Lactate threshold prediction by blood glucose and rating of perceived exertion in people with type 2 diabetes

The validity of rating of perceived exertion (RPE) in predicting lactate threshold during an incremental test was analyzed in 15 men with type 2 diabetes (M age = 53.4 yr., SD = 12.9). Blood glucose, lactate, and minute ventilation (VE)/VO2 responses identified the lactate, ventilatory, and glucose thresholds. Workloads (W) corresponding to RPEs 12, 13, 14, and 15 were determined. Second-order polynomials fit to VE/W and [lac]/W ratios corresponding to RPEs of 9-10, 12-13, and 16-17 also identified workloads above which there was an overproportional increase in VE and [lac]. These workload breakpoints did not differ, although at RPE 12 underestimated and at RPE 15 overestimated lactate threshold. RPE 13 and 14 and the responses of VE/W and [lac]/W to submaximal exercise accurately predicted lactate threshold.     

Psychological factors associated with poor hypertension control: differences in personality and stress between patients with controlled and uncontrolled hypertension

Only one-third of patients with hypertension under pharmacological treatment achieve the recommended blood pressure goals. Psychological factors could partially account for poor hypertension control through the existence of personality traits related to treatment compliance (e.g., self-discipline, deliberation, impulsiveness), and the fact that stress and some personality traits (e.g., anxiety, depression, anger expression, Type A) are involved in the etiology of some hypertension cases. This study was aimed at examining the differences in personality and stress between patients taking antihypertensive medications with controlled and uncontrolled hypertension. Results revealed that after controlling sex, age, and traditional variables associated with poor hypertension control, the uncontrolled hypertension group showed higher scores on impulsiveness, depression, anger expression-out, and stress, with differences ranging between medium and large (Hedges' g effect size = 0.77 to 1.08). These results support the hypothesized relationship between psychological factors and poor hypertension control.     

Spinal cord injured people: differences in psychological variables from a gender perspective

This ex post factor study is within the framework of studies dealing with the psychological aspects involved in the rehabilitation of people with physical handicaps from the perspective of gender. From this perspective, the study focuses on comparing and studying the differences between men and women using the EMELM Scale (Multidimensional Evaluative Scale for People with Spinal Cord Injury). Participants were 143 people -99 men and 44 women- with spinal cord injuries. The results showed no differences as a result of gender in any of the following psychological variables related to the spinal cord injury adjustment process: extraversion-neuroticism, motivation and anxiety, locus of control, current coping strategies, remembrance of coping strategies and depression. The implications of these results for future research are discussed.     

Hypothesis testing for coefficient alpha: An SEM approach

We show how to test hypotheses for coefficient alpha in three different situations: (1) hypothesis tests of whether coefficient alpha equals a prespecified value, (2) hypothesis tests involving two statistically independent sample alphas as may arise when testing the equality of coefficient alpha across groups, and (3) hypothesis tests involving two statistically dependent sample alphas as may arise when testing the equality of alpha across time or when testing the equality of alpha for two test scores within the same sample. We illustrate how these hypotheses may be tested in a structural equation-modeling framework under the assumption of normally distributed responses and also under asymptotically distribution free assumptions. The formulas for the hypothesis tests and computer code are given for four different applied examples. Supplemental materials for this article may be downloaded from http://brm.psychonomic-journals.org/content/supplemental.     

Understanding Suicide in Socially Vulnerable Contexts: Psychological Autopsy in a Small Town in Mexico

In Mexico, suicides are increasing in certain latitudes where local rates have grown to levels of alert; suicide is also the second most common cause of death for the group aged 15 to 19. The psychological autopsy method was utilized to uncover and analyze common factors in all of the registered suicides within 2011 and 2012 in a small town of the state of Guanajuato, located in the center of Mexico. A total of nine decedents were analyzed, and 22 interviews were conducted. The most salient factors were as follows: poverty, financial stress, substance abuse, low levels of education, conflictive relationships, and a poor handling of emotions. The concepts of social exclusion and vulnerability were employed to analyze suicides as symptoms of a much deeper problem of this country, suggesting that anomie and social malady are nowadays important suicidal factors, mostly for children and young people.     

ERP Evidence for the Rapid Assignment of an (Appropriate) Antecedent to PRO

Event-related brain potentials were recorded while subjects listened to sentences containing a controlled infinitival complement. Subject and object control items were used, both with 2 potential antecedents in the upper clause. Half of the sentences had a gender agreement violation between the null subject of the infinitival complement and an adjective predicated of it. The rapid detection of this anomaly would indicate that the parser had established the coreference relation between the null subject and an antecedent, and that the processor had rapidly consulted verb control information to select the proper antecedent of the null subject. The results showed that for both subject and object control items ungrammatical adjectives elicited a P600 effect. These data imply that the processor has coindexed the null subject with an antecedent, and that the antecedent has been selected on the basis of control information. These results are compatible with parsing models that emphasize the rapid influence of verb-specific information on sentence processing.     

Emotional autonomy and adjustment among emerging adults: The moderating role of family relationships

Emerging adults build their personal maturity within the family context; however, few studies focus on the role of emotional autonomy during this stage. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between emotional autonomy and adjustment during emerging adulthood, bearing in mind the possible moderating role of parental support in this relationship. Data were collected from 1,502 Spanish undergraduate students (903 women) aged between 18 and 29. Participants completed measures of emotional autonomy (EAS, Steinberg & Silverberg, 1986), family social support (MSPSS; Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet & Farley, 1988), psychological well-being (PWBS; Ryff, Lee, Essex & Schmutte, 1995) and psychological distress (DASS-21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). The results indicate that emotional autonomy correlates negatively with family support and psychological well-being and positively with psychological distress. However, only when young people perceive a family context with low social support is gaining emotional distance from their parents associated with an increase in their psychological well-being. Our findings highlight the crucial role that the family environment plays in well-being during young adulthood, and reveal that the effect of emotional distancing from parents on adjustment depends on the quality of the family climate. Future research should seek to gain greater insight into emotional autonomy during emerging adulthood, taking into account cross-cultural diversity.