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Biomedical subjects

T M Field

Publications and source records attributed to T M Field.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Adolescents' academic expectations and achievement.

Previous research has indicated that adolescents' relationships with their mother influence their academic expectations and achievement. Substance use has also been found to have a strong influence on academic expectations and achievement. In the present study, 80 high school seniors from middle to upper socioeconomic status families completed questionnaires on behavioral and psychological aspects of adolescent life. Academic expectations were found to be highly correlated with academic achievement (r = .60). A stepwise regression analysis revealed that relationship with mother, academic achievement, and alcohol use accounted for 56% of the total variance in academic expectations. Stepwise regression on academic achievement revealed that cocaine use, marijuana use, and academic expectations accounted for 48% of the total variance.

Achievement↗

The relationship of Internet use to depression and social isolation among adolescents.

The present study investigated whether higher levels of Internet use are associated with depression and social isolation among adolescents. Eighty-nine high school seniors were administered a questionnaire that measured low (less than 1 hour per day), moderate (1-2 hours per day), and high (more than 2 hours per day) Internet use; relationships with mother, father, and peers; and depression. Low Internet users, as compared with high users, reported better relationships with their mothers and friends.

Adolescent↗

Angry adolescents who worry about becoming violent.

In the present study, 31 of 89 adolescents responded affirmatively to the following statement: "Sometimes I get so angry that I worry I will become violent." These adolescents (the anger group) were compared with the nonanger group, and several differences were found. The anger group (1) reported less intimacy with parents, received less support from them, and was less close to siblings; (2) had more opposite-sex friends, dated more frequently, and more frequently had a boyfriend or girlfriend; (3) had a lower grade point average; (4) were more depressed; and (5) used marijuana more frequently. Results of a regression analysis revealed that depression and dating were the only significant predictors of anger, explaining 17% of the variance.

Adolescent↗

Moderate involvement in sports is related to lower depression levels among adolescents.

Sports involvement has been found to be related to social and psychological well-being in Icelandic adolescents. The present study investigated whether similar relationships exist for American adolescents. A group of 89 high school seniors completed a questionnaire that gathered data on sports involvement, depression, intimacy with parents and friends, and grade point average. It was found that the moderate sports involvement group (3 to 6 hours per week) had lower depression scores than did the low sports involvement group (2 hours or less per week). The findings are discussed.

Adolescent↗

Massage therapy effects.

Massage therapy is older than recorded time, and rubbing was the primary form of medicine until the pharmaceutical revolution of the 1940s. Popularized again as part of the alternative medicine movement, massage therapy has recently received empirical support for facilitating growth, reducing pain, increasing alertness, diminishing depression, and enhancing immune function. In this article studies are reviewed that document these effects, and models are proposed for potential underlying mechanisms.

Adolescent↗

Adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder benefit from massage therapy.

Twenty-eight adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were provided either massage therapy or relaxation therapy for 10 consecutive school days. The massage therapy group, but not the relaxation therapy group, rated themselves as happier and observers rated them as fidgeting less following the sessions. After the 2-week period, their teachers reported more time on task and assigned them lower hyperactivity scores based on classroom behavior.

Adolescent↗

Polydrug-using adolescent mothers and their infants receiving early intervention.

This study investigated the effects of an intervention for polydrug-using adolescent mothers. The program included educational, vocational, and parenting classes; social and drug rehab; and day care for their infants while they attended school half-day. The drug-exposed infants were similar to the nonexposed infants on traditional birth measures, although they had inferior Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale scores, including habituation, orientation, abnormal reflexes, general irritability, and regulatory capacity. The drug-exposed infants also spent less time in quiet sleep and more time crying and showing stress behaviors. Both the mothers and the infants in the drug groups demonstrated inferior interactions, and their dopamine and serotonin levels were significantly higher. As early as 3 months (following 3 months of intervention), the drug rehab mothers and their infants looked more like the nondrug group in their interactions; by 6 months, they looked similar on virtually every measure. At 12 months, the infants of drug rehab mothers (versus the drug control group) had superior Early Social Communication Scale scores and Bayley Mental scale scores, as well as significantly greater head circumference and fewer pediatric complications. The drug rehab mothers also improved on several lifestyle variables. They demonstrated a lower incidence of continued drug use and repeat pregnancy, and a greater number continued school, received a high school or general equivalency diploma, or were placed in a job. Thus, a relatively cost-effective high school based intervention had positive effects on both adolescent mothers who had used drugs and their infants.

