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Biomedical subjects

B Major

Publications and source records attributed to B Major.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Gender patterns in social touch: the impact of setting and age.

This study examined the impact of age of participants and the setting in which touch occurred on gender patterns in 799 instances of observed intentional touch. Gender asymmetry, a pattern in which men are more likely to touch women than vice versa, was observed when touch between adults was examined but not when touch involving children was examined. Adult touch interactions occurring in public, nonintimate settings showed gender asymmetry, but adult touch interactions occurring in greeting or leave-taking settings did not. Cross-sex touch was more prevalent among adults, whereas same-sex touch was more prevalent when a child was involved. Implications for theoretical perspectives on gender and touch are discussed.

Adolescent

Perceived social support, self-efficacy, and adjustment to abortion.

Prior to their having a 1st trimester abortion, women's perceptions of social support from their partner, family, and friends and self-efficacy for coping were assessed. Depression, mood, physical complaints, and anticipation of negative consequences were measured after the 30-min recovery period. As predicted, perceived social support enhanced adjustment indirectly through its effects on self-efficacy. Women who perceived high support from their family, friends, and partners had higher self-efficacy for coping. Higher self-efficacy, in turn, predicted better adjustment on the psychological measures but not on the physical complaint measure. No direct path between social support and adjustment was observed. In addition, women who told close others of their abortion but perceived them as less than completely supportive had poorer postabortion psychological adjustment than either women who did not tell or women who told and perceived complete support.

Abortion, Induced

Self-blame, self-efficacy, and adjustment to abortion.

The causal impact of attributions and coping self-efficacy on adjustment to abortion was examined. Two hundred and eighty-three women were randomly assigned prior to their abortion to 1 of 3 counseling interventions: 1 designed to alter attributions for unwanted pregnancy (ATT-INT), 1 designed to raise coping expectations (EXP-INT), or a control (standard counseling) group. Depression, mood, anticipated consequences, and physical complaints were assessed postabortion. Women in the ATT-INT or EXP-INT group were better adjusted immediately postabortion than women in the control group. The EXP-INT group was also less depressed than the ATT-INT group. Three individual difference factors were also related to better adjustment: high coping self-efficacy, low self-character blame, and low other-blame. Self-efficacy also predicted adjustment 3 weeks postabortion. Implications for theories of adjustment to major life events, therapeutic interventions to assist coping with such events, and public policy on abortion are discussed.

Abortion, Induced

Attributions, expectations, and coping with abortion.

We examined cognitive predictors of coping with a negative life event. Women undergoing first-trimester abortion were, before the procedure, surveyed regarding their attributions for their pregnancy, expectations for coping, the meaningfulness of the pregnancy, and the degree to which the pregnancy was intended. After the abortion and again at a follow-up visit, we assessed affective state, physical complaints, anticipated negative consequences, and depression. As predicted, women who blamed their pregnancy on their character coped less well than low self-character blamers, but contrary to predictions, self-behavior blame was unrelated to coping. Women who had high coping expectations before the abortion coped much better than those with low coping expectations. Women who found their pregnancy highly meaningful, however, coped worse immediately after the abortion than did women who found their pregnancy less meaningful. Intentionality of the pregnancy was related to depression three weeks after the abortion, and women accompanied by their partner to the abortion clinic coped less well immediately after the abortion than women unaccompanied by their partner.

Abortion, Induced

[Analysis of gestationally conditioned morbidity in the German Democratic Republic].

During the last years the analysis of the perinatal mortality with its casuistic and statistical aspect has gained importance as an instrument in organizing the health protection services for females. For further achievements in the ante-, intra- and postnatal care according to the social and scientific progress and to the needs of the people a sound knowledge of the morbidity structure is of great value. Relating to these points available data sources are analysed regarding their information contents and significance. Under the aspect of their prevalence the most important diseases during pregnancy are presented.

Female

Prophylactic use of tetracycline for first trimester abortions.

Because the efficacy of prophylactic antibiotic therapy has yet to be established and because numerous variables often hamper studies of such therapy, the results of prophylactic antibiotic therapy were studied in a homogeneous gynecologic population. The patients were 4000 women undergoing first trimester abortions. The surgical procedure, the gynecologists' skill, and the hospital environment were relatively uniform, as was the patient age range. Two groups of 1000 patients each received tetracycline; the other 2000 patients served as controls. The complications associated with abortion were then analyzed in those receiving tetracycline and in the 2000 controls. Complications were less frequent among patients receiving tetracycline. This finding supports the argument of those who favor the prophylactic use of antibiotics in the management of various high-risk surgical problems.

Abortion, Legal