Coping and anxiety in women recalled for additional diagnostic procedures following an abnormal screening mammogram.

This study characterized women's concurrent and subsequent levels of emotional distress associated with a questionable mammogram screening and relationships between women's coping and psychosocial adjustment. State anxiety was assessed in 98 women 1 day after receiving a mammogram screening (Time 1), after notification of a questionable screening result that necessitated additional testing (Time 2), and after being informed of their breast-cancer-free status (Time 3). Key findings include (a) women reported a significant increase in anxiety following notification of the need to return for follow-up testing; (b) significant and positive associations were found between anxiety and behavioral approach, behavioral avoidance, cognitive approach, and cognitive avoidance coping in cross-sectional analyses; and (c) cognitive avoidance coping was a strong predictor of final levels of state anxiety in women. Findings suggest that cognitive avoidance coping plays an important role in reducing anxiety in women recalled to clarify an initially ambiguous screening procedure.     

Calibration of computer-monitored running wheels with adjustable drag

The design of a rodent running wheel with adjustable drag and ability to measure accurately the direction as well as the speed of running is described. A computer program in the C language enables a single microcomputer to monitor several wheels simultaneously. Drag is conveniently calibrated by the rate of deceleration from 1 revolution per second when no animal is present, and the calibration procedure can also assess the smoothness of the drag mechanism. Results of tests of the setability, repeatablility, and durability of the drag are presented. A method is outlined to determine the physical work required to accelerate the wheel and to maintain its rotation against the frictional drag.     

Early and Late Life Exposure to Trauma and Biopsychosocial Well-Being in Centenarians

Few studies have investigated the proximal versus distal influence of traumatic life events (TLE) on biopsychosocial resources of very old adults. The Developmental Adaptation Model was used to test TLE experienced before and after the age of 60 on outcomes of centenarians’ physical disability, perceived health impairments, depressive symptoms, and social support. Cross-sectional data were collected from 154 community-dwelling centenarians. Results indicated that TLE in the latter half of life were positively associated with health impairments and depressive symptoms. The present results emphasize the importance of a process-oriented approach to resilience that allows flexibility in successful coping across the lifespan.     

Sleep and theology: ‘An half adieu to the world’

The study of sleep has become a field of widespread interest. It engages many disciplines from neuroscience to sociology, philosophy to evolutionary biology. It features in the lifestyle sections of newspapers and websites often because of its connections with mental and physical wellbeing. Yet theology has, in the most part, remained silent on the subject, despite many Biblical references to sleep in both the Old and New Testaments. There is a theological story to be told about sleep ? as a gift, and not an affliction ? despite the unfortunate occasional conflation of sleep with sloth. It is a state of grace and not of sin. It refreshes and renews yet can never be earned; all we can do is to be in a posture of receptivity so that it falls upon us. Sleep is profoundly precarious and sometimes frustratingly elusive and is suggestive of the fragility and vulnerability of human existence. When it comes to us, sleep transforms our experience of waking life. The eschatological character of sleep points us to reflect on mortality and resurrection. This article argues that it is possible to speak of a ‘theology of sleep’, but that it is not to be found in a coherent body of teaching or theological exploration. Rather, a theology of sleep is found articulated in Christian practices such as the Office of Compline, the keeping of vigils and the Examen of Consciousness, and in evening hymnody and prayers before bed. The author will suggest that the word theosomnia encapsulates this understanding of sleep.     

Glucocorticoids are required for extinction of predator stress-induced hyperarousal

Background

The role of glucocorticoids in extinction of traumatic memories has not been fully characterized despite its potential as a therapeutic target for acquired posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The predator stress paradigm allows us to determine whether glucocorticoids mediate the extinction of both context-dependent and context-independent fear memories.

Methods

Male C57BL/6J mice were exposed to a predator (cat) then repeatedly exposed to the predator stress context in the absence of the cat. Context-dependent (associative) fear memory was assessed as suppression of activity during re-exposure to the predator stress context without the cat (extinction trials). Context-independent fear (non-associative) was assessed seven days after extinction trials using measures of hyperarousal and anxiety-like behaviours in environments unlike the predator stress context. To assess the role of glucocorticoids, mice were injected with metyrapone (50 mg/kg) 90 min prior to extinction trials in predator stressed mice and context-dependent and context-independent fear memories were assessed. Finally, metyrapone-treated predator stressed mice were injected with corticosterone (5 or 10 mg/kg) immediately following extinction trials and context-dependent and context-independent fear memories were assessed.

Results

Repeated re-exposure to the predator stress context without the cat present extinguished context-dependent fear memory, and also reduced hyperarousal, a generalized, chronic PTSD-like symptom. We show that extinction of context-independent predator stress-induced hyperarousal is dependent on endogenous glucocorticoids during the extinction trials. Furthermore, the inhibition of extinction by metyrapone on startle amplitude was reduced by exogenous administration of corticosterone following extinction trials. Overall, these data implicate glucocorticoids in the extinction of hyperarousal, a core symptom of PTSD.     

Why Fix What Isn't Broken? A Rejoinder to Ridenour,Daley, & Reich*

Ridenour, Daley, & Reich (2000) suggest that the Family Assessment Device should be reorganized. We disagree and provide further reasons why such a reorganization is unwise.     

Imposed vibration influences perceived tactile smoothness

According to the duplex theory of tactile texture perception, detection of cutaneous vibrations produced when the exploring finger moves across a surface contributes importantly to the perception of fine textures. If this is true, a vibrating surface should feel different from a stationary one. To test this prediction, experiments were conducted in which subjects examined two identical surfaces, one of which was surreptitiously made to vibrate, and judged which of the two was smoother. In experiment 1, the vibrating surface was less and less often judged smoother as the amplitude of (150 Hz) vibration increased. The effect was comparable in subjects who realized the surface was vibrating and those who did not. Experiment 2 showed that different frequencies (150-400 Hz) were equally effective in eliciting the effect when equated in sensation level (dB SL). The results suggest that vibrotaction contributes to texture perception, and that, at least within the Pacinian channel, it does so by means of an intensity code.     

Psychophysical design influences frequency discrimination performance in young children

We investigated how different psychophysical procedures affect frequency discrimination performance in children. Four studies used a design in which listeners heard two tone pairs and had to identify whether the first or second pair contained a higher frequency target tone. Thresholds for 6- and 7-year-olds were higher than those for 8- and 9-year-olds and adults. Two manipulations led to lower (better) thresholds in young children: (a) moving the standard comparison tone before the target tone and (b) using three target comparison tone pairs. It is suggested that young children benefit from designs that help cue them to when they need to attend to a target tone. The two-interval, forced-choice procedure that is widely used in studies of developmental disorders led to variable performance even in adults and did not give a realistic picture of the perceptual capabilities of children under 8 years of age.     

Rejected bullies or popular leaders? The social relations of aggressive subtypes of rural african american early adolescents

Teacher assessments of interpersonal characteristics were used to identify subtypes of rural African American early adolescents (161 boys and 258 girls). Teacher ratings of interpersonal characteristics were used to identify popular and unpopular aggressive subtypes for both boys and girls. Unpopular aggressive youths did not have elevated levels of rejected sociometric status but were more likely to have lower levels of peer-perceived social prominence and social skills. Conversely, popular aggressive youths were more likely to be disliked by peers even though they were perceived by peers as socially prominent and socially skilled and were identified by teachers as highly involved in extracurricular activities. Both popular and unpopular aggressive youths tended to associate with others who had similar levels of peer-perceived popularity.