Adolescent↗

Cocaine-exposed preterm neonates show behavioral and hormonal differences.

OBJECTIVE: Prematurity has been associated with prenatal cocaine exposure, but most studies on the behavioral effects of prenatal cocaine exposure have been restricted to full-term infant samples. The current study focused on behavioral and hormonal responses in preterm cocaine-exposed infants compared with a cohort of non-cocaine-exposed infants of similar gestational age. METHODOLOGY: A comparison between 30 cocaine-exposed and 30 non-cocaine-exposed preterm neonates suggested that the cocaine-exposed neonates were born to mothers who had higher parity and more obstetric complications. In addition, mothers of cocaine-exposed preterm neonates visited, touched, held, and fed their infants less frequently than mothers of nonexposed infants. RESULTS: The cocaine-exposed infants had smaller head circumferences at birth, spent more time in the neonatal intensive care unit, and had a greater incidence of periventricular-intraventricular hemorrhages. They also had inferior Brazelton cluster scores, including lower state regulation and range-of-state scores, and greater depression. During sleep-wake behavior observations, they showed difficulty maintaining alert states and self-regulating their behavior, and they spent more time in indeterminate sleep and had decreased periods of quiet sleep and increased levels of agitated behavior, including tremulousness, mouthing, multiple limb movements, and clenched fists. Finally, higher urinary norepinephrine, dopamine, and cortisol levels and lower plasma insulin levels were noted in the cocaine-exposed preterm neonates. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the need for follow-up assessments and early intervention.

Case-Control Studies↗

Depressed mothers' touching increases infants' positive affect and attention in still-face interactions.

The effects of depressed mothers' touching on their infants' behavior were investigated during the still-face situation. 48 depressed and nondepressed mothers and their 3-month-old infants were randomly assigned to control and experimental conditions. 4 successive 90-sec periods were implemented: (A) normal play, (B) still-face-no-touch, (C) still-face-with-touch, and (A) normal play. Depressed and nondepressed mothers were instructed and shown how to provide touch for their infants during the still-face-with-touch period. Different affective and attentive responses of the infants of depressed versus the infants of nondepressed mothers were observed. Infants of depressed mothers showed more positive affect (smiles and vocalizations) and gazed more at their mothers' hands during the still-face-with-touch period than the infants of nondepressed mothers, who grimaced, cried, and gazed away from their mothers' faces more often. The results suggest that by providing touch stimulation for their infants, the depressed mothers can increase infant positive affect and attention and, in this way, compensate for negative effects often resulting from their typical lack of affectivity (flat facial and vocal expressions) during interactions.

Affect↗

Adolescent depressed mood and parental unhappiness.

A set of self-report scales on depression, parental happiness, intimate relationships, social support, self-esteem, and risk-taking behavior were administered to 455 adolescents to determine the relationship between depression and these other variables. Adolescents with depressed mood were found to be less intimate with both parents, felt less social support, and had lower self-esteem than their peers. Adolescents who perceived their mother or father as unhappy also reported less intimacy with both parents and less social support.

Adolescent↗

Quantitative determination of sulfonated aliphatic and aromatic surfactants in sewage sludge by ion-pair/supercritical fluid extraction and derivatization gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Secondary alkanesulfonate (SAS) and linear alkylbenzene-sulfonate (LAS) surfactants were quantitatively (> 90%) extracted from sewage sludges as their tetrabutylammonium ion pairs using 400 atm of supercritical CO2 for 5 min of static extraction followed by 10 min of dynamic extraction at 80 degrees C. Ion pairs of SAS and LAS quantitatively formed butyl esters in the injection port of the gas chromatograph and were determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry without class fractionation of the sewage sludge extracts. Concentrations of SAS and LAS in sludges from five different sewage treatment plants ranged from 0.27 to 0.80 g/kg of dry sewage sluge and from 3.83 to 7.51 g/kg, respectively. Good reproducibility was achieved with RSDs of typically 5% for replicate extractions and analyses. Homologue and isomer distributions of SAS in sewage sludge indicated an enrichment of the more hydrophobic components in sewage sludge during sewage treatment.

Alkanesulfonates↗

Relaxation therapy reduces anxiety in child and adolescent psychiatric patients.

