Whose fault is it? People's own conceptions of the reasons for health inequalities

How do people themselves think about inequalities in health? The topic has rarely been investigated, and oblique evidence has to be drawn from research on general lay ideas about health and the causes of illness. Data from a large British survey are combined with a review of the extensive body of, more usually, qualitative research on attitudes to health in Western industrialised societies. One tentative conclusion is that social inequality in health is not a topic which is very prominent in lay presentations, and paradoxically this is especially true among those who are most likely to be exposed to disadvantaging environments. Possible explanations are offered in terms of the effects of widespread "health promotion" activities, and the way in which lay theorising incorporates relationships between the group and the individual. The methods used in asking people to talk about health are also relevant: accounts of health and illness are accounts of social identity, and it is unreasonable to expect people to devalue that identity by labelling their own "inequality".     

Postdictors of eyewitness errors: Can false identifications be diagnosed?

Eyewitness researchers have "postdicted" identification accuracy using witness confidence (S. L. Sporer, S. Penrod, D. Read, & B. Cutler, 1995), response latency (S. L. Sporer, 1993, 1994), and endorsement of statements consistent with using relative versus absolute judgment strategies (D. Dunning & L. B. Stem, 1994; R. C. L. Lindsay & K. Bellinger, 1999). All of these measures were collected from 321 introductory psychology students who had viewed a staged crime and completed a lineup identification task. Some participants received feedback after identification (G. L. Wells & A. L. Bradfield, 1998). Lineup fairness was also used as a postdictor of eyewitness accuracy. Discriminant function analysis indicated that 75.2% of choosers and 63.0% of nonchoosers were correctly classified. Decision time and lineup fairness were the best postdictors of accuracy. The implications for postdicting real eyewitness decisions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work activities of academic clinical psychologists: Do they practice what they teach?

Do PhD-level clinical psychologists who work in academic settings engage in both research and clinical practice, as the Boulder model recommends? Clinical psychology faculty members in 3 types of psychology departments were surveyed regarding their actual and preferred work activities and their attitudes toward clinical practice. Respondents indicated that they spent more than twice as much time in research as in clinical activity, with many (44%) reporting no involvement in clinical practice. Implications of declining practice among clinical faculty include potentially ineffective instruction in clinical course work, less informed clinical research, and the devaluing of clinical practice in traditional academic settings. Recommendations for facilitating practice among clinical faculty who wish to do so are proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positively biased appraisals in everyday life: When do they benefit mental health and when do they harm it?

To promote optimal mental health, is it best to evaluate negative experiences accurately or in a positively biased manner? In an attempt to reconcile inconsistent prior research addressing this question, we predicted that the tendency to form positively biased appraisals of negative experiences may reduce the motive to address those experiences and thereby lead to poorer mental health in the context of negative experiences that are controllable and severe but lead to better mental health in the context of controllable negative experiences that are less severe by promoting positive feelings without invoking serious consequences from unaddressed problems. In 2 longitudinal studies, individuals in new marriages were interviewed separately about their ongoing stressful experiences, and their own appraisals of those experiences were compared with those of the interviewers. Across studies, spouses' tendencies to form positively biased appraisals of their stressful experiences predicted fewer depressive symptoms over the subsequent 4 years among individuals judged to be facing relatively mild experiences but more depressive symptoms among individuals judged to be facing relatively severe experiences. Furthermore, in Study 2, these effects were mediated by changes in those experiences, such that the interaction between the tendency to form positively biased appraisals of stressful experiences and the objectively rated severity of initial levels of those experiences directly predicted changes in those experiences, which in turn accounted for changes in depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that cognitive biases are not inherently positive or negative; their implications for mental health depend on the context in which they occur. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children of adolescent mothers: are they at risk for abuse?

Adolescent mothers are typically depicted as inadequate parents. Their children are thought to be at significant risk for maltreatment. A review of the literature, however, reveals that a confluence of factors other than maternal age are implicated. Many studies make comparisons between teenage and older mothers without identifying the sample's socioeconomic group. The degree of risk to children of adolescent parents may well be determined by the financial, social, and emotional stresses these families face, with availability of resources which offer support and encouragement perhaps being the critical factor. The technique of "mapping" might be used to isolate these correlates. The authors suggest a reformulation of the question of adolescent parental ability, focusing on conditions under which adolescent parents may be at greater or lesser risk of maltreating their children. This approach could ultimately prove conducive to planning and implementing effective intervention programs.     

