Psychological adjustment of children with sickle cell disease: Stability and change over a 10-month period.

Rates of poor psychological adjustment of children with sickle cell disease remained relatively constant over initial and follow-up assessment points. 50 children (aged 7–12 yrs) and their mothers completed the initial protocol. 30 children completed the follow-up plus 5 additional children and their mothers. These Ss were aged 7–24 yrs at follow-up. With initial levels of adjustment controlled, children's strategies for coping with pain accounted for a significant increment in child-reported symptoms and mother-reported internalizing behavior problems at follow-up beyond the contribution of illness and demographic parameters and follow-up interval. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family preservation using multisystemic therapy: An effective alternative to incarcerating serious juvenile offenders.

Multisystemic therapy (MST) delivered through a community mental health center was compared with usual services delivered by a Department of Youth Services in the treatment of 84 serious juvenile offenders and their multiproblem families. Offenders were assigned randomly to treatment conditions. Pretreatment and posttreatment assessment batteries evaluating family relations, peer relations, symptomatology, social competence, and self-reported delinquency were completed by the youth and a parent, and archival records were searched at 59 wks postreferral to obtain data on rearrest and incarceration. In comparison with youths who received usual services, youths who received MST had fewer arrests and self-reported offenses and spent an average of 10 fewer weeks incarcerated. In addition, families in the MST condition reported increased family cohesion and decreased youth aggression in peer relations. The relative effectiveness of MST was neither moderated by demographic characteristics nor mediated by psychosocial variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exposure plus response-prevention treatment of bulimia nervosa.

A controlled study evaluating the effectiveness of exposure plus response-prevention treatment of bulimia nervosa was conducted in a sample of 47 women. This was a four-group comparison involving three treatment conditions and a waiting-list control group. The three treatment conditions were (a) exposure plus response prevention conducted in a single setting (clinic), (b) exposure plus response prevention conducted in multiple settings (clinic, patients' homes, and restaurants), and (c) cognitive–behavioral therapy without exposure plus response prevention. All treatment was provided to groups of 3 patients at a time. Outcome was evaluated at posttreatment and at a 6-month follow-up. The three treatment groups improved significantly on most outcome measures, whereas the waiting-list control group showed little change. At follow-up, there was a slightly better outcome on vomiting behavior and amount of food consumed in one of the test meals for the exposure plus response-prevention groups relative to the no-exposure group. However, on all other measures, the degree of improvement from pretreatment to follow-up was the same for all three treatment groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment of behavioral problems in dementia: The Revised Memory and Behavior Problems Checklist.

The Revised Memory and Behavior Problems Checklist (RMBPC), a 24-item, caregiver-report measure of observable behavioral problems in dementia patients, provides 1 total score and 3 subscale scores for S problems (memory-related, depression, and disruptive behaviors) and parallel scores for caregiver reaction. Data were obtained from 201 geriatric Ss and their caregivers. Factor analysis confirmed 3 1st-order factors, consistent with subscales just named, and 1 general factor of behavioral disturbance. Overall scale reliability was good, with alphas of .84 for S behavior and .90 for caregiver reaction. Subscale alphas ranged from .67 to .89. Validity was confirmed through comparison of RMBPC scores with well-established indexes of depression, cognitive impairment, and caregiver burden. The RMBPC is recommended as a reliable and valid tool for the clinical and empirical assessment of behavior problems in dementia Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alzheimer's disease and depression.

