A Comparative Study of the Experimental Characteristics of a Group of Peptic Ulcer and Non-Ulcer Subjects

Introduction: The research about to be reported is one part of a larger research project being conducted at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. The objective of this research program is to attempt to systematically study psychological factors related to peptic ulcer by means of a behaviorally-oriented approach.

The problem in this study is a comparison of duodenal ulcer patients and a matched control group of non-ulcer subjects on various measures of reported behaviors of important persons in the early lives of the subjects. The major purpose of these comparisons is to generate hypotheses concerning the etiology of peptic ulcer from the psychological approach.