Stages of change and physical activity among individuals with severe mental illness.

Objective: To apply the constructs of the transtheoretical model (TTM) of change to understand physical activity among individuals with severe mental illness. Method: Predictions of stages of change of physical activity and self-reported physical activity were investigated among 92 adults with severe mental illness, using cognitive and behavioral processes of change, self-efficacy, and perceived pros and cons of exercise as predictors. Results: Separate logistic regression analyses for adjacent pairs of stages indicated that 33% of the variance was accounted for when predicting preparation versus action/maintenance stages, with behavioral processes making a significant unique contribution to prediction. A multiple-regression analysis was conducted to examine prediction of self-reported physical activity on the basis of all of the TTM measures, and the full model accounted for nearly 27% of the variance. Conclusion: Results suggest that TTM constructs hold promise in understanding physical activity of people with severe mental illness with significant implications for clinical practice and future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Altered mental function during intravenous infusion of recombinant human insulin-like growth factor 1

Recombinant human insulin-like growth factor-1 (rhIGF-1) is currently used experimentally to treat patients with insulin-resistant diabetes mellitus, impaired growth, protein malnutrition, and osteoporosis. We report here the case of a marked transient alteration in consciousness in a healthy 22-year-old man who was given an IV infusion of a relatively low dose of rhIGF-1 for 1 hour. This individual developed the sudden onset of dizziness, nausea, coldness, air hunger, and pallor. He became unresponsive to simple questions and experienced diaphoresis, a feeling of warmth, and paresthesias. Although there was a mild fall in heart rate and blood pressure, these hemodynamic effects did not appear sufficient to cause the altered mentation. There were no changes in serum glucose, phosphorus, or potassium that could seem to account for these events. This individual recovered completely several minutes after stopping the rhIGF-1 infusion.     

Stages of change.

Empirical research on the stages of change has taken a number of tacks over the past 20 years. In this article, we review those published research studies that have directly examined the stages (precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and, termination) as they relate to treatment outcome, broadly defined. The cumulative evidence indicates that tailoring the therapy relationship and treatment intervention to the stage of change can enhance outcome, specifically in the percentage of patients completing therapy and in the ultimate success of treatment. Several limitations of this body of research are noted. We conclude by advancing therapeutic practices both for conventional psychotherapy with individual patients and for proactive recruitment of entire populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral correlates of mental growth: Birth to thirty-six years.

Reports findings of the Berkeley (California) Growth Study, a 36-yr longitudinal study of mental development. 74 full-term, healthy infants of White English-speaking parents, were studied over 7 mo. 63 Ss were followed for at least 3 yrs, 48 Ss were seen regularly over 18 yrs, and 54 Ss were interviewed and tested at age 36 yrs. Measures included newly developed tests of 1st-yr mental precocity, the Block Q-Sort, and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). Results reflect stability over the 36 yrs in both personality variables and mental abilities. Boys' high verbal scores correlated with calmness, positive responsiveness, and activeness: Girls' high verbal scores correlated with shyness at 10–24 mo and possibly unhappiness at 10–22 mo. While boys' behaviors and intelligence correlated with maternal behavior in the 1st 3 yrs through age 18 yrs, girls' corresponded to parental abilities. This suggests that girls are more resilient and less permanently affected by early experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stages of question answering.

The process of question answering includes numerous stages. Stage analysis oversimplifies the processes of question answering in some respects. In spite of this, considerable progress in the understanding of question answering processes has been facilitated by stage analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stages of Change in Treatment-Seeking Pathological Gamblers.

The transtheoretical model has been applied to many addictive disorders. In this study, psychometrics properties of the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA) scale were evaluated in 234 pathological gamblers initiating treatment. Four components were identified--reflective of precontemplation, contemplation, action, and maintenance stages--with internal consistency from .74 to .88. Cluster analyses identified 4 patterns of responding, ranging from ambivalent to active change. The 4 clusters differed with respect to baseline gambling variables and treatment engagement and outcomes assessed 2 months later. A continuous measure of readiness to change was also correlated with gambling severity and predictive of reductions in gambling. This study provides initial support for reliability and validity of the URICA in treatment-seeking gamblers, and it suggests that stage of change may have an impact on outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Keyes's model of mental health with personal growth initiative as a parsimonious predictor.