Reviews the empirical literature available on the phenomenon of depression in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although not extensively studied, there is accumulating evidence to suggest that depression affects a large number of patients with AD and can have profound effects on both the long-term functioning of these patients and the well-being of their caregivers. Thus far, the field is dominated by studies of prevalence. Considerably rarer are studies investigating etiology, association with other aspects of the disease, impact on patients and caregivers, assessment, and treatment. The conceptual issues, methodological differences, and implications of the studies that exist thus far are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Military tobacco use: a synthesis of the literature on prevalence, factors related to use, and cessation interventions

Tobacco use remains the number one cause of preventable morbidity and premature death in the United States. As a result, military leaders are recognizing that tobacco can adversely affect military fitness levels, deployment readiness, and safety and can increase health care costs. Yet military members continue to use tobacco. Tobacco may be viewed as part of the military culture since military members have used tobacco for many decades for pleasure, comfort, and currency and as a morale booster. Most recently, the military has seen an increase in tobacco use among young military members. A number of research studies have examined the prevalence of tobacco and factors related to use in the military, and several have evaluated cessation and prevention interventions. This article provides a brief historical perspective of military tobacco use in the 20th century and a critical review of the literature published between 1991 and 2006 describing prevalence of tobacco use, factors influencing use, and cessation interventions in the military. Recommendations for future research and for interventions are provided.     

The benefits and costs of repeated memory tests for young and older adults.

Repeated and prolonged searches of memory can lead to an increase in how much is recalled, but they can also lead to memory errors. These 3 experiments addressed the costs and benefits of repeated and prolonged memory tests for both young and older adults. Participants saw and imagined pictures of objects, some of which were physically or conceptually similar, and then took a series of repeated or prolonged recall tests. Both young and older adults recalled more on later tests than on earlier ones, though the increase was less marked for older adults. In addition, despite recalling less than did young adults, older adults made more similarity-based source misattributions (i.e., claiming an imagined item was seen if it was physically or conceptually similar to a seen item). Similar patterns of fewer benefits and more costs for older adults were seen on both free and forced recall tests and on timed and self-paced tests. Findings are interpreted in terms of age-related differences in binding processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recognizing, assessing, and intervening with problems of professional competence.

Working collaboratively, psychologist educators and trainers at the doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral levels; credentialers; practitioners; and students offer 8 proposals for psychologists to consider in recognizing, assessing, and intervening with problems of professional competence in students and practicing professionals. In the proposals, the authors address the following topics: definitions and categories; preparing the system; self-assessment; remediation; diversity; communication across various levels of the system; confidentiality; and ethical, regulatory, and legal underpinnings. They also propose future directions for the assessment of problems in professional competence in both students and practicing psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment of Hematological and Biochemical parameters with extended D-Ribose ingestion

D-ribose, a naturally occurring pentose carbohydrate, has been shown to replenish high- energy phosphates following myocardial ischemia and high intensity, repetitive exercise. Human studies have mainly involved short-term assessment, including potential toxicity. Reports describing adverse effects of D-ribose with prolonged ingestion have been lacking. Therefore, this study assessed the toxicity of extended consumption of D-ribose in healthy adults. Nineteen subjects ingested 20 grams/Day (10 grams, twice a Day) of ribose with serial measurements of biochemical and hematological parameters at Days 0, 7, and 14. No significant toxic changes over the 14-day assessment period occurred in complete blood count, albumin, alkaline phosphatase, gamma glutamyltransferase, alanine amiotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase. However, D-ribose did produce an asymptomatic, mild hypoglycemia of short duration. Uric acid levels increased at Day 7, but decreased to baseline values by Day 14. D-ribose consumption for 14 days appears not to produce significant toxic changes in both hematological and biochemical parameters in healthy human volunteers.     

Powers of observation in creative design

Being perceptive is a trait highly valued in scientific and engineering professions. What a scientist or engineer notices while considering a problem, evaluating alternatives, or interpreting data has a profound impact on how a problem is viewed and solved. This paper focuses on processes we believe underlie being perceptive: firstly, preparation—becoming attuned to salient or important features; secondly, assimilation-detection and exploration of patterns (invariants) as well as anomalies; and thirdly, strategic control-heuristic strategies for exploring the implications of what has been observed. These processes play an integral role in characteristic activities within creative design, including problem reformulation, the emergence of properties and constraints on the solution, and the ability to incorporate into the design experimental feedback from the environment and from experiences with prototypes and previous designs. The paper presents a computational model incorporating these ideas, implemented in a system called IMPROVISER.