Concordance Between Mothers' and Children's Reports of Somatic and Emotional Symptoms in Patients with Recurrent Abdominal Pain or Emotional Disorders

Mother–child concordance regarding children's somatic and emotional symptoms was assessed in children with recurrent abdominal pain (n = 88), emotional disorders (n = 51), and well children (n = 56). Children between 6 and 18 years of age and their mothers completed questionnaires assessing the children's somatic symptoms, functional disability, and depression. Mothers of children with recurrent abdominal pain reported more child somatic and depressive symptoms than did their children, and mothers of children with emotional disorders reported more child depressive symptoms than did their children. Higher levels of maternal distress were associated with greater mother-child discordance in the direction of mothers reporting more child symptoms than did their children. No significant child age or sex differences were found in concordance patterns.     

Prayer in psychotherapy: a model for its use, ethical considerations, and guidelines for practice

Although few guidelines exist, many therapists use prayer as a part of psychotherapy. The immense variance inherent in prayer behaviors and the paucity of literature on its use beckons the profession to develop a model for its use in therapy, examine the ethical implications for such use, and prepare guidelines for practice. A tripartite model for the conceptualization and localization of prayer in therapy is presented, ethical issues of therapist bias and competence and clients' right to autonomous decision making are considered, and guidelines for employing prayer in psychotherapy are developed.     

A Social Dilemma Analysis of Commuting Preferences: The Roles of Social Value Orientation and Trust1

The current research advances a social dilemma analysis of commuting, examining the roles of preexisting personality differences in social value orientation (i.e., prosocial vs. proself orientation) and trust (i.e., a general belief in the honesty and cooperative intentions of others) in determining preferences for collectively desirable commuting options: preferences for commuting by public transportation (Study 1) and carpooling (Study 2). Consistent with predictions, both studies revealed that, relative to p of prosocials, preferences of proselfs were more strongly associated with beliefs about the relative efficiency of cars (i.e., an outcome affecting personal well-being). Also, greater preferences for collectively desirable actions were observed among prosocials with high trust—relative to prosocials with low trust and proselfs with high or low trust—providing support for the claim that 2 conditions (i.e., prosocial goals and trust in others) must be met to obtain collectively desirable commuting preferences.     

Personal Theories of Hunger and Eating1

Recent research on hunger and eating has shown that (a) among individuals with adlibitum access to food, hunger and eating are not regulated by deviations in the body's energy resources from set-points, and (b) it is healthier for people to consume their daily caloric intake as several small snacks than as 3 large meals. People's beliefs about hunger and eating were assessed in 2 questionnaire studies. In Study 1, a large sample of undergraduates was surveyed; in Study 2, dietetics students, nursing students, medical students, dietitians, nurses, and doctors were surveyed. Both studies revealed that people's personal theories of hunger and eating were inconsistent with research findings in ways that could promote overconsumption. These results suggest that educational programs designed to modify the beliefs about hunger and eating of people suffering from problems of overconsumption and of health professionals who treat problems of overconsumption may increase the effectiveness of current treatment regimens.     

ADVANCING BACKWARDS

The proposal of Friman, Hayes, and Wilson (1998) that the concept of emotion be incorporated into behavior analysis is questioned. Their proposal is undermined by the problem of the verification of private events by others. A focus on private events, as exemplified by the proposal of Friman et al., can lead to a reversion to notions of agency and the autonomous individual. Also, the anchoring of hypothetical constructs to the behavioral data language is ill advised.     

TEACHING MULTIPLICATION FACTS TO STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES

Multiple baseline designs were used to examine the effects of an instructional package on accuracy of performance in solving multiplication facts by 3 students with learning disabilities. The instructional package included the following components: (a) a modified instructional sequence in which multiplication facts were grouped into the zeros, ones, doubles, fives, and nines categories, and those remaining; (b) identification of the category in which each fact belonged; (c) mnemonic strategies associated with solving facts in each category; and (d) steps to be completed for solving facts in each category. Results indicated that the instructional package produced substantial and immediate effects. After receiving instruction, a participant's accuracy was often 100%, and this was maintained throughout the evaluation even as other strategies were introduced. Comparable results occurred across students, demonstrating replication of the effects of the instructional package.     