Postdictors of eyewitness errors: Can false identifications be diagnosed in the cross-race situation?

This research examined the relative ability of 3 postdictors of eyewitness accuracy (confidence, decision time, and relative vs. absolute judgment strategy) to postdict eyewitness accuracy in own-race versus other-race identifications. Participants (127 Asian, 121 White) were exposed to videotaped crimes and then asked to identify a White or Asian perpetrator from target-present or target-absent lineups. The postdictors correctly classified the accuracy of participants, who chose someone from the lineup in 67% of own-race cases (p?     

The graying of academia: Will it reduce scientific productivity?

The belief that science is a young person's game and that only young scientists can be productive and publish high-quality research is still widely shared by university administrators and members of the scientific community. Since the average age of university faculties is increasing not only in the United States but also in Europe, the question arises as to whether this belief is correct. If it were valid, the abolition of compulsory retirement in the United States and some parts of Canada would lower the productivity of these university systems. To address this question, this article reviews research on the association of age and scientific productivity conducted during the last four decades in North America and Europe. Whereas early research typically showed a decline in productivity after the ages of 40 to 45 years, this decline has been absent in more recent studies. Explanations for this change are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Brain microdialysis of GABA and glutamate: what does it signify?

Microdialysis has become a frequently used method to study extracellular levels of GABA and glutamate in the central nervous system. However, the fact that the major part of GABA and glutamate as measured by microdialysis does not fulfill the classical criteria for exocytotic release questions the vesicular origin of the amino acids in dialysates. Glial metabolism or reversal of the (re)uptake sites has been suggested to be responsible for the pool of nonexocytotically released amino-acid transmitters that seem to predominate over the neuronal exocytotic pool. The origin of extracellular GABA and glutamate levels and, as a consequence, the implications of changes in these levels upon manipulations are therefore obscure. This review critically analyzes what microdialysis data signify, i.e., whether amino-acid neurotransmitters sampled by microdialysis represent synaptic release, carrier-mediated release, or glial metabolism. The basal levels of GABA and glutamate are virtually tetrodotoxin- and calcium-independent. Given the fact that evidence for nonexocytotic release mediated by reversal of the uptake sites as a release mechanism relevant for normal neurotransmission is so far limited to conditions of "excessive stimulation," basal levels most likely reflect a nonneuronal pool of amino acids. Extracellular GABA and glutamate concentrations can be enhanced by a wide variety of pharmacological and physiological manipulations. However, it is presently impossible to ascertain that the stimulated GABA and glutamate in dialysates are of neuronal origin. On the other hand, under certain stimulatory conditions, increases in amino-acid transmitters can be obtained in the presence of tetrodotoxin, again suggesting that aspecific factors not directly related to neurotransmission underlie these changes in extracellular levels. It is concluded that synaptic transmission of GABA and glutamate is strictly compartmentalized and as a result, these amino acids can hardly leak out of the synaptic cleft and reach the extracellular space where the dialysis probe samples.     

Actin-dependent anterograde movement of growth-cone-like structures along growing hippocampal axons: a novel form of axonal transport?

In time-lapse video recordings of hippocampal neurons in culture, we have identified previously uncharacterized structures, nicknamed "waves," that exhibit lamellipodial activity closely resembling that of growth cones, but which periodically emerge at the base of axons and travel distally at an average rate of 3 microm/min. In electron micrographs of identified waves, the cortical region of the axon appears expanded to either side, forming lamellipodia like those at growth cones. No other gross differences were noted in the ultrastructural features of the axon shaft at the site of a wave. Immunocytochemistry revealed that waves contain a marked concentration of F-actin, GAP-43, cortactin, and ezrin or a related protein, constituents that are also concentrated in growth cones. Treatment with the actin-disrupting agent cytochalasin B caused a reversible collapse of lamellipodia and cessation of the forward movement of individual waves along the axon, indicating that their anterograde transport is dependent on intact actin filaments. Treatment with the microtubule-depolymerizing agent nocodazole led to a rapid disorganization of wave structure and a subsequent suppression of wave activity that may reflect a role of microtubules in actin organization. The results suggest that actin and other cytoskeletal components concentrated in growth cones may be transported together as growth-cone-like structures from the cell body to the axon tip via an actin-dependent mechanism.     

