Mental activation of supportive ties, hostility, and cardiovascular reactivity to laboratory stress in young men and women.

In addition to actual social interactions, internal representations of supportive ties could affect mechanisms linking relationships and health. Undergraduates (41 men, 41 women) wrote about supportive ties or casual acquaintances. Supportive ties were rated as warmer and less controlling than acquaintances, and writing about them evoked reductions in negative affect, especially for low-hostile participants. Compared with the acquaintance condition, the supportive tie condition resulted in reduced heart rate and blood pressure response during a subsequent speech stressor. Among women, the supportive tie condition reduced blood pressure response among low- but not among high-hostile participants. Hence, mental activation of supportive ties altered effects of laboratory stress and might be relevant to the effects of social relations on health.     

Mental health care for Hispanic Americans: a current perspective

In this article, the authors review patterns and challenges in the conceptualization, implementation, and academic support of the mental health services of Hispanic Americans. A critical analysis was conducted on information obtained through manual and computerized searches of published literature and conference reports. New clinical care approaches include the DSM-IV's cultural formulation with its complement of standardized multiaxial diagnosis, integration of services across clinical disorders or conditions and across sources of care, as well as pluralistic criteria and judges for service outcome appraisal. Emerging clinical approaches offer an opportunity to enhance the mental health care of Hispanic Americans within an increasingly multicultural U.S. society.     

Dimensional analysis of a categorical diagnostic interview: the DICA-IV

The aim of this study is to obtain dimensions from a categorical diagnostic interview. 512 children aged 8 to 17 attending public centers for children's mental health and presenting some form of psychological disorder were interviewed with the "Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents" (DICA-IV). Analysis of the principal components indicate that a two-dimensional model (externalizing-internalizing) satisfactorily explain the data collected from the children and their parents. The data from the adolescents are better represented by a three-dimensional model (attention problems-internalizing-antisocial behavior). The factor scales show good internal consistency and significantly relate to other criteria of psychopathology and incapacity (concurrent validity). These results show that it is possible to use DICA-IV to obtain categorical and dimensional indicators simultaneously. The latter are particularly sensitive for measuring changes over the course of disorders.     

Factors related to young people's attitudes to the consumption of alcohol and other psychoactive substances

In this study we analyzed variables related to the consumption of alcohol and other psychoactive substances among young people, and to their attitudes towards experimentation. The sample was made up of 775 pupils aged 12 to 16 from four secondary schools in the Principality of Asturias (northern Spain). The results obtained confirm the multi-causal nature of these phenomena. The attitudes of young people towards substance use was found to be more favourable the lower the perception of risk, the more mistaken their beliefs and the more permissive their disposition to the use of alcohol and other illegal drug. Other determining factors are their relationship with peer groups that use drugs, antisocial behaviours and attention-seeking indications.     

Subtypes of drug-addicts in treatment: empirical support for a distinction between Type A and Type B

This study examines the possibility of replicating and generalizing a multidimensional typology of drug-addicts by means of the evaluation of 320 participants who were receiving outpatient treatment for their problem of addiction. A two-stage cluster analysis was performed, revealing the existence of two typologies of consumers, called type A and Type B. The participants classified as Type B showed various indicators of chronicity (higher mean age, higher unemployment rate), more severity of their problem of drug consumption and of medical aspects, employment support, legal, family/social and psychiatric problems in comparison with Type A. Participants from the latter group reported active employment as their main source of income and they had consumed drugs for fewer years. However, they presented more severity associated with alcohol consumption. In view of these data, Type A is called functional drug-addict and Type B chronic drug-addict. Once the groups of drug-addicts were delimited, a more specific characterization was made, taking seven problem areas into account: medical, employment support, alcohol, drugs, legal, family/social, and psychiatric areas. As a general conclusion, more psychosocial severity was observed in Type B as compared with Type A. Lastly, the implications and usefulness of grouping drug-addicts into typologies is discussed.     

Fragment difficulty in priming on word-completion tests

Word-fragment completion is a frequently used test in implicit memory research. In this test priming is the relevant variable. Priming is obtained by subtracting the proportion of nonstudied word fragments correctly completed (called "completion difficulty baseline") from the studied word fragments correctly completed. Since completion difficulty can spuriously vary greatly between experimental conditions, its effect on magnitude of priming is studied. Normative frequency of occurrence of target words was considered because their influence over performance is known. In an experiment using a word-fragment completion test, participants' completion of fragments at three levels of completion difficulty and two levels of frequency was tested. Analysis showed that completion difficulty had a significant effect on global priming. The priming magnitude was higher for Difficult and Moderately Difficult fragments than for Easy ones. An interaction between fragment difficulty and normative word frequency was observed. When the fragments were easy to complete, the expected effect of higher priming for low-frequency words than for high-frequency words was not observed.     

Further examination of measurement properties of Spanish version of the Sexual Desire Inventory with undergraduates and adolescent students

The factor structure and construct validity of a Spanish version of Spector, Carey, and Steinberg's Sexual Desire Inventory was examined with structural equation modelling and a nonclinical sample (N = 608). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that Dyadic and Solitary sexual desire scales measured two factorially distinct constructs. Their internal consistency reliabilities were .87 and .88, respectively. Structural equation analysis indicated that both subscales are distinguishable from similarly conceptualized correlates of sexual desire: the Impersonal subscale of the Sex Fantasy Questionnaire and the Erotophilia measure of the Sexual Opinion Survey. However, the data raised some questions about an empirical distinction between dyadic sexual desire and intimate sexual fantasy.     

New measure o f perceived motorcompetence for children ages 4 to 6 years

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a test for the assessment of perceived motor competence in young children ages 4 to 6 years old. The structure of the Children's Perception of Motor Competence Scale was analyzed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis with 495 children between 4 and 6 years of age. A second-order model was selected and consisted of one scale of Perceived General Motor Competence and two subscales, Perceived Gross Motor Competence and Perceived Fine Motor Competence. The number of items was 22. This test showed acceptable internal reliability: global scale (alpha = .81), Perceived Gross Motor Competence (alpha = .80), and Perceived Fine Motor Competence (alpha = .65). Children manifested accuracy in the assessment of the competence. Perceived motor competence was related to actual motor competence as measured by the Movement ABC Test and by an observational scale used by Physical Education teachers. There were no sex differences. The Children's Perception of Motor Competence Scale could be considered an interesting assessment test for identifying current self-perceptions of motor competence in young children.