Perceived History of Anaphylaxis and Parental Overprotection,Autonomy, Anxiety,and Depression in Food Allergic Young Adults

This study examined autonomy, anxiety, depression, and perceptions of parental behavior in 86 food allergic young adults and 344 healthy young adults between the ages of 18 and 22. Participants completed an online survey measuring self-reported autonomy, anxiety, depression, and perceptions of parental behavior. Results indicated that, as a group, food allergic young adults did not differ from healthy peers. However, food allergic young adults who reported having experienced an anaphylactic reaction described their disease as more severe, reported more worry about their disease, and rated their parents as more overprotective than food allergic young adults who reported never having experienced anaphylaxis. The experience of anaphylaxis may be a reliable indicator of food allergic individuals who are at risk for psychological distress. A portion of this research was presented at the National Conference on Child Health Psychology in Miami, Fl in April, 2008.     

Local Food Environments: They’re All Stocked Differently

The obesity epidemic has widened the aims of prevention research to include the influence of local food environments on health outcomes. This mixed methods study extends existing research focused on local food environments by examining whether community members’ find food accessible. Data from food store audits and one-on-one interviews were analyzed. Results reveal that most of the food stores surrounding the three research sites were convenience stores and non-chain grocery stores; interviewees did not perceive these stores to be “real” food stores. Tobacco and alcohol products were more prevalent in the food stores than all varieties of milk, fresh fruits, or fresh vegetables. Food access varied by site in a manner that was designed to appeal to customers’ race, class, gender, or environment. Findings reveal that local food environments are reflections of social hierarchies. Unraveling the politics of space ought to be a part of broader efforts to promote the public’s health.     

Slower eating rate reduces the food intake of men, but not women: implications for behavioral weight control

This study tested a central tenet of behavioral weight control: does slower eating rate reduce food intake and positively affect appetite ratings. This study used direct behavioral observation of participants' (n=48; 25BMI35) eating behavior using Universal Eating Monitors. Food intake and ratings of "desire to eat" (collected each minute during meals) were represented as a function of time. Based on an acclimation meal, participants' eating rate was modified by instructing them to eat a bite of food when prompted by a computer, which generated three types of meals: (1) baseline (eating rate was the same as the acclimation meal), (2) reduced-rate (eating rate was reduced by 50%), and (3) combined-rate (eating rate at the beginning of the meal was identical to that of the acclimation meal, subsequently eating rate was reduced by 50%). All meals were ad libitum. Slower eating rate during the reduced-rate and combined-rate meals resulted in less food intake compared to the baseline meal for men, but not women. Ratings of desire to eat, normalized for the amount of food consumed, were lower during the combined-rate meal for men and women. Thus, this basic premise of behavioral weight control was supported for men, but not for women.     

网络相关文字刺激和压力对网络成瘾者线索诱发渴求的影响

渴求感特别是线索诱发渴求是成瘾行为维持和戒断失败的主要原因。本研究通过两个实验分别探讨了网络相关文字刺激和压力对网络成瘾者线索诱发渴求的影响。研究一以25名网络成瘾大学生为被试,以网络相关和中性词语为实验材料,采用线索暴露范式（Cue-reactivity Paradigm）的研究发现,只有网络相关文字刺激能显著诱发网络成瘾者的渴求感。在此基础上,研究二以40名网络成瘾大学生为被试,以公开演讲范式为压力诱发情境,以网络相关词语和中性词语为实验材料,采用线索暴露范式（Cue-reactivity Paradigm）的研究发现,在压力条件下,网络相关文字能诱发网络成瘾者更为强烈的渴求感。本研究深化了对网络成瘾形成维持心理机制的研究,也为网络成瘾的干预矫正提供了思路。     

Reviews

Books reviewed:
Irving Kirsch (Ed.) How Expectancies Shape Experience
David F. Marks, Michael Murray, Brian Evans and Carla Willig Health Psychology, Theory, Research and Practice     

用药动作线索诱发海洛因戒断者的镜像神经活动:一项fMRI研究

相关线索能够诱发药物依赖者的心理渴求,而健康人不会对相关线索产生心理渴求。15名海洛因成瘾者和12名没有任何物质滥用的健康被试参与实验,收集了他们在观看相关线索与对照线索时的脑神经活动。结果发现,药物线索能够诱发戒断者更多脑区的活动,包括扣带回和楔前叶。两组被试在对照动作线索刺激诱发作用下,其颞叶、顶叶均出现了较为一致的活动。在用药动作线索诱发作用下,戒断组双侧颞中回、双侧顶下小叶、左侧顶上小叶和右侧额下回显示出显著活动,并且与对照动作线索激活脑区一致;健康组被试除枕叶-颞叶联合区外,没有出现显著的脑区活动。以上结果表明,用药动作线索诱发了海洛因戒断者颞中回、顶下小叶、额下回等镜像神经系统的活动,这些脑区对不同类型的相关线索十分敏感,它们可能通过对用药动作的心理模拟,参与了用药动作线索的快速自动化加工。     

Exposure to negative emotional cues and alcohol cue reactivity with alcoholics: a preliminary investigation

Fifty-one male and female inpatient alcoholics received cue exposure treatment involving in vivo exposure to alcohol cues and imaginal exposure to individualized high-risk drinking situations involving negative emotional cues. At post-test, self-report measures of urge to drink alcohol and negative emotional states were obtained during an alcohol cue reactivity assessment. Contrary to our hypothesis, greater exposure to negative emotional cues during treatment was associated with greater urge and negative emotional responses at post-test. In addition, greater duration of exposure to negative emotional cues predicted greater attention to alcohol-related stimuli and thoughts about drinking during the post-test. Implications for future research in this area include extending the duration of exposure to negative emotional cues in order to establish the optimal exposure durations within which a majority of individuals achieve clinically significant reductions in their urge to drink alcohol.     

Internal and external factors modulate food-calling in domestic hens

Two series of experiments investigated factors affecting utterance of food calls in the domestic hen, Gallus domesticus. The first series of experiments tested the effect of food preference and the hen’s internal state on the utterance of food calls. Different food types were presented first singly and then in a choice test to 20 hens, first when hens were laying, and then when they were maternal. The second series of experiments tested the effect of hunger level on the utterance of food calls in laying hens, and maternal hens with or without chicks. These two series of experiments showed that laying hens and maternal hens showed a similar marked preference for certain types of food, but laying hens very rarely emitted food calls, in contrast to maternal hens. This shows the effect of the bird’s psychophysiological state on her tendency to emit food calls. The more a maternal hen preferred a food type, the more food calls she emitted. This was observed from the beginning of a test in single-food tests as well as in choice tests. Hunger level positively affected food-call production under certain feeding conditions in maternal hens, but not in laying hens. When maternal hens were tested in the absence of their chicks, utterance of food calls was more sustained than in the presence of chicks. Received: 14 May 1998 / Accepted after revision: 11 October 1998