Treating headaches. A conceptual framework

BACKGROUND: Similar medications are effective in migraine and muscle contraction headache therefore the term recurrent headache is used to cover the spectrum of classic migraine and muscle contraction headache. OBJECTIVE: The concept of a threshold to headache triggers is proposed. Treatment for chronic headaches is directed at raising the threshold or removing triggers. DISCUSSION: The most important factors that lower the threshold to headaches are hormones, mood and sleep disturbance. Therapeutic strategies for raising the threshold and treatment of the acute headache are discussed.     

Culture-specific strategies in counseling: A conceptual framework.

The author addresses the need to develop culture-specific strategies in working with racial-ethnic minorities. Conceptual frameworks providing a rationale for such recommendations have not been well elucidated. A review of the literature revealed 3 major domains from which such justifications can be drawn: (a) culture-bound communications styles, (b) sociopolitical facets of nonverbal communication, and (c) counseling as a subset of communication style or temporary cultures. Implications for counselor practice, training, and research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Applying Hamlet's question to the ethical conduct of research: A conceptual addendum.

Contends that decision models used to ensure cost–utility guidelines in research are insufficient because they fail to consider the cost–utility of not conducting a particular study. It is suggested that those who argue that a given study is unethical and should be prohibited should be prepared to answer in ethical and moral terms for the consequences of their decision. It is concluded that ethical responsibilities include protection of the integrity of work to insure that it measures up to the standards of good scientific practice and respect for the dignity of persons and values studied in the pursuit of scientific knowledge. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Executive functioning: A conceptual framework for alcohol-related aggression.

The causal mechanisms underlying alcohol-related aggression are not well understood. This article presents a conceptual framework designed to guide thinking and generate new research in this area of study. According to the framework, executive functioning is both a mediator and a moderator of intoxicated aggression. Literatures describing associations between alcohol and aggression, executive functioning and aggression, and the acute effects of alcohol on executive functioning are reviewed. On the basis of these findings, it is proposed that (a) executive functioning mediates the alcohol-aggression relation in that acute alcohol intoxication disrupts executive functioning, which then heightens the probability of aggression, and (b) executive functioning moderates the alcohol-aggression relation in that acute alcohol consumption is more likely to facilitate aggressive behavior in persons with low, rather than high, executive functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modifying instructional activities to promote desirable behavior: A conceptual and practical framework.

Summarizes a framework for conceptualizing and implementing a model to improve student behavior through individualized, assessment-based modifications of curricular activities. A summary of research documenting the influence of curricular variables is included, with particular focus on recent research on the assessment and utilization of student preferences. A practical model of functional assessment and curricular revision is presented, with examples to illustrate the process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resistance in existential-strategic marital therapy: A four-stage conceptual framework.

Discusses how the integration of the strategic and existential approaches to family therapy can provide a maximum positive use of resistance. A 4-stage intervention model is outlined that uses strategic techniques within an existential framework. The stages include (1) recognizing the halo effect and cynical disbelief in clients, (2) allying oneself emotionally with an individual client or client system, (3) respecting the importance of despair, and (4) recognizing the moment in therapy when the decision is made to change. The case of a multiproblem couple illustrates the concepts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A conceptual framework for the clinical test situation.

The need to account for the adaptive behavior of the patient in the clinical test situation is discussed with respect to the relative rather than absolute nature of test responses. Adaptation-level (AL) theory is proposed as a framework of reference for adaptive behavior of the patient in the clinical situation, as well as for clinical judgment and prediction. The theory of AL possesses the relativity and operational validity required for dealing with complex clinical phenomena. Implications of the AL model for clinical theory, experimentation, and practice are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of deficient reporting on meta-analysis: A conceptual framework and reanalysis.

Presents a framework for studying the influence of reporting quality on meta-analytic results in which 3 sources of reporting deficiency are identified: quality (adequacy) of publicizing, quality of macrolevel reporting, and quality of the review process in a different way. To assess the influence of reporting quality empirically, 25 reports were sampled from the psychotherapy meta-analysis reported by M. L. Smith et al (1980) and recorded by the present authors. Two sources of information pertinent to reporting quality were established: interrater reliabilities and confidence judgments. Reanalyses incorporating reliability corrections and confidence judgments suggested that deficient reporting injects considerable noise into meta-analytic data and can lead to spurious conclusions. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A conceptual framework for Christian nursing practice

The test for eosinophilia in nasal secretion is a useful tool for the diagnosis of allergic rhinitis. However, the nasal smear test which is commonly used is a subjective and nonquantitative evaluation. In this paper we describe a novel simple, objective and quantitative method in which mucin cluster in collected nasal secretion or lavage is solubilized with dithioerythritol, following which the number of eosinophils per unit volume of nasal secretion or the ratio of eosinophil to total leukocyte can be successfully counted in a blood cell counting chamber by using a hemocytometric method.     

