Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J E Hastings.
A representative sample of 25 years of research relating sociodemographic variables to violence is reviewed. Generalizations from those studies are applied to the authors' more recent research on domestic violence. Factors limiting the ability of the studies to be synthesized into a more meaningful whole are identified. Strategies to enhance the value of future studies are discussed.
Personality characteristics of 99 domestically violent and 71 nonviolent men were studied, using the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory and controlling for premorbid history. Men with poor premorbid backgrounds from 3 groups (ns = 66, 12, and 23) showed more elevations on the Millon inventory than men with good premorbid backgrounds (ns = 33, 20, and 48). However, over-all, batterers showed more Millon elevations than nonviolent men. These findings point to the need to control psychosocial variables when studying personality characteristics of batterers.
OBJECTIVE: To compare the rate and magnitude of physiologic and psychologic adaptations to aerobic training between middle-age and older men, to assess their interest in continued participation (> 6 months) in a supervised high-intensity training program, and to evaluate the safety of high-intensity training for older people. DESIGN: Before-after intervention trial. SETTING: Medical center in a Midwestern metropolitan city. PARTICIPANTS: Thirteen middle-age (35-50 years) and 14 older (60-71 years) normal men. INTERVENTION: Subjects trained on treadmills and leg cycle ergometers for 40 minutes 3 times per week. The intensity was increased to 85% of peak heart rate (HR) within the first 3 weeks of training. MEASUREMENT: Peak oxygen consumption, HR at submaximal work rates, three psychological tests, and election to continue in the supervised program. RESULTS: At 6 months of training, peak oxygen consumption had increased by 12% and 11% in the middle-aged and older groups, respectively, with 86% and 100% of this increase occurring within the first 3 months. Both groups showed comparable decreases in HR at submaximal work rates after 3 months of training with no further significant change from 3 to 6 months. None of the psychologic parameters evaluated changed significantly with 3 or 6 months of training in either group. More of the older (71%) than middle-aged (45%) men elected to continue in the supervised program after 6 months. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study involving small groups of carefully screened middle-aged and older men suggest that the time course and magnitude of physiologic adaptations to aerobic training are similar between age groups when the training regimen is the same. Neither age group showed alterations in psychologic parameters nor experienced orthopedic injuries with training. The older group showed greater interest in continued participation in a supervised exercise program.
Between January and August 1993, 59 medical teleconsultations were conducted successfully between the video teleconference center at Tripler Army Medical Center on Oahu and the video teleconference center on Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. This pioneer effort in the Pacific connected 2 archipeligoes separated by more than 2,200 nautical miles. Diagnostic and therapeutic decisions were made in the specialties of orthopedics, dermatology, radiology, urology, pediatrics, ophthalmology and physical therapy. Geographic isolation no longer means limited medical specialty care.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) has received formal research attention only within the last eight years. Diagnostic criteria for SAD include many characteristics typical of depression: sadness, low self-esteem, lack of energy, social withdrawal, and suicide ideation, and features of atypical depression: carbohydrate craving, overeating, weight gain, and hypersomnia. Differential diagnosis of the disorder depends on an onset in fall/winter and remission in spring/summer. It was hypothesized that spinal cord injury (SCI) patients would have a higher incidence of the disorder in the northern latitudes because of decreased outdoor activities in winter and because of such light-depriving winter survival tactics as installing opaque plastic for storm windows. SCI patient responded to a postal survey which included Rosenthal's Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Results showed a substantially higher rate of SAD among SCI patients than in the normative sample.
In this study, we extended previous research on racial differences on the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) which focused on psychiatric inpatients. Subscale scores were compared for Black and White outpatient males on the MCMI. Age, education, and employment status were controlled. Results showed that Blacks scored significantly higher than Whites on the Narcissistic, Aggressive, Paranoid, Drug, and Psychotic Delusion subscales. Results are interpreted in terms of the larger body of research on racial differences on personality instruments. Clinical implications and the need for further research are discussed.
Canada's universal health care system is perceived as threatened by rising costs, an aging population, and technological growth. This popular and successful program has largely kept costs under control while maintaining quality and ensuring equity. However, its success demonstrates the limits of medical care; remaining health problems are less amenable to improvement by merely improving access to traditional services. A widening view of health implies a larger health role in other policy arenas, and a larger group of legitimate participants; coordinating an evolving and expanding system becomes increasingly difficult. Policy options include some combination of laissez faire, business as usual, managed care, manpower regulation, and system change. Change implies controversy and conflict. Hard decisions are clearly ahead.
This paper examined demographic and personality characteristics of violence-free completers (n = 74) and violence repeating completers (n = 32) of a spouse abuse abatement counseling program. Chi-square analyses on categorical data, and analyses of variance on personality test data revealed several predicted findings. Compared to violence-free completers, recidivists reported higher levels of substance abuse both before and after treatment. Recidivists also showed evidence of higher narcissism, measured by the Narcissistic, Gregarious and Aggressive subscales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory. Referral source (self or court) did not differentiate the two groups, nor did record of criminal activity. Subsequent discriminant function analysis, entering all predicted variables, correctly identified 65.4% of the recidivists and 73.1% of violence-free completers. Clinical and research implications of the findings are discussed.
