, demostramos que los estímulos compuestos por palabras relacionadas con el cuerpo (somáticas) provocaban una onda lenta cortical positiva aumentada en comparación con los estímulos compuestos por palabras no somáticas. Los controles sanos no mostraron esta diferencia. El presente artículo informa sobre estimaciones psicométricas con relación a las ondas lentas corticales en estos pacientes. Después de alrededor de año y medio, se examinó de nuevo clínicamente a los pacientes. Aunque no se pudieron encontrar correlaciones significativas entre las medidas neurofisiológicas y psicométricas al comienzo del estudio, hubo una correlación significativa entre la mejoría durante el período de seguimiento y las medidas neurofisiológicas. Una disminución en la Escala de Ansiedad de Hamilton (HAMA), que demostró ser la mejor estimación de la mejoría, estaba asociada con la magnitud relativa de la onda lenta positiva provocada por los estímulos somáticos. Nuestros resultados apoyan los modelos cognitivos del trastorno de angustia, que hacen hincapié en que el procesamiento anómalo de los síntomas corporales está relacionado con el desarrollo del trastorno, su mantenimiento o ambos.

En la última década se ha acumulado un gran conjunto de publicaciones con respecto al síndrome del cromosoma X frágil, la causa más común de retraso mental vinculado al cromosoma X. El primer artículo de esta revisión resume los mecanismos genéticos y propiedades de biología molecular (por ejemplo, las repeticiones de tripletes de DNA inestables) peculiares que se han caracterizado desde la detección del gen FMR-1 en 1991. Sin embargo, la pregunta más importante con respecto a la función del gen FMR-1 es todavía una cuestión no resuelta y es preciso investigarla en el futuro. El segundo artículo de esta revisión se dirige al cuadro clínico, el funcionamiento neuropsicológico y las características psicopatológicas de los portadores de la premutación y la mutación completa.

El objetivo del presente estudio era valorar las perturbaciones emocionales y síntomas psicopatológicos en las primeras etapas de infección por virus de inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH). Setenta y un sujetos homosexuales positivos al VIH y dos grupos de sujetos negativos al VIH (32 homosexuales y 26 heterosexuales) fueron valorados en una entrevista estructurada por dos evaluadores adiestrados. Los resultados mostraron la presencia de perturbaciones emocionales ya en individuos asintomáticos positivos al VIH, incluso en ausencia de depresión y/o ansiedad caracterizadas. Este déficit emocional parecía ser más importante en etapas más avanzadas de la enfermedad. Los síntomas depresivos y ansiosos parecían tener una presencia ligera pero significativa en ambos grupos de hombres homosexuales. Este déficit emocional podría ser el reflejo de un proceso adaptativo a las consecuencias amenazantes de la infección por VIH. No se deben descuidar las perturbaciones emocionales, incluso leves, porque su reducción contribuye al bienestar psicológico de los sujetos positivos al VIH.