Risk assessment and research: an essential link

Regulatory agencies, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, use health risk assessment information in developing pollution control regulations and for setting regulatory and research priorities. The risk assessment process, however, is hampered by limitations in test methods, in models for exposure and dose-response, and by chemical-specific data gaps. The research/risk assessment/risk management framework provides opportunities for targeting and coordinating research to address these limitations. Enhanced communication among researchers, risk assessors and risk managers to foster better development and use of scientific information in decision making, and incentives for interdisciplinary research efforts, are needed.     

Basic behavioral science research for mental health: A national investment.

Presents the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Behavioral Science Task Force Report (BSTFR). The BSTFR is a result of the collective efforts of the National Advisory Mental Health Council, the Staff of the Division of the Neuroscience and Behavioral Science at NIMH, and a panel of 52 behavioral scientists in the field. The BSTFR is expected to provide guidance for the NIMH's basic research programs concerning behavioral and social factors that promote mental health or contribute to mental disorders. Research topics are highlighted, such as the use of animals in basic behavioral science research, comparisons across species and across cultures, and the bidirectionality of causation. Recommendations include strengthening basic behavioral science research, increasing support for investigator-initiated research, and preserving expert review of basic behavioral science. (0 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

宜昌市创建国家卫生城市几点作法与体会

宜昌是三峡工程所在地,是正在建设之中的世界水电之都.创建国家卫生城市[1],既是推进宜昌科学发展的内在要求,也是优化人居环境、和投资环境的迫切需要.     

Psychological testing in outpatient mental health facilities: A national study.

Surveyed psychological testing trends in outpatient mental health centers, clinics, and services in the US. The sample was obtained from the National Directory of Mental Health and the National Registry of Community Mental Health Services. Of 900 facilities with a psychologist on staff, 413 (46%) returned questionnaires. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Wechsler scales were the instruments most frequently used, closely followed in usage frequency by the major projective techniques. The Wide Range Achievement Test, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), the Peabody, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Wechsler Memory Scale were also quite popular. Apparently, clinicians rely on traditional tests despite the proliferation of new assessment instruments in the clinical literature. Implications for graduate training are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality research in a non-Western culture: The Philippines.

Here I review personality research in one non-Western culture, the Philippines. Reports from diverse cultures remind one that personality findings reflect the cultural setting from which they emerge, lead to "cross-indigenous" comparisons between alternative cultural perspectives, and suggest hypotheses about cultural generality versus uniqueness. I illustrate the impact of cultural context on topics studied; on the applicability of concepts, methods, and measures; and on the practice of psychology by using the Philippine case. I also discuss issues regarding the cultural universality versus uniqueness of Filipino personality concepts, current efforts toward developing an indigenous Philippine psychology, and the language issue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction. Early identification and assessment of emerging health technology

The association between obesity and risk of coronary artery disease is well established. The distribution of body fat was shown to be related to serum lipids and lipoproteins in a group of healthy men, but the association between body fat and haemostatic factors is less clear. The aim of the present study was to determine the association of overall adiposity (OVRAD, percent total fat mass contributing to body weight) and body mass index (BMI, weight/height2) with lipids and haemostatic factors in order to evaluate which of these was more associated with circulating procoagulant factors. The total fat mass was estimated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and OVRAD computed for 28 male and 36 healthy female subjects, whose median age were 44.2 years and 48.4 years respectively. In addition, the BMI was computed for each of them from their weight and height measurements. Fasting samples were analysed for serum lipids (total, HDL- and LDL-cholesterol and triglyceride) and plasma fibrinogen, factor VII coagulant (FVII:C) activity, tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) activities. The men and women had similar median BMI (23.9 kg/m2 and 23.1 kg/m2 respectively), but the median fat mass of women (19.6 kg) was higher than that of men (16.9 kg). Age, BMI and OVRAD exhibited statistically significant correlations with lipids and haemostatic factors in both men and women. However, when BMI was adjusted for age and OVRAD, the statistically significant associations were no longer apparent in men or women. In contrast, OVRAD adjusted for age and BMI still exhibited statistically significant associations with FVII:C activity (R = 0.38, p = 0.05), triglyceride (R = 0.51, p = 0.008), LDL-cholesterol (R = 0.45, p = 0.02) and HDL/Total cholesterol ratio (R = -0.63, p <0.001). It is concluded that OVRAD, a fat mass-based index, rather than BMI, a weight-height based index, is better associated with circulating coronary risk factors.     

