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Biomedical subjects

K E O'Grady

Publications and source records attributed to K E O'Grady.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Effectiveness of a stand-alone aftercare program for drug-involved offenders.

A study was made of the effectiveness of an aftercare program operating in conjunction with area outpatient drug free treatment programs while organizationally independent of those programs. Parolees and probationers mandated to treatment were assigned to aftercare on the basis of residence in the catchment areas in which aftercare facilities were located (n = 32) and randomly to aftercare (n = 62) and control (n = 51) when not a resident in a catchment area. No outcome differences were found between aftercare groups based on proximity to facility. At 6 months postbaseline the combined aftercare group showed significantly lower levels of criminal activity and frequent drug use as compared to controls. At 12 months postbaseline there was an attenuation of group differences with only tendencies toward significance obtained for lower levels of frequent drug use by the aftercare group. The findings are discussed in terms of the relevance of community variables for programming and for understanding long-term treatment outcomes.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Factors associated with frequency of 12-Step attendance by drug abuse clients.

Comparison was made of treatment clients attending Narcotics Anonymous and/or Alcoholics Anonymous meetings less than weekly (n = 41) with treatment clients attending meetings at least three times a week (n = 30). The frequent attenders (attending an average of 30.6 meetings monthly) differed from non- and infrequent attenders (attending an average of 0.4 meetings monthly) in terms of histories of greater lifetime drug use, more arrests and treatment experiences, and an earlier age of first use of alcohol. Although the frequent attender was also older, age was not found to influence the differences found between groups. Measures of religiosity, use of community services, and support from others for recovery and psychological functioning, other than ratings of the helpfulness of 12-Step, were not differentiated among groups. The findings suggest that 12-Step groups are more likely to be selected by clients with more severe histories of drug use and criminal activity, i.e., those most in need of the support to behavior change those groups provide. The role of treatment programs in facilitating the use of 12-Step groups is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Factors associated with frequent and infrequent HIV testing.

Drug user treatment clients with 5 or more HIV tests (frequent testees N=43) and 0-2 HIV tests (infrequent testees-N = 56) were compared on demographic characteristics, risk behaviors, perceived risk of HIV infection to self, involvement with family members, and psychological functioning. Extreme groups of HIV testees did not differ on any variables other than an index of perceived vulnerability to HIV infection (e.g., " You think that you really could get AIDS"). That measure of felt vulnerability was not correlated significantly with needle or sexual risk behaviors, family involvement, psychological functioning or other measures of perceived risk. It was reasoned that, in a community in which both dangers and protective behaviors are widely understood, frequent testees experience a generalized and heightened concern unrelated to specific behaviors or characteristics.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗
PubMed1999

Early deviance and related risk factors in the children of narcotic addicts.

This descriptive study examines the self-reported behaviors of 285 male and female adolescent children (ages 12-17) of narcotic addicts participating in methadone maintenance programs. These children responded to an extensive 2.5-hour interview questionnaire focusing on current and past activities, including criminal activities prior to age 12. The findings revealed that early deviance, assessed by self-report measures of both severity and variety, is related to current adolescent drug and alcohol use, association with deviant peers, a negative view of home atmosphere, and psychological symptomatology. These results are contrasted with the retrospective reports of adolescent behavior obtained from adult male narcotic addicts in a prior study of vulnerability to addiction. The comparability of study results is discussed in the context of developmental risk factors, prevention and treatment strategies, and other considerations specifically related to the development of children of narcotic addicts.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Differential contributions of family and peer factors to the etiology of narcotic addiction.

This retrospective study investigated relationships among early family circumstances, peer associations, and narcotic addiction in a sample of 601 urban males. Results of logistic regression analyses indicated that the extent of deviant behavior among close friends at ages 12-14 and disruption in family structure (parental divorce/separation) prior to age 11 were significantly associated with narcotic addiction. Additional regression analyses indicated that deviant behavior among family members, as well as family disruption, experienced prior to age 11, also increased the probability of association with deviant peers and a negative home atmosphere at ages 12-14. Implications of these findings for preventive interventions and for future research are presented.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

The family experiences of narcotic addicts and their subsequent parenting practices.

This survey study of male and female narcotic addicts participating in methadone maintenance programs examined self-reported retrospective data on parental behavior experienced by addicts during their adolescent years. These findings were contrasted with the addicts' self-report of their current parenting practices with their own adolescent children. Results showed addicts as perceiving their mothers as significantly more functional in their parenting practices than their fathers on indices of parental involvement, attachment, and responsibility. Significant parenting differences between addicts and their parents were reported for the three indices mentioned, as well as for parent discipline and punitive actions, with the addicts rating their current parenting practices as more effective than those of their parents. Reported parenting practices were further analyzed in the context of how the ratings of parental functioning were related to problems of drug and alcohol abuse exhibited in the home. Findings are discussed in terms of the implications for prevention and treatment approaches for addicts and their children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

The early emergence of narcotic addict types.

