ICD-11 guidelines for psychotic,mood, anxiety and stress-related disorders in Mexico: Clinical utility and reliability

Background/Objective: The World Health Organization's diagnostic guidelines for ICD-11 mental and behavioural disorders must be tested in clinical settings around the world to ensure that they are clinically useful and genuinely global. The objective is evaluate the inter-rater reliability and clinical utility of ICD-11 guidelines for psychotic, mood, anxiety- and stress-related disorders in Mexican patients. Method: Adult volunteers exhibiting the selected symptoms were referred from the pre-consultation unit of a public psychiatric hospital to an interview by a pair of clinicians, who subsequently assigned independent diagnoses and evaluated the clinical utility of the diagnostic guidelines as applied to each particular case, on the basis of a scale developed for this purpose. Results: 23 clinicians evaluated 153 patients. Kappa scores were strong for psychotic disorders (.83), moderate for stress-related (.77) and mood disorders (.60) and week for anxiety and fear-related disorders (.43). A high proportion of clinicians considered all diagnostic guidelines to be quite to extremely useful as applied to their patients. Conclusions: ICD-11 guidelines for psychotic, stress-related and mood disorders allow adequate inter-rater consistency among Mexican clinicians, who also considered them as clinical useful tools.     

Effectiveness of therapy group in women with localized breast cancer

Background/ObjectiveBreast cancer causes high levels of anxiety and depression, deteriorating quality of life of patients. Several studies have found that group therapy reduces depression and anxiety also improves the quality of life. The aim of this study is to analyze group therapy effectiveness in emotional state and quality of life in women with breast cancer after finalized medical treatments.MethodParticipants in this study were 100 adult women diagnosed of breast cancer non-mestastasic and were divided into two types of intervention groups (Self-esteem-Social Skills and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy). Evaluation instruments were questionnaire Functional Assessment of Breast-cancer Therapy (FACT-B) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).ResultsA statistically significant effect of group therapy in reducing anxiety and depression were observed. Quality of life and emotional well-being significantly improved. These effects remain three months after intervention.ConclusionsThe results show that the psychological intervention group is efficient to improve emotional state and quality of life of women with breast cancer.     

Treatment impact on recidivism of family only vs. generally violent partner violence perpetrators

Background/ObjectiveThe outcome of a treatment program for a large sample of male perpetrators on probation for intimate partner violence (IPV) was evaluated with particular reference to the differential impact on family only (FO) versus generally violent (GV) perpetrators.MethodOfficial rates of recidivism for three years post termination of treatment and probation were examined for 456 perpetrators after they were classified as FO and GV.ResultsBoth treatment completion and type of perpetrator were predictive of IPV recidivism and time to recidivism. However, analyses conducted separately for the two groups indicated that participation in the intervention predicted both recidivism and time to recidivism for the GV but not FO perpetrators who participated in treatment. Specifically, GV men were responsive to treatment whereas FO men were not. Results were somewhat different depending on who was included in the no treatment comparison group.ConclusionsImplications of these findings for one size fits all interventions in IPV are discussed with specific reference to the need to develop different interventions for GV and FO perpetrators.     

Studying entrepreneurial occupations in the Terman women

To achieve a better understanding of entrepreneurship development in women, longitudinal data on 672 individuals collected from 1922 to 1959 were analysed in a secondary investigation of the Terman Longitudinal Study. Women's reports on their occupations during 10 different years were assigned to one of two categories: work for pay (0/1), and work allowing for self‐employment (0/1) in the respective year. Structural equation modelling supported earlier results concerning male entrepreneurial activity. Personality and aspects of the parenting context the women had experienced by the average age of 12 predicted early entrepreneurial competencies (inventions, leadership) and occupational interests by age 13, which related to an entrepreneurship‐related career goal in 1936, when the participants were about 27 years of age on average. Such a career goal in turn predicted a higher number of occasions of entrepreneurship‐prone work. Surprisingly, we also found a relationship to divorce. Women who had experienced the failure of a marriage were in occupations with a potential for entrepreneurship more often. Reasons are discussed against a backdrop of historical timing and current findings to identify general aspects of entrepreneurship development.     

Exploring the Effects of Creativity Training on Creative Performance and Creative Self‐Efficacy: Evidence from a Longitudinal Study

In organizations and educational institutions, creativity trainings are the preferred approach to enhancing individual creative abilities. However, three issues regarding these trainings still remain largely unsolved. First, the question of how long‐lasting creativity training effects are has not been sufficiently answered so far. Second, the question arises whether all participants benefit from such trainings equally in terms of their creative performance (CP). Third, an increasing number of studies have shown that creativity trainings may also be able to increase participants' creative self‐efficacy (CSE), that is, the confidence in one's own creativity. Other studies, however, did not find evidence for this effect. Therefore, this article aims to address these issues by analyzing data from three measurement waves. Results reveal that participants' CP increased during the training and decreased only slightly 4 weeks after the training. Additionally, we found an effect of diminishing training returns in that the higher a participant's CP before the training the lower the training effect was. In contrast to most prior literature, we found no support for an effect of creativity training on participants' CSE. We discuss these findings and offer implications for both theory and practice. Finally, we state this study's limitations and derive avenues for further research.     