This research addressed issues at the heart of counseling psychology: operationalizing mental health and identifying parsimonious ways of predicting levels of mental health. The primary purpose of the study was to investigate the replicability of the structure of C. L. M. Keyes's (2002) model of mental health in 2 samples of college students (total N = 244 women and 223 men). Results of confirmatory factor analyses supported this 3-factor model of psychological, social, and emotional well-being, consisting of 14 subdimensions. Furthermore, this model was found to be invariant for men and women in both samples. The secondary purpose was to assess the effectiveness of personal growth initiative (PGI; C. Robitschek, 1998) as a parsimonious predictor (i.e., 1 predictor for many outcomes) of these multiple dimensions of mental health. Results of structural equation modeling supported PGI as a parsimonious predictor of Keyes's multidimensional mental health model for men and women in both groups. Limitations are discussed, and implications for research and practice in counseling psychology are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Co-localization of human growth hormone and human prolactin in hormonally pure human growth hormone-producing pituitary adenomas

Co-localization of human growth hormone (hGH) and human prolactin (hPRL) in hGH-producing pituitary adenomas was examined by electron microscopy with immunoblot analysis. At the electron microscopic level using anti-hGH or anti-hPRL polyclonal antibody, hGH and hPRL were found to be co-localized within each of the secretory granules in one of five cases. Double-labeling electron immunocytochemistry using colloidal gold particles of different sizes was effective in demonstrating this co-localization. As an additional step, we performed immunoblot analysis of hGH-producing pituitary adenomas using monoclonal antibodies. Four hGH-producing adenomatous tissue samples contained several hPRL-immunoreactive bands. In Case 2, the main 23K hPRL band was stained especially strongly The immunoblotting analysis of purified hGH using both anti-hPRL polyclonal antibody and monoclonal antibody to asses cross-reaction of the polyclonal anti-hPRL antisera with hGH revealed that both monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies were suitable for determining the co-localization. Double-labeling techniques using anti-hGH and anti-hPRL monoclonal antibodies demonstrated that only a few secretory granules were positive for co-localization of both hGH and hPRL (Case 2). The present study, which used not only polyclonal but also monoclonal antibodies, suggests that some hGH-producing pituitary adenomas contained both hPRL and hGH in the same secretory granules of tumor cells.     

Statement on mental illness and mental retardation.

The statement made on behalf of the American Psychological Association is in support of Senate Bills 755 and 756 developed by Congress in response to President Kennedy's message on mental illness and mental retardation. "The psychologist is vitually concerned with the problems of mental disorders and of mental retardation. He is especially interested in research, and in the provision of services to people through the organized agencies of society, such as the public schools, community mental health centers, hospitals, institutions for the retarded, and rehabilitation agencies of many kinds." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stages in Chinese children's reading of English words.

Developmental stages in reading English words were examined among 118 Chinese children in Grades 2, 4, and 6 from a working-class elementary school in Tianjin, China. Proficiency in Chinese and English, ability to make orthographic analogies in both languages, and strategies in reading English words were assessed. Results suggest that Chinese children follow stages in alphabetic reading development similar to those of native English-speaking children: the prealphabetic stage, the partial alphabetic stage, and the full alphabetic stage. The use of orthographic analogy does not form a separate stage independent of the alphabetic decoding stages; rather, it is a concurrent option available to Chinese children from an early age. Children more readily made onset-vowel analogies than vowel-coda analogies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical anatomy of the human mental foramen

BACKGROUND: The great diffusion of the surgical technics in oral implantology and the progress of the radiological imaging produces some interest for the clinical anatomy of the mental foramen (MF). The study, in addition to the measurements that define it, considers others anatomical features of practical utility and the variableness of them. METHODS: In the Anatomic Institute of the Bologna University, it has been made a morphometric revision of the MF on 100 dried mandibles of normal young adults (78 males, 32 females) random chosen with the complete integrity of the dental apparatus and of the mandibular bone criteria. The measurements have been made by anthropometric methods on the two sides of the same mandible (n = 200) and for everyone has been reported in the tables the medium, the maximum and the minimum values with their specific variation interval. The results are applicable to the common work conditions because they take in consideration among the specific characteristics of the MF in addition to the seat, the course of the mandibular canal, the thickness and the height of the mandibular bone. RESULTS: To the clinical and diagnostic imaging object the medium values of the anatomical measurements can be considered sufficent. To anthropometric, anesthesiologic and surgical aims it is also necessary the knowledge of the maximum and the minimum values and the variation interval. In the living man the anatomicomedical study of the MF is made by the diagnostic imaging, especially by computed tomography with specific algorithm, because it makes possible absolutely exact measurements. CONCLUSIONS: Finally, the specifications on the MF provided by the present study are important not only for an anatomical but also for a practical point of view because they are a datum point value in the patient clinical management.     

Hemispheric specialization and the growth of human understanding.

