Comparison of two TAGteach error-correction procedures to teach beginner yoga poses to adults

Teaching with acoustical guidance involves auditory feedback (e.g., a click sound when a desired behavior occurs) as part of a multicomponent intervention known as TAGteach. TAGteach has been found to improve performance in sport, dance, surgical technique, and walking. We compared the efficacy and efficiency of the standard TAGteach error-correction procedure and a modified TAGteach error-correction procedure to teach 4 novice adult yoga practitioners beginner yoga poses. Both error-correction procedures were effective for all participants; however, the relative efficiency of these error-correction procedures was unclear. Results are discussed in terms of limitations and considerations for future research.     

The Use of Religion Among HIV-Infected African American Women

A study of the associations among physical and mental health and differential patterns of religiosity among African American women was conducted with a sample of 253 participants: 104 HIV-infected, 46 chronically ill (not HIV-infected), and 103 healthy subjects. Participants' uses of private (i.e., prayer) and public (i.e., church attendance) forms of religiosity were assessed using data from semi-structured interviews. The relationship between religiosity and mental health exhibited an incongruous pattern, differing across health condition and forms of religious behavior. The practice of public religiosity was found to be inversely associated with engagement in high-risk health behaviors among HIV-infected and healthy women but not among the chronically ill. Although private religiosity was unrelated to participants' perceptions of physical health, public religiosity was positively associated with physical health among HIV-infected women and inversely associated with their CD4 count. Finally, having a sense of control over one's health was positively related to religiosity. Results from this study support the important role religion plays for persons faced with chronic terminal diseases, as in the case of HIV/AIDS.     

Medical Family Therapy in a Primary Care Setting: A Framework for Integration

As the profession of marriage and family therapy (MFT), as well as the emerging sub-specialty of medical family therapy (MedFT), continue to grow and evolve within the current healthcare system, the arena of integrated primary care (IPC) presents an ideal environment for professionals who are relationally and systemically inclined. Although there has been a inundation of literature detailing collaborative systems of healthcare, several gaps still exist: (a) a lack of horizontally integrated models (i.e., models that do not target specific diseases or demographic populations), (b) a lack of model utilization regardless of disease trajectory (i.e., decline, stabilization, improvement), and (c) a lack of IPC models explicitly utilizing MedFT/MFTs as the mental health providers within the system. In lieu of these gaps, the authors present a framework for IPC, utilizing MedFTs/MFTs, that is neither population nor disease specific, as well as a model geared towards implementation regardless of disease trajectory. The framework, which was obtained using ethnography of communication, details MedFTs?? interactions with front line medical providers and patients from initial contact through coordination of a shared treatment plan. Recommendations for future research studies incorporating the use of MedFTs in integrated primary care settings are extended in the context of a three world view framework (Peek in Collaborative medicine case studies: Evidence in practice. Springer, New York, pp 25?C38, 2008; Peek and Heinrich in Family Syst Med 13:327?C342, 1995, Integrated primary care: the future of medical and mental health collaboration. Norton, New York, pp 167?C202, 1998).     

Translational Research on Caregiver Reading and Playing Behaviors: Evidence from an In Vivo Community-based Intervention throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic

Journal of Child and Family Studies - This study provides a rigorous assessment of a community-based early child development (ECD) intervention to understand the drivers of caregivers’...     

“Big Momma Had Sugar,Imma Have It Too” Medical Fatalism and the Language of Faith Among African–American Women in Memphis

This essay offers a theological exploration of the relationship between medical fatalism and religious belonging among African–American women in Memphis. Drawing on the work of black and womanist theologians and on conversations with participants in a diabetes intervention program administered by a faith-based community health provider, I argue that how we narrate the meanings of our bodies is irreducibly religious. The language we use to interpret and communicate the meaning of our bodily existence emerges from a set of assumptions, often unarticulated, about what is of ultimate value to us. The essay focuses on three interlocking features that link faith with fatalism or hope: (1) The idea that if “I don’t claim that” disease cannot enter my body; (2) the role of faith-based clinics in re-establishing trust with marginalized communities; and (3) how nuanced attention to the social location of health seekers can re-frame our understanding of patient compliance. Disrupting fatalism can only be done from within a health seeker’s own narrative, and therefore, healthcare providers who learn these narratives and respect their holiness will develop more effective interventions.     

Neighborhood consistency and memory for number facts

Verguts and Fias (Memory & Cognition 33:1-16, 2005a) proposed a new model of memory for simple multiplication facts ( $ 2 \times 3 = 6 $ ; $ 8 \times 7 = 56 $ ) in which learning and performance is governed by the consistency of a problem’s correct product with neighboring products in the times table. In the present study, to directly investigate effects of neighborhood consistency, participants memorized a set of 16 novel “pound” arithmetic equations. The pound arithmetic table included eight tie equations with repeated operands (e.g., 4 # 4 = 29) and eight nontie equations (e.g., 5 # 4 = 39). In the consistent problem set, tie and nontie answers in adjacent columns and rows shared a common decade or unit value. In the inconsistent problem set, neighboring tie and nontie problems did not share a common decade or unit. Across 14 study–test blocks, memorization of the pound arithmetic table presented a robust effect of neighborhood consistency, with the rate of learning nearly doubling that of the inconsistent condition. An analysis of error types showed that consistency fostered the development of a categorical structure based on problem operands and that tie problems were encoded as a distinct subcategory of problems. There was also a substantial learning advantage for tie problems relative to nonties both with consistent and inconsistent neighbors. The results indicate that neighborhood consistency can have a major impact on memory for number facts.     

The Psychometric Properties of the Personality Assessment Inventory-Short Form (PAI-SF) in Inpatient Forensic and Civil Samples

Research focusing on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) has increased substantially over the past decade. However, there has been relatively little focus on the PAI short-form (PAISF). The current study evaluated the psychometric characteristics of the PAI-SF clinical scales using participants admitted to a large northeastern hospital under forensic (N?=?178) and civil (N?=?320) statutes. Results indicate that the internal consistency of the PAI-SF clinical scales is adequate for both the Forensic (range of alphas: 0.74 to 0.88) and Civil (0.79 to 0.91) samples, and assumptions of item-scale convergence and divergence were generally met with some exceptions. Finally, the PAI-SF exhibited strong agreement with the full-form PAI scores overall, and at the upper extreme (T?≥?70) of the distributions for both samples. The results are discussed in terms of how they extend prior research on the PAI-SF.