Pharmacological and Behavioral Strategies for Smoking Cessation

After over two decades of intensive research, a variety of smoking cessation strategies, both behavioral and pharmacotherapeutic, have been developed and clinically validated. In this review, pharmacological products available for smoking cessation are profiled and examined for efficacy. Results of a recent comprehensive review and meta-analysis by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research on the effects of behavior therapy on smoking cessation are also discussed. Further, meta-analyses and studies exploring the important interaction between pharmacological and behavioral therapies are considered. Applications of the growing wealth of smoking cessation strategies are discussed with respect to the needs of some special subpopulations of smokers including highly nicotine-dependent smokers and smokers with comorbid psychiatric diagnoses.     

Perceptions of women related to food choice

Male and female subjects (predominately white) provided impression ratings of body shape, personality traits, and total caloric consumption for a female target based on her preference for a low fat or high fat diet. Results showed that meal type significantly affected impression ratings: the target who preferred low fat foods was viewed more favorably than the one who preferred high fat fare. Compared with male subjects, female subjects perceived the target who preferred a high fat diet to be significantly less conscientious. Males were significantly more accurate than females in their caloric estimations of targets' total daily consumption. The results will be discussed in terms of the social pressure on women to restrict not only their weight to acceptable levels, but their food consumption as well.Portions of this paper were presented at the meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Providence, Rhode Island, April 14–17, 1994.The authors wish to thank Justina Bradley, Loraina Ghiraldi, and two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments on an earlier version of this paper. Melissa Van Brocklin's help during the data collection was also greatly appreciated.     

Gender and age displays in ceremonial tokens

The present paper analyzes birthday cards (N=234) in terms of their content and presentation using Goffman's 1979 discussion of gender displays in advertising. It was hypothesized that cards intended for women compared to men, and to children compared to adults, would not only be similar to one another, but would reflect their shared subordinate and disvalued position in the social structure. Birthday cards were randomly selected from fourteen retail outlets and coded in terms of Goffman's display categories: relative weight, the feminine touch, functional rank, ritualization of subordination, and licensed withdrawal. The results are mixed, supporting, in general, the hypotheses. A discussion follows.     

Profiles of Latino Adaptation at Elite Colleges and Universities

Drawing on frameworks of blocked opportunity, social identity, and immigrant adaptation processes, we tested competing hypotheses about Latino achievement, focusing on variation in the ways in which Latino students at elite colleges perceive and navigate minority status. Using data from 916 participants in the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen, cluster analyses identify three profiles of perceived opportunity and social exclusion. Students in the assimilation profile do not believe minority status impacts opportunity. Those in the accommodation profile believe unequal opportunity can be overcome by individual effort. Finally, students in the resistance profile are most skeptical about opportunity for minorities, and these students also report more on-campus ethnic prejudice than their peers. As freshmen, perceived prejudice predicted lower grades only for students in the accommodation profile; however, accommodators later report higher academic achievement than resisters as sophomores. We discuss the conceptual utility of examining multiple beliefs about opportunity in concert.     

Practical Aspects of Recruitment and Retention in Clinical Trials of Rare Genetic Diseases: The Phenylketonuria (PKU) Experience

Bringing treatments for rare genetic diseases to patients requires clinical research. Despite increasing activism from patient support and advocacy groups to increase access to clinical research studies, connecting rare disease patients with the clinical research opportunities that may help them has proven challenging. Chief among these challenges are the low incidence of these diseases resulting in a very small pool of known patients with a particular disease, difficulty of diagnosing rare genetic diseases, logistical issues such as long distances to the nearest treatment center, and substantial disease burden leading to loss of independence. Using clinical studies of phenylketonuria as an example, this paper discusses how, based on the authors’ collective experience, partnership among clinicians, patients, study coordinators, genetic counselors, dietitians, industry, patient support groups, and families can help overcome the challenges of recruiting and retaining patients in rare disease clinical trials. We discuss specific methods of collaboration, communication, and education as part of a long-term effort to build a community committed to advancing the medical care of patients with rare genetic diseases. By talking to patients and families regularly about research initiatives and taking steps to make study participation as easy as possible, rare disease clinic staff can help ensure adequate study enrollment and successful study completion.     

Young Adults with MSUD and Their Transition to Adulthood: Psychosocial Issues

Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD) is an autosomal recessive condition with an incidence of 1 in 185,000 births worldwide. Regardless of the type of MSUD, treatment includes immediate and lifelong dietary restriction of isoleucine, leucine and valine. There is little known about the psychosocial impact of MSUD on the developmental milestones of emerging adulthood. We used a qualitative case study approach to explore the human experiences of MSUD on young adults (n?=?8) and parents (n?=?8). All participants were administered a semi-structured, qualitative interview as well as quantitative measures. Six core themes emerged: 1) lifelong strain of dietary management; 2) social isolation from peers and impact on dating; 3) impact of MSUD on academics and employment; 4) medical experiences and transition to adult care; 5) impact on family functioning; and 6) positive effects and growth. The results of this investigation highlight and expand awareness of the psychological and social needs of young adults with MSUD. This study calls for a collaborative, multidisciplinary effort in the treatment of these patients and their families.     

Learning Plan Schemata from Observation: Explanation-Based Learning for Plan Recognition

This article discusses how explanation-based learning of plan schemata from observation can improve performance of plan recognition. The GENESIS program is presented as an implemented system for narrative text understanding that learns schemata and improves its performance. Learned schemata allow GENESIS to use schema-based understanding techniques when interpreting events and thereby avoid the expensive search associated with plan-based understanding. Learned schemata also function as new concepts that can be used to cluster examples and index events in memory. In addition, experiments are reviewed which demonstrate that human subjects, like GENESIS, con learn a schema by observing, explaining, and generalizing a single specific instance presented in a narrative.