Conflict Transformation, Stigma, and HIV-Preventive Structural Change

Over the prior decade, structural change efforts have become an important component of community-based HIV prevention initiatives. However, these efforts may not succeed when structural change initiatives encounter political resistance or invoke conflicting values, which may be likely when changes are intended to benefit a stigmatized population. The current study sought to examine the impact of target population stigma on the ability of 13 community coalitions to achieve structural change objectives. Results indicated that coalitions working on behalf of highly stigmatized populations had to abandon objectives more often than did coalitions working for less stigmatized populations because of external opposition to coalition objectives and resultant internal conflict over goals. Those coalitions that were most successful in meeting external challenges used opposition and conflict as transformative occasions by targeting conflicts directly and attempting to neutralize oppositional groups or turn them into strategic allies; less successful coalitions working on behalf of stigmatized groups struggled to determine an appropriate response to opposition. The role of conflict transformation as a success strategy for working on behalf of stigmatized groups is discussed.     

Sulcal morphology and volume of Broca's area linked to handedness and sex

We investigated the effect of handedness and sex on: (i) sulcal contours defining PO and PTR and (ii) volume estimates of PO and PTR subfields in 40 left- and 42 right-handers. Results show an effect of handedness on discontinuity of the inferior frontal sulcus (IFS: P < 0.01). Discontinuity of IFS was observed in: 43% left- and 62% right hemispheres in right-handers and in 65% left- and 48% right-hemispheres in left-handers. PO volume asymmetry was rightward in left-handed males (P = 0.007) and females (P = 0.02), showed a leftward trend in right-handed males (P = 0.06), and was non-asymmetrical in right-handed females (P = 0.96, i.e. left- and right-hemisphere PO volumes did not differ significantly). PO volume asymmetry in males differed significantly between handedness groups (P = 0.001). Findings indicate a high degree of variability in the sulcal contours of PO and PTR and volume asymmetry of PO: the factors sex and handedness can explain some of this variability.     

Reconsidering the ‘heresy’ of using treatment manuals

Some argue that the medical model and the experimental design that underlies the use of treatment manuals to prove the efficacy of a psychotherapeutic treatment clashes with the theoretical basis of family therapy. From the point of view of the empirically supported treatments (ESTs) movement, treatment manuals are the operationalization of the independent variable in a clinical trial; the therapist is only part of the procedure and the therapeutic relationship is a confounding variable. Applying that logic to the practice of family therapy might be considered a heresy. This article argues that paradoxically, this heresy has a lot to offer the practice of family therapy. Research is the best way to answer questions like ‘how does family therapy work?’ ‘What makes ‘good therapy’ good?’ ‘Do therapists do what they say they do'? This article recommends an alternative framework for integrating ESTs into practice by proposing empirically informed guides to practice which, being less formulaic, encourage process‐outcome research, are coherent with the systemic model and do not constrain the therapist's creativity. Such guidelines allow therapists to use manuals flexibly so that they deepen the understanding of the process of therapy. We encourage you to listen to the JFT Editor, Mark Rivett, as he interviews the author on Manuals in the Practice and Research of Family Therapy. Available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1467‐6427/homepage/jft_podcast_series.htm .     

Mothers' affect dysregulation,depressive symptoms,and emotional availability during mother–infant interaction

Maternal affect dysregulation and maternal depressive symptoms were examined as predictors of maternal emotional availability (EA) during mother–infant interaction in a nonclinical sample. In particular, we investigated if affect dysregulation predicts EA and is more important than are depressive symptoms in predicting EA. Questionnaire measures and 30 min of free play were obtained from 46 mothers of 4‐ to 5‐month‐old infants. Mothers' self‐reported affect dysregulation was inversely related to EA, but mothers' depressive symptoms were not related to EA. More specifically, mothers' tendency to use unhealthy externalizing behaviors to reduce tension and distress predicted less EA. These results suggested that even in relatively low‐risk samples, mothers' self‐reported affect dysregulation, particularly the tendency to act out inappropriately in response to tension and distress, may be a more proximal predictor of EA than are depressive symptoms.     

Dopamine modulation affects the performance of parkinsonian patients in a precision motor task measured by an antropomorphic device

Several parameters related to the timing, grip force and load force involved in a precision grasping task were studied in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) at different moments of medication and healthy controls, using a sensorized anthropomorphic device which was totally adapted to the human hand. The aim of this work was to carry out an accurate study of the reach-load-grip-hold-place-release subtasks to identify any physical motor impairment, its relation to medication and Parkinsonian strategies. Twenty seven patients in ON and OFF-like medication moments, and twenty seven age-matched controls took part in the experiment, which consisted of using the index finger and the thumb to perform a precision motor task involving different experimental objects. Visual cues were used as distracting elements. Results showed several motor parameters impaired in OFF-like medication moment but attenuated in ON state, suggesting a medication effect on the performance of the task.     

