Factors related to cigarette smoking and alcohol use among adolescents

Based on a national survey of Icelandic adolescents, this study examined the various predictors of cigarette smoking and alcohol use. It was found that the use of tobacco and alcohol was related to a number of different factors: sex, residence, hours of paid work, physical activities, social network, educational performance and beliefs, and psychological distress. Further, smoking and drinking had most predictors in common. It was concluded that existing theoretical perspectives on juvenile deviance do not provide an adequate account of adolescent smoking and drinking. The need to integrate existing theories into a wider explanatory framework is discussed.     

Religion and the use of animals in research: some first thoughts

Religious traditions can be drawn on in a number of ways to illuminate discussions of the moral standing of animals and the ethical use of animals in scientific research. I begin with some general comments about relevant points in the history of major religions. I then briefly describe American civil religion, including the cult of health, and its relation to scientific research. Finally, I offer a critique of American civil religion from a Christian perspective.     

Perception, models, and data: Some comments

Some comments are offered on the papers given at the conference, which are divided into three groups: visual perception, models and neural networks, and data analysis. The analysis stresses the complexity faced by scientific theories in each of these three areas, and consequently why the demand for computing capacity will continue to increase, with no practical bound in sight.     

Psycho-logic: some thoughts and after-thoughts

The main features of the system of psycho-logic and its historical origins, especially in the writings of Heider and Piaget, are briefly reviewed. An updated version of the axioms of psycho-logic, and a list of the semantic primitives of Wierzbicka are presented. Some foundational questions are discussed, including the genetically determined limitations of human knowledge, the constructive, moral, and political nature of the approach, the role of fortuitous events, the ultimate limitations of psychological knowledge (the "balloon" to be inflated from the inside), the role of the subjective unconscious, and the implications of the approach for practice.     

Evaluation of a cigarette holder for use in analytical smoking machines

A cigarette holder that simulates the lips of a human smoker has been tested for use in measurements of yields of tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide. In this study, we tested five different brands of cigarettes that ranged in tar yield from 1 to 15 mg per cigarette. The dependence of the yields and ventilation rates on insertion depth and pressure exerted on the mouthpiece of the cigarette were investigated.     

Nicotine fading,self-monitoring and cigarette fading to produce cigarette abstinence or controlled smoking

This study developed and evaluated a smoking-treatment program. Twelve subjects were randomly assigned to one of two groups within a multiple baseline design. Subjects were first given a nicotine-fading and self-monitoring procedure for 3 weeks in which they changed their cigarette brands each week to ones containing progressively less nicotine and tar and plotted their daily intake of the two substances. Those subjects unable to quit smoking were then given a cigarette-fading procedure in which they systematically reduced the number of cigarettes smoked for 3 weeks. The study had two goals: (1) to achieve a reasonable percentage of abstinence; and (2) to reduce non-abstainers' smoking to a ‘safer’ level by having them smoke very low tar and nicotine cigarettes. The 12-month follow-up results revealed that 33% of the subjects were abstinent and all non-abstainers were smoking cigarettes lower in tar and nicotine than their baseline brands. Half the non-abstainers had decreased their smoking rate relative to baseline while the other half had increased. The subjects decreased their daily nicotine intake by 13.3 mg (81.6% reduction from baseline) and tar intake by 218.2 mg (85.5% reduction from baseline). These results suggest that the study's goals were achieved and that the non-aversive combined procedure could be used to treat not only habitual smokers but also those with cardiovascular and respiratory problems who cannot be treated by smoking-cessation procedures that use cigarette smoke as the aversive stimulus. Finally, a least-restrictive model for treating smoking is proposed and discussed.     

Weak data,strong conclusions: Some comments on Howard,Bailey and Newman's use of the psychopathy checklist

In a recent paper Howard, Bailey and Newman described their experiences with a 15-item version of Hare's research scale for the assessment of psychopathy. They administered the checklist and several MMPI-derived scales to 50 consecutive admissions to Broadmoor Hospital. Psychiatric diagnoses were used to assign the patients to one of four clinical groups: Schizophrenic, Personality Disorder, Mixed and Affective Disorder. They reported that the Psychopathy Checklist was far better than the MMPI variables in discriminating among groups, but that it lacked clinical specificity because half of the schizophrenics were misclassified as ‘psychopaths’. However, we argue that serious methodological problems, including the use of poorly defined and inadequate criterion groups, make it impossible to draw any useful conclusions from the study.     

Immediate antecedents of cigarette smoking: an analysis of unrestricted smoking patterns

Theory suggests that cigarette smoking is under stimulus control and that affect is a key trigger for smoking. A previous study (S. Shiftman et al., 2002) showed little relationship between affect and smoking, but this relationship could have been suppressed by the impact of smoking restrictions. The study evaluated these associations in a 1988 sample that was subject to few smoking restrictions. Smokers (N = 28) not seeking treatment used palmtop computers to record context and affect prior to smoking (n = 2217 observations) and also at random times when not smoking (n = 2,380). Comparisons showed little relationship between smoking and affect. Smoking was associated with particular activities and locations. Urge to smoke was the strongest predictor of smoking. The results replicated the findings of S. Shiffman et al. (2002).     

The natural history of cigarette smoking: predicting young-adult smoking outcomes from adolescent smoking patterns

Assessed the magnitude of risk that adolescent cigarette smoking carries for adult smoking. Using a longitudinal, prospective design, results indicate that even infrequent experimentation in adolescence significantly raises the risk for adult smoking and that regular (at least monthly) adolescent smoking raises the risk for adult smoking by a factor of 16 compared to nonsmoking adolescents. Relative risk was also increased by an early onset of smoking and by a stable, uninterrupted course from experimentation to regular smoking. Relative risk did not significantly vary by age or sex. The continuity of smoking behavior between adolescence and adulthood supports the importance of primary prevention programs directed at adolescent populations.     

Heightened stress and depression follow cigarette smoking

Research shows cigarette smoking does not provide mood control benefits, but rather nicotine dependency is associated with mood lability, leading to heightened feelings of stress and depression in many regular smokers. Beginning to smoke during adolescence prospectively leads to increased stress and depression; stopping smoking is followed by enduring mood improvements.     

One, two or three memories: some comments and new findings

Comments are presented on a paper by Tore Helstrup, ‘One, two or three memories? A problem-solving approach to memory for performed acts’ (Acta Psychologica, 1987, 66, 37–68). There he proposed that a monistic strategy-based explanation is sufficient to explain memory for performed acts and that a multi-code (e.g. Engelkamp and Zimmer 1985) is not necessary and raises a number of problems. We claim that his findings do not disconfirm our multi-code model. Using our model, we would predict the same results in nearly all of the experiments. Because there are some results which are contradictory to a strategy-free code redundancy model, and also further results which cannot be accounted for solely by a monistic model, we propose that a valuable approach would be to combine his assumption that subjects behave strategically with our multi-code approach.     

Letting go: some thoughts about termination

Termination of analysis is discussed from three perspectives. First, considered as a vicissitude of the analytic relationship, termination contains essential elements of the psychoanalytic process itself. Cycles of attachment, loss, mourning, and internalization mark moments in, as well as overviews of, every analysis from its beginning to well past its termination. Second, Freud's approach to the subject of termination is explored and widened, with an emphasis on its relation to mourning and on the depth and permanence of analytic transference--two dimensions relatively neglected by Freud, perhaps for personal reasons. Finally, clinical issues are presented that are meaningful to the author in his work with analysands, including his work as a training analyst.