A Prospective Analysis of Near-Death Experiences in Cardiac Arrest Patients

The objective of this study was to assess prospectively the frequency of near-death experiences (NDEs) in patients suffering a cardiac arrest, to characterize these experiences, and to assess their impact on psychosocial and spiritual attitudes. We prospectively evaluated all patients who suffered a cardiac arrest at Barnes-Jewish Hospital from April 1991 through February 1994, excluding those in the surgical intensive care unit, using a scale designed to specify criteria for NDEs, a recorded interview regarding the experience, an experience rating form, and a follow-up questionnaire regarding psychosocial attitudinal life changes. Of the 174 patients who suffered a cardiac arrest, 55 patients survived, of whom 30 patients were interviewable. Of those 30 patients interviewed, seven (23 percent) had a NDE, and four others (13 percent) reported an NDE during a prior life-threatening illness. The experiences were most frequently characterized by ineffability, peacefulness, painlessness, lack of fear, detachment from the body, and no sense of time or space. Significant differences were noted in the follow-up psychosocial assessment between patients who experienced an NDE and those who did not with regard to personal understanding of life and self, attitudes toward others, and changes in social customs and religious/spiritual beliefs. Of importance, patients reported it was beneficial to receive psychosocial support before hospital discharge after having an NDE. The results suggest that NDEs are fairly common in cardiac arrest survivors. The experiences consisted of a number of core characteristics and changed psychological, social, and spiritual awareness over both the short and long term.     

Stigma and Ostracism Associated with HIV/AIDS: Children Carrying the Secret of Their Mothers' HIV+ Serostatus

Qualitative interviews were conducted with mothers (N = 47) who had disclosed their HIV status to their children. The majority of mothers explicitly told their child not to disclose to other people that she was HIV-positive because they feared repercussions in the way of stigma and ostracism for both themselves and their child. Approximately one-fourth of the mothers identified safe people, to whom their child could discuss her serostatus, such as family members, health care providers, or therapists. The majority of the children respected their mothers' wishes; only four children disclosed to someone after being explicitly told not to do so. A significant number of children expressed concerns about their friends finding out, fearing that they would be ostracized or that it would be assumed they were also infected. In addition, the children did not want others to find out because they wanted to protect their mothers. The burden of keeping the secret of their mothers' serostatus does seem to be a stressor for some of the children.     

Romantic relationships of young people with childhood and adolescent onset antisocial behavior problems

Using prospective longitudinal data from the Christchurch Health and Development Study, this paper examines the extent to which early onset, life course persistent and adolescent limited antisocial behavior problems place young people at risk of violent and unsatisfactory romantic relationships in early adulthood. Results revealed the presence of clear linear associations between the developmental timing of antisocial behavior and later partnership risks, with these risks including partner violence perpetration and victimization, interpartner conflict, and increased ambivalence about the relationship. Young people with childhood onset antisocial behavior problems reported higher rates of partnership difficulties than young people with adolescent limited antisocial behavior problems, while those with adolescent limited antisocial behavior reported higher levels of partnership difficulties than young people without a history of antisocial behavior problems. These associations persisted even after extensive control for a range of social, family, and individual factors that were correlated with the timing of antisocial behavior. Results highlight the importance of distinguishing between early and late onset antisocial behavior, and provide further support for existing life course models of the development of antisocial behavior problems in children and adolescents.     

Driving errors,estimated performance and individual characteristics under simulated and real road traffic conditions – A validation study

BackgroundThe suitability of driving simulators for the prediction of driving behaviour in road traffic has been able to be confirmed in respect of individual assessment parameters. However, there is a need for overarching approaches that take into account the interaction between various influencing factors in order to establish proof of validity. The aim of this study was to explore the validity of our driving simulator in respect of its ability to predict driving behaviour based on participants‘ observed driving errors and driver’s individual characteristics.Method41 healthy participants were assessed both in a Smart-Realo-Simulator and on the road. By means of linear modelling, the correlation between observed driving errors was investigated. In addition, the influence of self-reported and externally assessed driving behaviour as well as individual parameters (education and training; driving history) were analysed.ResultsBy including these factors, 58% of the variance could be explained. For observed driving errors, a relative validity was established. For self-reported and externally assessed driving behaviour, an absolute to relative validity emerged. The amount of time spent in education and training proved to have a significant influence on driving performance in the simulator, but not on the road.DiscussionIn general, our results confirmed the validity of our driving simulator with regard to observed and self-reported driving behaviour. It emerged that education and training as potential indicators of cognitive resources played a differential role regarding the study conditions. Since real road driving is considerably automated in experienced drivers, this result suggests that simulation-related behavioural regulation is challenged by additional cognitive demands as opposed to behavioural regulation extending to real road driving. However, the source of these additional cognitive demands remains currently elusive and may form the subject of future research.     

Disengagement from driving when using automation during a 4-week field trial

IntroductionA small body of research on the real-world use of commercially available partial driving automation suggests that drivers may struggle with or otherwise lapse in adequately monitoring the system and highway environment, and little is known about key issues such as how behavior associated with system use changes over time. The current study assessed how driver disengagement, defined as visual-manual interaction with electronics or removal of hands from the wheel, differed as drivers became more accustomed to partial automation over a 4-week trial.MethodsTen volunteers drove a Volvo S90 with adaptive cruise control (ACC), which automates speed and headway, and Pilot Assist, which combines ACC and continuous lane centering. Instrumentation captured automation use, secondary task activity, hands-on-wheel status, vehicle speed, and GPS location during all trips.ResultsThe longer drivers used the Pilot Assist partial automation system, the more likely they were to become disengaged, with a significant increase in the odds of observing participants with both hands off the steering wheel or manipulating a cell phone relative to manual control. Results associated with use of ACC found comparable or lower levels of disengagement compared to manual driving as the study progressed.DiscussionThis study highlights concerns about vehicle control and the degree to which drivers remain actively in the loop when using automation. Calls for implementing more robust driver monitoring with partial automation appear warranted—particularly those that track head or eye position.