Predictors of outcome in LAAM, buprenorphine, and methadone treatment for opioid dependence.

This study examined (1) predictors of treatment outcome for opioid-dependent participants in a single-site controlled trial comparing methadone, buprenorphine, and LAAM treatments and (2) the extent to which various subpopulations of patients may have more successful outcomes with each medication. The relationships between patient demographics, drug use history, and psychological status and outcome measures of treatment retention, opiate use, and cocaine use were assessed. We believe this study to be the first to demonstrate that predictors of treatment success appear to be largely similar in LAAM, buprenorphine, and methadone treatment for opioid dependence. We did not find any factors that would strongly guide selection of one medication over others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal attraction and personality: What is attractive--self similarity, ideal similarity, complementarity or attachment security?

Little is known about whether personality characteristics influence initial attraction. Because adult attachment differences influence a broad range of relationship processes, the authors examined their role in 3 experimental attraction studies. The authors tested four major attraction hypotheses--self similarity, ideal-self similarity, complementarity, and attachment security--and examined both actual and perceptual factors. Replicated analyses across samples, designs, and manipulations showed that actual security and self similarity predicted attraction. With regard to perceptual factors, ideal similarity, self similarity, and security all were significant predictors. Whereas perceptual ideal and self similarity had incremental predictive power, perceptual security's effects were subsumed by perceptual ideal similarity. Perceptual self similarity fully mediated actual attachment similarity effects, whereas ideal similarity was only a partial mediator. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do children's attention processes mediate the link between family predictors and school readiness?

The role of attention processes as possible mediators between family environment and school readiness was analyzed with data from 1,002 children and their families. Data on children's sustained attention, impulsivity, and school readiness (i.e., cognitive, achievement, language, and social development) were obtained at 54 months of age, and quality of the family environment was assessed throughout the first 54 months. Mediation tests showed that children's sustained attention partially accounted for the link between family environment and achievement and language outcomes. Impulsivity partially accounted for the link between family environment and achievement, social competence, and externalizing behaviors. The roles of sustained attention and of inhibition of impulsive responding in the relation between family characteristics and school readiness are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evolving Teams of Predictors with Linear Genetic Programming

This paper applies the evolution of GP teams to different classification and regression problems and compares different methods for combining the outputs of the team programs. These include hybrid approaches where (1) a neural network is used to optimize the weights of programs in a team for a common decision and (2) a realnumbered vector (the representation of evolution strategies) of weights is evolved with each term in parallel. The cooperative team approach results in an improved training and generalization performance compared to the standard GP method. The higher computational overhead of team evolution is counteracted by using a fast variant of linear GP.     

Predicting Future Antisocial Personality Disorder in Males From a Clinical Assessment in Childhood.

It is essential to identify childhood predictors of adult antisocial personality disorder (APD) to target early prevention. It has variously been hypothesized that APD is predicted by childhood conduct disorder (CD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or both disorders. To test these competing hypotheses, the authors used data from a single childhood diagnostic assessment of 163 clinic-referred boys to predict future APD during early adulthood. Childhood Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) CD, but not ADHD, significantly predicted the boys' subsequent APD. An interaction between socioeconomic status (SES) and CD indicated that CD predicted APD only in lower SES families, however. Among children who met criteria for CD, their number of covert but not overt CD symptoms improved prediction of future APD, controlling for SES. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological and Social Predictors of Changes in Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Over 12 Months Following Behavioral and Nutrition Education Counseling.

This study assessed psychological and social factors predicting 12-month changes in fruit and vegetable consumption achieved by 271 men and women from a low-income population randomized to brief behavioral and nutrition education counseling. Greater increases in fruit and vegetable intake were achieved in the behavioral than in the nutrition education condition (1.49 vs. 0.87 portions per day, p=.021). Increases were predicted by baseline social support for dietary change but not by baseline psychological measures. However, short-term (8-week) changes in dietary self-efficacy, encouragement, anticipated regret, perceived benefits, and knowledge of recommended intake predicted 12-month changes in fruit and vegetable consumption independently of gender, age, ethnicity, income, and baseline intake. These factors accounted for 51% of the superiority of behavioral counseling over nutrition education. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ultrafine,fine, and black carbon particle concentrations in California child‐care facilities

