Sleep deprivation in Air National Guard medical personnel responding to simulated disaster-training exercises

National Guard personnel remain largely unstudied within the sleep research community, despite their unique and important role. In response, the purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of sleep deprivation in National Guard medical personnel from two separate Air Force Bases (AFBs) responding to simulated disaster-training exercises. National Guard medical personnel (N = 77) were fitted with wrist activity monitors (actigraphy) to objectively measure their sleep for 4 days of their civilian time (baseline), followed by a 4-day transition period from civilian to military duty, and a 3–5-day disaster-training exercise. Differences in sleep quantity, quality, and “cognitive effectiveness” were analyzed using generalized linear mixed models. Participants’ sleep quantity was significantly reduced from civilian to disaster-training periods, and their cognitive effectiveness also dropped significantly. National Guard medical personnel were sleep-deprived during a simulated disaster-training exercise, which, although a valid proxy for real-world disasters, is likely to be a conservative approximation of the stress and fatigue National Guard personnel experience during crisis response. As such, the need for targeted fatigue-related interventions to safeguard our service members during these critical times is clear.     

School psychology: a public health perspective : I. Prevention, populations, and systems change

Concerns regarding American schools and mental health services for children abound, including inadequate educational achievement, school violence, over-referral to special education and disproportionate placement of minorities into special education, under-utilization of mental health services for children, and a poorly coordinated system of child mental health services. All of the above concerns share two common attributes: (a) they are statements regarding populations, rather than specific individuals; and (b) they are best addressed by changing system-wide elements of psychological service delivery. We argue that, although conceptualizing school psychology as primarily an indirect service specialty (e.g., J. Sch. Psychol. 28 (1990) 203) has advanced our thinking about effective service delivery, conceptualizing school psychological services from a public health perspective will provide an even broader framework that can increase both the efficacy and efficiency of school psychologists' work.     

Criticism or praise? The impact of verbal versus text-only computer feedback on social presence, intrinsic motivation, and recall.

The Computers Are Social Actors (CASA) paradigm asserts that human computer users interact socially with computers, and has provided extensive evidence that this is the case. In this experiment (n = 134), participants received either praise or criticism from a computer. Independent variables were the direction feedback (praise or criticism), and voice channel (verbal or text-only). Dependent variables measured via a computer-based questionnaire were recall, perceived ability, intrinsic motivation, and perceptions of the computer as a social entity. Results demonstrate that participants had similar reactions to computers as predicted by interpersonal communication research with participants who received text-only criticism reporting higher levels of intrinsic motivation, perceived ability, and recall. Additionally, the computer was seen as more intelligent. Implications for theory and application are discussed.     

Exploring the utility of functional analysis methodology to assess and treat problematic verbal behavior in persons with acquired brain injury

Functional analyses were conducted on four adults with acquired brain injuries who regularly displayed instances of inappropriate verbal behavior including depressive, aggressive, suicidal, profane, and sexually inappropriate utterances. After the functional analysis yielded a maintaining variable for each participant, a function‐based intervention consisting of differential reinforcement of alternative verbal behavior was implemented. Results of the behavioral interventions show that instances of vocal behavior can be assessed and subsequently treated using the functional analysis methodology often reserved for nonverbal forms of behavior. The utility of functional analysis for assessing complex human behavior is discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Subjective and Objective Risks of Carrying a BRCA1/2 Mutation in Individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish Descent

This repeated measures study examines (1) the change in subjective risk of mutations pre- to postcounseling, (2) the accuracy of BRCAPRO estimates of mutations, and (3) the discrepancy between subjective risk and BRCAPRO estimates of mutations before and after genetic counseling. Ninety-nine Ashkenazi Jewish individuals pursued testing for BRCA1/2 mutations. Most had a personal cancer history (N = 51; family only: N = 48); and received uninformative negative results (N = 66; positives: N = 23; informative negative: N = 10). The coping strategy of defensive pessimism predicts that individuals will believe the worst case scenario to better cope with a potential negative outcome. Consistent with this, most felt they would have a mutation, if not mutations in both genes. The BRCAPRO model appeared to overestimate risk of having a mutation in this sample (p < .001). BRCAPRO overestimates notwithstanding, genetic counseling increased accuracy of subjective risk (p < .01). Individuals with a family-only cancer history had the least accurate estimates of risk (p < .05) and may need further intervention to either manage anxiety or improve knowledge.     

Do You See What I See? Effects of Group Consciousness on African American Women's Attributions to Prejudice

This study examined the effects of three types of group consciousness among African American women ( ethnic , feminist , and womanist ) on prejudice attributions and appraised personal significance ( centrality ) of a negative intergroup event. African American female college students  ( N = 123)  imagined themselves in an audiotaped scenario in which they overheard two European American male classmates make negative evaluations of them. The scenario provided no cause for the negative evaluations and no references to race or gender. Multiple regression analyses revealed that higher ethnic and womanist consciousness were related to increased prejudice attributions and greater centrality appraisals  ( p  <.05)  , while feminism had no effect. Results suggest that womanist consciousness may be more relevant than traditional feminist consciousness in predicting African American women's perceptions of prejudice.     

Developing networks in disempowered communities: Experiencing hardships while focusing on opportunities

This study aims to present an evaluation and the process steps of a community‐based initiative (CBI) consisting of a group of organizations that work to enhance the lives of boys and men of colour. Using a participatory research model, the researchers collaborated with 14 community stakeholders to develop the questions during two data collection periods and reviewed the reports for accuracy. The findings were separated into two broad categories. The perceived challenges included a lack of clear goals and measurements of success, an absence of leadership and direction, and a shortage of resources. The successes included passion of partners, increased collaboration, and increasing and maintaining social capital within the community. The lessons learned from both data collection periods helped this CBI broaden its reach and collaboration efforts. Overall, this study provides suggestions to other CBIs as they embark on making changes in their own communities.     

Poisoning Severity Associated with a Range of Medications in Suicide Attempts by Ingestion

There are limited data on the medical severity of suicide attempts by intentional self‐poisoning (ISP) associated with ingestion of differing classes of medications and meager data on specific agents. The purpose of the study was to address these gaps. This was an analysis of a consecutive series of ISP cases ages 13 to 65 treated at a U.S. university medical center (N = 671). The outcome, poisoning severity, was dichotomized as “moderate‐severe” and “low” (reference) based on a standard measure. Class of medication (e.g., opiate) and specific agents ingested were the predictors of interest. Covariates were age, sex, and the ingestion of multiple classes of medications. Data were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression models. At the class level, ingestion of opiate was uniquely associated with increased risk for moderate‐severe ISP at a statistically significant level, adjusted odds ratio (95% CI) = 2.97 (1.69, 5.21), p = .0002. Several specific agents were also associated with moderate‐severe ISP. Along with the key role of opiate medications in unintentional overdose morbidity and mortality, opiate medications may also play an important and largely unrecognized role in medically serious suicidal behavior. Results also underscore the variability in toxicity of specific agents within drug classes.     

Strain and Depression following Release from Prison: The Moderating Role of Social Support Mechanisms on Substance Use

ABSTRACT

Research on prison reentry shows that individuals with depression turn to substances to cope with the stress of reintegration. While social support drawn from families, peers, and institutions may help returning individuals avoid substance use, it is unclear how social support might condition the link between depression and substance use. Using longitudinal panel data from the Serious and Violent and Offender Reentry Initiative, results from mixed-models demonstrate that depression is significantly associated with increased substance use. Family support, but not peer support, is tied to lower use, and institutional support relates to decreased alcohol use but increased illicit drug use.