Avoidance as a predictor of the biological course of HIV infection over a 7-year period in gay men.

The present study prospectively investigated the relation between avoidance coping and active cognitive and behavioral coping and the progression of HIV infection over 7 years in 181 gay men. Findings revealed that for a number of medical and behavioral factors, (a) avoidance coping predicted a lower rate of decline in CD4 cells, (b) the proportional hazard (PH) attributable to avoidance of developing a syncytium-inducing HIV variant was 0.72 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.53 - 0.99, p < .05), and (c) the PH attributable to avoidance of dropping below 200 CD4 cells/microl was 0.66 (95% CI: 0.50 - 0.89, p < .01). Avoidance coping was not related to the development of AIDS-defining clinical symptoms. Active cognitive and behavioral coping was not related to the outcome measures.     

Exploring predictors of change in behavioral problems over a 1-year period in preterm born preschoolers

ObjectiveAlthough predictors of the prevalence of behavioral problems in preterm-born children have been frequently studied, predictors of behavioral change in these children remain unknown. Therefore, in this study we explore predictors of short-term changes in problem behavior in preterm-born preschoolers, an age period characterized by rapid behavioral change.MethodTwo- to 5-year-old children born with a gestational age <32 weeks and/or birth weight <1500 g were eligible, because of their high risk for behavioral problems. Following screening, 59 children with a t-score ≥60 on either the internal, external or total problem scale of the Child Behavior Checklist were included in the study. Linear mixed modeling was used to investigate predictors of change in behavior over a 1-year period.ResultsHigher levels of parenting stress, parent perceived child vulnerability, and parental hostility towards the child and lower educational levels of the mother significantly predicted increases in externalizing behavior. The higher the age of the child, the more internalizing problems decreased.ConclusionsParenting stress, parent perceived child vulnerability and parental hostility towards the child were the only modifiable predictors of increases in externalizing behavior, whilst no modifiable predictors of internalizing behavior were found. There may be a reciprocal interaction between stress in parents and child externalizing problems. Furthermore, stress and worries may directly influence parents’ reports on behavioral measures, because it could cause them to be concerned by behavior otherwise perceived as normal. Therefore, future interventions for parents of preterm-born children should primarily address parental stress and concerns regarding their child.     

Sex differences in cognition are stable over a 10-year period in adulthood and old age

Sex differences in declarative memory and visuospatial ability are robust in cross-sectional studies. The present longitudinal study examined whether sex differences in cognition were present over a 10-year period, and whether age modified the magnitude of sex differences. Tests assessing episodic and semantic memory, and visuospatial ability were administered to 625 nondemented adults (initially aged 35-80 years), participating in the population-based Betula study at two follow-up occasions. There was stability of sex differences across five age groups and over a 10-year period. Women performed at a higher level than men on episodic recall, face and verbal recognition, and semantic fluency, whereas men performed better than women on a task-assessing, visuospatial ability. Sex differences in cognitive functions are stable over a 10-year period and from 35 to 90 years of age.     

Stability and changes in health behaviours in young adults over a one year period

Abstract

Data concerning 19 health-related behaviours and associated beliefs were collected by questionnaire from 282 students in the Netherlands on two occasions over one year. While all behaviours showed moderate stability, there were variations in the degree of change. The highest stability was reported for sleep time, tooth brushing frequency, seat belt usage and health care service utilization. The least stable behaviours included regular exercise and various dietary measures. Predictors of changes in smoking, dietary fat intake, alcohol consumption and regular exercise were analysed in detail. Beliefs assessed at year 1 in the importance of these activities for health predicted changes in behaviour over the study year independently of prior behaviour levels. Awareness of the risks associated with behaviours, and explicit wishes to modify behaviour patterns (eg stop smoking, exercise more), did not predict change from year 1 to year 2. The results indicated that health behaviours vary in their stability, and that health beliefs may predict future health behaviour changes.     

Sexual identity, attractions, and behavior among young sexual-minority women over a 2-year period

Previous research suggests that the sexual identities, attractions, and behaviors of sexual-minority (i.e., nonheterosexual) women change over time, yet there have been few longitudinal studies addressing this question, and no longitudinal studies of sexual-minority youths. The results of 2-year follow-up interviews with 80 lesbian, bisexual, and "unlabeled" women who were first interviewed at 16-23 years of age are reported. Half of the participants changed sexual-minority identities more than once, and one third changed identities since the first interview. Changes in sexual attractions were generally small but were larger among bisexuals and unlabeled women. Most women pursued sexual behavior consistent with their attractions, but one fourth of lesbians had sexual contact with men between the two interviews. These findings suggest that there is more fluidity in women's sexual identities and behaviors than in their attractions. This fluidity may stem from the prevalence of nonexclusive attractions among sexual-minority women.     

