Clinical relevance of heavy drinking during the college years: Cross-sectional and prospective perspectives.

This study investigated the clinical relevance of heavy drinking during the college years and beyond on concurrent and prospective alcohol-related problems in a high-risk sample (N?=?377). Measures of heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems were significantly correlated cross-sectionally over the study frame, regardless of how these constructs were operationalized. However, the magnitude of the association between heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems declined substantially over time, with the most pronounced decrease following the college years. Despite this cross-sectional decrease in the association between heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems over time, heavy drinking during the college years significantly and substantially predicted alcohol-use disorders up to 10 years later. Implications for assessment of heavy drinking as well as prevention of problematic alcohol use in college students are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Out-of-Plane Strengthening of Masonry Walls with Reinforced Composites

This paper presents an investigation into the effectiveness of using fiber-reinforced composite overlays to strengthen existing unreinforced masonry walls to resist out-of-plane static loads. A total of fifteen wall panels [1,200 × 1,800 × 200 mm (4 ft × 6 ft × 8 in.)] were tested. Twelve panels were assembled with fiber-reinforcing systems attached to the tension side, and the remaining three control walls were left without any external reinforcement. Two configurations of external reinforcement were evaluated. The first reinforcement configuration consisted of two layers of fiber-reinforced plastic webbing and the second consisted of vertical and horizontal bands of undirectional fiber composites. The three wall specimens without external reinforcement were tested to evaluate the change in the system strength and behavior with application of the external reinforcing systems. In addition to the two fiber configurations, the testing program also evaluated two methods of surface preparation of the walls, sand blasting, and wire brush. All specimens were thoroughly washed by water jet, 48 hours prior to application of the fiber-reinforcing systems. Three specimens were tested for each variable. A uniformly distributed lateral load was applied to each panel using the procedures described in the ASTM Standard E-72 Test Method (airbag). Failure loads, strains in the external reinforcement (FRP), out-of-plane deformations, and failure modes were recorded. Recommendations on the usefulness of the proposed technique as a means of strengthening masonry walls for out-of-plane loads are presented. In general, flexural strength of masonry walls can be increased if the shear failure is controlled.     

Religion in the home in the 1980s and 1990s: A meta-analytic review and conceptual analysis of links between religion, marriage, and parenting.

The authors reviewed 94 studies published in journals since 1980 on religion and marital or parental functioning. Meta-analytic techniques were used to quantify religion-family associations examined in at least 3 studies. Greater religiousness appeared to decrease the risk of divorce and facilitate marital functioning, but the effects were small. Greater Christian conservatism was modestly associated with greater endorsement and use of corporal punishment with preadolescents. Isolated findings suggested that greater parental religiousness relates to more positive parenting and better child adjustment. The scope, meaningfulness, and potential strength of findings were restricted because of reliance on global or single-item measures of religious and family domains. To facilitate more conceptually and methodologically sophisticated research, the authors delineated mechanisms by which the substantive and psychosocial elements of religion could benefit or harm family adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dynamic effects of self-efficacy on smoking lapse and relapse.

Self-efficacy (SE) is thought to be critical to success in smoking cessation both as an individual difference and as a dynamic process after a quit attempt. In this study, 214 smokers used palm-top computers to record day-to-day variations in SE during 4 weeks after quitting. SE remained at high and stable levels prior to a 1st lapse but decreased and became more variable thereafter. The authors used event history models with time-varying covariates to assess the effect of daily SE on lapse and relapse risk. Daily SE measures predicted an initial lapse on the subsequent day. However, this relationship was accounted for by stable baseline differences in SE (assessed by questionnaire), rather than by day-to-day dynamics in SE. Progression from 1st lapse to relapse was also examined. In this instance, daily SE predicted subsequent relapse risk, even when baseline SE and concurrent smoking were accounted for, suggesting the importance of SE dynamics for this stage of the relapse process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Tobacco withdrawal in women and menstrual cycle phase.

Because negative mood is a characteristic of both tobacco withdrawal and menstrual discomfort, withdrawal may vary by menstrual cycle phase. Tobacco withdrawal, mood, and menstrual discomfort were assessed in premenopausal women who quit smoking during either the follicular (Days 1–14 postmenstrual onset; n?=?41) or luteal (Day 15 or longer postmenstrual onset; n?=?37) phase of the menstrual cycle and maintained biochemically verified smoking abstinence during the postquit week. Women quitting during the luteal phase reported significantly greater increases in tobacco withdrawal and self-reported depressive symptoms than women quitting during the follicular phase. These results indicate that selecting a quit-smoking day early in the follicular phase may attenuate withdrawal and negative affect in premenopausal female smokers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor-dependent plasticity within a distributed corticostriatal network mediates appetitive instrumental learning.

