Exploration of characteristics and clinical application of the ego impairment index

Abstract

This study examines diagnostic potential of Ego Impairment Index (EII) for the assessment of schizophrenic patients. The study represent replication of the validation research based on previous theoretical and empirical studies of disturbance of ego functions and theirs assessments with Rorschach Inkblot Test. The research sets the following goals: 1. Analysis of EII factor structure 2. Correlations analysis of EII and its component variables with diagnosis of schizophrenia based on DSM criteria 3. Analysis of discriminative potential of EII to differentiate between schizophrenic and non-psychotic patients 4. Comparison of discriminative validity and correlations between Schizophrenic Index (SCZI) and EII The study included patients hospitalized at the Institute for Psychiatry in Belgrade. The total of 58 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 44 non-psychotic patients matched by sex and age (range 18-45) were included in the study. Statistical analysis was based on canonical correlation, discriminative analysis and factor analysis.

Rad se bavi empirijskom proverom validnosti i diskriminativne vrednosti Indeksa Ego-oštećenja (Ego Impairment Index, EII) u proceni psihotičnih poremećaja. Oslanjajući se na ranije radove Perija i Viglionea (Perry & Viglione, 1991) i teorijske osnove u radovima Vejnera (Wainer, 1966) i Blata (Blatt et al., 1976) o poremećajima Ego-funkcija kod shizofrenija i njihovoj proceni na Roršah-testu, u istraživanju je postavljeno nekoliko ciljeva: 1. Analiza faktorske strukture EII indeksa. 2. Provera povezanosti EII indeksa i pojedinačnih indikatora sa dijagnozom shizofrenije. 3. Provera diskriminativne vrednosti EII indeksa i doprinosa pojedinih indikatora u diferenciranju psihotičnih i nepsihotičnih pacijenata. 4. Komparacija diskriminativne vrednosti i korelacija Indeksa shizofrenije (SCZI) i EII indeksa. Ispitivanje je obavljeno na 58 psihotičnih i 44 nepsihotična pacijenta oba pola uzrasta od 18 do 40 godina hospitalizovanih na Institutu za psihijatriju KCS u Beogradu. Statistička obrada podataka vršena je pomoću kanoničke korelacione, diskriminativne i faktorske analize u SPSS statističkom programu.