Effect of auditory isolation on activity-based anorexia

The objective was to study male and female rats exposed to Activity-Based Anorexia (ABA; simultaneous exposition to food restriction and free access to an activity wheel) under two conditions of sound attenuation, by means of different arrangements of wheels (standard versus isolation) in the laboratory room. Regardless of the sound attenuation condition, all but one male and one female with access to wheels had to be removed from the experiment, but extended ABA endurance was found in rats in the sound attenuation condition. Furthermore, significantly lower levels of running were observed in both males and females under the sound attenuation arrangement in the isolation condition. The results suggest that external stimulation plays a role in the activity displayed by rats exposed to ABA, and that the reduction of external stimulation diminishes running but does not protect rats from developing ABA.     

Effects of (+) SKF 10,047, a sigma-1 receptor agonist, on anxiety,tested in two laboratory models in mice

Recently, sigma-1 receptor modulators have been considered drugs with an interesting therapeutic potential for the treatment of anxiety. However, there is no clear information in preclinical studies about the possible effects of sigma-1 ligands on anxiety in experimental animal models. Therefore, the present study examined the effects of (+)SKF 10,047 (2-8 mg/kg, ip), a sigma-1 agonist, on anxiety, tested in two classical laboratory models (social interaction test and elevated plus maze). (+)SKF 10,047 (8 mg/kg) produced a significant decrease of social investigation in the "social interaction test", whereas in the "elevated plus maze", the drug (4 and 8 mg/kg) provoked a significant reduction in the number of entries into open arms, as well as in the time spent in this area, as compared with the control group, without affecting motor activity. Overall, these findings indicate that (+)SKF 10,047 exhibits an anxiogenic-like profile in mice. It is suggested that anxiogenic effects of this sigma-1 ligand could be related to its potent ability to modulate diverse neurotransmitter systems involved in anxiety regulation.     

Burnout and job satisfaction among nursing professionals

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between burnout and job satisfaction among nursing professionals. The sample consisted of 316 staff nurses. The study was longitudinal, and not randomized. The gap between Time 1 (T1) and Time 2 (T2) was one year. Hierarchical regression analysis showed empirical evidence of the significant and negative effect of burnout (i.e., Emotional exhaustion and Depersonalization dimensions) at T1 on job satisfaction in T2. Significant results were also obtained that showed the influence of job satisfaction at T1 on burnout at T2 (i.e., Depersonalization dimension). The study concludes that there is a bidirectional and longitudinal relationship between burnout and job satisfaction. However, longitudinal effects of burnout at T1 on job satisfaction on T2 (i.e., burnout as antecedent of job satisfaction) are stronger than vice-versa (i.e., job satisfaction as antecedent of burnout).     

Prediction of mathematics achievement: effect of personal, socioeducational and contextual variables

Based upon the self-regulated learning theoretical framework this study examined to what extent students' Math school achievement (fifth to ninth graders from compulsory education) can be explained by different cognitive-motivational, social, educational, and contextual variables. A sample of 571 students (10 to 15 year old) enrolled in the study. Findings suggest that Math achievement can be predicted by self-efficacy in Math, school success and self-regulated learning and that these same variables can be explained by other motivational (ej., achievement goals) and contextual variables (school disruption) stressing this way the main importance of self-regulated learning processes and the role context can play in the promotion of school success. The educational implications of the results to the school levels taken are also discussed in the present paper.     

Spanish adaptation of Hobfoll's Strategic Approach to Coping Scale (SACS)

The present research adapted the Strategic Approach to Coping Scale (SACS), developed by Hobfoll and colleagues, to the Spanish population. SACS is an instrument derived from Hobfoll's Conservation of Resources Theory, which emphasises the contribution of social factors to coping processes. This instrument assesses coping strategies in 9-subscales, organised in three dimensions: orientation to the problem (active/passive), use of social resources (prosocial/antisocial), and orientation to others involved (direct/indirect). The Spanish version, administered to a non-clinical sample (N= 767), found 7-subscales structured in prosocial/antisocial, active/passive and reflexive/intuitive dimensions, with adequate reliability and construct validity. To conclude, the Spanish SACS is a potentially useful and reliable instrument for research and clinical purposes, mainly in areas in which social components need to be explicitly considered.