The effect of microinfusion of the N-methyl-{d}-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist 2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (AP-5) into the amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, and dorsal and ventral subiculum on acquisition of a lever-pressing task for food in rats was examined. Serial transmission between the basolateral amygdala and nucleus accumbens core was also examined in an asymmetric infusion design. AP-5 administered bilaterally into either the amygdala or medial prefrontal cortex markedly impaired learning, whereas administration into the dorsal or ventral subiculum had no effect. Unilateral infusion of AP-5 into either the nucleus accumbens core or amygdala was also sufficient to impair learning. These data provide novel evidence for NMDA receptor-dependent plasticity within corticostriatal networks in the acquisition of appetitive instrumental learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Disruption of contextual freezing, but not contextual blocking of fear-potentiated startle, after lesions of the dorsal hippocampus": Correction to McNish et al (2000).

Reports an error in "Disruption of contextual freezing, but not contextual blocking of fear-potentiated startle, after lesions of the dorsal hippocampus" by Kenneth A. McNish, Jonathan C. Gewirtz and Michael Davis (Behavioral Neuroscience, 2000[Feb], Vol 114[1], 64-76). The captions for Figure 4 (p. 70) and Figure 5 (p. 72) were printed incorrectly. The caption used for Figure 4 should appear under Figure 5, and the caption used for Figure 5 should appear under Figure 4. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2000-13470-005.) The role of the dorsal hippocampus in contextual fear conditioning was investigated with a contextual blocking paradigm. In Experiment 1, rats were given pairings of a light conditioned stimulus (CS) and footshock after preexposure either to footshock or to the context alone. The group preexposed to footshock showed poorer fear conditioning to the light CS, as measured by the fear-potentiated startle reflex. In Experiment 2, a group preexposed to footshock in the same context showed poorer fear conditioning to the light CS than did a group preexposed to footshock in a different context, indicating contextual blocking of fear-potentiated startle. In Experiment 3, lesions of the dorsal hippocampus had no effect on contextual blocking, even though contextual freezing was disrupted. The sparing of contextual blocking indicated that contextual memory was intact following hippocampal lesions, despite the disruption of contextual freezing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and substance use disorders: A prospective study.

The personality systems of Cloninger (as measured by the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire [TPQ]) and Eysenck (as measured by the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire [EPQ]) both have been linked to substance use and abuse. The current study examined the predictive utility of both systems for substance use disorder (SUD) diagnoses, both cross-sectionally and prospectively. Participants (N?=?489 at baseline) completed the EPQ and TPQ and were assessed via structured diagnostic interview at baseline and 6 years later (N?=?457 at follow-up). Both the EPQ and TPQ scales demonstrated bivariate cross-sectional and prospective associations with SUDs. Within each system, those dimensions marking a broad impulsive sensation-seeking or behavioral disinhibition trait were the best predictors prospectively, although the 2 systems were differentially sensitive to specific diagnoses. These relations remained significant even with autoregressivity, other concurrent SUD diagnoses, and multiple personality dimensions statistically controlled. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Low-frequency acoustic modulations generated by the high-frequency portion of the cochlea, noninvasively recorded from the scalp of mice (Mus musculus).

Vocalizations often contain low-frequency modulations of the envelope of a high-frequency sound. The high-frequency portion of the cochlear nerve of mice (Mus musculus) generates a robust phase-locked response to these low-frequency modulations, and it can be easily recorded from the surface of the scalp. The cochlea is most sensitive to envelope modulation frequencies of approximately 500 to 2000 Hz. These responses have detection thresholds that are approximately 10 dB more sensitive than auditory brainstem responses, and they are very sharply tuned. These measurements may provide a nontraumatic means of repeatedly assessing cochlear functions involved in sound localization and perception of vocalizations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychometric properties of the Hawaiian Culture Scale—Adolescent Version.

This article reports on the psychometric properties of a newly constructed Hawaiian Culture Scale—Adolescent Version. A total of 2,272 Native Hawaiian and 1,170 non-Hawaiian adolescents were administered this 50-item inventory that measures the source of learning the Hawaiian way of life, how much Hawaiian beliefs are valued and important to maintain, how much non-Hawaiian beliefs are valued, Hawaiian blood quantum, and specific cultural traditions (seven subscales?=?Lifestyles, Customs, Activities, Folklore, Causes—Locations, Causes—Access, and Language Proficiency). The results strongly supported the internal consistency and validity of the measures for both the Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian groups. On the basis of the demographic data, partial support was offered for cross-cultural theories of ethnic identity. More consistent support was found for multiculturalism in Hawai'i's adolescents. Further research is needed to link these measures with indicators of psychological adjustment (e.g., depression, anxiety, substance use). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)