Effects of psychotropic drugs and psychiatric illness on vocational aptitude and interest assessment

• Published in: Journal of clinical psychology Vol. 42; no. 4; pp. 569 - 576
• Main Authors: Helmes, Edward, Fekken, G. Cynthia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brandon Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.07.1986; Wiley
• Subjects: Adult; Aptitude Tests; Biological and medical sciences; Combined Modality Therapy; Female; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Mental Disorders - psychology; Mental Disorders - rehabilitation; Mood Disorders - rehabilitation; Motivation - drug effects; Neurotic Disorders - rehabilitation; Personality Disorders - rehabilitation; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychomotor Performance - drug effects; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychotropic Drugs - adverse effects; Psychotropic Drugs - therapeutic use; Reeducation. Readaptation. Sociotherapy; Rehabilitation, Vocational - psychology; Schizophrenia - rehabilitation; Treatments; Verbal Learning - drug effects; Visual Perception - drug effects; Vocational Guidance; Human; Chemotherapy; Vocational rehabilitation; Pathogenesis; Psychotropic; Aptitude test; Secondary effect; Vocational guidance; Psychometrics; Mental illness
• ISSN: 0021-9762; 1097-4679
• DOI: 10.1002/1097-4679(198607)42:4<569::AID-JCLP2270420405>3.0.CO;2-H

This study examined the vocational aptitude and interest scores of 326 inpatients at a large urban psychiatric hospital. The inpatient group performed significantly below the adult normative mean on eight of nine General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) aptitude measures; the single exception was Verbal Aptitude. Further, GATB aptitude scores (adjusted for age and education) were significantly lower for patients who were receiving (N = 210) psychotropic medication than for patients who were not receiving (N = 114) psychotropic medication, again with the exception of Verbal Aptitude. Differentiation of patients into subsamples who were receiving particular drugs or drug combinations indicated that phenothiazines in combination with Anti‐Parkinsonians were associated with the poorest GATB performances. Interestingly, self‐reported vocational interests were not related in any systematic fashion to receiving medication. A variety of explanations that may account for these findings, including drug side‐effects and severity or type of psychiatric disorder, were investigated. Implications for vocational counselors were discussed.