Although many U.S. children spend time in child care, little information exists on exposures to airborne particulate matter (PM) in this environment, even though PM may be associated with asthma and other respiratory illness, which is a key concern for young children. To address this data gap, we measured ultrafine particles (UFP), PM_2.5, PM₁₀, and black carbon in 40 California child‐care facilities and examined associations with potential determinants. We also tested a low‐cost optical particle measuring device (Dylos monitor). Median (interquartile range) concentrations for indoor UFP, gravimetric PM_2.5, real‐time PM_2.5, gravimetric PM₁₀, and black carbon over the course of a child‐care day were 14 000 (11 000‐29 000) particles/cm³, 15 (9.6‐21) μg/m³, 15 (11‐23) μg/m³, 48 (33‐73) μg/m³, and 0.43 (0.25‐0.65) ng/m³, respectively. Indoor black carbon concentrations were inversely associated with air exchange rate (Spearman's rho = ?.36) and positively associated with the sum of all Gaussian‐adjusted traffic volume within a one‐kilometer radius (Spearman's rho = .45) (P‐values <.05). Finally, the Dylos may be a valid low‐cost alternative to monitor PM levels indoors in future studies. Overall, results indicate the need for additional studies examining particle levels, potential health risks, and mitigation strategies in child‐care facilities.     

Understanding the influence of demographic and psychological variables on retirement planning.

The authors examined the degree to which workers were engaging in financial, health, interpersonal/leisure, and work planning for retirement, exploring whether demographic and psychological variables inhibited or promoted planning in each of these domains. Planning in each domain was influenced by a unique set of variables. Goals emerged as a consistent and positive predictor of planning. Gender accounted for health and interpersonal/leisure planning, while work planning behavior was negatively predicted by income. Time perspective also helped to clarify the amount of retirement planning undertaken in the financial and interpersonal/leisure domains. Practical implications for designing retirement interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pretreatment predictors of dropout from cognitive behavioral therapy for PTSD in Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.

Cognitive–behavioral therapies (CBTs) can be effective treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but their effectiveness is limited by high rates of premature dropout. Few studies have compared pretreatment characteristics of treatment completers and dropouts, and only one has examined these factors in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) Veterans. This study analyzed archival clinical data from 117 OEF/OIF Veterans evaluated and treated through a Veterans Affairs PTSD clinic. High numbers dropped out of treatment (68%). Treatment dropouts (n = 79) and completers (n = 38) differed significantly on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) scales, PTSD symptom severity, and age. Regression analyses identified one MMPI-2 scale, TRT (negative treatment indicators), and age as unique but modest predictors of dropout. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

ON‐LINE MONITORING OF POLLUTION CONCENTRATIONS WITH AUTOREGRESSIVE MOVING AVERAGE TIME SERIES

The concentration of aerosol particles, largely caused by traffic volume and often enhanced during temperature inversion episodes in the cold season, can be a concern for human health in the urban environment. This particulate matter is typically recorded as PM₁₀, the total mass of particles below 10 μm in diameter. It is suspected that, within the PM₁₀ class, ultrafine particles ( < 100 nm) may be responsible for causing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Because of their low mass, ultrafine particles are hard to detect, and researchers try to utilize PM₁₀ in combination with nitrogen oxides NO_x and other trace gases to monitor their dynamic evolution. To meet pollution standards set by national government and European Union regulation, the city of Klagenfurt, Austria, began using calcium magnesium acetate as a deicer on 11 January 2012, hoping to literally glue pollutants to the ground and thereby reducing pollution concentrations. With the statistical methodology developed in this article, the dynamic evolution of PM₁₀ and NO_x is traced for the time period starting 4 January and ending 25 January 2012, and a change in dynamics is found. The findings are based on on‐line monitoring procedures that sequentially detect structural breaks in the mean and the parameter values of an autoregressive moving average process. These are defined in terms of model residuals and one‐step ahead predictors. Theoretical properties are studied, and a simulation study shows that the proposed procedures work well in finite samples.