U.S. mental health policy. Doomed to fail.

Changes in the de facto system of mental health care in the last decade reflect organizational and entrepreneurial responsiveness to changes in health policy, not mental health policy. Various other actions described here reduced statutory or institutional leadership roles in mental health and increased the pace at which mental health policy was becoming dependent on health policy. In turn, U.S. health policy in the 20th century has been inherently flawed. The short-term general hospital--the "doctors' workshop"--emphasizing acute care and surgery, has been the cornerstone of U.S. health policy throughout the 20th century. The mimicry of health services by mental health leads to demonstrably more expensive and less effective mental health care and dooms mental health policy to failure.     

Change in cognitive capabilities in the oldest old: the effects of proximity to death in genetically related individuals over a 6-year period

Change in cognitive abilities was assessed over a 6-year period in a sample of monozygotic and same-sex dizygotic twin pairs (N = 507 individuals), aged 80 and older (mean age = 83.3 years: SD = 3.1). who remained nondemented over the course of the study. Latent growth models (LGMs) show that chronological age and time to death are consistent predictors of decline in measures of memory, reasoning, speed, and verbal abilities. Multivariate LGM analysis resulted in weak and often negative correlations among rates of change between individuals within twin pairs, indicating greater differential change within twin pairs than occurs on average across twin pairs. These findings highlight several challenges for estimating genetic sources of variance in the context of compromised health and mortality-related change.     

Desensitization to media violence over a short period of time

This study investigated the desensitization to violence over a short period of time. Participants watched nine violent movie scenes and nine comedy scenes, and reported whether they enjoyed the violent or comedy scenes and whether they felt sympathetic toward the victim of violence. Using latent growth modeling, analyses were carried out to investigate how participants responded to the different scenes across time. The findings of this study suggested that repeated exposure to media violence reduces the psychological impact of media violence in the short term, therefore desensitizing viewers to media violence. As a result, viewers tended to feel less sympathetic toward the victims of violence and actually enjoy more the violence portrayed in the media. Additionally, desensitization to media violence was better represented by a curvilinear pattern, whereas desensitization to comedy scenes was better represented by a linear pattern. Finally, trait aggression was not related to the pattern of change over time, although significant effects were found for initial reports of enjoyment and sympathy. Aggr. Behav. 35:179–187, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Mental health consultation to law enforcement: Secret Service development of a Mental Health Liaison Program

The Mental Health Liaison Program developed and used by the Secret Service is presented as a model for comprehensive, multidimensional interactions between law enforcement and mental health systems, with particular focus on assessing and preventing violent behavior. The structure of the program pairs consultants—psychologists and psychiatrists—with Secret Service field offices to provide (a) consultation regarding risk assessment and case management of individuals who threaten or display inappropriate interest in the President or other protectees; (b) training for agents on risk assessment, mental illness, and mental health care issues; and (c) liaison activities between the Secret Service and the mental health community. Practical benefits to the Secret Service are discussed to encourage more systematic use of broad based psychological and psychiatric consultation to law enforcement, with a goal of enhanced intersystem communication and collaboration. The need for program evaluation and outcome research is discussed in the context of applying the model to improve other mental health and law enforcement systems interactions. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mental health teaching to UK psychology undergraduates: report of a survey

One of the limitations on developing more progressive applied psychology training is the teaching received by students at undergraduate level. In this study, we focus on the provision of teaching about mental health or its equivalents (e.g. abnormal psychology and clinical psychology) on UK undergraduate psychology programmes. Most students who go on to train as clinical psychologists will have received teaching on modules like these. A survey questionnaire was sent to 109 university departments which might offer a module in mental health mental health module and 348 individuals who might be involved in such modules. The majority of programmes responding offered a mental health module, which was available each year as an optional subject. A number of findings on the content and delivery of the modules are reported and a number of recommendations are made including more involvement from practitioners and service users. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An analysis of referrals to chaplains in a community hospital in New York over a seven year period

The study analyzed the pattern of referrals to chaplains in a suburban hospital over a 7-year period. Nurses made more than half of all the referrals to chaplains, with nursing accounting for 81.74% of referrals from staff members other than pastoral care workers and volunteers. Social workers and physicians made 11.74% and 4.08% of referrals, respectively. The number of referrals from social workers (r=.86, p<.05), nurses (r=.68, p<.10) and other staff (r=.69, p<.10) increased across years, with the exception of physicians. Three quarters of referrals were requests for chaplains to visit patients and one quarter were requests to visit with family or friends. A significant difference was found in the percentage of referrals made for patients and family/friends by staff members (p<.05), with social workers making a higher percentage of referrals for relatives and friends (34.1%), compared to nurses (26.74%) and physicians (27.27%). The most common presenting problems for which patients were referred to chaplains were anxiety, depression, and pregnancy loss. The rate of referrals for patients over the entire study period was 39.04 per 1000 patient stays.     

