Developing a Community Science Research Agenda for Building Community Capacity for Effective Preventive Interventions

Research has shown that prevention programming can improve community health when implemented well. There are examples of successful prevention in local communities, however many continue to face significant challenges, demonstrating a gap between science and practice. Common strategies within the United States to address this gap are available (e.g., trainings), but lack outcomes. Building community capacity to implement high quality prevention can help communities achieve positive health outcomes, thereby narrowing the gap. While there is ample research on the efficacy of evidence-based programs, there is little on how to improve community capacity to improve prevention quality. In order to narrow the gap, a new model of research—one based in Community Science—is suggested that improves the latest theoretical understanding of community capacity and evaluates technologies designed to enhance it. In this article, we describe this model and suggest a research agenda that can lead to improved outcomes at the local level.     

Choosing and using tools: capuchins (Cebus apella) use a different metric than tamarins (Saguinus oedipus)

Cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) selected canes positioned so that a straight inward pull brought food within reach (M. D. Hauser, 1997; see also record 1997-41347-003). Tamarins failed to retrieve food with canes in other positions, and they did not reposition these canes. In this study, tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) preferred canes they could pull straight in when these were present, but they also repositioned canes in individually variable ways, and their success at obtaining food with repositioned canes improved with practice. In accord with predictions drawn from ecological psychology, capuchins discovered affordances of canes through exploratory actions with these objects, whereas tamarins did not. Ecological theory predicts these differences on the basis of species-typical manipulative activity, and it provides a useful approach for the study of species differences in tool-using behavior.     

Enhanced priming for trauma-related material in posttraumatic stress disorder

Intrusive reexperiencing in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been linked to perceptual priming for trauma-related material. A prospective longitudinal study (N = 69) investigated perceptual priming for trauma-related, general threat, and neutral words in assault survivors with and without PTSD, using a new version of the word-stem completion task. Survivors with PTSD showed enhanced priming for trauma-related words. Furthermore, priming for trauma-related words measured soon after the trauma was associated with subsequent PTSD severity at 3, 6, and 9 months. The enhanced priming effect was specific to trauma-related words. Enhanced perceptual priming for traumatic material appears to be one of the cognitive processes operating in PTSD.     

Amygdala activation to sad pictures during high-field (4 tesla) functional magnetic resonance imaging

Fear-related processing in the amygdala has been well documented, but its role in signaling other emotions remains controversial. The authors recovered signal loss in the amygdala at high-field strength using an inward spiral pulse sequence and probed its response to pictures varying in their degree of portrayed sadness. These pictures were presented as intermittent task-irrelevant distractors during a concurrent visual oddball task. Relative to neutral distractors, sad distractors elicited greater activation along ventral brain regions, including the amygdala, fusiform gyrus, and inferior frontal gyrus. In contrast, oddball targets engaged dorsal sectors of frontal, parietal, and cingulate cortices. The amygdala's role in emotional evaluation thus extends to images of grief and despair as well as to those depicting violence and threat.     

The relationship of body image dissatisfaction to cigarette smoking in college students

This study examined the association of cigarette smoking status and body image dissatisfaction as measured by the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ), in 1575 young adult college students, 18–24 years of age. Respondents were current cigarette smokers (N = 482) or never tobacco users (N = 1093). Smoking status was found to be significantly associated with 5 of the 10 MBSRQ subscales, with current smokers having lower scores on Fitness Orientation, Health Evaluation and Health Orientation (all p < 0.001) and higher scores on Appearance Orientation (p = 0.01) and Overweight Preoccupation (p = 0.03) compared with never tobacco users. Furthermore, among current smokers, a higher number of days smoked in the last 30 days were associated with lower scores on all MBSRQ subscales, except Self-Classified Weight. In terms of clinical implications, interventions for smoking cessation among college students might benefit from inclusion of components for addressing body image dissatisfaction and improving health beliefs.     

助推爱心：利用默认选项促进捐赠行为

本研究采用实验室和现场实验的方法检验了默认选项的助推策略是否能够促进慈善捐赠行为。结果发现：（1）相较于把被试费的“保留选项”设置为默认,把“捐献选项”设置为默认时,被试捐献的概率和金额更高;（2）在多个捐款选项情景中,默认选项的设置总体上提高了默认选项被选择的概率;将最大金额选项设置为默认选项有助于提高被试平均捐赠额。这些发现表明,应用默认选项的助推策略能够有效促进人们的捐赠行为。本研究结果对减少募捐成本、提高募捐效率有所启示。     

The associative memory deficit of older adults: further support using face-name associations

Previous studies have established an associative deficit hypothesis (Naveh-Benjamin, 2000), which attributes part of older adults' deficient episodic memory performance to their difficulty in creating cohesive episodes. In this article, the authors further evaluate this hypothesis, using ecologically relevant materials. Young and old participants studied name-face pairs and were then tested on their recognition memory for the names, faces, and the name-face pairs. The results extend the conditions under which older adults exhibit an associative deficit. They also show that reduced attentional resources are not the sole mediator of this deficit.     

Quality of life assessment in Turkish patients with schizophrenia and their relatives

Quality of life of first-degree relatives living in the same household with patients having schizophrenia has not been sufficiently explored. 30 patients with schizophrenia (16 women, 14 men), diagnosed using DSM-IV criteria, 31 of their relatives (15 women, 16 men), and 34 control subjects (21 women, 13 men) were included in the study. The mean age of the patients, their relatives, and the control subects were 39.8 +/- 10.9, 58.1 +/- 12.5 and 37.3 +/- 17.0, respectively. The World Health Oranization Quality of Life-Brief Form was administered to all subjects. Quality of life was worse for the patient group than for their relatives and control subjects, but relatives of the patients and control subjects were not significantly different on Quality of life. Quality of life was negatively correlated with the severity of psychopathology and extrapyramidal side effects induced by antipsychotic drugs in the patients.     

Stabilization and destabilization of perception--action patterns influence the self-organized recruitment of degrees of freedom

The recruitment of an additional biomechanical degree of freedom in a unimanual rhythmic task was explored. Subjects were asked to synchronize adduction or abduction of their right index finger with a metronome, the frequency of which was increased systematically. In addition, haptic contact on or off the metronome beat was provided. Results showed that the pattern exhibiting the highest intrinsic stability recruited the vertical plane more than did the less stable one. Moreover, presence and location of haptic contact modulated coordination stability and therefore induced changes in the recruitment of the vertical plane. Thus, a trade-off was shown between coordination stability on the horizontal plane and recruitment of the vertical one. These findings suggest that recruitment of degrees of freedom is governed by general principles of coordination dynamics.