EVALUATION OF BIOFEEDBACK IN THE TREATMENT OF BORDERLINE ESSENTIAL HYPERTENSION1

Direct biofeedback of blood pressure was compared with frontal EMG biofeedback and with self-instructed relaxation for the treatment of essential hypertension in a controlled group outcome study. Patients were followed up for four months after the end of treatment. Generalization of treatment effects was assessed through pre- and posttreatment measurements of blood pressure under clinical conditions in a physician's office. There were no significant reductions in diastolic blood pressure. The systolic blood pressure (SBP) of the patients receiving blood pressure biofeedback decreased 8.1 mm mercury (p = 0.07) and the SBP of the patients in the relaxation condition decreased 9.5 mm mercury (p = 0.05). In the generalization measures, there were significant reductions in SBP for the relaxation group. The results are discussed in terms of the general lack of replicability within the area of biofeedback treatment of hypertension.     

Semantic categorization in a linear order problem

The present investigation was conducted to determine whether subjects could use categorical codes based on semantic memory information (gender of names) to make rapid decisions about the order of names in a linear series. Subjects were taught linear order problems in which 12 names (six male and six female) were either randomly ordered or blocked by sex. The results support a dual-process model which proposes that subjects use both categorical information (discrete linguistic codes) and serial position information when asked to make mental comparisons of arbitrarily ordered items. Furthermore, the data indicate that both the ordinal distance between the terms in the test pair (step size) and the serial position of the test terms in the linear order affect the reaction time to a particular test comparison.     

Strategic Revenue Management under Uncertainty: A Case Study on Real Estate Projects in India

This paper proposes an approach for strategic revenue management under uncertainty for real estate projects. It integrates three modelling techniques: first, artificial neural network integrated support vector machines for forecasting the profit and loss‐making real estate residential projects; second, analytical network process approach using decision making trials and evaluation laboratory methodology for establishing interrelationships among factors; and third, multiobjective genetic algorithm approach for obtaining optimal numbers and types of apartments in a real estate project. We compare the respective revenues generated with the new number of apartments and price from the suggested revenue maximization model and that of the old practiced one through a case study of India. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Alliance-Outcome Associations in a Community-Based Social Skills Intervention for Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Although the alliance is a consistent predictor of treatment outcomes in psychosocial interventions, few studies have examined this association among youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In particular, youth-therapist alliance has never been examined in social skills interventions (SSIs), a common modality for this population. In this study, thirty-four youth with ASD (M_age = 12.41; 79% male) participated in a community-delivered, group-based SSI in a summer camp format led by eight Head Therapists (M_age = 32.12; 50% male). Early alliance and change in alliance over the course of the treatment were assessed via self- and observer-reported measures. Both self- and observer-rated alliance were associated with positive treatment outcomes as reported by parents (decreased problem behaviors) and other peers in the group (reciprocated friendship and social preference). These results provide the first evidence of the role of the alliance in an SSI for youth with ASD and add to the growing body of literature that demonstrates the importance of assessing and addressing the alliance in treatment for this population.     

Losing My Religion as a Natural Experiment: How State Pressure and Taxes Led to Church Disaffiliations between 1940 and 2010 in Germany

The sociological literature has produced a remarkably consistent picture of the quantitative patterns of religious disaffiliations in Western countries. This article argues, and demonstrates, that strong changes in a social context may lead individuals to disaffiliate rapidly, leading to very different aggregate effects from those in the “western model.” We use the unique situation of the separation of Germany from 1949 to 1989 and its subsequent reunification as a “natural experiment” to show just how much the relationships routinely found can be disrupted under changed conditions. The state socialist “treatment” affected religious disaffiliations in East Germany profoundly as it (a) made disaffiliations 10 times more probable in the East than in the West in the 1950s and 1960s, (b) shielded East German church members from factors that led to mass disaffiliations in the West in the late 1960s and early 1970s, (c) reversed the education‐disaffiliation link in the East, thus making disaffiliation more likely among the less educated, and (d) led to an especially strong increase in disaffiliations in the East right after the reunification     

Changing the Criminal Justice System Response to Sexual Assault: An Empirical Study of a Participatory Action Research Project

