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At least 487 records · Page 27Linked to original sources
PubMed2006

Development of the eating disorder recovery self-efficacy questionnaire.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the current investigation was to develop and validate the Eating Disorder Recovery Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (EDRSQ), a self-report measure of self-efficacy to recover from an eating disorder. METHOD: Participants were 116 female patients with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or a subthreshold eating disorder treated at an eating disorder clinic. Patients completed the EDRSQ and measures of eating disorder symptoms and depression. RESULTS: The EDRSQ contains two internally consistent factors, Normative Eating Self-Efficacy and Body Image Self-Efficacy. Moderate to large correlations between EDRSQ subscales and measures of eating disorder pathology support the convergent validity of the EDRSQ. The EDRSQ demonstrates theoretically consistent relations with constructs that are related to but distinct from self-efficacy. Discriminant validity is reflected in small correlations between EDRSQ subscales and measures of general psychological correlates of disordered eating. CONCLUSION: The EDRSQ is a psychometrically sound measure to assess self-efficacy in patients with a range of eating disorder diagnoses.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Language and cognition-Kurt Goldstein's theory of semantics.

Kurt Goldstein is regarded as one of the major proponents of the holistic movement at the beginning of the 20th century. He rejected the strong localization hypothesis in the field of aphasiology and attempted to link language disturbances to an underlying general intellectual impairment. Goldstein's criticism was based on his subtle symptomatology, his organismic biology, and his philosophical reflections. In his concept of abstract attitude Goldstein searched for a general psychological function that might explain a variety of aphasic symptoms. Abstract attitude bridges the gap between cognitive and linguistic structures. According to Goldstein, it is the basis for words to have a meaning, to be employed in a categorical sense. Since amnesic aphasics are confined to a concrete attitude, their words have lost their representational function. Although Goldstein's concept of abstract attitude is no longer used in scientific discourse, it is analyzed for its heuristic value. It led Goldstein to questions about the relation between cognition and language and to fragments of a semantic theory.

Aphasia↗
PubMed1999

The differential maturation of two processing rates related to digit span.

Recent studies have proposed that rapid-speaking durations predict short-term memory spans. However, N. Cowan et al. (1998, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 127, 141-160) found two separate types of processing durations related to digit span for children in Grade 1 (7-8 years), Grade 3 (9-10 years), and Grade 5 (11-12 years): rapid-speaking durations (thought to index the rate of covert articulation) and the durations of interword pauses in the memory span task responses (thought to index the rate of short-term memory retrieval). The present analysis additionally establishes the differential maturation of those two durations. Within-age correlations between span and rapid-speaking durations were significant only in first graders; correlations between span and interword pauses, only in fifth graders. When subsamples were selected to match spans across age groups, both types of duration also were matched between Grades 1 and 3. However, fifth graders had considerably shorter interword pauses than their third-grade counterparts. Thus, a particular memory span is accompanied by different profiles of processing rates in children of different ages.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1983

Mental health services and traditional healing in Indonesia: are the roles compatible?

This study reports on the presentation of illness complaints by 90 individuals to nine traditional healers in three Indonesian cities. Focus is on the nature of problems, client explanations and expectations, healer treatment and subsequent outcome as judged by clients. Selected clients were observed and interviewed by a psychiatrist and one other health professional, and followed in a subsequent home visit. Complaints were categorized according to dimensions of acuteness and chronicity of problem, presumed self-limited characteristics, and psychological, general medical and other factors. Sixty-five percent of all clients had received prior treatment for the same problem in a biomedical health care setting. The study holds practical implications for policies regarding relations between health and mental health services and traditional healers in Indonesia.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Divorcing mothers and social support: testing the specificity of buffering effects.

The circumstances under which social support buffers the negative effects of stress have been a subject of much research. The hypothesis that social support is effective only when it matches the needs elicited by particular stressors was studied in a sample of divorcing mothers. Predictions were made regarding which types of support (Parenting, Emotional, and Tangible) would buffer the effects of Parenting, Social, and Tangible stress on depressive symptoms and on general psychological distress of divorcing mothers. Results did not support the specificity of social support buffering effects, though the stress and support scales often showed direct relationships to criterion measures. Implications were discussed for the assessment of support with multiple models, for future research designs, and for planning prevention programs to meet the needs of divorcing mothers.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Setting phenotypes in a mutual help organization: expanding behavior setting theory.