Basic behavioral science research for mental health: A national investment: Emotion and motivation.

Discusses scientific perspectives on emotion and the potential for behavioral science research that explores the different facets of emotions and motivation in human behavior. Researchers are developing new ways to describe the subtlety of human emotions and motivational states and are also becoming more adept at understanding the biological and social-psychological forces that, together, regulate both normal and abnormal behavior. Areas of emotion research discussed include emotional development, negative emotion, and facial emotion. Areas of motivation research considered include biological mechanism of motivation (e.g., eating, sleep, mood disorders), psychological motivation (e.g., goal directed), and motivation for behavioral change. Future research may clarify the antecedents of child psychopathology and the emotional responses seen in mental disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Building national capacity for child and family disaster mental health research.

Disaster mental health is a burgeoning field with numerous opportunities for professional involvement in preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. Research is essential to advance professional understanding of risk and protective factors associated with disaster outcomes; to develop an evidence base for acute, intermediate, and long-term mental health approaches to address child, adult, family, and community disaster-related needs; and to inform policy and guide national and local disaster preparedness, response, and recovery programs. To address the continued need for research in this field, we created the Child and Family Disaster Research Training and Education (DRT) program, which is focused specifically on enhancing national capacity to conduct disaster mental health research related to children, a population particularly vulnerable to disaster trauma. This paper describes the structure and organization of the DRT program, reviews the training curriculum, discusses implementation and evaluation of the program, and reviews obstacles encountered in establishing the program. Finally, key lessons learned are reviewed for the purpose of guiding replication of the DRT model to address other areas of community mental health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparative study of nutrition and health of mothers in Japan and the Philippines

When comparing nutrition and health among mothers in both Japan and Philippines, it can be concluded that, in regard to nutrition, the results of the total dietary scores for mothers in divided into pregnant and after-delivery stages showed that pregnant Filipino mothers' average are lower than those of pregnant Japanese mothers. Pregnant Filipino mothers and those just after delivery to 4 months had lower average dietary scores than Filipino mothers 5 months and later after delivery. These results are thought to be an important factor in the improvement of health condition and life expectancy of Filipino mothers and their children. In Japanese mothers, such differences were not found. When comparing individual dietary scores and the rate of nutrients consumed to the optimum amounts, significant differences were found among mothers in both countries. Analysis of food diaries of mothers from both countries found that Japanese mothers had average intakes of nutrients such as energy, protein, fat, vitamin B1 and vitamin B2 and were deficient in calcium, iron and vitamin A. Filipino mothers took in average amounts of protein, calcium, iron, vitamin B2 and vitamin C and were deficient in energy, fat and vitamin B1.     

Psychology and national health care.

Presents the position of the American Psychological Association concerning the national movement toward a "comprehensive and coordinated system of health services which will be of high quality and equally accessible to all persons." Provisions for recognition and management of emotional and mental disorders and for the optimum use of all qualified health care professionals are urged. Guidelines for the development of a health care program are enumerated and include concern for accessibility of services, patient rights, adequate funding, consumer roles, grievance provisions, program evaluation, and research into the system itself. Criteria for evaluating the adequacy of proposed legislation for a health care system in terms of the mental health provisions and the utilization of psychological services are also presented. It is concluded that "psychologists, by training and experience, have the qualifications to provide independent mental health services and should be permitted to do so." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Oral health assessment in dogs: study design and results

The authors have conducted a large number of canine dental studies during the past six years. Study methodologies have been driven by the need for statistical validation of results, requiring the participation of large numbers of animals in each study. For plaque, stain, and calculus evaluations, a "clean tooth" model was used, in which formation of these substrates was assessed days to weeks after an initial coronal cleaning. A primary goal of the studies described was to validate the study designs used--that is, to use accepted plaque-, calculus-, and stain-controlling agents to test whether the study methods could detect differences between treated and untreated groups. The results of clinical studies show that the methods described can be used to identify plaque, calculus, and stain control attributable to chemical agents, oral hygiene aids, and consumable products.     

