Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Preventative Medicine, University of Bochum, LWL University Hospital, Alexandrinenstrasse 1, Bochum, Germany.
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2009 Nov;43(11):1007-15. doi: 10.3109/00048670903270498.
Behavioural observation of psychiatric patient groups using ethological methodology has never been a mainstream approach in psychiatry. In the present review article it is argued that the assessment of non-verbal behaviour in psychiatric disorders has much to offer to clinicians. Based on a Medline survey, the literature on ethological observation of patients with depression and schizophrenia was reviewed. Ethological observation of psychiatric patient groups has the potential to improve prediction of course and outcome of severe psychiatric disorders at a very early stage. Disadvantages of the ethological approach lie within its technical requirements and its inherent time-consuming evaluation of data. A full appreciation of psychiatric disorders may require answers to questions to the proximate causes and evolutionary (Darwinian) trajectories of behaviour, an approach that may well be expanded to maladaptive cognition and emotion.
使用行为学方法对精神科患者群体进行行为观察，在精神病学中从未成为主流方法。在本文综述中，作者认为，对精神障碍的非言语行为进行评估可为临床医生提供很多帮助。作者基于 Medline 调查，对抑郁症和精神分裂症患者的行为观察文献进行了回顾。对精神科患者群体进行行为观察有可能在疾病早期阶段改善对严重精神障碍病程和结局的预测。行为学方法的缺点在于其技术要求和对数据进行固有地耗时评估。对精神障碍的全面认识可能需要回答有关行为的近因和进化（达尔文）轨迹的问题，这种方法很可能扩展到适应不良的认知和情绪。
