The spectrum of accuracy in memories of childhood trauma

In the context of public outcry about "false memories" of childhood sexual abuse, many persons with posttraumatic stress disorder are dismayed by their confusion about the historical basis of their intrusive memories. Numerous interacting factors impinge on memory of trauma to yield a broad spectrum of accuracy. In their endeavors to reconstruct coherent narratives of traumatic experience, clinicians and their patients will benefit from thinking in shades of gray rather than in terms of "true" versus "false" memories.     

Paediatric communications with the post-partum patient

Discussions with mothers during their puerperium allows the introduction of thoughts on child care and management to a captive audience at a highly receptive stage. Many mothers lack an understanding of the problems they are likely to face in the first months after delivery and are desperately afraid of "spoiling" their child. They are generally quite ignorant of the problems of feeding, "colic" and others. Discussion group counselling of the parents of babies treated in an intensive care nursery is of value for the parents and for the hospital staff. The mothers have problems of guilt and anxiety over their possible aetiological role, doubts about their ability to cope with an "abnormal" baby, and problems due to lack of contact with their baby.     

Differential regulation and ATP requirement for caspase-8 and caspase-3 activation during CD95- and anticancer drug-induced apoptosis

Although widely used, terms associated with consumption of alcohol--such as "light," "moderate," and "heavy"--are unstandardized. Physicians conveying health messages using these terms therefore may impart confusing information to their patients or to other physicians. As an initial attempt to assess if informal standardization exists for these terms, the present study surveyed physicians for their definitions of such terms. Physicians operationally defined "light" drinking as 1.2 drinks/day, "moderate" drinking as 2.2 drinks/day, and "heavy" drinking as 3.5 drinks/day. Abusive drinking was defined as 5.4 drinks/day. There was considerable agreement for these operational definitions, indicating there is indeed an informal consensus among physicians as to what they mean by these terms. Gender and age did not influence these definitions, but self-reported drinking on the part of physicians was a factor. We also asked physicians for their opinions regarding the effects of "light," "moderate," and "heavy" drinking on health in general and specifically on health-related implications for pregnant women, and whether they felt their patients shared these beliefs.     

Management of "localized" oral cancer

We have outlined the clinical manifestations of "localized" malignant lesions of the intraoral cavity, their clinical behavior after intraoral excision, and their control rate employing intraoral excision as primary therapy. We must keep in mind that these small "localized" cancers are potential "killers" and the five year mortality from disease in our series was 25 per cent. This mortality may decrease with (1) more careful selection when patients are included in the "localized" lesion group and (2) earlier use of composite procedures in questionable cases.     

College students' AIDS risk perception

1. Students in this study appraised their AIDS risk using their sexual and drug-use behavior as criteria, which accurately reflects their knowledge of HIV transmission. 2. AIDS risk perceptions were not always congruent with the students' self-reported sexual and drug use behavior. Some students reporting high-risk behavior perceived their AIDS risk as "nil" or "small." 3. Perceived riskiness of behavior increased as distance from the students increased. The students viewed their friends' AIDS risk as moderately greater than their own risk and their peers' risk even greater.     

Infective endocarditis complicated with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis: a case report

Despite a general national decline in criminal activities in the 1990s, juvenile criminal offenses continue to increase, (including violent, property, and delinquency acts). In addition increased numbers of children are being held in juvenile jails. It is all but impossible for pediatric health providers to think that "their patients" and "their practices" are immune from the epidemic of crime that affects and is caused by "just kids."     

Effect of memory perspective on retrospective causal attributions.

