Gender and representation in psychotherapy.

Investigated the ways in which patient and therapist gender influence the nature of patients' internalized representations of their therapist and the therapeutic relationship. A sample of 66 patients (29 males) completed the Therapist Representation Inventory (J. D. Geller et al, 1982), a self-report instrument designed to assess discrete properties of evoked representations. Results indicated widespread similarities between male and female patients in terms of the forms with which representations are evoked and the themes embodied in these representations. The differences that emerged suggest that women are more likely to keep their therapists in mind (and for longer periods of time) when working on their problems outside of therapy and that women with male therapists are especially likely to daydream about therapy and acknowledge missing their therapist in between sessions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adverse consequences of prenatal illicit drug exposure

Our appreciation of the impact on health of illicit drug use is growing. Once considered a maternal risk, prenatal drug exposure may target fetal neurobehavior, affecting attention and learning as the child grows into adulthood. Cocaine, opiates, marijuana, and amphetamines have each been scrutinized for adverse actions on placental transport, fetal behavior states, newborn withdrawal, and childhood learning and attentive skills. Neurotransmitter analysis in the animal model after prenatal drug exposure now provides biological support for these clinical findings. The increasing prevalence of drug use by pregnant women, the effect of illicit drug use on transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus, and the maternal and fetal consequences of illicit drug exposure make illicit drug use in pregnancy a central challenge in maternal-fetal medicine and a need-to-know field in general obstetrics.     

Comparative severity of respiratory lesions of sialodacryoadenitis virus and Sendai virus infections in LEW and F344 rats

In several chronic diseases, lesions are more severe in LEW rats than in F344 rats. To determine whether or not acute viral diseases also are more severe in LEW rats than in F344 rats, we inoculated 6-7-week-old LEW and F344 rats with 10(7.2) cell culture infective units of sialodacryoadenitis virus or 10(4.7) infective units of Sendai virus. Twenty-four rats of each strain were given each virus. Lesions in nasal passages, tracheas, intrapulmonary airways, and pulmonary alveoli in 6 or 12 rats inoculated with each virus were assessed by scoring 5, 10, and 14 days after inoculation. Both viruses caused typical patchy necrotizing rhinitis, tracheitis, bronchitis, and bronchiolitis, with multifocal pneumonitis, in rats of both strains. Mean lesion indices for LEW rats given sialodacryoadenitis virus were significantly different from those for F344 rats for nasal passages on days 10 (0.999 vs. 0.680) and 14 (0.736 vs. 0.278), bronchi on day 5 (0.479 vs. 0.361), and alveoli on day 5 (0.677 vs. 0.275). Lesion indices for LEW rats given Sendai virus were significantly different from those for F344 rats for nasal passages on days 10 (1.000 vs. 0.611) and 14 (0.778 vs. 0.583); trachea on day 10 (0.625 vs. 0.028); bronchi on days 5 (0.476 vs. 0.331), 10 (0.123 vs. 0.013), and 14 (0.038 vs. 0); and alveoli on days 5 (0.413 vs. 0.114) and 10 (0.185 vs. 0.020). Thus, at the tested doses, both viruses caused more severe respiratory tract lesions in LEW rats than in F344 rats.     

The UCLA Multidimensional Condom Attitudes Scale: Documenting the complex determinants of condom use in college students.

Describes the development and validation of the UCLA Multidimensional Condom Attitudes Scale (MCAS). The relationships between the MCAS and gender, sexual experience, intentions to use a condom, and past condom use were assessed. The MCAS has 5 distinct factors: (1) Reliability and Effectiveness of condoms, (2) the sexual Pleasure associated with condom use, (3) the stigma attached to persons who use condoms (Identity Stigma), (4) the Embarrassment About Negotiation and Use of condoms, and (5) the Embarrassment About the Purchase of condoms. Results strongly suggest that condom attitudes are multidimensional and thus cannot meaningfully be summed to a single global score. Results further indicate that men and women hold very different attitudes toward condoms. Implications of scale multidimensionality and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family burden following traumatic brain injury.

Investigated burden experienced by 60 spouses and 71 parents who served as primary caregivers to individuals with traumatic brain injury (BI). Burden levels, as assessed by the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress (QRS-SF), were compared for spouses and parents. Both parents and spouses exhibited high levels of burden. Relative to spouses, parents reported significantly greater burden related to lifespan care. Spouses reported significantly less personal reward than did parents. The presence of social aggression and cognitive disability in the individual with BI was found to have a greater association with subjective burden of caregivers than was the presence of physical disability or injury severity. Results of previous studies with QRS-SF scores show that the responsibility assumed by spouses and parents of persons with BI was as great as that experienced by families of people with severe chronic physical disabilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)