This study was designed to explore the relative and combined effectiveness of alprazolam (Xanax) and group cognitive therapy among elderly adults experiencing major affective disorder. Fifty-six subjects with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-111; American Psychiatric Association, 1980) diagnoses of major, unipolar depression were treated over a 20-week period in one of four groups: alprazolam support, placebo support, cognitive therapy plus placebo support, and cognitive therapy plus alprazolam support. The results revealed that individuals assigned to group cognitive therapy showed consistent improvement in subjective state and sleep efficiency relative to non-group-therapy subjects. No differences between alprazolam and placebo were noted, regardless of whether individuals received group cognitive therapy. Subjects assigned to group cognitive therapy were less likely than their counterparts to prematurely terminate treatment.

This study reports the association between formal psychological evaluation variables and later police officer performance, as reflected by various indexes, including supervisor evaluation, reprimands, and commendations. Officers were drawn from three police departments, each of which imposes unique demands: an inner-city metropolitan department, a major university police department, and a community college police department. Officers' in-service behavior was associated with patterns and elevation of their Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory profiles and interpersonal needs. Although the departments differed with respect to their demands, overlap suggests that generalization among and across departments is possible.

Participants were 45 violent California male prison inmates scoring 30 or more on the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; Hare, 1991, 2003). Inmates were evaluated using Rorschach and neuropsychological test data. The participants' intellectual functioning was within the low-average range and displayed a lack of flexibility. Rorschach data were not suggestive of chronic narcissism and anger as in other psychopathic samples. This group resembled Exner's normative sample of high Lambda adults. Consistent with previous studies, psychopaths demonstrated poor emotional modulation, diminished reality testing, little interest in people, and virtually no attachment capacity. Most utilized a simplistic, avoidant, and concrete style. This appeared to be consistent with the concrete thinking and fragmentation attributed to the criminal personality. Concrete thinking is based upon literal interpretations of events. Fragmentation is associated with attitudes that are situation specific and self-serving.

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High violent inmates (N = 126) were administered the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; Hare, Clark, Grann, & Thornton, 2000; Hare et al., 1990) and neuropsychological measures. No significant correlations were present between the overall PCL-R score and 14 cognitive measures. A violence score, computed as the total number of violent acts across all situations and types, was significantly correlated with the PCL-R total score and Facet 2 but not with the other three facets. Our data suggest that Facet 2 elevations may prove relevant to violence risk assessment; this link, however, needs further exploration with larger samples.