Examined whether people's retrospective causal attributions might be mediated by the visual perspective from which events are recalled. In Study 1, pairs of Ss participated in "get-acquainted" converstions and made a series of attribution ratings for their performance. They returned 3 weeks later to rerate their performance on the same attribution scales and to indicate the perspective from which they remembered their earlier conversation. Ss reported either "observer" memories in which they could "see" themselves from the outside or "field" memories in which their field of view matched that of the original situation. Study 2 was identical to Study 1 with the exception that Ss' memory perspectives were manipulated via verbal instructions. In both experiments, conversations that were recalled from an observer's perspective were attributed more dispositionally. Discussion of these results focuses on how they further understanding of the contradictory findings (e.g., B. S. Moore et al; see record 1981-01280-001) reported in the literature on temporal shifts in attributions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Liking for the group and the perceived merit of the group's behavior.

Paris of Ss were told, individually, that their partners were congenial and they would probably like them (high like), or the converse (low like). Ss were then separated and given an artillery gunnery problem in which they were to judge the accuracy of their "observer's" range estimates. Both Ss in each pair thought the other 3 was the "observer," which was actually a taped recording piped to each S. High like Ss judged their "observer's" estimates as more accurate than low like Ss. Ss who had been led to believe that they had "observers" of high proficiency in range estimates tended to judge the estimate as more accurate than when they had low proficiency "observers." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Meeting filial responsibilities in brothers-only sibling groups

OBJECTIVES: This research examined how sons in brothers-only sibling groups meet the needs of their elderly parents. METHODS: 49 pairs of brothers without sisters whose parents were 74 years of age or older participated in open-ended interviews to explain how their parents' needs were met. Inductive analysis of interviews identified elements of these brothers' approaches. RESULTS: Brothers were in routine contact with and performed "masculine" services for their parents. Brothers acted independently and expected to be asked rather than volunteering help to their parents, except during times of crisis and transition. They defined their parents as self-sufficient, even when their parents' situations were precarious, and acted to reestablish their parents' independence when it was threatened. They viewed their parents' use of informal networks and formal services as appropriate. Brothers' wives provided "gender-appropriate" services. Wives' levels of involvement appeared to be a function of the quality of their relationships with their parents-in-law. Wives who helped were part of a support network. DISCUSSION: Brothers' goals of maintaining or reestablishing independence for their parents matches most parents' wishes to be independent and not to burden their children. The brothers' goal of self-sufficiency for their parents precluded their wives being the sole providers of support to their parents.     

A strategic response to the occupational health establishment

The experiences of occupational health and safety "activists" in Canada reveal the limits of achieving reform in working conditions by technical efforts in combination with rank-and-file activation. The author argues that the way union "activists" approach occupational health and safety limits workers in dealing with their actual experiences and understanding about workplace hazards and risks, then discusses the condition for the awakening of their critical consciousness as a basis of acting on hazardous working conditions. The first movement in the way the worker apprehends the work environment is a movement of negation and is the prior condition to a critical and disclosive discourse about workplace hazards. It is the positive side of "No!" and the taking seriously of workers' rights. It is this negation of the negative that holds out the greatest hope for solidarity and a liberatory community in workplaces, since legislated workers' rights as the basis of protection have become a facade. Workers can respond with the power of saying "No!" in solidarity with suffering workers, and then work through appropriate principles, ends, or strategies avoiding entrapment by a "telos" in the first instance. By laying out these "ends" or a strategic paradigm, one introduces a "conversation stopper" for workers and atrophies their activation.     

"Codependency". A disease or the root of nursing excellence?

A hermeneutic phenomenological study was conducted to explore how eight professionally competent nurses experienced and evaluated the relation between their childhood adaptation to dysfunctional families and their nursing careers. From the participants' discussion of this topic, the following themes emerged: escaping difficulties by becoming a nurse, coping roles guide nursing career, sensitivity to the untold, transforming dysfunctional responses, and wounded healers. The study did not support the view that children of alcoholics seek careers in nursing to meet their codependent needs for self-esteem, control, or belonging. Instead, its findings indicate that some children of alcoholics become competent nurses by finding positive application for the coping skills they learn in their families. This indicates that, when working with individuals from dysfunctional families, nurses could support them to create new avenues for their coping skills instead of trying to "exterminate" them because of their "codependent" nature.     

