THE EFFECT OF PHENOTHIAZINES ON THE INTERACTIONAL BEHAVIOR OF SCHIZOPHRENIC PATIENTS
LUCIE A. WOOD PH.D.,
AMY MIKLOWITZ B.A.,
ELIOT D. CHAPPLE PH.D.,
MARTHA F. CHAPPLE B.A.,
NATHAN S. KLINE M.D., , and
JOHN C. SAUNDERS M.D.1
1 Research Facility, Rockland State Hospital, Orangeburg, N. Y.
We have demonstrated that the interaction chronograph interview provides an objective method for determining the behavioral effect of the phenothiazines in schizophrenic patients. This method then contributes in part to the solution of one of the major problems of psychiatry, the evaluation of the nature, direction, and degree of change following therapy. The administration of phenothiazines has been shown to affect specific variables, measurable by the interaction chronograph; the identifiable changes in interaction have been found to correlate with clinical evaluation. The response of the 27 schizophrenic patients to these drugs shows that there is a significantly high correlation between activity levels and drug effects.
Average net maladjustment drops significantly in the females but not in the males. This appears to be dependent upon a high positive maladjustment (aggressiveness) rather than a sex difference, since most of the males in the series predominantly show marked latency of response. The few males with high positive maladjustment also show drops comparable to that of of the females.
The effect of phenothiazines on the interactional behavior of schizophrenic patients has been shown by this procedure. Further analysis of the data suggests that other behavioral criteria will become evident.
