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Biomedical subjects

B Barnett

Publications and source records attributed to B Barnett.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Maternal anxiety: a 5-year review of an intervention study.

Primiparous women were divided into groups according to their post-partum trait anxiety scores. Professional or non-professional support for the first 12 months was offered to two subgroups of high trait anxiety subjects. At the 5-year follow-up the high-anxiety mothers (n = 57) manifested more psychological and social pathology than moderate- and low-anxiety mothers (n = 43), and their children also showed signs of poorer adaptation. There was evidence of improved outcome for mothers in the professional intervention group, but not for their children. Child psychopathology was predicted best by maternal psychosocial variables, and to a lesser extent by child temperament variables. The relation of infant attachment and temperament measures to subsequent psychopathology is discussed.

Anxiety

Personality as a vulnerability factor to depression.

One hundred and forty non-depressed primiparous women in a stable relationship completed two personality measures (the EPI and the IPSM) antenatally, and were then assessed for depression at several times post-natally. The risk of depression at six months was increased up to tenfold by high interpersonal sensitivity and threefold by high neuroticism. When previously depressed women were excluded from analyses, high interpersonal sensitivity and, to a lesser extent, high neuroticism were still associated with an increased risk of being depressed. Interpersonal sensitivity, as measured, is suggested as a refined personality risk factor to both the onset and recurrence of depression.

Depressive Disorder

Preterm birth prevention: evaluation of a prospective controlled randomized trial.

Over a 3-year period 5457 indigent patients were scored for risk of preterm birth and 4595 women were delivered at greater than or equal to 20 weeks' gestation. Patients at high risk (18.1%) were randomized into control and intervention groups. The latter group received weekly cervical examinations and instruction regarding subtle symptoms and signs of preterm labor. Medical providers received similar instruction. There was no difference in preterm births between control and intervention groups (20.8% vs. 22.1%). Medical providers, convinced of preterm birth prevention during year 1 of the study, defeated the study design by giving preterm birth precautions to all patients. In turn, preterm births decreased from 13.7% (year 1) to 9.3% (year 2, p less than 0.001) and remained stable in year 3 (8.7%). Preterm births during year 1 and the 8 months preceding year 1 were not different. Significant differences in preterm births between private and indigent study patients during these two periods (p less than 0.001) disappeared during years 2 and 3 of the study.

Clinical Trials as Topic

Vocal cord paralysis in premature infants undergoing ductal closure.

A series of 106 consecutive ductal closures in premature infants was reviewed to assess the incidence of left vocal cord paralysis. To our knowledge, this syndrome is described for the first time in premature infants. In our experience, it is a relatively benign complication that completely resolves clinically in several weeks. This complication occurred in 5.2% of patients closed by suture ligature and in none of those closed by a surgical clip. Although the series is too small for this difference to be statistically significant, we believe it strongly favors the use of the clip, with less dissection.

Ductus Arteriosus, Patent

Perceptions of parenting in childhood and social support in adulthood.

A group of primiparous women in Australia rated their parents' attitudes and behaviors toward them as children as well as perceived levels of social support shortly after the birth of their first child and 1 year later. After any bias that might have been introduced by neurotic perception of interpersonal relationships had been controlled for, analyses showed a consistent link over time between reports of perceived deficiencies in both maternal care during childhood and in the availability of close supportive relationships during adulthood. This study supports and extends findings from a 1986 U.S. study.

Adult

A test of the social support hypothesis.

As a test of the social support hypothesis, highly anxious primiparous mothers were assigned in the post-natal stage to either a professional intervention, a lay intervention or to a control group. It was hypothesised that those receiving an active intervention (be it lay or professional assistance) would become less anxious as a consequence of a central therapeutic ingredient--social support. Improvement was assessed by measuring state anxiety levels at baseline and at 12 months, while the degree to which therapists were incorporated into the social network was assessed by the Interview Schedule for Social Interaction (ISSI), given at baseline and at 12 months. While we established that anxiety levels were significantly lowered in those receiving the professional intervention and moderately (but not significantly) lowered in those receiving the lay intervention, ISSI scores for the separate groups appeared stable over the study. Reasons are considered why ISSI scores remained unchanged while intervention groups showed a reduction in anxiety levels.

