Predictive value of neuropsychological assessment; with regards to life expectancy among cardiac bypass surgery patients

This follow-up study to Keith et al. (2002) sought to explore relations between the cognitive, neuropsychological, and psychosocial sequelae of cardiopulmonary bypass surgery (CPB) and survival. A neuropsychological test battery including the state portion of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (S-STAI), reaction time, visual attention (VFA), rotor pursuit, visual spatial memory, verbal memory and paired associations (PA) was administered. PA (P < .05), VFA and S-STAI scores were related with 5–7 year survival. After the Benjamini-Hochberg method was employed to control for multiple comparisons only S-STAI scores remained significant. Results of logistic regression indicate that pre-CPB surgery scores on the S-STAI accurately predicted 5–7 year survival and mortality in 66% and 83% of cases respectively.     

Neuropsychological Interventions for Decision-Making in Addiction: a Systematic Review

Neuropsychology Review - Decision-making deficits are strong predictors of poor clinical outcomes in addiction treatment. However, research on interventions that address decision-making deficits...     

Ingroup role models and underrepresented students’ performance and interest in STEM: A meta-analysis of lab and field studies

This meta-analysis synthesizes research on using ingroup role models to improve the performance and interest of underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). A systematic literature search resulted in forty-five studies that met the selection criteria, including the presence of a comparison group. Both lab and field studies suffered from small sample bias, with smaller sample sizes predicting larger effect sizes among lab studies, but smaller effect sizes among field studies. Correcting for small sample bias, ingroup role models had a small, but significant positive overall effect (d?=?0.20) among field studies and a non-significant overall effect (d?=?0.04) among lab studies. The only significant moderator was level of interaction, with in-person role models having smaller effects among lab studies (p?=?.008). Implications for interventions to increase the representation of female and underrepresented minority students in STEM and future directions for research are discussed.

     

Association between bullying victimization and physical fitness among children and adolescents

Background/ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to analyze the relationship between being bullied and the physical fitness components, and to determine whether a healthy physical fitness level is related with lower victimization in children and adolescents with overweight and obesity compared to unfit overweight/obese peers. Method:The present cross-sectional study included a total of 7,714 youths (9-17 years), categorized as normal-weight or overweight/obese and fit or unfit according to sex-specific handgrip strength and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) cut-points. Bullying (physical, verbal, social exclusion, sexual harassment, and cyberbullying) was assessed through the Standard Health Behavior in School-aged Children survey questions. Results:Boys and girls that were categorized as fit (healthy level of CRF) showed lower traditional bullying compared to unfit counterparts. Also, a healthy level of CRF could be a protective factor of traditional bullying among overweight/obese youths compared to unfit overweight/obese peers. Conclusions:CRF is related with lower risk for experiencing traditional bullying in Latino youths with and without obesity, thus emphasizing the role of fitness even among youth with excess of adiposity.     

Dissemination and Implementation of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression in the Kaiser Permanente Health Care System: Evaluation of Initial Training and Clinical Outcomes

Notwithstanding its empirical status and strong recommendation in clinical practice guidelines, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) continues to be delivered infrequently and with low fidelity on the clinical front lines. Recently, organized efforts and policies within the public sector to disseminate and implement CBT and other evidence-based psychotherapies have yielded encouraging results and provided optimism for bridging the research-to-practice-gap. Following from these efforts, the current article examines the initial impact and experience of the implementation of an individualized approach to CBT training and treatment within the Kaiser Permanente health care system. Initial training outcomes, including changes in general and specific competencies, were assessed using divergent assessment methods within the initial cohort of therapists undergoing training. Initial patient outcomes, including changes in depression and anxiety, were assessed among patients receiving treatment from therapists in training. Results revealed training in and implementation of CBT-D was associated with overall large improvements in therapist competencies and in clinically significant improvements in both depression and anxiety among patients. Findings from the initial phase of dissemination and implementation within a large private system provide support for, and extend recent findings related to, the feasibility and effectiveness of training in and implementation of CBT-D in a real-world context.     

Toddlers' attention to intentions-in-action in learning novel action words.

