Extended treatment with bupropion SR for cigarette smoking cessation.

The authors present results of a randomized clinical trial of the efficacy of extended treatment with bupropion SR in producing longer term cigarette smoking cessation. Adult smokers (N = 362) received open-label treatment (11 weeks) that combined relapse prevention training, bupropion SR, and nicotine patch followed by extended treatment (14 weeks) with bupropion SR or matching placebo. Abstinence percentages were relatively high (week 11: 52%; week 25: bupropion, 42%; placebo, 38%; week 52: bupropion, 33%; placebo, 34%), but bupropion SR did not surpass placebo. Gender and baseline craving level were identified as significant, independent moderators of treatment response. Men were more likely to abstain than women (week 11: 59% vs. 43%, p = .001; week 25: 48% vs. 31%, p = .001; week 52: 39% vs. 27%, p = .01). Because most smokers suffer relapse with any current cessation treatment, the comparatively high abstinence percentages achieved in this trial are of interest. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attentional versus motor inhibition in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Faulty inhibition is theorized to be a central feature in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but it remains unclear whether inhibitory impairments encompass both motoric and attentional domains. Further, characterization of inhibitory deficits in adults with ADHD is needed. We experimentally assessed adults who met diagnostic criteria for ADHD and a subgroup who had partially remitted. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) subtype effects were also examined. Motoric inhibition was assessed with the antisaccade task, and attentional inhibition was assessed with the attentional blink (AB) task. Antisaccade results replicated prior findings of extended latencies and increased anticipatory saccades in ADHD. Errors, however, appeared to be epiphenomenal to ADHD as they were absent when symptoms had partially remitted. Anticipatory saccades appeared as potential core problems that remained even when symptoms had improved. Differential response patterns were found for predominantly inattentive and combined subtypes, with the latter showing increasing anticipatory movements with increasing fixation time. In the AB task, ADHD groups committed more errors but showed no convincing evidence of an abnormal blink. These results demonstrate clear effects on motoric inhibition but not attentional inhibition in adults with ADHD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The parent–adolescent relationship at puberty: Hispanic ethnicity and parent alcoholism as moderators.

This study tested Hispanic ethnicity and parent alcoholism as moderators of pubertal status effects on the parent-child relationship in a community sample of 421 boys and girls 11.5-16.5 years old. Ethnicity was a significant moderator: The direction of the puberty effect on parent support and parent-adolescent conflict differed for Hispanic (primarily Mexican American) and non-Hispanic White boys. Parent alcoholism did not moderate the effect of puberty, but there was more conflict and less support between children of alcoholics and their parents than between controls and their parents. Puberty effects on the parent-adolescent relationship were also found above and beyond the effects of chronological age. Future directions for research in this area are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pain perception and coping in female tension headache sufferers and headache-free controls.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how headache sufferers and headache-free controls differ in their responses to acute pain. Thirty-three women completed the study (15 headache sufferers and 18 controls). The cold pressor was used to induce pain, and a partially inflated blood pressure cuff was used as a nonpainful comparison task. Headache sufferers reported more discomfort during both tasks; however, the 2 groups did not differ in the number of facial expressions of pain displayed during the tasks. Headache sufferers reported a tendency to catastrophize during both tasks; positive coping did not differ between the groups. These results offer evidence that recurrent tension headache sufferers are more sensitive to both painful and nonpainful stimuli and that they cope differently from controls with these physical stressors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Denial, anxiety, locus of control, and discrepancy between aspirations and achievements as components of depression.

Reformulated a number of clinical observations about depression to test them empirically, using multiple regression equations. Ss were 547 men in Army basic training. Psychological measures included the Depression subscale of the Cornell Medical Index, Rotter's Internal-External Control Scale, the Institute for Personality and Ability Testing Anxiety Scale, N. Hahn's denial measure, and the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale. Depression was negatively correlated with denial and positively correlated with anxiety, locus of control, and the discrepancy between aspirations and achievements (discontent). Locus of control was positively correlated with discontent and anxiety and negatively correlated with denial. There were interaction effects between locus of control and discontent, between locus of control and anxiety, and between anxiety and denial when these terms were regressed on depression. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The age-related decline in intestinal lipid uptake is associated with a reduced abundance of fatty acid-binding protein