Anxiety Disorders

Possible determinants, correlates and consequences of high levels of anxiety in primiparous mothers.

Groups of highly anxious, moderately anxious and minimally anxious primiparous mothers (N = 147) were obtained on the basis of Spielberger trait anxiety scores in the postpartum period, and subjects were compared. Allocation to those groups appeared to be more likely to reflect constitutional levels of anxiety, rather than recent or current social stressors. Highly anxious mothers were distinguished on a number of presumed correlates of anxiety measured by clinical questions (e.g. terminating of anxious situations), hospital notes (e.g. mood problems noted by nursing staff) and blind rater assessments (e.g. unassertiveness). While highly anxious mothers were more likely to report more recent life events, less social support, and negative interpretations of the pregnancy, the hospital experience and the hospital staff, such variables were less discriminating when neuroticism levels were effectively controlled. This suggests an intrinsic perceptual bias, rather than that the factors were determinants. Highly anxious mothers had more delivery complications, while their babies were more likely to be dysmature and slow to suckle, features we interpret as consequences of the anxiety levels. In the postpartum period these mothers were more depressed, had more concerns about their baby, themselves and their marriage, and were less confident about coping and their parenting capacities. Such variables may be correlates or consequences of anxiety.

Anxiety

Professional and non-professional intervention for highly anxious primiparous mothers.

Primiparous women (n = 627) were screened on state and trait anxiety measures in the post-partum period; sub-groups of highly anxious (n = 89), moderately anxious (n = 29), and minimally anxious (n = 29) mothers were derived and subsequently interviewed. The high-anxiety mothers were randomly assigned to a professional intervention, to a non-professional intervention, and to a control group, and their progress was reviewed over the following 12 months. Compliance, both in responding to progressive assessments and in accepting therapeutic intervention, was extremely high. Changes in anxiety levels for mothers not receiving an intervention were minimal over the study. In the high-anxiety sub-groups, there was a 19% reduction in state anxiety levels for those receiving a professional intervention, a 12% reduction for those receiving a non-professional intervention, and a 3% reduction in the controls. A planned contrast analysis determined that only professional intervention had a significant effect, intervention successfully lowering state anxiety levels to a value comparable with the moderately anxious mothers.

Adult

Publishing in the parish.

A consecutive series of 500 papers submitted to the 'Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry' is evaluated to provide information on Journal publication procedures, to assess the Journal peer review process and to examine factors associated with the outcome of submissions. While the majority of submissions was by psychiatrists and psychologists, the highest acceptance rates were for papers presented by psychiatric registrars and by psychiatrists. Of the submissions for which a final decision had been made, 50% were accepted for publication and very few papers were accepted without revision. Regional differences in submission rates were noted and, more importantly, regional differences in acceptance rates were quantified. A subsidiary analysis suggested that the latter differences reflected a general pattern and were not peculiar to, or a reflection of, Journal policy.

Australia

Viral gastroenteritis.

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Adenovirus Infections, Human

The effect of anti-synaptosomal membrane antibodies of neurotransmitter uptake.

Antibodies raised against synaptosomal plasma membranes of rat hippocampus (anti-HPC IgG) caused inhibition of [3H]noradrenaline, [3H]5-hydroxytryptamine, [3H]GABA and [3H]aspartate uptake into S1 fractions and slices of hippocampus and cerebral cortex, but not those of caudate nucleus and hypothalamus. Similar inhibition was not observed on using antibodies against synaptosomal membranes of rat caudate nucleus. Anti-HPC IgG raised against synaptosomal membranes of hippocampus failed to alter both spontaneous and K+-evoked release of [3H]noradrenaline. They did not interfere with the binding of [3H]desipramine (the potent noradrenaline-uptake inhibitor) and with the binding of [3H]dihydroalprenolol, thus excluding any interaction of the antibodies with drug receptors which are located on either the pre- or postsynaptic membrane. The anti-HPC IgG inhibit the enzymatic activity of [Na+-K+-]ATPase by 30% upon incubation of the antibodies with crude membrane preparations. A comparison of their inhibitory effects with those of the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine suggests that the corresponding hippocampal specific antigens are located at a presynaptic site.

Animals

Violent parents.

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Child Abuse