Strategies and automaticity: I. Basic findings and conceptual framework.

Evaluated the contributions of strategic and data-driven factors to skilled performance by manipulating the predictability of the class of stimuli used in a memory search task. In Exp 1, when consistent mapping (CM) and varied mapping (VM) conditions were blocked, large performance differences were observed; however, when CM and VM trials were mixed, performance differences were reduced. In Exp 2, mixed training led to a less skilled performance than blocked training. Moreover, transfer conditions revealed a critical interval for learning to adopt and deploy differential response strategies. Exp 3 demonstrated that the differential response strategies were not stimulus specific. Analysis suggests that skilled performance can be conceptualized as an interaction between enhanced evidence accumulation and strategic setting of response criteria. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonromantic, nonsexual posttherapy relationships between psychologists and former clients: An exploratory study of critical incidents.

The authors asked 320 psychologists to participate in a nonrandom, exploratory study by providing incidents of nonromantic, nonsexual relationships with former clients. In addition, these psychologists were asked to discuss whether they saw these relationships as ethically problematic. A total of 91 useable incidents (from a final sample size of 63 respondents) were sorted into eight relationships categories. The results of this study highlight several issues: (a) Psychologists are dealing with a variety of nonromantic, nonsexual relationships with former clients, (b) there is little consensus about the ethicality of these contracts, and (c) future revisions of the Ethics Code (American Psychological Association, 1992) may need to consider nonsexual and nonromantic relationships with former clients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a unified conceptual framework of psychotherapy.

The increase in theoretical redundancy and the fact that all theories of psychotherapy possess weaknesses as well as strengths suggest that the time may be ripe for the emergence of a unified theory of psychotherapy. Three questions are addressed that are prerequisite to the development of a unified conceptual framework in psychotherapy: (1) What is the current state of the field of psychotherapy integration? (2) How do we move toward a unified theory of psychotherapy? and (3) What must a unified psychotherapy theory include? Unification is merely the next step in the evolution of psychotherapy theory, which is expected to oscillate between stages of unification and differentiation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A conceptual framework for mental health services: the matrix model

We cloned two novel cytochrome P450 cDNAs (CYP2D23 and CYP2D24) from a rabbit liver cDNA library. The open-reading frames of these cDNAs encode proteins that are each composed of 500 amino acids. The amino acid sequence identity of CYP2D23 with CYP2D24 is 91.6%, and the homology of these two isozymes with other known mammalian CYPs in the CYP2D subfamily range from 64.9 to 79.8%. Using RT-PCR, we determined the distribution of these two isozymes in 9 major organs, including brain tissue sections. CYP2D23 mRNA was abundantly expressed in the liver and small intestine, but only slightly in the brain sections, whereas CYP2D24 mRNA was expressed in the liver, small intestine, and stomach. CYP2D23 and CYP2D24 were heterogeneously expressed in 293T cells. CYP2D24 effectively catalyzed the oxidation of bufuralol and bunitrolol, the archetypal substrates of the CYP2D subfamily, while CYP2D23 exhibited catalytic activity only toward bufuralol. The results of this first study on rabbit CYP2D isozymes indicate that CYP2D23 and CYP2D24 are functionally expressed in rabbits, and have different organ distributions and metabolic properties.     

From H = log sn to conceptual framework: A short history of information.

"Information" has become a widely used term in psychology, especially within cognitive psychology. However, despite its status as a technical term, the word now rarely receives explicit definition. By contrast, when information entered the vocabulary of psychologists in the late 1940s, it had an explicit mathematical definition largely derived from developments in information theory. This article examines how information entered psychology, how its meaning changed, and how it remained a technical term in the vocabulary of psychologists in the second part of the 20th century. "Information" became a term that was required to speak to ever more diverse theoretical concerns and its earliest definitions in psychology could not sustain such uses. As a consequence, "information" became a term whose technical uses became increasingly difficult to differentiate from its everyday meanings. I argue that this has not necessarily made "information" a worthless term but one whose lack of specificity may now be unsettling to some psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A conceptual framework and methodological criteria for family therapy process research.