Expands Barker's theory of behavior settings by proposing an additional method of classifying settings based on their functional/behavioral aspects--the setting phenotype. Although behavior setting theory has been widely hailed as a revolutionary contribution to behavioral science, it has had limited impact on general psychology. This may be due in part to a reliance on a purely structural method of classifying behavior settings--the setting genotype. Behavioral data were collected from 510 meetings of 13 self-help groups from a mutual help organization for persons with problems in living. A cluster analysis was performed to uncover meaningful behavioral patterns among the groups. Four phenotypes were identified: personal, impersonal, small talk, and advising. Mutual help group phenotype was found to be related to a set of setting characteristics as well as to overall rated change of group members. The results are discussed in light of the significance of the phenotype construct for making behavior setting theory more relevant for social scientists.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2006

[Saving life and permitting death. Decision conflicts in intensive medicine].

Intensive care has achieved major breakthroughs in handling gravely ill patients. However, this has, at least in part, been overshadowed by problems relating to ethical values as well as general psychological conflicts among patients and hospital staff. When dealing with such problems, distinct criteria are required which address the patient's dignity and will to survive. A four-step scheme is suggested, ranging from maximum therapy, via maintenance therapy without adjustments to increased demand and therapy reduction, to cessation of therapy. In the case of therapy reduction, balanced support is maintained ensuring that dehydration is avoided, the respiratory tract is kept clear, pain killers are used to good effect, personal attention is provided, and care is provided to a high standard. A questionnaire tailored to the practical need of how to arrive at an ethically weighted and accepted decision is presented. When searching for a solution involving ethic issues, it is particularly important to involve all individuals concerned in a dialogue until a consensus is reached.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Nicotine as a signal for the presence or absence of sucrose reward: a Pavlovian drug appetitive conditioning preparation in rats.

RATIONALE: In Pavlovian conditioning research, nicotine is typically conceptualized as the unconditioned stimulus (US) that becomes associated with an exteroceptive conditioned stimulus (CS). This research has not explored the possibility that nicotine can also function as a CS. OBJECTIVES: The present research examined whether nicotine served as a CS for the presence (CS+) or absence (CS-) of sucrose and started defining its specificity. METHODS AND RESULTS: Rats trained in the CS+ condition had nicotine (0.4 mg/kg, base) paired intermittently with brief access to sucrose. Intermixed were saline sessions without sucrose. Nicotine acquired the ability to evoke goal tracking. This conditioned response (CR) decreased across extinction sessions. The CR was sensitive to nicotine dose (ED(50)=0.113 mg/kg) and administration to testing interval; 0-min and 100-min delays produced no CR. The CS properties were specific to nicotine in that amphetamine and bupropion substitution was incomplete. Rats in the CS- condition received similar discrimination training except that sucrose was paired with saline. Nicotine also served as a CS-; the saline state CS+ acquired control of goal tracking. Mecamylamine, but not hexamethonium, blocked nicotine's ability to serve as a CS+ and CS-, indicating a role for central nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. CONCLUSIONS: Nicotine served as a signal for the presence or absence of sucrose. The extinction, CS-, and substitution results eliminated a psychomotor stimulant account. The conceptualization of nicotine as a CS suggests novel empirical research in which a drug acquires additional inhibitory and/or excitatory value based on other outcomes present during its effects.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Outcome assessment in low back pain: how low can you go?

The present study examined the psychometric characteristics of a "core-set" of six individual questions (on pain, function, symptom-specific well-being, work disability, social disability and satisfaction) for use in low back pain (LBP) outcome assessment. A questionnaire booklet was administered to 277 German-speaking LBP patients with a range of common diagnoses, before and 6 months after surgical (N=187) or conservative (N=90) treatment. The core-set items were embedded in the booklet alongside validated 'reference' questionnaires: Likert scales for back/leg pain; Roland and Morris disability scale; WHO Quality of Life scale; Psychological General Well-Being Index. A further 45 patients with chronic LBP completed the booklet twice in 1-2 weeks. The minimal reliability (similar to Cronbach's alpha) for each core item was 0.42-0.78, increasing to 0.84 for a composite index score comprising all items plus an additional question on general well-being ('quality of life'). Floor or ceiling effects of 20-50% were observed for some items before surgery (function, symptom-specific well-being) and some items after it (disability, function). The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) ("test-retest reliability") was moderate to excellent (ICC, 0.67-0.95) for the individual core items and excellent (ICC, 0.91) for the composite index score. With the exception of "symptom-specific well-being", the correlations between each core item and its corresponding reference questionnaire ("validity") were between 0.61 and 0.79. Both the composite index and the individual items differentiated (P<0.001) between the severity of the back problem in surgical and conservative patients (validity). The composite index score had an effect size (sensitivity to change) of 0.95, which was larger than most of the reference questionnaires (0.47-1.01); for individual core items, the effect sizes were 0.52-0.87. The core items provide a simple, practical, reliable, valid and sensitive assessment of outcome in LBP patients. We recommend the widespread and consistent use of the core-set items and their composite score index to promote standardisation of outcome measurements in clinical trials, multicentre studies, routine quality management and surgical registry systems.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Urban ethnic minority women's attendance at health clinic vs. church based exercise programs.

