The Coronary Health Improvement Project (CHIP) for lowering weight and improving psychosocial health

This study extends previous research evaluating the association between the CHIP intervention, change in body weight, and change in psychological health. A randomized controlled health intervention study lasting 4 wk. was used with 348 participants from metropolitan Rockford, Illinois; ages ranged from 24 to 81 yr. Participants were assessed at baseline, 6 wk., and 6 mo. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and three selected psychosocial measures from the SF-36 Health Survey were used. Significantly greater decreases in Body Mass Index (BMI) occurred after 6 wk. and 6 mo. follow-up for the intervention group compared with the control group, with greater decreases for participants in the overweight and obese categories. Significantly greater improvements were observed in BDI scores, role-emotional and social functioning, and mental health throughout follow-up for the intervention group. The greater the decrease in BMI through 6 wk., the better the chance of improved BDI score, role-emotional score, social functioning score, and mental health score, with odds ratios of 1.3 to 1.9. Similar results occurred through 6 mo., except the mental health variable became nonsignificant. These results indicate that the CHIP intervention significantly improved psychological health for at least six months afterwards, in part through its influence on lowering BMI.     

The impact of empathy on burnout in medical students: new findings

Introduction: Research on medical students has shown they are at a higher risk for burnout and that this burnout may become more prevalent as they advance in medical school. The literature, thus far, has not explored the construct of ,emotional empathy and whether this can impact burnout in medical students. Objective: To understand the relationship between empathy (Empathic Concern [EC] and Personal Distress [PD]) and burnout in medical students. Method: Five successive classes of medical students enrolled at a new medical school were given the Maslach Burnout Inventory and Davis’ Interpersonal Reactivity Index over the course of three successive years (n = 353). Two dimensions of empathy were evaluated to determine if they have an impact on three dimensions of burnout (Emotional Exhaustion/EE, Depersonalization/DP, Personal Accomplishment/PA). Results: data was analyzed using a linear mixed model for each of the three components of burnout based on gender, age, year in medical school, and two types of empathy: EC, and PD. Conclusion: It was discovered that students with high levels of EC had statistically lower scores of burnout over time while students with high levels of PD empathy showed statistically higher scores of burnout over three years. Implications for these findings are discussed.     

Reading and writing difficulties do not always occur as the researcher expects

Making a prognosis about reading and learning difficulties is a tricky business, even if a large array of relevant variables is taken into account. The present article discusses such an endeavour, on the basis of a longitudinal four-year study which started with an orthodox intervention on linguistic awareness. However, after initial success, new groups of reading, writing and math disabled children were identified in the course of years. Membership of these groups could not always be predicted on the basis of extensive cognitive diagnostics performed during the preschool. Rather, the pupil’s adaptive behaviour while coping with the demands of school work emerges as an important prognostic factor. This was particularly evident in an interaction combining math and reading comprehension in grade 3.     

Psychology of learning: a new approach to study behavior of Rhodnius prolixus stal under laboratory conditions

Conditioning methodologies associated with the psychology of learning are suggested as a new strategy to investigate behavior of the assassin bug Rhodnius prolixus, which is the main vector of Chagas disease in Venezuela. Chagas disease is the fourth leading cause of death in Latin America, as it causes severe chronic illness and approximately 43,000 deaths per year. To illustrate this strategy, two preliminary experiments are reported. In the first, Pavlovian conditioning was examined by pairing an olfactory conditioned stimulus with a temperature unconditioned stimulus. A temperature of 42 degrees C elicits a complex behavioral sequence in R. prolixus consisting of proboscis extension and crawling. Over the course of 12 training trials, this behavioral sequence was not elicited by an olfactory conditioned stimulus. In the second experiment, a latent inhibition paradigm was used to pre-expose R. prolixus to an olfactory conditioned stimulus before pairing the odor with temperature. Over the course of training, an effect of pre-exposure was found. Suggestions for research are discussed and potential conditioned and unconditioned stimuli identified.     

Primary and secondary effects of parenting and stress management interventions for parents of children with developmental disabilities: a meta-analysis

A meta-analysis of the group intervention research for parents of children with developmental disabilities was conducted in order to characterize the efficacy of treatments in reducing depressive symptoms and other forms of psychological distress associated with stress in parents of children with developmental disabilities. An extensive search led to the identification of 17 studies which were divided into three categories for comparative purposes: parenting education studies usually based on behavioral parent training, coping skills education studies based primarily on cognitive behavioral training, and studies that combined these methods along with other support services. Studies were rated for the quality of the research designs and of the reports. Consistent positive benefits were found in the form of reductions in parents' distress, and these effects were comparable to those reported in other syntheses of parenting interventions for parents of children without disabilities. The studies were evaluated in order to assess whether or not they met standards for established evidence-based practices. On the basis of the quality and number of the randomized trials, we present evidence to support the claim that there are established evidence-based interventions for reducing psychological distress at least in middle-class mothers in the short term. The interventions for fathers are promising as are the data on somewhat longer-term effects. The need for replications with a more diverse group of parents and longer-term follow-up were discussed. Multiple component interventions addressing both parent well-being and behavioral parent training were significantly more effective than either behavioral parent training or cognitive behavioral training along.     

A Nelsonian Response to ‘the Most Embarrassing of All Twelfth-century Arguments’

Alberic of Paris put forward an argument, ‘the most embarrassing of all twelfth-century arguments’ according to Christopher Martin, which shows that the connexive principles contradict some other logical principles that have become deeply entrenched in our most widely accepted logical theories. Building upon some of Everett Nelson’s ideas, we will show that the steps in Alberic of Paris’ argument that should be rejected are precisely the ones that presuppose the validity of schemas that are nowadays taken as some of the most trivial logical truths: (A∧B) →_AB A and (A∧B) →_AB B, i.e. Simplification.