title: Effects of psychotropic drugs and psychiatric illness on vocational aptitude and interest assessment.
abstract: 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.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001077:Aptitude Tests; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation; D009042:Motivation / Q000187:drug effects*; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012050:Rehabilitation, Vocational / Q000523:psychology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000534:rehabilitation; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000187:drug effects; D014830:Vocational Guidance
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs