Predicting 2-year weight loss through temporally specific earlier losses,relevant behaviors,and their psychological correlates: Implications for behavioral treatment architectures

Maintaining loss of weight beyond an initial 6–9 months remains problematic, with research indicating little recent progress. A poor understanding of how and when prior weight loss, behavioral changes, and psychosocial predictors are associated with long-term weight changes persists. To better-inform behavioral treatments for long-term success with weight loss, women with obesity (N = 86; M_age = 48.6 years) volunteered for research incorporating community-based weight-management treatments. They were assessed at months 6, 12, and 24 on theory-based psychosocial and behavioral factors, and over 24 months on weight. Considering the included times and temporal ranges, it was found that change in weight from month 6–24 was the strongest predictor of 24-month weight change, and physical activity and fruit/vegetable intake at month 24 best predicted that change in weight. Self-regulation, self-efficacy, and mood at month 24 best predicted both physical activity and fruit/vegetable intake at month 24, with body satisfaction also a significant predictor of physical activity. From these data, mediation analyses found that the predictions of long-term weight loss by scores of self-regulation, self-efficacy, body satisfaction, and mood at month 24 were significantly mediated by fruit/vegetable intake and physical activity in separate equations. Findings indicated both psychosocial and behavioral targets, and timing for those targets, most indicative of long-term success with weight loss.     

精神分裂症心理社会治疗

药物治疗虽然能改善精神分裂症的许多显性症状,而复发、残留症状和功能衰退单靠药物是不能解决的。从现代医学的角度看精神分裂症的预防与康复应该采取整体、多维度、综合性预防和康复措施,在进行生物学治疗的同时给予心理社会治疗,使病人达到最好的疗效。     

焦虑和抑郁动物模型的研究方法和策略

焦虑和抑郁障碍是严重威胁人们健康的精神疾病。焦虑和抑郁动物模型是通过一定的心理社会应激使动物产生明显的焦虑和抑郁情绪,模拟人类焦虑和抑郁障碍,以探讨其细胞、分子和基因水平机制。情绪障碍动物模型通常通过表面效度、结构效度和预测效度进行评价。目前的动物模型虽然存在一定的缺点,但已经为临床和科研提供了巨大帮助。     

Swimming against the Stream?: Mindfulness as a Psychosocial Research Methodology

In this article, we extend psychosocial research methodology by integrating a breaching experiment, influenced by ethnomethodological sociology, with aspects of mindfulness practice, influenced by Buddhist traditions. We offer an empirical investigation of what happens when researcher-participants subtly “swim against the stream” of normative public social conduct in a capital city setting. Our qualitative analysis explores a single case from a corpus of 172 first-person retrospective accounts of standing still and doing nothing in a busy, public place. We investigate the qualitative aspects of how one researcher-participant arguably adopted a mindful, beginner’s mind orientation toward the flow of psychosocial consciousness. We empirically investigate this psychosocial orientation of mindfulness by integrating Wetherell’s concept of affective-discursive practice with James’ stream of consciousness. Mindfulness offers a specific, embodied reorientation toward psychosocial flows. We discuss the methodological implications and limitations of this reorientation for psychosocial research.     

Discursive and Psychosocial? Theorising a Complex Contemporary Subject

This article outlines one tradition of qualitative research in social psychology, that of discourse analysis and discursive research. It proposes that the tradition offers an alternative conceptualisation of a psychosocial subject to accounts which draw on psychoanalytic theorising. The article reviews some of the problems around conceptualising a subject in discursive terms, then sets out some resolutions. It outlines a narrative-discursive approach to subjectivity and proposes that this is consistent with a psychosocial project to explore the person as inseparable from their social contexts. The narrative-discursive conceptualisation admits of agency and change, avoiding over-complete accounts of subjectification, while retaining the critical and political focus of the discursive tradition. It is also consistent with sociological theorisations of the subjects of late capitalism and neo-liberalism. The article discusses an example of narrative-discursive analysis from research on identities of residence and relationships to place.     

Addressing Consent Issues in Donation After Circulatory Determination of Death

Given the widening gap between the number of individuals on transplant waiting lists and the availability of donated organs, as well as the recent plateau in donations based on neurological criteria (i.e., brain death), there has been a growing interest in expanding donation after circulatory determination of death. While the prevalence of this form of organ donation continues to increase, many thorny ethical issues remain, often creating moral distress in both clinicians and families. In this article, we address one of these issues, namely, the challenges surrounding patient and surrogate informed consent for donation after circulatory determination of death. First we discuss several general concerns regarding consent related to this form of organ donation, and then we address additional issues that are unique to three different patient categories: adult patients with medical decision-making capacity or potential capacity, adult patients who lack capacity, and pediatric patients.     

Coping Styles,Pain Expressiveness,and Implicit Theories of Chronic Pain

Whereas some individuals use active coping strategies and are able to adaptively cope with their pain, others use passive strategies and catastrophic appraisals, which are often associated with increased displays of pain behavior and negative pain-related outcomes. To investigate attribution-based implicit theories as a potential underlying mechanism that might affect coping success, we hypothesized that pain patients with an incremental implicit theory of pain (i.e., view pain as malleable) would have more active coping strategies, lower levels of pain expressiveness, and better pain-related outcomes than those with an entity implicit theory of pain (i.e., view pain as nonmalleable). Patients with chronic back pain undergoing a functional assessment completed a variety of self-report measures and participated in a pain-inducing physiotherapy procedure. The results revealed those with an incremental theory of pain used more active coping strategies, displayed less pain behavior, and reported better pain-related outcomes (e.g., lower levels of depression) than individuals with an entity theory of pain. The findings suggest implicit theories of pain may represent an underlying social-cognitive mechanism linked to important coping, emotional, and expressive reactions to chronic pain. Identifying such a mechanism may provide valuable information for the assessment and treatment of chronic pain.     

Re-work: a new Japanese support system for reinstatement

Re-work is a new treatment technique that follows the conventional Japanese approach, which includes rest and pharmacotherapy. The aim of re-work is to prevent repeated sick leave by helping individuals reflect on the reasons behind the sick leave and improve stress-related coping skills. Re-work participants prepare in an environment similar to their workplaces at a medical institution or a specialised public facility for several months before returning to work. As re-work is undertaken via group work, this has benefits beyond those which can be achieved by an individual alone. The reinstatement effects of re-work are now starting to be verified. Issues of interest for re-work include its unified concept-based programme, and the need to further verify its clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness.     

“It's Like Power to Move”: Black Students’ Psychosocial Experiences in Black Studies Courses at a Predominantly White Institution

This study examined Black students’ experiences in culture‐centered courses that focused on the historical and contemporary experiences of Blacks in America and across the African diaspora. Using a qualitative approach, the authors investigated the perceptions of how Black Studies courses shaped the psychosocial experiences and identity development of Black students (N = 24) at a predominantly White institution. Data from semistructured focus group interviews revealed several themes, including psychological empowerment, self‐determination, counterspaces, and community perpetuity. The authors suggest ways counselors and educators can support Black students’ psychosocial development and provide outreach to diverse student populations. Este estudio examinó las experiencias de estudiantes negros en cursos centrados en la cultura que se enfocaron en las experiencias históricas y contemporáneas de personas negras en Estados Unidos y a lo largo de la diáspora africana. Usando un enfoque cualitativo, los autores investigaron las percepciones sobre cómo los cursos de Cultura Negra dieron forma a las experiencias psicosociales y al desarrollo de la identidad de estudiantes negros (N = 24) en una institución predominantemente blanca. Los datos obtenidos de entrevistas semiestructuradas en grupos de enfoque revelaron varios temas que incluyen el empoderamiento psicológico, la autodeterminación, los espacios seguros y la perpetuidad de la comunidad. Los autores sugieren distintas formas en las que los consejeros y educadores pueden apoyar el desarrollo psicosocial de los estudiantes negros y proporcionar un acercamiento a poblaciones diversas de estudiantes.