A training course in health technology assessment in Malaysia

This article describes a 1-week training course in health technology assessment (HTA) presented in Malaysia by the Ministry of Health in 1996. Malaysia established an HTA unit in the Ministry of Health in 1995 and a National Health Technology Assessment Program in 1996. The purpose of the course was to develop HTA knowledge and skills in Malaysia, since these are largely lacking. The course consisted of didactic sessions and group work. Didactic sessions covered the principles of HTA. Group work was for the purpose of developing practical skills, and was based on reports from HTA agencies, published articles, and candidates for assessment suggested by course participants. Course participants were a mix of physicians, nurses, hospital administrators, and Ministry of Health officials. Experiences in this course may be helpful to others who wish to organize training courses in developing countries.     

Use of research in the practice of community mental health: A case study.

To assess the degree to which research was cited by practitioners in justifying their initial treatment decisions, 333 representatively sampled intake evaluation reports from a community mental health center requiring a rationale for preliminary mode and type of therapy were examined. Practitioners, in general, failed to provide rationales for their treatment decisions, and research was seldom cited when rationales were provided. Findings provide evidence that a schism exists between researchers and practitioners in community mental health; experimentally assessed reforms aimed at producing a more reciprocal exchange between researcher and practitioner are needed. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child maltreatment: Case studies in assessment and intervention.

Child maltreatment is one of the most common forms of domestic violence, with a substantial degree of morbid consequences for children, their families, and society. This article presents 4 cases of maltreatment allegations that pose unique assessment and intervention difficulties. Creative solutions are proposed in the context of rational procedures that are solidly grounded empirically, and aimed at benefiting children and families. Though several of the cases involved court intervention, the authors claim that the court often has no better means of arriving at a factual and substantive disposition than do the parties involved. However, psychologists should not usurp the role of the court and attempt unilaterally to come to conclusions that are legally binding on others. Rather, psychologists need to have the professional discretion to state what they think and the basis of what they think, without the atmosphere of prejudicial hysteria. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special section on the contribution of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy research to national mental health care.

This special section represents a coordinated publication of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology and the Archives of General Psychiatry. These 2 journals have typically focused on somewhat different areas of research and have been read by different audiences. In an effort to achieve cross-fertilization of the disciplines of psychiatry and clinical psychology, this coordinated publication provides a current view of research both in psychopharmacology and psychotherapy as applied to major depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse. To further the aims of informing the diverse readership in areas to which they are often not exposed in the separate journals, the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology is publishing, in this section, articles that address biomedical and psychopharmacological research, and the Archives of General Psychiatry is publishing a coordinated set of articles on psychotherapy and behavior therapy. Collectively, the series contained in these 2 journals is designed both to foster knowledge and to enhance communication among psychiatrists and psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quality assessment in mental health.

Discusses assessment studies related to quality of care in the mental health field. Quality assessment involves defining quality of care, choosing an appropriate focus of quality-of-care studies, identifying applicable and feasible methods, and guaranteeing the reliability and validity of the data used in the assessment. It is concluded that (a) dogmatic statements about methods to assess the quality of mental health care should be avoided; (b) because it is difficult to ensure that process or outcome criteria are valid for use in quality-of-care studies, the establishment of such criteria must be done carefully; and (c) there are some general guidelines related to the sound execution of quality assessment studies. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Momentary assessment research in psychosis.

There is an expanding interest to study psychosis in the realm of daily life. The study of the person in the context of daily life may provide a powerful addition to more conventional and cross-sectional research strategies in the study of psychosis. This article first discusses the nature of experience sampling research in psychosis and demonstrates the feasibility and validity of studies using the experience sampling method (ESM) in this patient group. Second, the article presents a review of all ESM research in psychosis with a special focus on (a) the phenomenology, (b) the etiology, and (c) psychological models of psychosis. Variability over time and the dynamic interplay with the environment were found to be essential features of the positive symptoms of psychosis, whereas behavioral patterns as well as self-reported affect in daily life reality might be essential when studying negative symptomatology. ESM contributes to a better understanding of the interplay between psychotic experiences and environmental features, such as stress or cannabis exposure. Finally, the study of symptomatic variability may fuel new research into psychological models and treatment of psychosis and the study of the person–environment interplay may foster new Gene × Environment interaction studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)