THE ASSESSMENT OF MOTOR AND PROCESS SKILLS OF PERSONS WITH PSYCHIATRIC-DISORDERS

Objectives. The Purpose of this study was to examine the discriminant validity of the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS) when use d to evaluate a heterogeneous sample of subjects with psychiatric diso rders. Method. Sixty subjects, ranging in age from 16 to 72 years, par ticipated in this study, 30 were persons without disorders living in t he community; 30 bad diagnosed psychiatric disorders. Two univariate F tests were used to test the hypothesis that mean AMPS measures would differ significantly between the group with and the group without psyc hiatric disorders. Results. The hypothesis was supported for both AMPS motor and process scale measures As would be expected among a sample that includes many higher functioning Persons, many subjects with psyc hiatric disorders did just as well as subjects in the group without ps ychiatric disorders Conclusions. Motor as well as process skill abilit ies of persons with psychiatric disorders should be evaluated. Because the AMPS provides more specific features than other global functional instruments, it can help clinicians plan treatment and intervention m ore effectively. Further examination of the motor and process skill de ficits within and among diagnostic subgroups and of the effect of medi cation and prolonged hospitalization on AMPS motor and process abiliti es is indicated.