Counting the stitches that count: Preventive intervention promises and public health

Continued public support for the design, implementation, and dissemination of preventive interventions depends on achievement of four major criteria: (a) Reductions in the incidence or prevalence rates of diagnosable emotional and behavioral disorders, (b) reductions in the need for mental health services through effective primary and secondary interventions, (c) enhancement of the effectiveness of obtained services as screening and early detection efforts are implemented, and (d) reductions in the nation's health care costs associated with emotional and behavioral dysfunctions. Strategies including risk reduction, risk avoidance, health promotion, empowerment, and resource development are preventive insofar as they contribute to achievement of the aforementioned outcomes.     

Reduction of shock duration as negative reinforcement in free-operant avoidance

Rats were trained on a free-operant procedure in which shock duration was controlled by responses within a limited range of interresponse times. Shocks of 1.6-mA intensity occurred randomly with average density of 10 shocks per minute. As long as interresponse times were 15 seconds or less, any shocks received were at the briefer of two durations (.3 second). Whenever interresponse times exceeded 15 seconds, any shocks received were at the longer duration (1.0 second). For six of eight animals, avoidance responding developed quickly and reached levels of better than 90%. Four yoked animals stopped responding within the first few sessions. Shock duration reduction without change in shock probability or intensity was sufficient for the acquisition and maintenance of avoidance responding.     

MODIFYING HOW PEOPLE SMOKE: INSTRUCTIONAL CONTROL AND GENERALIZATION1

The modification of smoking behavior usually involves the target goal of total abstinence. However, many smokers are unable or unwilling to quit completely. An alternative is to teach people to smoke in ways that minimize the associated health risks. Such an approach would involve decreasing smoking rate, switching to “safer” tobacco products, and modifying the topography of consumption. Previous research has shown that topographical components of smoking behavior such as puff frequency, puff duration, cigarette duration, and amount smoked can be reliably measured and experimentally manipulated (Frederiksen, Miller, and Peterson, Addictive Behaviors, 1977, 2 , 55–61). Further, there is preliminary evidence from a single-subject experiment that topography can be changed in clinically relevant directions and that such changes can generalize to the smoker's natural environment (Frederiksen and Simon, Behavior Therapy, in press). To replicate and extend these findings, three single-subject experiments were conducted. In each experiment, verbal instructions to modify individual components of smoking topography were sequentially introduced using a multiple-baseline design across components. The components of puff frequency and puff duration were modified in three experiments. Cigarette duration was also modified in two experiments. Following the topography change phase, daily smoking rate was stabilized, using a behavioral contracting procedure (Frederiksen, Peterson, and Murphy, Addictive Behaviors, 1976, 1 , 193–196). Generalization was assessed during sessions in which no instructions were given (Subjects 1 and 3) and at six monthly followups (Subjects 2 and 3). For Subjects 2 and 3, data were also available on the amount of carbon monoxide (CO) uptake associated with the consumption of a cigarette (postcigarette CO-precigarette CO). This physiological measure is important because CO and its byproducts constitute a major health risk (Russell, Lancet, 1974, 1 , 254–258). Results showed that instructions were effective in modifying components of smoking topography. These changes generalized to sessions in which no instructions were given and across six months of followup. Daily smoking rate did not increase during topography change nor did smoking topography deteriorate when smoking rate was subsequently stabilized on a behavioral contract. Subjective ratings of smoking enjoyment decreased during topography change for two of three subjects but subsequently returned to baseline levels during followup. The observed topography changes were associated with a decrease in the amount of each cigarette smoked. Mean CO uptake was also reduced from baseline levels of 6.0 ppm and 8.0 ppm (Subjects 2 and 3, respectively) to followup levels of 3.3 ppm and 2.1 ppm. These results replicate and extend previous work and suggest that moderate or “controlled” smoking is an approach that deserves continued attention. The importance of assessing smoking topography and physiological variables, as well as directions for subsequent investigation, are discussed.     

Profiling: The Efficacy of Using Social Networking Sites for Job Screening

Social networking sites (SNS) are a rich source of extractive information about job applicants. Human resources (HR) professionals now use SNS to gather additional information about job applicants; consequently, job applicants begin interviewing even before the actual interview. The authors examine SNS in the context of hiring decisions, using uncertainty reduction theory as a framework of analysis to explain how individuals obtain and process information about interpersonal relationships to reduce uncertainty before a face‐to‐face meeting. The authors recommend mandatory training for HR professionals, recruiters, and applicants in the strategic use and placement of SNS profiles in the public domain.     

Attachment Style,Perceived Loneliness,and Psychological Well-Being in Smoking and Non-Smoking University Students

The growing rate of smoking cigarettes among the youths necessitates examining its contributing factors. Accordingly, we aimed to compare smoking and nonsmoking university students in their attachment styles, perceived loneliness, and psychological well-being. To this end, we recruited 100 current smokers and 100 nonsmoking students by using a convenience sampling method from Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. All participants completed the Adult Attachment Scale, Loneliness Scale, and General Health Questionnaire. Data analysis indicated that compared to nonsmokers, smokers had a more anxious attachment style and they felt lonelier. Moreover, current results showed that smokers suffered from higher rates of psychological problems than nonsmokers. These results suggest that smoking is influenced by a set of psychological factors and therefore, prevention and treatment programs targeting these factors may be effective in reducing the rate of smoking cigarettes among university students.     

青少年个性特征、最要好同伴吸烟行为与青少年吸烟行为的关系

本研究旨在探讨最要好同伴吸烟、青少年个性特征与青少年吸烟行为的关系.对北京市一所普通中学和一所重点中学的1042名初一至高三学生进行问卷调查,让被试自我报告他们和最要好同伴的吸烟行为,以及他们的个性特点.结果表明:(1)吸烟和不吸烟的青少年在遵从动机、自我效能感上存在着显著的差异.与不吸烟青少年相比,吸烟的青少年表现出更高的遵从动机和更低的自我效能感;(2)青少年的遵从动机、自我效能感与最要好同伴吸烟行为间存在显著关系.遵从动机高、自我效能感低的青少年,其最要好同伴吸烟率要显著地高于遵从动机低、自我效能感高的青少年;(3)最要好同伴吸烟行为与青少年吸烟行为间存在极其显著的相关;(4)最要好同伴吸烟行为既对青少年吸烟行为产生直接作用,又通过自我效能感、遵从动机对青少年吸烟行为产生间接影响.但最要好同伴吸烟行为对青少年吸烟行为的直接作用要大于间接作用.     

Human observing: Maintained by stimuli correlated with reinforcement but not extinction

College students received points exchangeable for money (reinforcement) on a variable-time 60-second schedule that alternated randomly with an extinction component. Subjects were informed that responding would not influence either the rate or distribution of reinforcement. Instead, presses on either of two levers (“observing responses”) produced stimuli. In each of four experiments, stimuli positively correlated with reinforcement and/or stimuli uncorrelated with reinforcement were each chosen over stimuli correlated with extinction. These results are consistent with prior results from pigeons in supporting the conditioned-reinforcement hypothesis of observing and in not supporting the uncertainty-reduction hypothesis.     

The Role of Lay Health Advisors in Cardiovascular Risk Reduction: A Review

Interventions are needed to reduce the negative impact of cardiovascular disease. The combination of health risks for disease, disability, and mortality, particularly among underserved populations, might be best addressed with programs designed to enhance awareness and development of resources within a context of community support. The objectives of this review were to: (1) provide a comprehensive review and evaluation of the roles, evaluation, and effectiveness of LHA in community-based programs with an emphasis on cardiovascular risk reduction; and (2) provide recommendations for future research involving LHA in such programs. Computer and manual searches were conducted of articles in the English-language literature from 1980 to 2007. Twenty articles were evaluated, which emphasized the role of the LHA in cardiovascular risk reduction. A review of research literature provides a starting point for determining salient approaches for intervention and evaluation, issues related to program implementation and sustainability, and strengths and limitations of existing approaches.     

吸烟对椎基底动脉供血不足患者血液流变学的影响

吸烟可引起椎基底动脉供血不足（VBI）患者血液流变学的异常,本文在吸烟与非吸烟两组VBI患者间进行各项血液流变学指标的比较,发现吸烟组各项指标均高于非吸烟组。证实吸烟可使VBI患者血液流变学异常更为明显,加重动脉硬化,增加脑梗塞的危险性,戒烟是椎基底动脉供血不足的重要预防措施。     

Thanks for asking: Self-affirming questions reduce backlash when stigmatized targets confront prejudice

Two experiments tested the prediction that stigmatized individuals can avoid backlash when they confront others about bias if they first ask questions designed to activate self-affirmation processes. Experiment 1 showed that compared to a no-strategy control condition, highly prejudiced perceivers tended to express less desire to meet an Arab-American when he asked them to take his perspective on prejudice, but they expressed more desire to meet him when he asked self-affirming questions prior to making the perspective-taking request. Experiment 2 replicated this effect with a different affirmation and revealed that asking self-affirming questions reduced perceptions that the target was being confrontational when asking others to take his perspective. Together, these studies show that stigmatized targets can effectively challenge prejudiced individuals to reduce their biases if they first use a subtle strategy that reduces defensiveness.