This article presents a conceptual framework for family therapy process research that integrates a new process perspective with family systems theory. Consistent with a systemic epistemology, the framework focuses on the circular interaction, over time, between and within the therapist and family systems and their subsystems. Attacking the process–outcome distinction, the framework targets key variables and patterns in change processes that occur within and outside of sessions. The empirical implications of each framework component are explored. The article concludes with three methodological criteria for developing and evaluating certain research instruments to be used in process studies within the new conceptual framework. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A conceptual framework for the practice of prescriptive eclecticism in psychotherapy.

Recent surveys have indicated that many psychotherapists consider themselves to be eclectic in their approach to therapy. To date, however, there is no systematized framework to guide the practice of eclectic psychotherapy. The present article presents a model of personalized therapy by focusing on the broad clinical processes of theory, assessment, goal setting, intervention, and evaluation. Each of these processes is examined in an effort to elucidate variables at each level that are necessary for the practice of eclectic psychotherapy. The result is a framework and guidelines facilitating a logical approach to individualized treatment. The implications of such a system are discussed. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychiatrist-patient sexual relationships: the ethical dilemmas

The phosphoinositide (PI) second messenger system in the neonatal rat brain is differentially stimulated as compared to that of the adult by agonists such as glutamate. Among the factors that might contribute to the neonatal pattern is the nature of phosphorylated membrane-bound proteins which could regulate this receptor-mediated response. This study was undertaken to compare membrane protein phosphorylation under conditions that affect PI hydrolysis in neonatal and adult rat hippocampus. Two-dimensional gel analysis revealed enhanced basal phosphorylation of two membrane proteins (M(r): 46,000 and 80,000; pI: 4.4 and 4.2, respectively) in the neonatal hippocampus when compared to the adult. The former phosphoprotein is present only in neonatal hippocampus. Phosphorylation of a 48,000 M(r) protein with a pI of 4.5 is prominent in hippocampal membranes from both neonatal and adult rats. After incubation of neonatal hippocampal slices with an active phorbol ester, 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA), all three proteins show decreased post-hoc phosphorylation. Slices from neonatal rats incubated with glutamate demonstrated no alteration in the phosphorylation of any of these proteins, while those from adult rats produced a marked change in phosphorylation of the 80,000 M(r) protein. The data suggest that phosphorylation of this protein from neonates is not yet as efficiently coupled to receptor stimulation as that from the adult. Immunoblot analysis revealed that the 48,000 M(r) protein is the growth-associated protein B-50/GAP-43 and that the 80,000 M(r) protein is a membrane-associated form of the MARCKS protein.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

A model for ethical management of faculty—Student dual relationships.

The article discusses the nature of faculty-student dual relationships and provides guidelines for their ethical management. Three general guidelines for faculty in maintaining ethical relationships with students are (a) acknowledging the power and responsibility of the faculty role, (b) developing a frame for evaluating faculty-student relationships, and (c) fostering and maintaining a climate that supports ethical relationships with students. As a profession, psychologists should be discussing this issue more openly, and research on problematic faculty-student relationships and their management is warranted. Awareness of dilemmas concerning dual-role relationships and experience in addressing these dilemmas may provide valuable lessons for the student's future professional interactions with clients, students, and other professionals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Drug policies and harms: a conceptual framework

Existing indicators of drug-related policies and harms - official statistics, treatment data, and so on - are difficult to interpret and to compare across jurisdictions. We propose a conceptual framework including key dimensions of policy and harm. The framework is designed to guide creation of a new dataset in which existing empirical data can be used to assign city-specific scores on policy and harm dimensions. By an interpretive process involving local experts and a coordinating body, we believe that existing data can be evaluated and synthesized to derive these scores. We also propose a cumulative case-study method of querying the dataset to test hypotheses regarding relationships between policies and harms.     

Sexual Versus Nonsexual Workplace Aggression and Victims' Overall Job Satisfaction: A Meta-Analysis.

A meta-analytic approach was used to examine whether sexual and nonsexual forms of nonviolent workplace aggression (both verbal and nonverbal) share equivalent or differential relationships with victims' overall job satisfaction. When the meta-analytic comparison was restricted to all-female samples to hold victims' gender constant, nonsexual aggression was found to share a significantly stronger negative relationship with victims' overall job satisfaction than was sexual aggression. In addition, nonsexual aggression was found to share a stronger negative link with women's level of job satisfaction than with men's. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)