Immunostimulatory activities of mono- or diglycosylated alpha-galactosylceramides

We examined the effects of 2"- or 3"-monoglycosylated alpha-galactosylceramides (alpha-GalCers) and 2",3"-diglycosylated alpha-GalCers on allogeneic MLR and the proliferation of murine spleen cells. It was found that their ceramide portions greatly affect their immunostimulatory activities, and that the 3"-hydroxyl group plays a more important role in the immunostimulatory effects of alpha-GalCer derivatives than the 2"-hydroxyl group.     

The hidden observer in hypnotic analgesia: Discovery or experimental creation?

Eight highly susceptible (Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility and the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale) Ss were assigned to E. R. Hilgard and J. R. Hilgard's (1975) training procedures for eliciting "hidden" reports during hypnotic analgesia. These procedures indicate to Ss that a "hidden part" of themselves continues to feel high levels of pain while their "hypnotized part" experiences reduced pain. Eight additional Ss were given the opposite expectation concerning "hidden pain"—that their "hidden part" would feel less pain than their "hypnotized part." Ss expecting high levels of "hidden" pain reported high levels, whereas those expecting little "hidden" pain reported low levels. Results are inconsistent with the notion that "hidden" reports reflect the intrinsic activity of a "dissociated state." Instead, they indicate that "hidden" reports result from Ss' attempts to convincingly enact the role of "good hypnotic S" as this role is defined for them by the experimental procedures they undergo. (55 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Victims into perpetrators.

Many psychotherapy clients hold "victim formulations" of their problems. They conceive their problems in such a way that their source, and thus their resolution, lies outside the clients' personal control. This article details a therapeutic strategy for aiding clients with such problem formulations. This strategy includes (1) reformulating these problems into "perpetrator formulations" (i.e., reconstructions wherein the problem is portrayed as being created by actions that clients are actively perpetrating) and thus are in good positions to alter; (2) getting these reformulations accepted by clients; and (3) encouraging clients to continue to enact their problem behaviors in certain carefully prescribed ways, and thereby to gain control over them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping style in hypertensive patients: Nature and consequences.

Examined the coping styles and health behaviors of hypertensive and normotensive patients visiting a primary care setting for acute medical problems. Hypertensive individuals were far more likely to display a "high-monitoring" (information-seeking) mode of coping than normotensive individuals, who tended to be "low-monitoring" (information avoiding) in their coping. Although hypertensive patients reported less dysfunction in their current medical problems than did normotensive patients, they nonetheless reported greater concerns about their condition and its impact. Finally, hypertensive patients were rated by physicians as more likely to desire help with both their presenting medical problem and their stress-related problems. Future research should help to specify the exact relations among coping style, stress, and symptom reporting in hypertension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Poisoning the spindle: serendipity and discovery of the anti-tumor properties of the Vinca alkaloids

In 1995, Canadian scientists Robert Noble and Charles Beer were inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame for their 1950s "discovery" of Vinblastine. Their "chance" finding of an anticancer drug in the leaves of the periwinkle plant (Vinca rosea, Linn.), is used to explore the historical issue of discovery, accidental discovery, and priority. The elements of the discovery are reconstructed through the oral testimony of key players and their published and unpublished records. Several "unsung heroes" played key roles in this project and reasons for their relative invisibility will be presented. Special attention is paid to the relationship between the small Canadian academic group working at UWO and the large pharmaceutical company (Eli Lilly) engaged in similar research at the same time.     

Relationship between blood pressure and stress-prone temperament in dogs

As part of an assessment of stress during the training of guide dogs for the blind, blood pressures have been monitored in their main breeds. For this article a population of 227 Labradors, between 9 and 24 months of age, had indirect arterial blood pressures measured and means taken of five readings. They were ranked according to their pressures. Prior to the measurements, their character was independently assessed as "stress-prone" or "non-stress-prone" by their highly experienced and trained handlers. The pressure data distribution of stress-prone animals in the ranking was analysed; they were significantly more likely to be found at the high end of the blood pressure range for that population.     