Predicting Adolescents' Initiation of Intercourse and Contraceptive Use

This paper examines whether variables consistent with problem behavior theory predict grade of onset of first intercourse and adoption of effective contraception. A total sample of 3,419 Wisconsin adolescents in Grades 7, 9, and 11 participated in a survey of health-related behaviors administered 3 times across a 6-year period. The sample is 87% White. Multiple regression methods generated different models for onset of sexual intercourse vs. contraceptive adoption. Consistent with problem behavior theory, sexual onset is predicted by the adolescent's behavioral system, perceived peer substance use/abuse, importance of friends, and extent to which the adolescent felt harried and believed it was okay to break laws. Contraceptive adoption is predicted by family structure, socioeconomic variables, and self-esteem. Age and gender model differences emerged.     

FEMALE PARTNERS OF BISEXUAL MEN What They Don't Know Might Hurt Them

Individual interviews with 350 behaviorally bisexual men aged 18–30 revealed that 71% of their female sexual partners and 59% of their steady female sexual partners in the past 6 months had not been aware of their homosexual activity. Rates of nondisclosure were higher for African-American than White men. Compared to nondisclosers, men who disclosed to all their female partners were less self-homophobic and perceived their friends, families, and neighbors as more accepting of their homosexual behavior. Compared to men who had disclosed, the nondisclosers had more female partners and used condoms less consistently with women.     

Influence of the initial projection of the centre of gravity on posturo-kinetic coordination in humans. Application from a horizontal quadrupedal stance during voluntary limb raising

The purpose of the study is to investigate the influence of initial projection of the centre of gravity (CG) on the spatial and temporal organization of the dynamic phenomena accompanying a voluntary movement in humans. From a horizontal quadrupedal stance, ten normal subjects were instructed to raise the right forelimb towards a support target in self paced velocity conditions. Three experimental conditions were tested for which the initial CG projection was either within (C1), at the limits of (C2) or outside the supporting triangle (C3). The results showed that vertical force variations on the four supports always preceded the first vertical displacement of the right wrist (onset of the movement). From C1 to C3, the duration of these anticipatory dynamic phenomena increased enabling an adjustment of the CG position such that equilibrium constraints were fulfilled. For all conditions, the acceleration peak of the CG occurred prior to the onset of movement and from C1 to C3, its magnitude increased in a single direction of the horizontal plane. For each condition, the load transfer was directed to the left forelimb and the right hindlimb (diagonal strategy) and reached a maximal value at the time of lift-off. With respect to this moment, the onset of the movement occurred increasingly early from C1 to C3. These results suggest that contribution of peripheral cues to postural control is more important, when the requirements of horizontal CG displacement increase.     

Validation of a full body 3-D dynamic linked segment model

In studies related to human movement, linked segment models (LSM's) are often used to quantify forces and torques, generated in body joints. Some LSM's represent only a few body segments. Others, for instance used in studies on the control of whole body movements, include all body segments. As a consequence of the complexity of 3-dimensional (3-D) analyses, most LSM's are restricted to one plane of motion. However, in asymmetric movements this may result in a loss of relevant information. The aim of the current study was to develop and validate a 3-D LSM including all body segments. Braces with markers, attached to all body segments, were used to record the body movements. The validation of the model was accomplished by comparing the measured with the estimated ground reaction force and by comparing the torques at the lumbo-sacral joint that resulted from a bottom-up and a top-down mechanical analysis. For both comparisons, reasonable to good agreement was found. Sources of error that could not be analysed this way, were subjected to an additional sensitivity analysis. It was concluded that the internal validity of the current model is quite satisfactory.