Aging is associated with changes in the absorptive capacity of the small intestine. We tested the hypotheses that (i) aging is associated with a decline in lipid absorption, and that (ii) this decreased lipid absorption is due to a decline in the abundance of mRNA and/or the enterocyte cytosolic intestinal FA-binding protein (I-FABP), the liver FA-binding protein (L-FABP), and the ileal lipid-binding protein (ILBP). In vitro uptake studies were performed on Fischer 344 rats at ages 1, 9, and 24 mon. Northern blotting (L-FABP, ILBP) and immunohistochemistry (I-FABP, ILBP) were performed. Aging was associated with decreased animal weights, but the surface area of the intestine was not significantly altered with age. The rates of ileal uptake of 16∶0, 18∶0, 18∶1, and 18∶2 were reduced by greater than 50% with aging when expressed on the basis of mucosal weight. This decline was not associated with reduced expression of mRNA for L-FABP or ILBP but was associated with a 50% decrease in the abundance of I-FABP and a 40% decrease in the abundance of ILBP. Thus, the decrease with aging in the ileal uptake of some FA when rates were expressed on the basis of mucosal weight was associated with a reduced abundance of I-FABP and ILBP.     

Modeling precipitation and sorption of elements during mixing of river water and porewater in the Coeur d'Alene River basin

Reddish brown flocs form along the edge of the Coeur d'Alene River when porewater drains into river water during the annual lowering of water level in the basin. The precipitates are efficient scavengers of dissolved elements and have characteristics that may make metals associated with them bioavailable. This work characterizes the geochemistry of the porewater and models the formation and composition of the flocs. Porewater is slightly acidic, has suboxic to anoxic characteristics, tends to have higher alkalinity, and contains elevated concentrations of many constituents relative to river water. Laboratory mixing experiments involving porewater and river water were done to produce the precipitates. Thermodynamic predictions using PHREEQC indicate that predicted amounts of ferrihydrite and gibbsite agree with removal of Fe and Al. Predictions of element removal by adsorption onto ferrihydrite are consistent with observed removal using a combination of surface complexation constants for the generalized two-layer model (As and Se), alternative surface constants derived from experiments at high sorbate-to-sorbent ratios (Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn), and adjusted surface constants to fit experimental data (Cr, Mo, and Sb). This new set of surface complexation constants needs further testing in other contaminated systems.     

An examination of exposure control and content balancing restrictions on item selection in CATs using the partial credit model

The purpose of the present investigation was to systematically examine the effectiveness of the Sympson-Hetter technique and rotated content balancing relative to no exposure control and no content rotation conditions in a computerized adaptive testing system (CAT) based on the partial credit model. A series of simulated fixed and variable length CATs were run using two data sets generated to multiple content areas for three sizes of item pools. The 2 (exposure control) X 2 (content rotation) X 2 (test length) X 3 (item pool size) X 2 (data sets) yielded a total of 48 conditions. Results show that while both procedures can be used with no deleterious effect on measurement precision, the gains in exposure control, pool utilization, and item overlap appear quite modest. Difficulties involved with setting the exposure control parameters in small item pools make questionable the utility of the Sympson-Hetter technique with similar item pools.     

Implicit self-esteem compensation: Automatic threat defense.

Four experiments demonstrated implicit self-esteem compensation (ISEC) in response to threats involving gender identity (Experiment 1), implicit racism (Experiment 2), and social rejection (Experiments 3-4). Under conditions in which people might be expected to suffer a blow to self-worth, they instead showed high scores on 2 implicit self-esteem measures. There was no comparable effect on explicit self-esteem. However, ISEC was eliminated following self-affirmation (Experiment 3). Furthermore, threat manipulations increased automatic intergroup bias, but ISEC mediated these relationships (Experiments 2-3). Thus, a process that serves as damage control for the self may have negative social consequences. Finally, pretest anxiety mediated the relationship between threat and ISEC (Experiment 3), whereas ISEC negatively predicted anxiety among high-threat participants (Experiment 4), suggesting that ISEC may function to regulate anxiety. The implications of these findings for automatic emotion regulation, intergroup bias, and implicit self-esteem measures are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conflicting social motives in negotiating groups.

Negotiators' social motives (cooperative vs. individualistic) influence their strategic behaviors. In this study, the authors used multilevel modeling and analyses of strategy sequences to test hypotheses regarding how negotiators' social motives and the composition of the group influence group members' negotiation strategies. Four-person groups negotiating a 5-issue mixed-motive decision-making task were videotaped, and the tapes were transcribed and coded. Group composition included 2 homogeneous conditions (all cooperators and all individualists) and 3 heterogeneous conditions (3 cooperators and 1 individualist, 2 cooperators and 2 individualists, 1 cooperator and 3 individualists). Results showed that cooperative negotiators adjusted their use of integrative and distributive strategies in response to the social-motive composition of the group, but individualistic negotiators did not. Results from analyses of strategy sequences showed that cooperators responded more systematically to others' behaviors than did individualists. They also redirected the negotiation depending on group composition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)