Social Support Mediates the Effects of Dual-Focus Mutual Aid Groups on Abstinence from Substance Use

Background: Specialized 12-step based groups have emerged to address the needs of persons recovering from both substance abuse and psychiatric illness. Objective: This study investigates the role of social support in mediating the association between mutual aid participation and subsequent substance use for dually diagnosed persons. Method: A cohort of Double Trouble in Recovery (DTR) members in New York City were studied prospectively over a two-year period. Findings: Longer DTR participation during the first year of the study was associated with lower substance use in the second year; that effect was partially explained by the maintenance of high level of social support. Conclusion: These findings speak of the enduring influence of 12-step attendance on reducing substance use, and underline the importance of both 12-step attendance and supportive networks for dually diagnosed persons.     

A comparison of masking by visual and transcranial magnetic stimulation: implications for the study of conscious and unconscious visual processing

Visual stimuli as well as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can be used: (1) to suppress the visibility of a target and (2) to recover the visibility of a target that has been suppressed by another mask. Both types of stimulation thus provide useful methods for studying the microgenesis of object perception. We first review evidence of similarities between the processes by which a TMS mask and a visual mask can either suppress the visibility of targets or recover such suppressed visibility. However, we then also point out a significant difference that has important implications for the study of the time course of unconscious and conscious visual information processing and for theoretical accounts of the processes involved. We present evidence and arguments showing: (a) that visual masking techniques, by revealing more detailed aspects of target masking and target recovery, support a theoretical approach to visual masking and visual perception that must take into account activities in two separate neural channels or processing streams and, as a corollary, (b) that at the current stage of methodological sophistication visual masks, by acting in more highly specifiable ways on these pathways, provide information about the microgenesis of form perception not available with TMS masks.     

Recency, repeatability, and reinforcer retrenchment: an experimental analysis of resurgence

Four experiments were conducted with pigeons to assess the experimental conditions necessary for the occurrence of resurgence. The general procedure consisted of the following conditions: Condition 1--reinforcement of key pecking; Condition 2--reinforcement of treadle pressing and concurrent extinction of key pecking; and Condition 3--the resurgence condition wherein resurgence was defined as the recovery of key pecking. In Experiments 1 and 2, the resurgence condition was conventional extinction. The effect of recency on resurgence magnitude was examined in Experiment 1 by manipulating the number of sessions of Condition 2, above. Resurgence was not a function of recency with the parameters used. Repeating the three conditions revealed resurgence to be a repeatable effect in Experiment 2. In Experiment 3, a variable-time schedule was in effect for the resurgence condition. Resurgence was not produced by response-independent food delivery. In Experiment 4, the resurgence condition was a variable-interval schedule for treadle pressing that arranged a lower reinforcement rate than in Condition 2 (92% reduction in reinforcers per minute). Resurgence was lower in magnitude relative to conventional extinction, although resurgence was obtained with 2 out of 3 pigeons. The results are discussed in terms of the variables controlling resurgence and the relations between behavioral history, resurgence, and other forms of response recovery.     

不同月龄小鼠行为训练与脑突触蛋白的相关性研究

不同年龄动物在各种行为实验中表现出学习记忆能力不同。一般地说,动物进入中年期以后,记忆保持力(retention)随年龄增长而下降。有关衰老性记忆障碍与脑内神经细胞变化的相关性已有大量观察记载,但中、幼年阶段的记忆力差异及其脑内突触机制     

医生主动放弃治疗的法律问题

医生对身患绝症,没有治疗效果的病人主动放弃治疗给法律带来了三方面的冲击。法律在放弃治疗问题上的革命否定了对该类病人的“治疗”是真正意义上的治疗,否定了延长此类病人的存活期限一定符合病人利益的主张,甚至否定了此类病人的生命权益。在我国有关放弃治疗立法中,应注意对放弃治疗的定义、对象、决定的作出者以及放弃治疗的例外作出界定,设立放弃治疗宣查委员会,在法律上规定其职能,。     

The role of ultrarunning in drug and alcohol addiction recovery: An autobiographic study of athlete journeys

PurposeThere is contentious understanding of the role of sport in adult recreational drug and alcohol addiction recovery. This study explored athlete autobiographies as cultural sites of analysis in relation to the role that one sport (i.e., ultrarunning) plays in addiction recovery capital pathways.DesignWorking at the intersection of an autobiographical approach grounded in relativist narrative inquiry, a social constructionist narrative thematic analysis was conducted of two autobiographies--Catra Corbett and Carlie Engle—about addiction recovery through ultrarunning (i.e., distances of 43 km or more). The narratives used to construct life transformation and recovery capital in relation to ultrarunning were centralized in the analysis using Frank’s (2013) work on illness narratives and the body.ResultsTwo narrative themes threaded athletes’ addiction recovery journeys: chaos narrative and quest narrative. Two sub-themes related to fluid identity transformation intertwined with ultrarunning were identified within these narratives: 1. ‘addict-runner’ (chaos) and 2. ‘addict runner to ultra-runner’ (quest). Nuanced meanings of suffering were connected to identity transformation and running and two forms of addiction recovery capital: human (e.g., psychological adjustment, life perspective) and social (e.g., family connection, community).ConclusionsThe research findings provide insight into the role of sport in psychosocial aspects of addiction recovery using an autobiographical approach grounded in narrative theory. This study also extends work in sport psychology focusing on autobiographies as research and pedagogical resources to learn more about athlete mental health.     

心理解脱与幼儿教师生活满意度的关系：家庭压力的调节作用

下班后从工作状态中解脱出来有利于减少工作应激对劳动者健康的损害。家庭作为劳动者下班后生活的主要场所。家庭中的压力因素可能影响劳动者的解脱结果。本研究以 215 名幼儿教师为被试,考察家庭压力影响心理解脱结果的机制。结果发现,高家庭压力会削弱心理解脱对生活满意度的正向预测。该结果支持资源保持理论和付出-恢复模型,提示在工作应激相关的职业健康保护中应注意家庭因素的作用。     

Attachment experience and cortisol recovery from romantic conflict among young Chinese couples: A dyadic analysis

Using a sample of young adults, the present study investigated how the participants' attachment to romantic partners was related to that with their parents and peers and how this specific attachment experience was associated with their physiological stress response. We examined 121 pairs of young Chinese (N = 242) heterosexual couples (men's age: 22.26 ± 2.40; women's age: 21.62 ± 2.22) and their attachment to parents, peers, and romantic partners as well as their cortisol recovery from romantic conflict. Robust actor–partner interdependence mediation models showed that women's insecure parental and peer attachment was associated with blunted cortisol recovery from romantic stress through their fearful attachment with romantic partners, whereas men's insecure parental and peer attachment was associated with their partners' adaptive cortisol recovery from romantic stress through their fearful romantic attachment. These findings suggested that women's hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal-axis functioning seemed to be more strongly associated with their own and their partners' attachment relationships compared to men.