Incorporating family therapy into asthma group intervention: a randomized waitlist-controlled trial

Asthma psychoeducational programs have been found to be effective in terms of symptom-related outcome. They are mostly illness-focused, and pay minimal attention to systemic/familial factors. This study evaluated a novel asthma psychoeducation program that adopted a parallel group design and incorporated family therapy. A randomized waitlist-controlled crossover clinical trial design was adopted. Children with stable asthma and their parents were recruited from a pediatric chest clinic. Outcome measures included, for the patients: exhaled nitric oxide (eNO), spirometry, and adjustment to asthma; and for the parents: perceived efficacy in asthma management, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale anxiety subscale, Body Mind Spirit Well-being Inventory emotion subscale, and Short Form 12 health-related quality of life scale. Forty-six patients participated in the study. Attrition rates were 13.0% and 26.0% for the active and control groups, respectively. Repeated-measures ANOVA revealed a significant decrease in airway inflammation, as indicated by eNO levels, and an increase in patient's adjustment to asthma and parents' perceived efficacy in asthma management. Serial trend analysis revealed that most psychosocial measures continued to progress steadily after intervention. Significant improvements in both symptom-related measures and mental health and relationship measures were observed. The findings supported the value of incorporating family therapy into asthma psychoeducation programs.     

Air pollution, cognitive deficits and brain abnormalities: a pilot study with children and dogs

Exposure to air pollution is associated with neuroinflammation in healthy children and dogs in Mexico City. Comparative studies were carried out in healthy children and young dogs similarly exposed to ambient pollution in Mexico City. Children from Mexico City (n: 55) and a low polluted city (n:18) underwent psychometric testing and brain magnetic resonance imaging MRI. Seven healthy young dogs with similar exposure to Mexico City air pollution had brain MRI, measurement of mRNA abundance of two inflammatory genes cyclooxygenase-2, and interleukin 1 beta in target brain areas, and histopathological evaluation of brain tissue. Children with no known risk factors for neurological or cognitive disorders residing in a polluted urban environment exhibited significant deficits in a combination of fluid and crystallized cognition tasks. Fifty-six percent of Mexico City children tested showed prefrontal white matter hyperintense lesions and similar lesions were observed in dogs (57%). Exposed dogs had frontal lesions with vascular subcortical pathology associated with neuroinflammation, enlarged Virchow-Robin spaces, gliosis, and ultrafine particulate matter deposition. Based on the MRI findings, the prefrontal cortex was a target anatomical region in Mexico City children and its damage could have contributed to their cognitive dysfunction. The present work presents a groundbreaking, interdisciplinary methodology for addressing relationships between environmental pollution, structural brain alterations by MRI, and cognitive deficits/delays in healthy children.     

Theology's Need for a New Interpretation of Nature: Correlate of the Doctrine of Grace

Abstract : Important aspects of contemporary life—from increasing dependence on technology to climate change, from changing views of human nature to global interactions among varied cultures and religions—demand that theologians consider the best understandings of the world that the sciences can offer. To help support a fully relational trinitarian concept of God, namely, one that offers a richer interpretation of God's relationship with the world, theology needs truth about the world, humans, and our place in relation to the rest of nature. Lutheran theological foci have a built‐in thirst that only dialogue with science can quench. Too narrow an approach to anthropology and justification by faith focuses on God's activity on behalf of humans as if apart from nature. We need a more comprehensive vision of God's activity in creation, redemption and sanctification by grace. To explicate this, we turn to Luther's emphasis on God's incarnation in human flesh and blood—thus also in the cells, molecules, and subatomic activity of the world; the communication of attributes; and the indwelling Christ. For a deeper understanding of God as triune and of redemption, we need a renewed emphasis on the connection between creation, incarnation and redemption, and between nature and grace. An increased knowledge of science contributes to a healthier approach to the church's mission by giving a theological basis for ethical action in relation to the (natural) world.     

高中生压力源和心理健康的研究

本研究对２９８６名上海高中生对压力感受进行了调查。因素分担 些压力可以归为六大类别：社会人际关系及性发展方面,学习和学业方面,与发母交往方面,未来前途方面,经济方面,以及健康方面。资料显示高中生最大的三种压力源多与学习或学业有关,而压力最小的三种压力源主要与性发展的和健康有关。     

John Polkinghorne and the Task of Addressing a "Messy" World

As a physicist-theologian, John Polkinghorne has done a great service for the community of scholars engaged in the theology-and-science dialogue as well as for a broader audience of interested persons. We examine Polkinghorne's theological method to see what it suggests about his understanding of the function of systematic theology and his philosophy of science. His strong emphasis on rationality in theology corresponds to his epistemological discussions. Polkinghorne links his methodology to "thinking," so "experience" seems relegated to the minds, and not the lives, of the believers. Consequently, his theology does not easily engage ethical, political, and cultural landscapes where the concrete contexts of particular people's lives engage their faith. The challenge for those of us in religion-and-science is to come to grips with this messy, complicated world.     

Maternal confidence,knowledge, and quality of mother-toddler interactions: A preliminary study

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among maternal confidence, knowledge of child development, and quality of mother-toddler interactions using self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977, 1989) as the theoretical framework. Using the Toddler Care Questionnaire, 50 mothers of toddlers were asked to estimate their confidence in their ability to parent their toddlers. Mothers also completed the Knowledge of Infant Development Questionnaire and were videotaped in their homes during a structured interaction with their toddlers. Maternal confidence was positively correlated with maternal knowledge of child development and parenting. The relationships among mother's knowledge of child development, maternal confidence, and quality of mother-toddler interactions were examined by a 2 × 3 analysis of variance with quality of interactions as the dependent variable. There were no significant main effects for maternal knowledge or confidence on quality of mother-toddler interactions, but there was a significant interaction effect. That is, the combined effects of maternal knowledge and confidence were related to quality of mother-toddler interactions. These results may explain previous inconsistencies in the literature regarding the significance of maternal confidence for mother-child interactions and are congruent with self-efficacy theory. Implications for interventions are discussed.     

Measuring Change During Behavioral Parent Training Using the Parent Instruction-Giving Game with Youngsters (PIGGY): A Clinical Replication

This is the second study to investigate the clinical use of the Parent-Instruction Game with Youngsters (PIGGY) which is a structured observation system derived from the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System II (DPICS-II; Eyberg, Bessmer, Newcomb, Edwards, & Robinson, 1994) and the Behavior Coding System (BCS; Forehand & McMahon, 1981 Forehand , R. L. , & McMahon , R. J. ( 1981 ). Helping the noncompliant child . New York , NY : Guilford Press . [Google Scholar]). In a previous study, the PIGGY demonstrated strong reliability and validity as well as clinical utility (Hupp, Reitman, Forde, Shriver, & Kelley, 2008). The present study is a replication of the previous research on clinical utility by using the PIGGY to monitor changes in parent and child behavior during and after behavioral parent training.     

Detecting Social Desirability Bias Using Factor Mixture Models

Based on the conceptualization that social desirable bias (SDB) is a discrete event resulting from an interaction between a scale's items, the testing situation, and the respondent's latent trait on a social desirability factor, we present a method that makes use of factor mixture models to identify which examinees are most likely to provide biased responses, which items elicit the most socially desirable responses, and which external variables predict SDB. Problems associated with the common use of correlation coefficients based on scales' total scores to diagnose SDB and partial correlations to correct for SDB are discussed. The method is demonstrated with an analysis of SDB in the Attitude toward Interprofessional Service-Learning scale with a sample of students from health-related fields.