This article examines differential demographic and personality characteristics of completers (n = 88) and dropouts (n = 68) from a spouse abuse abatement counseling program. Chi-square analyses on categorical data and multivariate analyses of variance on personality test data revealed several predicted findings. In general, treatment dropouts were younger and had lower employment levels than treatment completers. Dropouts also had higher pretreatment levels of police contact than completers for alcohol- and drug-related offenses, as well as miscellaneous offenses, but not for violent offenses. Personality data indicated greater borderline and schizoidal tendencies among dropouts, compared to completers, as measured by the Millon Clinical Multixial Inventory (MCMI). Moreover, completers evidence lower levels of overall psychopathology than dropouts. Discriminant function analyses correctly predicted 71% of dropouts with the following variables: volunteer status, race, employment, MCMI-Alcohol scale and pretreatment miscellaneous criminal offenses. The results of the present study are discussed in terms of victim safety planning and program policy implications.
The present study compared male spouse abusers, with and without alcohol problems, with age-matched, nonabusive males on measures of personality style, personality disorder, dysphoria, and a number of demographic measures. There were no differences among the groups in racial composition, religious preference, or religious devoutness. Male abusers were less likely to be employed, to be in intact relationships, and were less well educated. They were more likely to have witnessed abuse or experienced abuse as children, although that observation is more characteristic of abusers with alcohol problems. Measures of personality and psychopathology generally supported the hypothesis that abusive males would show greater elevations on test scales reflecting personality disorder and dysphoria and less conformity than nonbatterers. Alcohol abuse was related to greater batterer-nonbatterer differences. Implications of these findings and methodological concerns for future research are discussed.
To study the incidence and course of neuropsychologic sequelae from cardiac operation, a battery of tests was administered to 46 patients before and after coronary artery bypass surgery. Their performance was compared with that of 14 peripheral vascular surgery patients and 26 nonsurgical control patients. A subsample of each group was studied again 6 months later. Test results were consistent with previous reports. Neuropsychologic deficits after cardiac operation are not uncommon, though they are often subtle and generally resolve by the sixth month after operation. Postoperative deficit was significant on measures of attention, psychomotor speed, and fine motor dexterity, but considerable interpatient performance variability was noted. Other findings imply that nonspecific aspects or surgery may make a substantial contribution to the immediate postoperative deficit in patients who have cardiac operations.
A survey of 136 employed women was conducted. Type A personality, demographic variables, job characteristics and attitudes, health habits, and physical and psychological symptoms of strain were assessed. Average Type A score was higher than the normative mean (57th percentile). Compared with Type Bs, the Type A women had been in their current jobs for a shorter time, worked longer hours, and were less satisfied with their jobs. None of the health habit behaviors was related to Type A score. Small but substantial proportions of the sample complained that they often or always experienced a variety of physical and psychological symptoms. The former were not related to Type A score, but Type A women did tend to report more nervousness in all situations and more dysphoria of all kinds at work. Correlations between job dissatisfaction and rated job stress with symptoms were calculated separately for Type As and Type Bs. Substantial correlations were found for the Type As but not the Type Bs. Dissatisfaction and stress were related to more frequent symptom complaints in the Type As. Correlations of health habits and symptoms were also computed for Type As and Bs separately. Implications for future research are discussed.
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This study used imagery instructions to examine cardiac patients' physiological responses to Type A-relevant situations. Twenty Type A and Type B patients, classified by the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS), were presented both "Type A" and "Neutral" imagery scripts, followed by the administration of the Structured Interview (SI). Subjects rated each scene for vividness and their emotional reaction to the image. Heart period, pulse transit time, finger temperature, finger pulse volume, frontalis EMG, neck EMG, forearm flexor EMG, and forearm extensor EMG were monitored throughout the experiment. Results showed that (a) Type A's had greater heart period and neck EMG responses to Type A scenes compared to Neutral scenes, (b) Type A's had faster pulse transit times and lower finger temperatures than Type B's throughout the imagery task and the SI, (c) both Type A's and Type B's rated Type A scenes as more emotionally arousing than Neutral scenes, and (d) although the pattern of results was the same when subjects were classified by the SI, results were no longer statistically significant.
This review focuses on characteristics of the Type A behavior pattern in women in studies of demographic characteristics, physiological responses, laboratory performance, and personality. With some exceptions, these characteristics parallel those previously described for Type A men. The incidence of Type A behavior in the United States is comparable for men and women when socioeconomic factors are controlled. Type A behavior in women is positively correlated with socioeconomic status, occupation, education, and incidence of coronary heart disease. Type A women tend to show greater autonomic arousal to laboratory stressors as well as greater time urgency and speed, more goal directedness, a preference to work alone under stress conditions, and more competitiveness/aggressiveness than Type B women. Type A positively correlates with various estimates of anger, hostility, and masculine sex role orientation. Depression and anxiety in Type A's are found to vary as a function of sex role orientation and locus of control. Methodological problems in the existing studies are discussed.
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