Convention publicity: should it grow?

"The question of what sort of public information program the APA should have generally starts a lively discussion." A principal obstacle "… that impedes the flow of a tremendous amount of psychology to the public… calls for the professional skills and intuitions of a public information specialist… ." The "… APA can get constructive publicity, in quantity, in all the mass media, not only at convention time, but throughout the year… " and the author believes "… that the APA should want it." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical research: where does it come from? Where is it going?

In this editorial the author examines briefly the past, present and future of clinical investigation in general and particularly in Switzerland, where the same problems are encountered as in other European countries and North America. The main problems reside in the fragmentation of internal medicine into subspecialities with their own separate meetings and journals, at the expense of multidisciplinary sources of information on medical progress, thus widening the gap between the practitioners and the scientific community. Through examples, it is pointed out that the progression of medical knowledge follows the path from basic research in biochemistry, cellular biology, animal experiments, clinical investigation and finally clinical medicine not unidirectionally but bidirectionally. Thanks to the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Medical Schools of the five Universities and many private foundations, a considerable effort has been made in past decades to foster basic and clinical research, resulting in a most favorable position for our country on the international scene. There is a fear that political and administrative decision could jeopardize the present situation and imperil the future. Finally, citing Osler from his work "Aequanimitas", the author stresses that "the true test of a nation's life... is to be found in its intellectual and moral standards", and that "the measure of the value of a nation to the world is neither the bushel nor the barrel, but mind".     

Active learning: When is more better? The case of resident physicians’ medical errors.

An active learning climate facilitates new knowledge acquisition by encouraging employees to ask questions, seek feedback, reflect on potential results, explore, and experiment. These activities, however, also increase a learner’s chances of erring. In high-reliability organizations, any error is unacceptable and may well be life threatening. The authors use the example of resident physicians to suggest that by adjusting the conditions of priority of safety and managerial safety practices, organizations can balance these potentially conflicting activities. Participants in the study were 123 residents from 25 medical wards. Results demonstrated that the positive linear relationship between priority of safety and safety performance, demonstrated in earlier studies, existed only when the active learning climate was low. When the active learning climate was high, results demonstrated a U-shaped curvilinear relationship between priority of safety and number of errors. In addition, high managerial safety practices mitigated the number of errors as a result of the active learning climate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Leadership selection in social dilemmas—Not all prefer it: The moderating effect of social value orientation.

The present study investigated the effect of social value orientation and group efficiency on contribution behavior and preferences for a variety of leader types in a situation where personal and collective interests were at odds (i.e., a public goods dilemma). Participants were asked to imagine that they were participating in a public goods dilemma, and their social value orientation (i.e., preexisting differences in evaluating outcomes between oneself and others) was assessed. The results revealed that people concerned with issues such as fairness and efficiency (i.e., pro-socials) more often contributed their own endowment, and, under circumstances of group failure, they exhibited a stronger preference for a leader than people who were mainly concerned with their personal self-interest (i.e., pro-selfs). Moreover, pro-socials also exhibited a stronger preference for responsible and efficient leaders than pro-selfs. The results are discussed in terms of leadership and social value orientation theories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measurement artifacts in the assessment of counterproductive work behavior and organizational citizenship behavior: Do we know what we think we know?

An experiment investigated whether measurement features affected observed relationships between counterproductive work behavior (CWB) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and their relationships with other variables. As expected, correlations between CWB and OCB were significantly higher with ratings of agreement rather than frequency of behavior, when OCB scale content overlapped with CWB than when it did not, and with supervisor rather than self-ratings. Relationships with job satisfaction and job stressors were inconsistent across conditions. We concluded that CWB and OCB are likely unrelated and not necessarily oppositely related to other variables. Researchers should avoid overlapping content in CWB and OCB scales and should use frequency formats to assess how often individuals engage in each form of behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Animal models of anxiety: are they suitable for predicting drug action in humans?