In jurisdictions throughout the United States, thousands of sexual assault kits (SAKs; also known as a “rape kits”) have not been submitted by the police for forensic DNA testing. DNA evidence may be helpful to sexual assault investigations and prosecutions by identifying perpetrators, revealing serial offenders through DNA matches across cases, and exonerating those who have been wrongly accused. This paper describes a longitudinal action research project conducted in Detroit, Michigan after that city discovered approximately 11,000 untested sexual assault kits in a police department storage facility. We conducted a root cause analysis to examine individual, organizational, community, and societal factors that contributed to the development of the rape kit backlog in Detroit. Based on those findings, we implemented and evaluated structural changes to increase staffing, promote kit testing, and retrain police and prosecutors so that cases could be reopened for investigation and prosecution. As we conducted this work, we also studied how this action research project impacted the Detroit criminal justice system. Participating in this project changed stakeholders’ attitudes about the utility of research to address community problems, the usefulness of DNA evidence in sexual assault cases, and the impact of trauma on survivors. The results led to new protocols for SAK testing and police investigations, and new state legislation mandating SAK forensic DNA testing.     

Fostering Well‐being through Social Support: The Role of Evangelical Communities in the Lives of Dominican Women of Haitian Descent

Women of Haitian descent living in the Dominican Republic experience oppression due to their gender, ethnicity, and economic status. They also exhibit high rates of participation in evangelical Christian communities, a paradoxical finding given the restricted roles women have traditionally played in these settings. The goals of this study were to explore the perceived benefits of participation in evangelical communities and the setting characteristics that lead to these benefits. The research team interviewed 19 current and former church participants aged 18–59. Thematic analysis revealed three perceived benefits of congregational life. Participants viewed their participation as: (a) an opportunity for personal growth and development; (b) protective against negative social influences; and (c) providing social support in the face of life challenges. In addition, dependable, expected, and reciprocal relational support was a key characteristic of evangelical communities. Findings extend the current understanding of how religious communities enhance well‐being for marginalized women through social support networks. Findings also explore the dialectical nature of settings as both empowering and disempowering. Implications for future interventions are discussed.     

ADHD symptoms and callous‐unemotional traits as predictors of violent media use in adolescence

We investigated ADHD symptoms and CU traits as predictors of violent media use in adolescence, controlling for delinquency and ODD symptoms. The effects on of disinhibition and arousal to negative stimuli, core characteristics of ADHD symptoms and CU traits, and of gender were investigated. At age 15, 88 adolescents, 50 % boys reported on CU traits, ADHD symptoms and delinquency. Parents rated the adolescents’ CU traits, ADHD‐ and ODD symptoms. At age 16, adolescents reported on their media habits and performed tests of disinhibition and arousal to negative stimuli. Boys had higher levels of CU traits and violent media use and girls had higher levels of arousal to negative pictures. CU traits and inattention symptoms predicted violent media use, the latter association applying only to boys, with CU traits being the strongest predictor. Low arousal to threat pictures explained variance in violent media use, above CU traits. Attraction to violent media seems affected by problem behaviors, with CU traits coming forth as especially important.     

Students’ individual interest in physical education: Development and validation of a questionnaire

Identifying the specificity of students’ individual interest in physical education is necessary to capture the different facets of this construct. In contrast to existing questionnaires in education which assess the multidimensionality of individual interest, the current scale used in physical education consists of a single‐item measurement which rates students’ individual interest for multiple physical activities taught during lessons. Even if this single‐item rating provides a basis for classifying interest relative to others, it does not provide information about the nature and internal components of individual interest. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable questionnaire measuring the multidimensionality of students’ individual interest in physical education. Four stages were followed: (1) the development of a preliminary version based on the findings of a literature review on individual interest and a committee process validation; (2) a first study conducted on 481 secondary school students to establish the factor structure, and internal reliability of this questionnaire; (3) a second study based on 243 secondary school students to confirm its factor structure and to test its temporal stability; and finally, (4) a third study with 253 students to test its concurrent validity. The final form of the questionnaire consists of a three‐factor structure based on 14 items that measure students’ individual interest in physical education: positive affect and willingness to reengage (five items), stored utility value (four items), and stored attainment value and knowledge‐seeking intentions (five items).