Providing retrospective self-reports of their activities, perceptions, and experiences during their early adolescent years (ages 12 to 14), 255 narcotic addicts were classified into four distinct types on the basis of a clustering technique applied to risk factor information derived from five major descriptive domains: family; peer deviance; personal deviance; psychological status; and protective factors. Differentiations among the types largely involved the extent of early drug and other behavioral deviance and family dysfunction. The predictive utility of the typology was examined in terms of outcome over the first ten years of the addiction career, including age at first narcotic addiction, amount of time incarcerated, and percentage of time addicted while in the community. The implications of the typology for both substance abuse prevention and treatment are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Early family adversity as a precursor to narcotic addiction.

This retrospective study examined differences among three groups of urban males in the prevalence of various family risk factors occurring before age 11 and their independent contributions to subsequent deviance. The groups included: narcotic addicts; never-addicted peer controls who were associates of the addicts at age 11; and never-addicted community controls not associated with the addicts. Sixty-four percent of the addicts, compared to slightly under 40% of both control groups, reportedly experienced one or more family risk factors involving deviant behavior among family members and family disruption before age 11. While community controls differed from addicts on both family deviance and disruption in family structure, peer controls differed from addicts only on disruption of family structure. For the total sample, both family deviance and family disruption experienced before age 11 were significantly associated with crime severity level at age 11. Implications of these findings for future substance abuse research and intervention are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Applying the Collaborative Study Psychotherapy Rating Scale to rate therapist adherence in cognitive-behavior therapy, interpersonal therapy, and clinical management.

Adherence of therapists to behaviors specified in cognitive-behavior therapy, interpersonal therapy, and clinical management manuals was studied. Raters used the Collaborative Study Psychotherapy Rating Scale (CSPRS) to rate therapist adherence in each of four sessions from 180 patients in the treatment phase of the National Institute of Mental Health Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program (TDCRP). Results indicate that therapists exhibited more behaviors appropriate to their own respective treatment approaches than to other treatment approaches. In fact, the three treatments could be discriminated almost perfectly using the CSPRS. Analysis of the psychometric properties of the CSPRS revealed high interrater reliability and high internal consistency. However, a five-component structure extracted from the intercorrelations of the CSPRS items was substantially different from a five-factor structure found in an earlier study.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy↗
PubMed1987

Sexuality among Mexican Americans: a case of sexual stereotyping.

The purpose of this study was to establish an empirical base for the comprehensive study of sexual preferences and practices among Mexican Americans. The sample consisted of 165 Mexican-American (86 male, 79 female) and 99 Anglo (47 male, 52 female) undergraduates. The instrument used was the Sexual Knowledge and Attitude Test (SKAT; Lief & Reed, 1972). The first section of the SKAT consists of four attitudes subscales dealing with autoeroticism, abortion, heterosexual relations, and sexual myths. The second section includes 50 true-false items testing knowledge of the biological, psychological, and social facts of human sexuality. The last section focuses on the respondent's sexual value system and practices. The design was a 2 (ethnicity) X 2 (gender) X 4 (religion) X 3 (socioeconomic status) incomplete factorial, in which the effect of interest was ethnicity. This effect was assessed controlling for subjects' age, gender, religious preference, and socioeconomic status. The dependent variables were subjects' sexual attitudes, knowledge, sexual value system, and sexual practices. Tests of significance were undertaken separately for each set of dependent variables, with a correspondingly reduced alpha level. Significant differences were obtained between Mexican Americans and Anglos, in attitudes, knowledge, value system, and practices, in clear support of the hypotheses.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Sex, physical attractiveness, and perceived risk for mental illness.

This study investigated the relationship between sex, physical attractiveness, and perceived risk for mental illness. A random sample consisting of 120 males and 120 females was recruited at various locations on a large Northeastern university campus and asked to fill out a questionnaire that dealth with "how they might behave in the future." This questionnaire contained brief descriptions of 12 mental disorders. Each description was written to be consistent with a type of mental disorder discussed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III; American Psychiatric Association, 1980). The questionnaire was developed through prior scaling in two separate samples and included disorders that differed in their rated severity as well as in their reported differential incidence in males and females. Results of multiple regression analyses, in which sex, rated physical attractiveness of the subject, type of mental disorder, and their interactions served as predictors, and perceived risk for mental illness served as the criterion indicated that decreased attractiveness was associated with an increasing belief in susceptibility to mental illness (p less than .05). Several additional predicted effects did not emerge. Results were interpreted to indicate another link between physical attractiveness and mental illness. Limitations to the study are discussed and suggestions for future research are offered.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Hostility-guilt, guilt over aggression, and self-punishment.

48 men were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups and partitioned at the median on hostility-guilt in a 2X2 factorial design. Subjects in the experimental condition were induced to aggress verbally by severely derogating a stranger in a study of first impressions. Before and after participating in the first impressions study, the subjects participated in a pain tolerance procedure involving receiving a series of increasingly painful electric shocks. Affect adjective checklists measured guilt and other affects at four times before and after each pain tolerance procedure. As expected, high-hostility-guilt men increased in affective guilt following participation in the experimental condition in which they unfairly distressed a stranger. As expected, the affective guilt of these same high-hostility-guilt men declined after submitting to a procedure measuring pain tolerance. Contrary to expectations, low-hostility-guilt men tolerated more pain in the experimental condition than did high-hostility-guilt men.

Affect↗