Extreme Values of Maternal Serum Analytes in Second Trimester Screening: Looking Beyond Trisomy and NTD’s

Second trimester maternal serum screening can identify high risk pregnancies and fetuses at risk for birth defects (in addition to those in the standard interpretation). The purpose of this study was to quantify such risks to improve counseling. We compared outcomes of 692 pregnancies that had abnormal levels of at least one analyte with a cohort of 713 pregnancies with normal analytes. Increased risks include: demise with high AFP and low uE3; intrauterine growth restriction with high AFP, high and low hCG, and low uE3; placental abnormalities with high AFP; fetal stress with high AFP and high hCG. Birth defects are increased with high AFP, high hCG, and low hCG. When two or more analytes are abnormal, 46% have a poor outcome. Abnormal levels of maternal serum analytes provide information in addition to the risks for neural tube defects, Down syndrome, and trisomy 18. This information is important for counseling and pregnancy management.     

Who chooses a pSTEM academic major? Using social psychology to predict selection and persistence over the freshman year

Many social psychological variables, in addition to knowledge-based factors such as academic preparedness, have been investigated individually as sources of the persistent gender gap in pSTEM (physical science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. The present work tested all of these factors simultaneously and longitudinally, in a sample drawn from an incoming freshman class measured at three timepoints over the course of their first year. One thousand nine hundred and twenty-nine students completed a survey with items assessing eleven social psychological constructs and were asked for permission to obtain institutional data regarding their academic preparedness and choice of academic major before matriculation, after the first semester, and at the end of freshman year. These social psychological and academic variables were used to predict pSTEM major status. Across multiple timepoints, and over and above academic preparedness, greater Math and Science Self-Efficacy, rejection of the stereotype that scientist careers are unsociable in nature, having a pSTEM role model in high school, and lower endorsement of communal goals were consistently related to the selection of a pSTEM major. Students who endorsed entity theories of math and science abilities were also less likely to select a pSTEM over life and social sciences major. As a set, the factors accounted for roughly half of the gender difference in pSTEM major selection. Interventions aimed at reducing the gender gap in pSTEM major selection might do well to focus on these more psychological factors as well as academic ones.     

Voucher-based reinforcement for alcohol abstinence using the ethyl-glucuronide alcohol biomarker

This study assessed the effects of a contingency management (CM) intervention for alcohol consumption in 10 alcohol-dependent participants. An ABCA design was used. Vouchers were provided contingent on results of ethyl glucuronide (EtG) urine tests (an alcohol biomarker with a 2-day detection period) and alcohol breath tests during the C phase. The percentage of negative urines was 35% during the first baseline phase, 69% during the C phase, and 20% during the return-to-baseline phase. Results suggest that EtG urine tests may be a feasible method to deliver CM to promote alcohol abstinence.     

What is at Stake in Debates among Normative Realists?

One class of central debates between normative realists appears to concern whether we should be naturalists or reductionists about the normative. However, metaethical discussion of naturalism and reduction is often inconsistent, murky, or uninformative. This can make it hard to see why commitments relative to these metaphysical categories should matter to normative realists. This paper aims to clarify the nature of these categories, and their significance in debates between normative realists. I develop and defend what I call the joint‐carving taxonomy, which builds on David Lewis’ notion of elite properties. I argue that this taxonomy is clear and metaphysically interesting, and answers to distinctive taxonomic interests of normative realists. I also suggest that it has important implications for the project of adjudicating debates among normative realists.     

Implicit and Explicit Attitudes to Alcohol in Alcohol Dependent and Non-Alcohol Dependent Samples

Measures of implicit and explicit attitudes to alcohol have been used to predict drinking behavior. Early studies with the bipolar Implicit Association Test (IAT) indicated that heavy drinkers hold negative implicit attitudes to alcohol. More recent studies using the unipolar IAT have found that positive implicit attitudes to alcohol are associated with drinking behavior in samples of university students. The present study is the first to use a unipolar single target IAT to assess positive alcohol-related attitudes in two samples with alcohol dependency compared to a non-alcohol dependent control group. A group of recently detoxed alcohol dependent adults entering a treatment program (n?=?22), a group of alcohol dependent adults who had been in treatment for 3 months (n?=?22), and a group of age matched adults who had no history of alcohol dependence (n?=?22) were compared on a positive unipolar single target IAT and an explicit attitude measure. Results indicated that alcohol dependent participants showed stronger positive implicit attitudes, and stronger negative explicit associations compared to non-alcohol dependent participants, but there were no differences between the two groups with alcohol dependency. The findings are discussed in terms of the role of the IAT as an assessment tool for those undertaking treatment for alcohol problems and the implications for targeting unconscious attitudes to alcohol in a clinical setting.     

Coloring Within the Lines: Gender Stereotypes in Contemporary Coloring Books

Extensive research on print media for children such as storybooks reveals that gender stereotypes are prevalent; however, no systematic analysis of coloring books has been conducted since 1974. We analyzed 889 characters in 56 contemporary coloring books published in the United States and selected through stratified random sampling from one region of California, coding for prevalence of each gender, stereotypic gender roles, activity level, type, and age of character. As hypothesized, males were more active; gender stereotypes were common. Gender neutral behaviors were more likely to be done by males. Females were more likely to be depicted as children and humans; whereas males were mostly depicted as animals, adults, and superheroes. Results are discussed in terms of gender schema theory.     

Primary care counsellors’ experiences of working with treatment resistant depression: A qualitative pilot study

Treatment resistant depression (TRD) is a severe and enduring form of depression that does not respond fully to medication. Although the evidence base for effective psychological treatments is not yet established, it is inevitable that counsellors working in primary care will encounter patients with this presentation. This pilot study explores the experience of four primary care counsellors with this patient group using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and considers the implications for training and practice.