PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R Calderon

Publications and source records attributed to R Calderon.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Behavioral treatment of hypertensive heart disease in African Americans: rationale and design of a randomized controlled trial.

African Americans experience higher morbidity and mortality than Whites do as a result of hypertension and associated cardiovascular disease. Chronic psychosocial stress has been considered an important contributing factor to these high rates. The authors describe the rationale and design for a planned randomized controlled trial comparing Transcendental Meditation, a stress-reduction technique, with lifestyle education in the treatment of hypertension and hypertensive heart disease in urban African Americans. They pretested 170 men and women aged 20 to 70 years over a 3-session baseline period, with posttests at 6 months. Outcomes included clinic and ambulatory blood pressure, quality of life, left ventricular mass measured by M-mode echocardiography, left ventricular diastolic function measured by Doppler, and carotid atherosclerosis measured by beta-mode ultrasound. This trial was designed to evaluate the hypothesis that a selected stress reduction technique is effective in reducing hypertension and hypertensive heart disease in African Americans.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Parental Involvement in Deaf Children's Education Programs as a Predictor of Child's Language, Early Reading, and Social-Emotional Development.

This study examined the impact of school-based, teacher-rated parental involvement on four child outcomes: language development, early reading skills, and positive and negative measures of social-emotional development. The 28 children were assessed for outcomes between 9 to 53 months post-graduation from a birth-to-3 early intervention (EI) program for children with hearing loss. Other factors included in the study were child's hearing loss, mother's education level, mother's current communication skills with her child, and maternal use of additional services beyond those offered by the early intervention program or the child's school program. Parental involvement in children's school-based education program is a significant positive predictor to early reading skills but shares considerable variance with maternal communication skill for this outcome. In this study, maternal communication skills and the child's hearing loss were the strongest predictors for language development. Maternal use of additional services was the strongest predictor to poorer social-emotional adjustment. The study's findings indicate that although parental involvement in their deaf child's school-based education program can positively contribute to academic performance, parental communication skill is a more significant predictor for positive language and academic development. Factors associated with parental involvement, maternal communication, and use of additional services are explored and suggestions are offered to enhance parental involvement and communication skills.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1999

Stress and coping in hearing mothers of children with hearing loss: factors affecting mother and child adjustment.

The present study examines maternal and child adjustment as a result of the application of a stress and coping model (Folkman, Schaefer, & Lazarus 1979) to factors associated with having a school-aged child with a hearing loss. Thirty-six hearing mothers of children with hearing loss participated in the study. Information was gathered through parent and teacher questionnaires and home interviews and observations. Results indicated that (a) social support emerged as an important predictor of maternal adjustment as well as a buffer between current life stress and maternal adjustment, and (b) maternal problem-solving skill emerged as a significant predictor of child adjustment and as a mediating factor between child's age and teacher rating of child adjustment. The discussion focuses on possible explanations for these findings, the utility of a competency-based rather than psychopathology-based perspective in understanding parent and child outcomes, and implications for intervention strategies.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1999

Stress, stress reduction and hypercholesterolemia in African Americans: a review.

Psychological stress may directly contribute to the disproportionately high rates of coronary heart disease morbidity and mortality and its etiologic risk factors in African Americans. Specifically, acute and chronic stress have been shown to raise serum lipids and are associated with clinical coronary events. The mechanisms by which stress contributes to alterations in lipid levels are not fully known, but various pathways (ie, hormonal, dietary, etc) have been implicated. Traditional methods for reducing blood serum lipids include diet, drugs or both. These methods have been criticized because of issues of compliance, side effects, and cost. Because of these limitations, nondrug behavioral methods are recommended by the National Cholesterol Education Program as the first line of prevention and treatment for hypercholesterolemia and other risk factors. Research shows that CHD morbidity and mortality and major risk factors may be modifiable by behavioral intervention. Specifically, the Transcendental Meditation technique, an effective antidote to stress, reduces levels of major CHD risk factors including hypercholesterolemia, as well as blood pressure and smoking. Using an effective stress reduction approach for prevention and treatment of CHD and its risk factors in African Americans may prove to be a valuable asset for this underserved population.

Black or African American↗
PubMed1998

Characteristics of hearing families and their young deaf and hard of hearing children. Early intervention follow-up.

Children with hearing loss are at risk for outcomes below their potential despite institution of educational approaches at increasingly younger ages. Research suggests some benefits of early intervention (EI) for these children and their families. However, previous investigators have not delineated broader family, child, and program variables that warrant consideration in understanding the role, success, and limitations of EI. The present study involved 28 hearing families and their children with hearing impairments aged 42 to 87 months, 9 to 42 months postgraduation from an EI program. The information gathered included demographics, duration and intensity of the EI, parent involvement, and educational and communication choices. Results provide a descriptive profile of children with hearing loss and their hearing families from EI through the preschool years. The discussion reflects upon EI in the context of this population's significant heterogeneity. Complex and confounding factors are presented that may affect children's and families' short- or long-term progress and the goals of EI.

Child↗
PubMed1998

Early social-emotional, language, and academic development in children with hearing loss. Families with and without fathers.

As a group, children with significant hearing loss are at greater risk than other children for outcomes far below their potential, despite the institution of various educational approaches at increasingly earlier ages. Research suggests some benefits of early intervention for deaf children and their families. However, there remains a paucity of research into how family variables may affect child outcomes. The present study investigated the effect of paternal presence or absence on the social-emotional, language, and academic outcomes of 22 deaf and hard of hearing children ages 43-83 months. The children had graduated anywhere from 9 to 47 months earlier from an early intervention program for deaf and hard of hearing children 3 years of age or younger. Results indicated that children whose father is present have significantly better academic and language outcomes than those without a father present. Possible explanations for the findings are discussed, as well as implications of these findings for services offered by early intervention programs.

Achievement↗
PubMed1993

Depression in young people: initial presentation and clinical course.

OBJECTIVE: This project was designed to provide prospective data on the clinical presentation and longitudinal course of depression in children and adolescents. METHOD: Children and their parent(s) completed a structured diagnostic interview (Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children) at intake, and then yearly for 3 years. Collateral data were collected on school, social, and family functioning. RESULTS: Mean length of initial depressive episode was 35.6 weeks, SD of 26 weeks. Of the 65 depressed youths who completed the 3-year follow-up, 35 (54%) disclosed another episode of depression. Demographic, family-environment, and diagnostic variables were explored as predictors of characteristics of initial episode, recurrence of depression, and psychosocial competence at follow-up. Female gender and presence of a coexisting anxiety disorder were significantly related to severity of initial depression. Family environment was the only predictor significantly related to overall psychosocial competence over 3 years. CONCLUSIONS: The findings confirm depression in youth as a valid clinical phenomenon, with substantial risk of recurrence. Increased levels of stress in the family environment were associated with poorer overall outcomes.

Anxiety Disorders↗
PubMed1991

Risks for suicidality in major depressive disorder.

This investigation developed a hierarchical multiple regression model to assess the potential risk factors for suicidality in youths 7 to 17 years old. Variables were assessed in three domains: self-perceptions, demography and diagnosis, and home/environment. The model controlled for major depressive disorder (MDD), which has confounded previous investigations, by evaluating potential risks in a diagnostically heterogenous sample, and then evaluating these risks in a subsample with MDD. Conduct problems and depressive thinking emerged as the most powerful predictors in both samples. Hopelessness, life stress, and maternal psychopathology predicted suicidality only in the total sample. Separation anxiety protected MDD youths. These results suggest that suicidal MDD youths may comprise a distinct subgroup of depressed youths.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

The role of somatic complaints in the diagnosis of depression in children and adolescents.

The question of whether somatic complaints are a significant feature of depression independent of anxiety was explored. Structured interview (Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children) and Child Behavior Checklist data from depressed and nondepressed psychiatric controls were analyzed to explore the interaction of somatic complaints, anxiety, and depression. Seventy percent of the children who met criteria for depression also had significant somatic complaints in contrast to 34% of the controls. Findings revealed that frequency of somatic complaints increased with severity of depression regardless of coexisting anxiety.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

The 3-year longitudinal course of suicidality and predictive factors for subsequent suicidality in youths with major depressive disorder.

This study followed the course of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in youths 7 to 17 years of age who recently experienced an episode of major depression. Suicidal was expressed by 72% of the youths at some time during the study. These predominantly outpatient youths tended to be suicidal on multiple occasions, but their severity of suicidality did not increase over time. Three variables at presentation predicted later suicidality: severity of initial suicidality, anger, and age. These results suggest that milder forms of suicidality represent a feature of depression rather than characterizing a subgroup of high-risk depressed youths. The results also suggest that suicidality and anger may mark a predominantly irritable form of depression as youths mature.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Incidence of regional lymph node metastasis in operable osteogenic sarcoma.

Records of 182 consecutive patients with the diagnosis of operable osteogenic sarcoma, treated between 1954 through 1980 by the Breast, Bone and Mixed Tumors Department of the Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplasicas (Lima, Peru), were reviewed to study the incidence of regional lymph node metastases in this disease. All the patients included in this study had radical surgery, which means the complete resection of the bone where the tumor is located, including the proximal joint, which permitted excision of the regional lymph nodes. Nineteen patients (10.4%) had evidence of sarcoma metastatic to draining lymph nodes. A comprehensive analysis of the literature shows that the incidence of metastasis to the lymph nodes in this study, is higher than those cited in a review of the literature, probably due to the policy in the management of osteogenic sarcoma in our institution, during the period of study.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Screening for anxiety and depression in an adolescent clinic.

The Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) were administered to 228 consecutive adolescent clinic patients and provisional physician diagnoses were compared with test scores obtained in 205 valid replies. The age range was 10 to 17 with a mean +/- SD of 14.3 +/- 1.8 years. Racial distribution was 176 white, 21 black, 4 Asian, and 4 other. The provisional diagnoses were categorized as follows: medical diagnosis only, 140; psychiatric diagnosis only, 45; and combined medical/psychiatric diagnosis, 20. Mean scores +/- SD for the entire study population were STAI-State 41.1 +/- 10.9, STAI-Trait 41.3 +/- 11.8, and CDI 10.1 +/- 8.3. Odds ratios showed that patients with only a psychiatric diagnosis had higher STAI scores than those with only a medical diagnosis and those with a combined medical/psychiatric diagnosis; patients with only a psychiatric diagnosis and those with a combined medical/psychiatric diagnosis had higher CDI scores than those with only a medical diagnosis. The medical records of 30 patients in the medical diagnosis category with high STAI and CDI scores were reviewed; of 140 patients with medical diagnoses, screening detected 15 patients (10.7%) who warranted further intervention for psychiatric disorders.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Consanguinity in the Archbishopric of Toledo, Spain, 1900-79. I. Types of consanguineous mating in relation to premarital migration and its effects on inbreeding levels.

This study, the first of a series on consanguinity in the Archbishopric of Toledo from 1900 to 1979, analyses in detail the types of consanguineous mating in a population of considerable size, some 650,000 persons, in Central Spain. During the period covered, very important transformations occurred in Spanish society. The data relate to 21,464 consanguineous marriages. They were divided into two groups, according to the premarital migration of the couple. Significant differences in the frequencies of the types of consanguineous matings, and their secular evolution, are found for the two groups. The expected trend in inbreeding in the total area shows two different tendencies: constancy till the end of the 1950s, followed by a fast decline during the last two decades.

Catholicism↗
PubMed1989

Psychopathology in parents of depressed children and adolescents.

One hundred and seventeen biological mothers and 63 biological fathers of depressed and nondepressed, psychiatrically disturbed children and adolescents were interviewed with the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Lifetime Version. Diagnostic information was also obtained on 54 biological fathers who were unavailable for interview. Histories of depressive disorders and other forms of psychopathology were reported at high rates in the parents. Major depression was the most commonly reported disorder in interviewed parents of both sexes, but it was reported more often in mothers. Substance abuse and antisocial pathology was more prevalent in fathers. Depression in parents did not distinguish depressed from nondepressed probands, but maternal history of anxiety disorders, alcoholism and/or drug abuse, and suicidality did. Depressed probands were more likely than their nondepressed peers to have two parents with histories of depression. Mothers of younger patients had more substance abuse and suicidality in their histories than mothers of adolescents. They also reported earlier age of onset of depression and earlier age of entry into treatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

[Idiopathic severe valgus deformity of the knee in children. Apropos of 2 cases].

The authors have reviewed two cases of important and idiopathic deformity in children coming from Africa. In the third year of life, a valgus deformity of a knee occurs spontaneously and increases rapidly in a previously healthy child. Varus deformity of the other knee follows but seems to be just a mechanical consequence of the valgus deformity. The pathological lesions observed radiologically concern mainly the metaphyseses. General skeletal or metabolic disease, malnutrition or sickle-cell disease are not found.

Casts, Surgical↗
PubMed1985

Scintigraphic demonstration of a diaphragmatic defect as the cause of massive hydrothorax in cirrhosis.

A 64-year-old man presented with a massive right-sided hydrothorax associated with cirrhosis of the liver. There was no clinical evidence of ascites nor other underlying disease. The usual complementary tests failed to demonstrate any causative abnormality. Chest and abdominal scintigraphy after intraperitoneal injection of 99mTc-human serum albumin disclosed early filling of the pleural space by the radiopharmaceutical and suggested a diaphragmatic defect as the cause for this rare association.

Diaphragm↗
PubMed1984

Early intervention using simultaneous communication with deaf infants: the effect on communication development.

This report presents findings on an independent evaluation of an early intervention program for severely and profoundly deaf children. Located in Vancouver, British Columbia, this comprehensive program served families with children under age 3. The evaluation included comparison with a matched sample of deaf children without intervention. Included were a developmental assessment and videotape of linguistic and social interactions. Results indicated more developmentally mature communication and higher-quality interaction in families who had received intervention.

Child Development↗