The Detection of Psychological Vulnerability in Students

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Summary Mental upset continues to be the leading cause of prolonged absence and illness among Oxford students. The problem has been studied at a local N.H.S. centre for acute psychiatric illness by examining 100 consecutive student patients referred by their general practitioners and 100 healthy volunteers. Examination was by somatotype, electroencephalography, clinical psychological tests and psychiatric interview. A somatotypical bias among the 100 volunteers was shown by comparing them and the 100 patients with a sample of 405 pilot health service students. Patients compared with pilot health service. Among the patients, central endomorphs and central and peripheral endomorphic ectomorphs were significantly more common. Endomorphic mesomorphs and central mesomorphic ectomorphs, were significantly more common in the health service sample. Volunteer controls as compared with pilot health service. Among volunteer controls, mesopenes, particularly endomorphic ones, appeared significantly more frequently; mesomorphs attended significantly more often in the health service sample. There is evidence that findings differentiating patients from controls would be likely to differentiate patients still more strongly from the University at large. Differentiating factors between patients and controls of varying significance are discussed. Social Class. No significant difference was observed in respect of social class, financial security, national service, broken homes or religious interest changing in the first year of residence. EEG. No significant difference was observed in the prevalence of electroencephalographic abnormality. Intelligence A.H.5 Test. There was no significant difference in Part I (verbal) between patients and controls. In Part II a small but significant number of patients obtained lower scores (Grade D and E) than controls, but there was no significant difference in the upper three grades (A, B and C) of Part II. Honours Class. Patients taking final honour schools obtained percentages of first, second, third and fourth class honours comparable with the University at large in 1953. Neither high nor low intelligence can therefore be regarded as an important factor in producing psychological breakdown. Previous and Family History. Significant but possibly biassed differences between patients and controls were found in the spheres of previous psychological illness, psychological illness among relatives, disharmony between parents and disturbance of relations between the subject and members of his family. None of these differences was of a high order. The Establishment of a vulnerability scale. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory differentiated all but 31 per cent. of patients from controls, taking as abnormal a score of 70 obtained on any one scale. If the optimum M.M.P.I. score shown to differentiate patients from controls in separate somatotype areas is used in conjunction with the somatotype, only 19 per cent. are misclassified. Although the results may be biassed, if the 10 traits of psychological deviation found at psychiatric interview to differentiate most satisfactorily between patients and controls are used, misclassification is further reduced to 12 per cent. In practice this heuristic vulnerability scale could be used by submitting students to somatotyping and M.M.P.I. testing on entry, and those with “vulnerable” results to a 15 minute psychiatric interview designed to elicit the 10 discriminating traits. This procedure would occupy about 2½ hours of each student's time. It might be employed either as an aid to early diagnosis, or for routine screening after university entry.

This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit: