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A startle-probe methodology for investigating the effects of active avoidance on negative emotional reactivity.

This study introduces a new methodology for investigating the impact of active avoidance and behavioral control on defensive emotional reactivity using the startle reflex. A between-groups yoked design was devised that permitted manipulation of participants' perception of control over an aversive event (loud noise) while precisely controlling motor activity and noxious stimulation. Startle responses to tactile (airpuff) probes were compared during threat/performance trials and neutral trials. Results conclusively demonstrated cross-modal startle potentiation in the context of a continuous motor performance task. Also, consistent with prior research, heart rate increased with perceived control. However, behavioral control per se did not appear to mitigate defensive emotion as indexed by startle potentiation. These findings indicate that other parameters may mediate the efficacy of active coping in addition to control, and that the startle probe paradigm can provide a valuable tool for investigating these parameters in future research.

Adolescent↗

Understanding the intention of dentists to provide dental care to HIV+ and AIDS patients.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to understand the intention of dentists to provide dental care to HIV+/AIDS patients. METHODS: A representative sample of 791 dentists from the province of Quebec completed a questionnaire assessing their intention to provide dental care to individuals with HIV+/AIDS as well as their attitudes, perceived social norm, perceived behavioral control, perceived behavioral norm and personal normative belief regarding this behavior. Past experience with providing dental care (habit) to HIV+/AIDS patients, fear of AIDS and socio-demographic characteristics were also assessed. RESULTS: Overall, dentists have a strong intention to provide dental care to HIV+/AIDS patients. Nevertheless, 25% of the respondents expressed a low intention to provide dental care to these patients. The main factors explaining 71% of the variance in intention were perceived behavioral control (beta=0.52, P<0.0001), personal normative belief (beta=0.33, P<0.0001) and habit of treating HIV+/AIDS patients (beta=0.12, P<0.0001). CONCLUSION: To improve the motivation of dentists to treat HIV+/AIDS patients, emphasis should be placed on increasing self-efficacy to cope with the difficulties of providing dental care to HIV+/AIDS patients as well as on the importance of acting in agreement with the Dental Association's Code of Ethics.

Adult↗

Membrane properties of mesopontine cholinergic neurons studied with the whole-cell patch-clamp technique: implications for behavioral state control.

1. The whole-cell patch-clamp technique was used to study the membrane properties of identified cholinergic and noncholinergic laterodorsal tegmental neurons in slices of rat brain maintained in vitro. 2. On the basis of their expression of the transient outward potassium current IA and the transient inward calcium current IT, three classes of neurons were observed: type I neurons exhibited a large IT; type II neurons exhibited a prominent IA; and type III neurons exhibited both IA and IT. 3. Combining intracellular deposition of biocytin with NADPH diaphorase histochemistry revealed that the vast majority of type III neurons were cholinergic, whereas only a minority of type I and type II neurons were cholinergic. Thus mesopontine cholinergic neurons possess intrinsic ionic currents capable of inducing burst firing. 4. Delineation of the intrinsic membrane properties of identified mesopontine cholinergic neurons, in concert with recent results regarding the responses of these neurons to neurotransmitter agents, has led us to present a unifying and mechanistic hypothesis of brain stem cholinergic function in the control of behavioral states.

4-Aminopyridine↗

Between intention and behavior: an application of community pharmacists' assessment of pharmaceutical care.

A new practice philosophy for pharmacists, pharmaceutical care, encourages pharmacists to ensure that medication-related health outcomes are optimized. However, its adoption by community pharmacists has been slow due to numerous barriers including the economic structure of retail pharmacy, interprofessional conflicts, information limitations, gaps in pharmacy training and uneven patient demand. The specific study objectives were to (1) describe self-efficacy, beliefs, evaluations and perceived behavioral control in the provision of pharmaceutical care, (2) quantify intention and behavior to provide pharmaceutical care in a period of two weeks and (3) examine the relationships between intention and behavior. A 20% sample of Alberta community pharmacists received an attitude survey followed in two weeks by a behavior survey. Both surveys were developed for this study. Of the 320 pharmacists receiving the attitude survey, 230 completed surveys were obtained (71.9%). The behavior survey was received from 182 of those completing the attitude survey (79.1%). A causal model was constructed predicting pharmaceutical care behavior/s from pharmacists' self-efficacy, beliefs, evaluations and behavioral control. Behavioral control exerted its effect upon behavior via three pathways and its direct effect on belief was strongest. The only direct predictor of behavior was self-efficacy. The chi2 measure indicated that the model was not a perfect fit (chi2 = 99.24, df = 67, p<0.006), but the goodness of fit index (0.931), adjusted goodness of fit index (0.876), and root mean squared error (0.067) fall within acceptable ranges. Thus, it appears that pharmaceutical care implementation programs which address individual factors singly in providing pharmaceutical care will not be successful. The control pharmacists' perceive over their patient care behaviors in their practice environment is critical. Programs which help pharmacists assess their work environment and determine strategies to impact or reconstruct their environments are required.

Adult↗

Family structure versus parental attachment in controlling adolescent deviant behavior: a social control model.

This study examines the relationship between family characteristics and adolescent deviant behaviors such as major and minor delinquency, and alcohol, cigarette, and drug use, while controlling for gender and race/ethnicity. The intervening factor of the socialization of law-abiding belief was also examined. Data represent a subsample from Wave 1 of the South Florida Youth Development Project involving middle school students in Dade County public schools. A significant direct relationship was found between family attachment and each of the deviant behaviors; however, family structure was not significantly related to any of the deviant behaviors. No significant interactions were found between gender or race with family structure and family attachment regarding any of the deviant behaviors. Family attachment had a direct effect on law-abiding belief, which also had a significant effect on the deviant behaviors.

Adolescent↗

Ethnic/racial and socioeconomic differences in dieting behaviors and body image perceptions in adolescents.

This study examined differences in perceptions of body weight, dieting, unhealthy eating behaviors, and weight control methods among adolescent males and females of various racial/ethnic and socioeconomic (SES) subgroups. Data were derived from a comprehensive health survey administered to 36,320 students in grades 7 through 12 in Minnesota. Differences among ethnic/racial and SES groups were assessed using multivariate logistic regression controlling for grade and body mass index (BMI). Results showed that unhealthy weight control behaviors are not confined to upper SES white females. Compared to white females, Hispanic females reported greater use of diuretics; Asians reported more binge eating; and blacks reported higher rates of vomiting. Black and American Indian females were more likely to be satisfied with their body. Among males and females, higher SES was associated with greater weight satisfaction and lower rates of pathological weight control behaviors. Findings from this study suggest that future research should focus on the validity of self-reports of dieting and weight control behaviors in different ethnic subgroups.

Body Image↗

Projections from bed nuclei of the stria terminalis, posterior division: implications for cerebral hemisphere regulation of defensive and reproductive behaviors.

The posterior division of the bed nuclei of the stria terminalis has three major nuclei: principal, interfascicular, and transverse, which receive topographically ordered inputs from the medial amygdalar nucleus. The overall pattern of axonal projections from each nucleus was determined in male rats with the Phaseolus vulgaris-leucoagglutinin method. Together, these nuclei project topographically back to the medial amygdalar nucleus, to the adjacent lateral septal nucleus, to the nucleus accumbens and substantia innominata, to hypothalamic parts of the behavior control column, and to the hypothalamic periventricular region, which controls patterned neuroendocrine and autonomic responses. The principal nucleus preferentially innervates septal and hypothalamic regions that control reproductive behavior and visceromotor responses, confirming a similar analysis by Gu et al. (J Comp Neurol [2003] 460:542-562). In contrast, the interfascicular and transverse nuclei differentially innervate septal and hypothalamic regions that control defensive as well as reproductive behaviors. In addition, the transverse nucleus projects significantly to midbrain parts of the behavior control column concerned with foraging/exploratory behavior. All three posterior division nuclei also project to thalamocortical feedback loops (by means of the nucleus reuniens and paraventricular nucleus). These structural data may be interpreted to suggest that the bed nuclei posterior division forms part (pallidal) of a corticostriatopallidal system involved in controlling two major classes of social (defensive and reproductive) behavior.

Animals↗

Structural equation modeling of determinants of planning.

A model is proposed that implies that planning evoked by the formation of an implementation intention is related to behavioral intention and perceived behavioral control, whereas in accordance with the theory of planned behavior, behavioral intention is related to attitude and perceived behavioral control. Measures of attitude toward the behavior, perceived behavioral control, behavioral intention, and planning were constructed from 192 undergraduates' ratings of descriptions of two fictitious situations in which a target behavior was varied with respect to benefit and actual behavioral control. Structural equation modeling yielded an acceptable fit of the proposed model.

Adult↗

An effect of immediate reinforcement and delayed punishment, with possible implications for self-control.

Behavior said to show self-control occurs virtually always as an alternative to behavior that produces conflicting consequences. One class of such consequences, immediate reinforcement and delayed punishment, is especially pervasive. Three experiments are described in which an effect of immediate reinforcement and delayed punishment is demonstrated. The results suggest that when immediate reinforcement and delayed punishment are imminent, the reinforcer alone controls the organism's behavior (in other words the organism behaves "impulsively"). The key to self-control, therefore, may be the acquisition of a large number of avoidance behaviors relevant to reinforcers that are correlated with delayed punishment. Human self-control may indeed involve such a process but undoubtedly involves others as well.

Animals↗

Copulatory behavior is controlled by the sexually dimorphic nucleus of the quail POA.

The medial preoptic nucleus (POM) of the quail preoptic area is sexually dimorphic and testosterone sensitive. Stereotaxic implantation of needles filled with crystalline testosterone demonstrated that the POM is a critical site of steroid action in the control of copulatory behavior. Only implants located in the POM reliably restored the behavior in castrated birds. Implants around the nucleus weakly activated the behavior; those which were distant by more than 200 microns were totally inactive. Electrolytic lesions confirmed the role of the POM in the control of copulatory behavior. The percentage of the POM which was lesioned was highly correlated to the behavioral deficit while the absolute size of the lesion was not. Electrolytic lesions in or around POM also significantly decreased the volume of the nucleus suggesting that the afferents and efferents of the nucleus are required for its full development. The total volume of the POM was correlated with the sexual behavior of the birds. The morphological changes in POM observed following exposure to testosterone probably represent the signature of the behavioral effects of the steroid. The sexually dimorphic testosterone-sensitive POM is therefore an excellent animal model to study the brain-steroid interactions which mediate the activation of male reproductive behavior.