Toddlers' ability to use cues such as eye gaze and gestures to infer the meaning of novel action words was examined. In Experiment 1, 21- and 27-month-olds were taught labels for pairs of videotaped actions that were either similar or dissimilar in appearance. Similar actions differed mainly in the presence of behavioral cues related to the agents' intentions (e.g., extended arms). Only the older children were able to learn the labels for the similar actions. In Experiment 2, 3 new pairs of labels (2 similar, 1 dissimilar) were taught to children in the same age range. Eye gaze and gestures were the main features distinguishing the similar events. The same developmental effect was observed, with only the older children showing learning of both types of verbs and the younger children being impeded by the appearance of the actions. The results show that by the middle of the 2nd year, children begin to consider intentions-in-action when acquiring the meaning of novel action verbs.     

Risk factors for binge eating onset in adolescent girls: a 2-year prospective investigation.

Because little is known about the predictors of binge eating (a risk factor for obesity), a set of putative risk factors for binge eating was investigated in a longitudinal study of adolescent girls. Results verified that binge eating predicted obesity onset. Elevated dieting, pressure to be thin, modeling of eating disturbances, appearance overvaluation, body dissatisfaction, depressive symptoms, emotional eating, body mass, and low self-esteem and social support predicted binge eating onset with 92% accuracy. Classification tree analysis revealed an interaction between appearance overvaluation, body mass, dieting, and depressive symptoms, suggesting qualitatively different pathways to binge eating and identifying subgroups at extreme risk for this outcome. Results support the assertion that these psychosocial and biological factors increase risk for binge eating.     

Is this still called a dog? 18‐month‐olds' generalization of familiar labels to unusual objects

In two experiments the flexibility of 18‐month‐olds' extension of familiar object labels was investigated using the intermodal preferential looking paradigm. The first experiment tested whether infants consider intact and incomplete objects as equally acceptable referents for familiar labels. Infants looked equally long at the intact and incomplete objects whether or not a label was presented. In the second experiment, infants were requested to find the referent of a target word among an incomplete target and an intact distracter or an intact target and an incomplete distracter. The incomplete objects were missing a large or small part. Infants looked longer at the incomplete target, even when large or small parts were deleted. Taken together, these findings suggest that infants do not hold a strong shape bias when generalizing familiar words. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predicting changes in children's self-perceptions of academic competence: a naturalistic examination of evaluative discourse among classmates

Classroom discourse was examined as a predictor of changes in children's beliefs about their academic capabilities. Kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade students (N = 106) participated in 2 waves of data collection, approximately 1 year apart. During the 1st year of the study, children's verbal interactions with their classmates were observed and recorded. Children rated their self-perceptions of academic competence during the 1st and 2nd years. Analyses revealed that changes over time in children's competence perceptions could be predicted from the types of statements that children made and had directed toward them by classmates. Examining sequences of child and classmate statements proved helpful in explaining the observed changes in children's perceptions of competence.     

Self-reported changes in subjective health and anthrax vaccination as reported by over 900 Persian Gulf War era veterans

A 1999 study of United Kingdom servicemembers by Unwin, et al. recently found significant relationships between anthrax and other vaccinations, reactions to those vaccines, and later health problems for male current or former active military Gulf War veterans. Likewise, in 2000 Steele and in 1998 Gilroy found possible adverse effects of vaccinations on Gulf War veterans. However, the role of such vaccinations remains controversial; more recent government reports continue to dispute the existence of any data that might reflect adversely on the role of vaccinations on the health of Gulf War veterans. To address this controversy, the current study assessed similar relationships for over 900 Reserve Component Gulf War Era veterans from Ohio and nearby states. Gulf War veterans were more likely to report poorer health than non-Gulf veterans. Female veterans were more likely to report mild or severe reactions to vaccines than male veterans. Those veterans who received anthrax vaccine reported more reactions to vaccines than those who did not receive anthrax vaccine. Declines in long-term subjective health were associated with receipt of anthrax vaccine by Gulf War veterans but not for those who did not deploy to the Gulf, although few of the latter received anthrax vaccine. Regardless of deployment status, veterans who reported more severe reactions to vaccines were more likely to report declines in subjective health. Female veterans reported poorer health during the Gulf War than did male veterans, but sex was not related to veterans' reports of subjective health at subsequent times. It is recommended that servicemembers who experience severe reactions to anthrax vaccine be medically reevaluated before receiving further anthrax vaccine and that careful follow-ups be conducted of those receiving the vaccine currently, in accordance with Nass's 1999 recommendations. We also recommend that safer alternatives to thimerosal (a mercury sodium salt, 50% mercury) be used to preserve all vaccines.