Activity restriction mediates the association between pain and depressed affect: A study of younger and older adult cancer patients.

Associations are reported frequently among pain, functional disability, and symptoms of depression. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to further clarify relations among these variables. In 268 younger (ages 30–64) and older (ages 65–90) cancer outpatients, cross-sectional analyses replicated previous findings showing that effects of pain on symptoms of depression are mediated by functional disability. Longitudinal analyses revealed that as pain increased over time, so did activity restriction, which in turn predicted increases in depressed affect. Comparative analyses indicate that restriction of routine activities that are due to illness and pain may be more distressing to individuals less than 65 years of age than to those 65 years of age or older. The results suggest that older persons are less distressed by restricted activities because of lower expectations about functional status and more experience with illness and disability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping self-efficacy buffers psychological and physiological disturbances in HIV-infected men following a natural disaster.

The importance of coping self-efficacy (CSE) appraisals on psychological and physiological functioning for HIV seropositive patients facing a severe environmental stressor was tested comparing 37 HIV-infected gay men and 42 healthy male control participants following Hurricane Andrew. Results suggested that greater levels of CSE were related to lower emotional distress and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in both groups. In addition, greater CSE was associated with lower norepinephrine to cortisol ratios in the HIV group but not in the healthy control group. Results are discussed in relation to the coping process for HIV-infected individuals specifically and chronically ill populations in general who face severe environmental stressors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of prenatal PCB exposure on cognitive processing efficiency and sustained attention.

Assesses 4-yr-old children exposed prenatally to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs; an environmental toxin) on 3 tasks: 2 designed to evaluate cognitive processing efficiency and 1 to evaluate sustained attention. When compared with standardized IQ tests, these tasks provided greater specificity in identifying cognitive deficits. Adapted for 4-yr-old children in the present study, these paradigms demonstrated moderate levels of test–retest reliability. Prenatal exposure to PCBs was associated with less efficient visual discrimination processing and more errors in short-term memory scanning but not with sustained attention. Although much larger quantities of these contaminants are transferred postnatally via breastfeeding than prenatally across the placenta, postnatal exposure was unrelated to cognitive performance. The data link intrauterine PCB exposure to 2 dimensions of cognitive functioning fundamental to learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Misattribution of dissonance and behaviour-consistent attitude change.

Examined the prediction that people who have misattributed dissonance arousal to an external source may come to question the appropriateness of this attribution and may then be motivated to alter their attitudes. This was tested by having an experimenter discredit the plausibility of an external source after misattribution had presumably occurred. 80 female undergraduates participated in the study, with 16 of these Ss serving as controls. 64 Ss were given a pill described as having either unpleasant side effects or no side effects and then were committed to write counterattitudinal essays under high-choice conditions. Some Ss were then told that a mistake had been made and that they had actually been given the other form of the pill. As predicted, Ss who had initially been led to believe that the pill had aversive side effects but were later told that it did not manifested behavior-consistent attitude change. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of women's child sexual abuse and subsequent sexual revictimization.

Examines the differential effects of sexual revictimization in a community sample of 248 African-American and White American women (aged 18–36 yrs). Two classifications of sexual revictimization over the life course were used to assess the effects of later sexual and psychological functioning. The findings suggest that unintended pregnancies and abortions were significantly associated with sexual revictimization. Women who reported more than one incident in both childhood and adulthood were also likely to have multiple partnerships and brief sexual relationships. The findings are discussed within the context of the dynamics of sexual revictimization and its effects. Suggestions are offered for therapeutic strategies with survivors in order to minimize the effects of sexual revictimization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological factors in abortion: A review.

Psychological research is increasingly involved in debates regarding abortion. While recognizing the diversity of ethical and moral issues intertwined with abortion, the American Psychological Association (APA) has focused its involvement on psychological factors, most recently by appointing an expert panel to review the literature on psychological effects. This article notes the history of APA involvement and reports on the panel's conclusions. It presents evidence that abortion is not likely to be followed by severe psychological responses and that psychological aspects can best be understood within a framework of normal stress and coping rather than a model of psychopathology. Correlates of more negative responses following abortion are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental differences in the effects of repeated interviews and interviewer bias on young children's event memory and false reports.

The present study investigated developmental differences in the effects of repeated interviews and interviewer bias on children's memory and suggestibility. Three- and 5-year-olds were singly or repeatedly interviewed about a play event by a highly biased or control interviewer. Children interviewed once by the biased interviewer after a long delay made the most errors. Children interviewed repeatedly, regardless of interviewer bias, were more accurate and less likely to falsely claim that they played with a man. In free recall, among children questioned once after a long delay by the biased interviewer, 5-year-olds were more likely than were 3-year-olds to claim falsely that they played with a man. However, in response to direct questions, 3-year-olds were more easily manipulated into implying that they played with him. Findings suggest that interviewer bias is particularly problematic when children's memory has weakened. In contrast, repeated interviews that occur a short time after a to-be-remembered event do not necessarily increase children's errors, even when interviews include misleading questions and interviewer bias. Implications for developmental differences in memory and suggestibility are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Endogenous depression in the elderly: Prevalence and agreement among measures.

Describes agreement among diagnoses made according to 5 definitions of endogenous depression in a sample of 99 depressed elders and discusses the relationship among these systems and selected demographic and clinical characteristics. Poor to fair agreement was generally demonstrated, except for Research Diagnostic Criteria (R. Spitzer et al, 1978) and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III—Revised (DSM-III—R), which demonstrated excellent agreement. Mostly, demographic and clinical variables (e.g., severity of depression) were unrelated to endogeneity diagnoses. The conclusion was reached that these criteria are not all measuring the same construct in older adults and that the relationship between depression severity and endogeneity should be discussed in terms of specific definitions rather than in general terms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early intervention: Implications of Public Law 99-457 for professional child psychology.

We review components of Public Law (PL) 99-457 and discuss several concerns related to the practice of psychology and early intervention. PL 99-457 establishes a new national blueprint for expanding the opportunities and benefits of early intervention and preschool services to children and families. We examined implications of the new law in terms of the following broad categories: assessment and diagnosis, intervention, planning and case management, program evaluation, and interagency collaboration. On the basis of practice needs in these areas, we propose several areas of needed training for child practitioners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)