Connectionistic notions of hemispheric specialization and use are considered incompatible with the network organization of the human brain, and alternative concepts are suggested. The functionally specialized areas of the cerebrum are diffusely interconnected; differences in degree of connection define a "functional cerebral space" within which similar activities are represented in adjacent loci but dissimilar activities in loci that are further apart. This explains why one can easily do dissimilar things at the same time but similar things only one after another. Bilaterally represented processes relate the organism to the periphery. Lateralized processes are deployed in focal attention, the specifics being extracted by the left hemisphere and related to each other in space by the right hemisphere. These contributions to mental life are complementary modes of processing. They can be dissociated only when mentally represented. Item and relational aspects of a problem can be separately abstracted, elaborated, and communicated; there has been relatively independent growth of understanding in these 2 domains. (61 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in mental abilities, hemispheric lateralization, and rate of physical growth at adolescence.

Tested the hypothesis that sex differences in verbal and spatial abilities are related to sex differences in rates of physical maturation and that this relationship is mediated by variation in the organization of higher cortical functions. 40 males and 40 females, ranging in age from 10-16 yrs, were tested on 3 verbal measures (including the Digit Symbol subtest of the WISC and the Word Fluency subtest of the Primary Mental Abilities Test), 3 spatial measures (including the Block Design subtest of the WISC and a modified version of the Embedded Figures Test), and a dichotic test of phoneme identification. Late-maturing Ss of both sexes performed better than early maturers on tests of spatial ability, but the groups did not differ on tests of verbal ability. Among older Ss, the late maturers of both sexes showed greater hemispheric lateralization than early maturers. Sex differences on the ability measures, although in the predicted direction, did not reach significance. Results are discussed with respect to the relationship between hemispheric organization of function and mental abilities and the relationship between maturational rate and lateralization. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Categorization processes in mental comparisons.

Five experiments explore categorization and category-based congruity effects in mental comparisons. The first 4 experiments concentrate on categorization of infinite-set small items. The experiments vary the additional items presented and whether those items appear once (Experiments 1-2) or repeatedly (Experiments 3-4). Additional items include other small items (Experiment 1), relatively large items (Experiments 2-4), and items involving nonsize dimensions (Experiment 4). The critical small items show a complete congruity effect only in Experiments 1 and 3. Results suggest that categorization of infinite-set items may be based on range information alone (Experiment 1) but that multiple categorizations based on multiple ranges (Experiment 2) may require attentional effort. Results implicate categorization as a central process in mental comparison, despite differences in ease of categorization across paradigm. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stages of brain and cognitive maturation.

H. T. Epstein (see PA, Vol 52:9783 and 1986), R. B. McCall (see record 1988-32308-001), and R. B. McCall et al (see record 1984-17419-001) presented discrepant findings regarding the presence of stages in brain and cognitive maturation, as described in Piagetian theory. This article questions whether their variables (e.g., skull circumference and global mental test scores) are appropriate indices from which to make such conclusions. Evidence from direct brain measurements (e.g., the quantitative electroencephalogram [QEEG]) and other neurobiological indices provides stronger support for the conclusion that regional brain maturation exhibits growth spurts and plateaus. The specific neuropsychological functions represented by regional QEEG maturation data give a composite picture of brain growth that is consistent with Piagetian theory. (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)     

Reference frames in mental rotation.

Four experiments are reported that investigate whether images or reference frames are transformed during a mental rotation task. In all experiments a display of four identical letters (P1) was presented at either +90° or –90° from upright, and subjects had to decide whether the letters were normal or mirror-image reflections. A single letter (P2) was then presented 100 ms later in a variable orientation with the same task instructions. Reaction times to P2 were assessed to determine whether an image of P2 was rotated to upright or whether an internal reference frame was rotated into congruence with P2 from the orientation of P1. The results as a whole suggest that transformations of P2 can be initiated either relative to upright or relative to the orientation of P1. They further indicate that the probability of using each reference orientation can be changed by procedural variations. The findings are most parsimoniously interpreted as suggesting that mental rotation involves the transformation of reference frames rather than the transformation of template-like representations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Advances in children's mental health.

Comments on articles addressing children's mental health (MH) in the October 1988 issue of American Psychologist, including articles by D. Dougherty, D. K. Inouye, and L. Saxe et al (see PA, Vol 76:9682, 9693, and 9717). The articles overlooked recent advances toward improving services for troubled children: A 4-pronged effort has been embarked on to advance child MH. Progress is apparent in defining the system of care needed by children with MH problems and in support for state- and community-wide changes in interagency system development. The 3rd and 4th areas are the development of a national movement of parents of emotionally disturbed youth and advances in the area of minority group concerns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)