5-HT is currently indicated to play a role in migraine (M). Previously evidenced 5-HT supersensitivity which characterizes M is insufficient to compensate for a possible deficit in 5-HT bioavailability. Inducing a further up-regulation of 5-HT receptor can yield improvement of M syndrome. Chronic treatments of methysergide and propranolol, drugs exerting antagonist action at 5-HT receptors, induced a significant amelioration in 256M sufferers. On the contrary, chronic treatments of ergotamine and sumatriptan, both provided with a 5-HT1 agonist activity, induced a worsening of M in 134 M sufferers. The M worsening was paralleled by an increase in consumption of analgesic drugs. Discussion concerns the effects of the chronically given 5-HT agonists and antagonists as well as the possible receptor mechanism underlying "craving for serotonin" in severe M. The increase of 5-HT supersensitivity evidenced at the end of M attacks is also discussed and its role in determining the interruption of the attack is here suggested.     

Access to coronary catheterisation: fair shares for all?

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of patient's sex and area's material deprivation on utilisation rates of coronary catheterisation and angiography in the investigation of ischaemic heart disease. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of routinely collected hospital statistics. SETTING: Acute hospitals throughout Northern Ireland. SUBJECTS: 24,179 episodes of patients discharged from hospital with a primary diagnosis of ischaemic heart disease and 1270 episodes relating to patients with an underlying diagnosis of ischaemic heart disease who had either coronary catheterisation or angiography. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Age standardised admission rates for heart disease and age standardised utilisation rates for catheterisation or angiography, or both, for 566 electoral wards ranked by Townsend "deprivation" scores. RESULTS: Catheterisation-angiography rates in men were over fivefold those of women, ranging from 85.5/100,000 v 16/100,000 in patients from "well off" areas to 123/100,000 v 22/100,000 for patients from deprived areas. After admission rates for heart disease were controlled for, the overall rate ratio for women was 0.48 (95% confidence interval 0.38 to 0.60). After differential admission rates for heart disease and other potential clinical confounders were controlled for, the investigation rates of patients from the least and most "deprived" areas were not significantly different (rate ratio 1.04 (0.87 to 1.25)). CONCLUSION: Although investigation rates were significantly lower in women than in men, further clinical data would be required before labelling this underutilisation as evidence of bias. There was no significant difference in invasive investigation rates for heart disease in areas of varying deprivation or affluence.     

Psychobabble: Why do we do it?

Many expressions originating in contemporary, "instant" therapies have become incorporated into everyday speech. These expressions, otherwise know as "psychobabble," convey connotative meanings rather than precise, denotative ones. It is concluded here that they also function as indexes, thereby serving as markers for identifying group members, and as security operations, thereby enhancing self-esteem. Consequently, psychobabble has personal significance for the speaker/therapist but not for the listener/client. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology interns: By what name shall we know them?

A telephone survey of 50 predoctoral psychology interns from 50 different American Psychological Association-approved internships located in hospitals and medical centers investigated use of the title doctor. At 3 sites, it was indicated that agency policy precluded interns from responding to the survey. Results reveal that predoctoral interns are often identified by others and label themselves as doctors. Findings are discussed in terms of nonspecific factors associated with the use of the title and continuation of the internship as a university-based requirement. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Meta-insight: Do people really know how others see them?

Although people can accurately guess how others see them, many studies have suggested that this may only be because people generally assume that others see them as they see themselves. These findings raise the question: In their everyday lives, do people understand the distinction between how they see their own personality and how others see their personality? We examined whether people make this distinction, or whether people possess what we call meta-insight. In 3 studies, we assessed meta-insight for a broad range of traits (e.g., Big Five, intelligent, funny) across several naturalistic social contexts (e.g., first impression, friends). Our findings suggest that people can make valid distinctions between how they see themselves and how others see them. Thus, people seem to have some genuine insight into their reputation and do not achieve meta-accuracy only by capitalizing on the fact that others see them similarly to how they see themselves. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)