Animals↗

Effects of a structured behavior modification treatment program on locus of control in behaviorally disturbed children.

The effect of a 10-day behavior modification treatment program on locus of control was investigated. The subjects were children (N = 130; 6 to 12 years old) with severe behavioral disorders who were predominantly from low socioeconomic backgrounds, from broken homes, and socially deprived. Pre- and post-testing was done with the Nowicki-Strickland Preschool and Primary Internal-External Control Scale (Nowicki & Duke, 1974) and the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale for Children (Nowicki & Strickland, 1973). Children between the ages of 10 and 12 responded to therapy with a significant increase in internality, but younger children did not.

Age Factors↗

Control of behavior by intravenous nicotine injections in laboratory animals.

A series of recent studies are reviewed which demonstrate that behavior can be controlled by nicotine injections in different ways depending on the behavioral history of the subject and the schedule of reinforcement under which nicotine is administered. Lever-pressing responses by squirrel monkeys and beagle dogs were maintained well above saline-substitution levels by injections of 10 to 30 micrograms/kg of nicotine under fixed-ratio schedules of nicotine injection. Lever-pressing responses by squirrel monkeys also were well maintained by injections of 30 to 300 micrograms/kg of nicotine under a fixed-interval schedule of nicotine injection. The highest rates of responding were maintained by injections of 10 to 30 micrograms/kg of nicotine under second-order schedules in which responding by squirrel monkeys produced brief-light presentations which were only occasionally paired with nicotine injection. Under other conditions, however, response-produced injections of these same injection doses of nicotine (10 to 30 micrograms/kg) suppressed food-maintained fixed-ratio responding by squirrel monkeys during the punishment component of a multiple schedule. Finally, under a schedule of nicotine postponement, injection doses of 30 to 56 micrograms/kg of nicotine maintained responding that prevented, rather than produced, nicotine injections. These findings indicate that nicotine may control smoking behavior of humans in very complex and divergent ways depending on prevailing environmental conditions.

Animals↗

Expressed emotion, attribution, and control in parents of schizophrenic patients.

Expressed emotion is a measure of an individual's critical and/or emotionally overinvolved attitudes toward another person. The characteristics of parents who are high in expressed emotion are not fully understood. This study examined some variables potentially associated with expressed emotion, as measured by the Camberwell Family Interview, in 54 parents of schizophrenic young adults. Statements of (1) self-blame for the patient's illness, (2) controlling behaviors toward the patient, and (3) controlling behaviors toward others were assessed. As predicted, parents who blamed themselves for the patient's illness had higher emotional overinvolvement ratings than non-self-blaming parents. Measures of controlling behavior revealed that highly critical parents were not more controlling than less critical parents; however, parents high in emotional overinvolvement reported higher levels of patient- and other-controlling behaviors than parents low in emotional overinvolvement. These results suggest that the emotional overinvolvement component of high expressed emotion is associated with self-blaming attributions and controlling behaviors in parents, but that the criticism component is not.

Adult↗

A randomized controlled trial on the long-term effects of a 1-month behavioral weight control program assisted by computer tailored advice.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the long-term effects of a new behavioral weight control program (Kenkou-tatsujin, KT program). The program consisted of twice-interactive letter communications including computer-tailored personal advice on treatment needs and behavioral modification. DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial comparing Group KM: KT program with 6-month weight and targeted behavior's self-monitoring, Group K: KT program only, Group BM: an untailored self-help booklet with 7-month self-monitoring of weight and walking, and Group B: the self-help booklet only. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundreds and five overweight Japanese females were recruited via a local newspaper. MEASUREMENTS: Weight loss (body weight, BMI, reduction quotient, etc.) and behavioral changes (daily eating, exercise and sleeping habits). FINDINGS: A significant weight loss was observed in all groups. At 1 month, Groups KM and K were superior, but at 7 months, the mean weight loss was significantly more in Group KM than the other 3 groups. At 7 months, 8 dietary habits and 4 physical activities were improved in all subjects. Habitual improvement was related to the weight loss in Groups KM and K at 1 month.

Adult↗

Predicting stability and change in toddler behavior problems: contributions of maternal behavior and child gender.

This study examined the stability and continuity of early-identified behavior problems and the factors associated with this stability. Children and their mothers (N=125) were seen when the children were 2 and 4 years of age. Maternal reports of child externalizing behavior and laboratory observations of child noncompliance were stable from age 2 to age 4. Early externalizing behaviors decreased over time; however, child noncompliance in the laboratory did not. Although few associations were found between maternal positive behavior and child behavior problems, maternal controlling behavior was related to increases in child behavior problems, particularly at high levels of both prior noncompliance and prior maternal control. Child noncompliance was predictive of increases in maternal controlling behavior over time.

Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorder↗