The immediate effects of relaxation therapy (RT) were assessed in 40 hospitalized children and adolescents with diagnoses of adjustment disorder and depression. These effects were assessed using a within subjects pre-test/post-test design and by comparison with a control group of 20 depressed and adjustment disorder patients who watched a 1-h relaxing videotape. The 1-h RT class consisted of yoga exercise, a brief massage and progressive muscle relaxation. Decreases were noted in both self-reported anxiety and in anxious behavior and fidgeting as well as increases in positive affect in the RT but not the video group. In addition, adjustment disorder patients and a third of the depressed patients showed decreases in cortisol levels following RT, while no changes were noted in the video group. Thus, both diagnostic groups appeared to benefit from the RT class.

Adjustment Disorders↗

Young children's adaptations to repeated separations from their mothers.

80 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers were observed before, during, and after separations from their mothers, who were attending conferences (M duration = 4 days). Half the sample was separated only once and the other half experienced 3 separations across a 6-month period. The study was designed: (a) to determine how separations affect children's behavior when there are no changes in the family constellation as there typically are during other separations, such as the birth of a new child, and (b) to determine the effects of repeated separations. Fewer changes in sleep and play behaviors suggested that this type of separation was less stressful than separations for the birth of another child. Nonetheless, the separations were still stressful, but principally for the single-separation group. In that group, changes were noted in both play and sleep behaviors. Following reunion, their sleep behaviors and more sophisticated play behaviors returned to baseline. However, activity level and the more insecure behaviors, such as wandering aimlessly, watching other children play, and interacting with their teachers, remained elevated following the mother's return. The multiple-separation group, in contrast, showed only 1 behavior change during their third separation, i.e., reduced interactions with their peers during the separation period, which returned to baseline following reunion. Repeated-measures analyses of the first and third separations of the multiple-separations group suggested that only the first separation was stressful. Thus, the infants and children in this study seemed to adapt to repeated separations.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Perinatal cocaine effects on neonatal stress behavior and performance on the Brazelton Scale.

Fifty-two newborns were assessed for the effects of maternal cocaine use on their performance on the Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale and on their stress behaviors during the Brazelton as tapped by the Neonatal Stress Scale. The cocaine-exposed newborns experienced more obstetric complications, had smaller head circumferences, showed more limited habituation abilities on the Brazelton Scale, and exhibited more stress behaviors than control newborns.

Birth Weight↗

Transcutaneous oxygen tension in preterm neonates during neonatal behavioral assessments and heelsticks.

This study evaluates the effects of neonatal behavioral assessments and heelsticks on transcutaneous oxygen tension (TcPO2) in 37 preterm neonates from a neonatal intensive care unit. Two behavioral assessments were evaluated, the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (BNBAS) and the Neurobehavioral Assessment for Preterm Infants (NAPI). TcPO2 during heelsticks was used as a comparison because reliable decreases have typically been noted during heelsticks. Although the heelsticks resulted in significant declines in TcPO2, the behavioral assessments led to only negligible changes in TcPO2. Observed changes during the behavioral assessments occurred in a small number of infants, primarily during the few test procedures administered to the infants outside of their isolettes. Accordingly, it is suggested that time outside the isolette and associated temperature changes may be more critical variables than the assessments per se.

Arousal↗

Sensory deprivation stress and supplemental stimulation in the rat pup and preterm human neonate.

This article reviews the literature and presents data from our laboratories on sensory deprivation stress and supplemental stimulation of the rat pup and the preterm neonate. The data suggest that the effects of maternal deprivation in the rat pup (suppression of growth hormone release and protein synthesis) are regulated by a specific form of tactile stimulation: only brush stroking of maternally deprived rat pups returned growth parameters to normal; other forms of stimulation, including kinesthetic and vestibular stimulation, were ineffective in restoring normal functions. Other data are presented demonstrating that very small preterm neonates given tactile-kinesthetic stimulation gain more weight per day, spend more time awake and active, and show more mature habituation, orientation, motor, and range of state behaviors on the Brazelton assessment.

Animals↗

Positive effects of tactile versus kinesthetic or vestibular stimulation on neuroendocrine and ODC activity in maternally-deprived rat pups.

Previous studies in our laboratory have shown that even short-term separation of preweanling rat pups from the mother produces adverse effects in the pup. These include alterations in ornithine decarboxylase activity and in the secretion of growth hormone and corticosterone. The present study demonstrates that while intermittent heavy stroking effectively reverses or prevents all the changes associated with maternal deprivation neither kinesthetic nor vestibular stimulation affects these responses. The results verify earlier findings from this laboratory indicating that tactile interactions between rat pups and their mother modulate pup physiology and provide experimental support for the hypothesized role of tactile stimuli on early infant development.

Animals↗