Spiritual Winds over a Cultural Sea: Grass-roots Patterns in Latin America

Recent years have witnessed a marked interest in Pentecostal and Charismatic developments in Latin America. Pentecostal growth itself is global, and the research so far done in Latin America is beginning to provide a much more specific picture of what has been hitherto a rather imprecise image of religious grass roots development. This article passes a wide brush over a large canvass in order to represent the major features of contemporary religious changes in Latin America. No pretense is made to provide a survey, even if data or space had been available. General trends are illustrated by a selected number of studies. The author deals with Roman Catholic experience since Medell?&;#x0301;n, the tensions involved in the progressive project and increasing Pentecostal penetration of the ‘poor’ and ‘popular’ sectors of Latin American society. The impact on the more historic Protestant churches is noted, and Pentecostalism is reviewed from the perspectives of a selected number of social scientists and Pentecostal scholars. Pointers to possible future developments are suggested as well as the challenges facing the Pentecostal movement.     

Mental health of medical students: a cross-sectional study in Tehran

Medical students are subject to stress from sources related to medical training in addition to personal problems, resulting in significant mental distress. This study evaluates the scope of the problem in Tehran medical schools and sheds light on some of its associations. Students (604) of medicine from four medical schools in the city of Tehran responded to the Persian version of 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) in conjunction with a data collection sheet asking about age, sex, marital status, current training level, living place, grade point average in previous semester, and perceptions of their financial status. Of 602 students, 40.7% had mental distress (45.7% of female and 36.7% of male students). Distress was associated with being a woman (female to male odds ratio: 1.55) and very poor financial status (OR: 18.0).     

Assessing the sustainability of goal-based changes in adjustment over a four-year period

No published data addresses the longer-term sustainability of increases in well-being and adjustment derived from successful goal-striving. Although some theories and data suggest that such gains cannot be maintained, the sustainable happiness model [Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9, 111–131.] suggests that successful intentional activity can indeed bring about lasting gains. In the current study, the “freshman goals” sample studied by Sheldon and Houser-Marko (Study 1) [Sheldon, K. M., & Houser-Marko, L. (2001). Self-concordance, goal-attainment, and the pursuit of happiness: Can there be an upward spiral? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 152–165.] was revisited at the end of their senior year. Students who strove successfully during their freshman year, thereby enhancing their adjustment during that year, had maintained those gains three years later. Path modeling suggested that initial adjustment predicted subsequent goal-attainment which in turn predicted enhanced adjustment, combining recent theories concerning both the functional benefits of positive affect and the causes of sustainable gains in well-being.     

Gender and the natural history of self-rated health: a 59-year longitudinal study.

Self-ratings of health are uniquely predictive of morbidity and mortality, and they encompass people's evaluations of many medical, psychological, and social conditions in their lives. However, the longitudinal trajectory of self-rated health has not been evaluated to date. In the present study, 59-year longitudinal multilevel analyses (1940-1999) of data from 1,411 men and women revealed that self-rated health was relatively stable until age 50 and then began to decrease in an accelerating fashion through the rest of the life course. Men had higher self-rated health throughout most of adulthood than did women but had steeper linear rates of decline. As a result, the gender difference in self-rated health disappeared by late adulthood.     

Intention to attend a health screening appointment: Some implications for general practice

The general practice response to the problem of coronary heart disease has been the implementation of cohort screening programmes to record known risk factors. Recent research, which has been guided by the Health Belief Model, has attempted to identify the predictors of attendance in these programmes. The importance of intention to attend as a mediating variable between health beliefs and attendance behaviour and the need to identify its determinants have been emphasised.

In order to determine the predictors of intention, questionnaires were sent to patients of a single health centre. Correlational and regression analyses showed general health beliefs to be poor predictors of intention; instead predicting variables revolved around perceptions of the efficacy of screening, worries and concerns about the actual screening appointment, and perceived susceptibility to common illnesses. These findings point to the need for those who plan cohort screening programmes to emphasise the efficacy of screening and to seriously address the potential worries and concerns of patients.