Internet-based intervention for mental health and substance use problems in disaster-affected populations: a pilot feasibility study

Early interventions that reduce the societal burden of mental health problems in the aftermath of disasters and mass violence have the potential to be enormously valuable. Internet-based interventions can be delivered widely, efficiently, and at low cost and as such are of particular interest. We describe the development and feasibility analysis of an Internet-delivered intervention designed to address mental health and substance-related reactions in disaster-affected populations. Participants (n = 285) were recruited from a cohort of New York City-area residents that had been followed longitudinally in epidemiological research initiated 6 months after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The intervention consisted of 7 modules: posttraumatic stress/panic, depression, generalized anxiety, alcohol use, marijuana use, drug use, and cigarette use. Feasibility data were promising and suggest the need for further evaluation.     

Posttraumatic stress disorder in the general population after mass terrorist incidents: considerations about the nature of exposure

Epidemiologically, disasters represent multiple forms of possible exposures, including exposure type (eg, natural versus human-made), intensity, and duration. It has been suggested that the consequences of human-made disasters (eg, terrorist incidents) may be more severe than those of natural disasters; recent evidence suggests that there may be a high prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among both direct survivors of such attacks and in the general population. Several studies after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks found that the prevalence of PTSD was higher in New York City than it was in the rest of the US and that there was a substantial burden of PTSD among persons who were not directly affected by the attacks. This raises important questions about the meaning of "exposure" to a disaster. Using data from an assessment of PTSD in the first 6 months after September 11th we considered the nature of the PTSD experienced by persons who were not directly affected by the September 11th attacks. These data suggest that persons in the general population may have clinically important posttraumatic stress symptomatology after a mass terrorist incident. Future research should consider mechanisms through which persons in the general population may be at risk for PTSD after such incidents.     

Cognitive changes following subthalamic nucleus stimulation in two patients with Parkinson disease

The limits of a drug therapy in severe forms of Parkinson disease have led to refining neurosurgery on the basal ganglia. Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus has been recognized as one of the most promising techniques to decrease "off" motor symptoms and motor fluctuations, allowing a reduction of drug therapy and limiting side effects of the drugs. There is still open debate on the possible consequences of chronic subthalamic stimulation in other ways, apart from motor symptoms, of general cognitive performance. We examined and followed two patients with Parkinson disease for 9 mo. after surgery for deep stimulation, studying their cognitive performances. There is a general amelioration of cognitive performances, in particular as far as linguistic capabilities is concerned. We discuss the possible significance of these results, reminding strenuously that only two patients were involved, so the potential for generalization is seriously limited.     

Prenatal trauma and autism

Through the clinical history of a little girl, this paper explores some possible traumatic prenatal experiences of children who have autistic features from birth. It establishes a tentative connection between the precocity of the onset of pathology and potentially traumatic prenatal situations such as threats of miscarriage or pathological mental states in the pregnant mother. It is suggested that a psycho-physical retreat from the auditory experience of the mother's voice, which normally stimulates foetal proto-mental activity and may lead to the development of a 'sound-object', might contribute to the later autistic child's isolation and non-mental clinging to tactile sensations.     

Does the Simon effect affect movement execution?

The present work set out to test the prediction of the dual-route response selection account of the Simon effect, which maintains that the Simon effect, and its facilitation and interference components, should show up at the response selection stage irrespective of when it takes place during processing. Previous works have shown that in the case of a movement response, two strategies can be adopted for responding. The main difference between these two response strategies consists of when response selection operations take place. The two experiments reported in the present study showed that when response selection operates clearly before movement initiations, the Simon effect shows up in reaction time and not in movement time.     

Religious Coping and Psychological and Behavioral Adjustment After Hurricane Katrina

Positive and negative religious coping are related to positive and negative psychological adjustment, respectively. The current study examined the relation between religious coping and PTSD, major depression, quality of life, and substance use among residents residing in Mississippi at the time of Hurricane Katrina. Results indicated that negative religious coping was positively associated with major depression and poorer quality of life and positive religious coping was negatively associated with PTSD, depression, poorer quality of life, and increased alcohol use. These results suggest that mental health providers should be mindful of the role of religious coping after traumatic events such as natural disasters.     

Features of the selectivity for contrast polarity in contour integration revealed by a novel tilt illusion

We studied a novel illusion of tilt inside checkerboards due to the role of contrast polarity in contour integration. The preference for binding of oriented contours having same contrast polarity, over binding of opposite polarity ones (CP rule), has been used to explain several visual illusions. In three experiments we investigated how the binding effect is influenced by luminance contrast value, relatability of contour elements, and distance among them. Experiment 1 showed that the effect was indeed present only when the CP rule was satisfied, and found it to be stronger when the luminance contrast values of the elements are more similar. In experiment 2 the illusion was reported only with relatable edges, and its strength was modulated by the degree of relatability. The CP-rule effectiveness, thus, seems to depend on good continuation. The intensity of contrast polarity signals propagating from an oriented contour might be the less intense, the more its direction deviates from linearity. In experiment 3 we estimated the distance threshold and found it to be smaller than the one found for other illusions, arising with collinear fragments. This seems to show that the reach of the contrast polarity signal inside the association field of a contour unit is shorter along non-collinear orientations than along collinear ones.     

A brief inventory of Interpersonal Problems-Circumplex using nonparametric item response theory: introducing the IIP-C-IRT

Nonparametric item response theory methods were applied to the responses of 1,000 college students on the 64 items of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-Circumplex (IIP-C; Alden, Wiggins, & Pincus, 1990) to develop an abbreviated 32-item version of the instrument. In a separate validation sample of 981 students, the newly selected scale items did not show evidence of differential item functioning across males and females. There was high convergence found between the new scales and IIP-C parent scales, along with commensurate or improved fits to the circular structural model relative to the full scale and its existing brief derivatives-the IIP-32 and the IIP-SC. Results provide evidence that the new brief scales can improve the level of precision and information yielded in brief assessments of interpersonal problems without gender bias.     

The roles of autonomous motivation and self-control lapses in concurrent adherence to a gluten-free diet and a self-chosen weight loss plan in adults with coeliac disease

Objective: Examine the correspondence between autonomous motivation, self-control lapses, and adherence, to a gluten-free diet (GFD) and weight loss plan in adults with coeliac disease; and assess the impact of the interaction of motivation style and self-control lapses on adherence to both diets.

Design: Cross-sectional survey in 519 adults with coeliac disease, 238 of whom were also attempting weight loss.

Main outcome measures: Adherence, motivation style, frequency of temptation and self-control lapses (e.g. when tired, stressed, happy) for GFD and weight loss plan.

Results: Autonomous motivation was higher, and amotivation lower, for the GFD than weight loss; adherence to the two diets was unrelated. Similar circumstances led to temptation and self-control lapses across diets; both were less frequent for the GFD than weight loss. Motivation and self-control lapses explained 21% and 35% of the variance in adherence, respectively; the interaction between motivation and lapse frequency did not explain additional variance for either diet.

Conclusions: There are clear benefits to developing autonomous motivations and strategies to resist temptation for both the GFD and weight loss. Understanding how these processes differ and interact across diets may lead to the design of interventions to improve adherence and weight outcomes in coeliac disease.