Metaphors in the talk of "depressed" women in psychotherapy.

Variations in how we describe, explain, and treat "depression" and in who is labeled "depressed" attest to the significance of the social-historical contexts in which our understandings and practices are based. A prevalent, modern-day (Western) conception of "depression" is as a gendered (primarily female), devalued condition characterized by a discourse of the deficient self. In an effort to learn more about the particular forms of this discourse, the metaphors used by 10 depressed women (aged 28–62 yrs) to talk to their psychotherapists about their "selves" in relation to their perceived difficulties were studied. Two broad cultural imperatives were constructed from these metaphors: (1) Don't be too mothering and (2) Don't be too child-like. At the core of these 2 imperatives were messages about the importance of autonomy, for both oneself and others. This valuing of autonomy can be clearly located at the heart of 20th-century Western ideals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lack of permanent nigrostriatal dopamine deficit following 6-hydroxydopamine injection into the rat striatum. Short communication

OBJECTIVE: Understanding the contributors to physical disability in older adults is an important component of the national health objective of expanding disability-free life by the year 2000. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency with which older adults attribute their difficulty performing a number of common daily tasks to "old age" and to identify specific conditions and diseases associated with this attribution. Finally we sought to determine the characteristics that might differentiate persons able to attribute their disability to specific conditions from those who cite old age as the etiology of their disability. DESIGN: A cross-sectional, observational, study. SETTING: The Johns Hopkins Functional Status Laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred thirty community-dwelling volunteers 60 years of age and older who could stand unassisted for > or = 1 minute and who were without cognitive impairment. MEASUREMENTS: A 1-day evaluation included physical performance evaluations, both performance-based and self-reported function for 27 tasks, and self-report of physician-diagnosed diseases. Those with difficulty in a task and those who denied difficulty but had changed the method of task performance (modification) because of an underlying health or physical condition were identified and asked to name the cause of their difficulty or task modification; options were specific diseases/medical conditions or "old age." The prevalence of "old age" citation as a cause of functional limitation, as well as its associated characteristics and medical conditions, was determined. MAIN RESULTS: Twenty percent of the 230 participants cited "old age" as the cause of their disability in two or more tasks. Tasks for which difficulty was most frequently attributed to "old age" were dressing oneself (31%), walking around the home (25%), walking 1/2 mile (5-6 blocks) (25%), cutting toenails (16%), getting in or out of a bed or chair or out a car (14% each), and ascending/descending stairs (13%). Significantly higher levels of arthritis, heart disease, and hearing loss were reported in persons attributing their disability to "old age" than in those not reporting "old age" as the cause of their disability. We found no differences in age, gender, race, education, or cognitive status for the two groups. However, individuals citing "old age" as the cause of functional decrements walked more slowly than those who cited a specific disease. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that a significant proportion of functional decline attributed to "aging" in older adults may be associated with specific conditions. Identifying and reducing the impact of these conditions may prove to be a useful approach to preventing or minimizing functional loss.     

Schizophrenic patients in the psychiatric interview: An experimental study of their effectiveness at manipulation.

This study attempted to examine whether chronic schizophrenic patients could effectively engage in the manipulative strategy of impression management in an evaluative interview situation. The data supported the expectation that schizophrenic mental patients can effectively present themselves as "sick" or "healthy," whichever is more suited to their needs and goals. Thus, when the patients' open ward status was questioned, they convincingly presented themselves in the interview as "healthy" and eligible for open ward living; when their residency status was questioned, they convincingly presented themselves as "sick" and ineligible for discharge. These findings were interpreted as supporting assumptions of patient effectiveness in implementing goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)