This clinical project compares the relative impact of two types of multiple family groups on psychiatric inpatients and their families. Forty patients with a diagnosis of affective disorder, and their family members, were randomly assigned to a traditional multiple family group with a process orientation that emphasized support, destigmatization, and self-help about common problems; or to a psychoeducational multiple family group that emphasized the provision of information about the patient's illness and methods of coping with it effectively. Both groups, which met for four hours on a Saturday afternoon, were an integral part of an ongoing inpatient program specializing in the treatment of affective disorders. Pre- and post-measures were obtained regarding family and patient knowledge about affective disorders, level of personal distress, attitudes about the illness, and dyadic adjustment. In addition, both patients and family members were asked to rate their satisfaction with the group experience. A number of differences in knowledge, attitude and dyadic adjustment were found in the participants of both groups immediately following their respective group sessions, but there were only a few statistically significant differences between the two groups. Those who attended the psychoeducational session, however, reported significantly more satisfaction with the experience.

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We report the electrophysiological findings of the central and peripheral somatosensory pathways in 20 patients with olivopontocerebellar atrophy. Changes in sensory action potentials of the median nerve were observed in 14 patients and consisted of reduced sensory potential amplitudes associated in 10 cases with an increase in distal latencies. Sixteen out of 20 patients also showed changes in somatosensory evoked potentials after stimulation of the median nerve, consisting of decreased amplitude of N13 (13 cases) and N20 (16 cases) components, associated with increased N9-N13 interpeak latency in 9 and N13-N20 in 14 patients. The origin of these alterations is discussed.