Older, sedentary, urban-living, ethnic minority women are at high risk for preventable disease, but it is difficult to engage this population in health promotion efforts. This study tested two methods of engaging Hispanic and African American women, who were at high risk for cardiovascular disease, in a 10-week aerobic fitness program. The program was offered to 76 participants, in either a women's health clinic or a church. Attendance was the primary dependent variable and was recorded at each exercise session. Other variables, including the Baecke Questionnaire of Habitual Physical Activity, Fat Frequency Questionnaire, Self-Efficacy for Exercise Behaviors Scale, Social Support and Exercise Survey, and Psychological General Well-Being Schedule, were measured prior to the intervention, at the end of the 10-week program, and at 3-month follow-up. Age predicted attendance, independently of site. Women in the highest age quartile (50 - 70 years) attended more than twice as many exercise sessions compared to women in the lowest age quartile (17 - 27 years). The relationship between older age and attendance was particularly strong for Hispanic women. Church parishioners were primarily women over the age of 40, making it impossible to disentangle the relative effect of locale. These findings are relevant for clinicians who design exercise programs targeting older, ethnic, minority women. Administrators who design exercise programs for urban-living women should consider age of the target population when selecting the most conducive setting.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Assessing quality of life in eating disorder patients.

OBJECTIVE: To examine quality of life among subgroups of eating disorder patients. METHOD: Self-report questionnaires which included two quality of life measures were completed by 87 individuals referred for treatment to the Australian Capital Territory Eating Disorders Day Program. Health-related quality of life, as measured by the Medical Outcomes Study 12-item Short Form Mental Component Summary scale, and subjective quality of life, as measured by subscales of the World Health Organization Brief Quality of Life Assessment Scale (WHOQOL-BREF), were compared among individuals who received the diagnosis of anorexia nervosa purging subtype (n = 15), anorexia nervosa restricting subtype (n = 19), bulimia nervosa (n = 40) and binge eating disorder (n = 10), and among a general population sample of young adult women employed as a control group (n = 495). RESULTS: Eating disorder patients, when considered together, showed marked impairment in both health-related and subjective quality of life relative to normal control subjects. However, in both domains, restricting anorexia nervosa patients reported significantly better quality of life than other patient groups, after controlling for levels of general psychological distress. Scores on the Social Relationships subscale of the WHOQOL-BREF among individuals in this subgroup were similar to those of normal control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Reliance on any one instrument is likely to be misleading in assessing the quality of life of eating disorder patients. Careful consideration needs to be given to the assessment of restricting anorexia nervosa patients in particular.

Australian Capital Territory↗
PubMed2006

Using GI-specific patient outcome measures in renal transplant patients: validation of the GSRS and GIQLI.

INTRODUCTION: Gastrointestinal (GI) side-effects occur frequently as a result of immunosuppressant regimens used in renal transplant patients. Little effort has been made to quantify the impact of these side-effects on patients' health-related quality of life and symptom severity. OBJECTIVE: To assess the psychometric characteristics of two GI-specific outcome instruments (the Gastrointestinal Rating Scale (GSRS) and the Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI)) for use in post-renal transplant patients. METHODS: Cross-sectional study conducted at 5 clinical centers in 4 countries. Patients were required to be on mycophenolate mofetil and a calcineurin inhibitor. Patients completed the GSRS, GIQLI and two generic instruments (the Psychological General Well-Being Index and the EQ-5D) at one timepoint. Reliability, construct and known groups validity were assessed. RESULTS: In general the GSRS and the GIQLI demonstrated Cronbach's alphas higher than 0.70. The GIQLI was moderately to highly correlated with the PGWB and EQ-5D. Correlations among the GSRS and generic instruments were slightly lower. The GSRS and GIQLI both distinguished between patients with and without GI complaints (all p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The GSRS and the GIQLI are appropriate for use in a post-renal transplant population. Scores on both instruments demonstrated significant differences between renal transplant patients with GI complications and without GI complications.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

The role of psychiatric disorders in fibromyalgia.

The cardinal features of fibromyalgia are chronic widespread pain in the presence of widespread tenderness as measured by multiple tender points. Despite extensive investigations, the etiology of this syndrome remains unclear. Increased rates of psychiatric disorders, particularly depressive, anxiety, and somatoform disorders, are apparent in clinic populations. Epidemiologic evidence suggests that this is also true for community subjects. Depression, generalized psychological distress, and other psychological factors have been shown to be associated with the onset and persistence of fibromyalgia symptoms. However, the bodily processes through which such factors may lead to the onset of fibromyalgia are unclear. Recent investigations have demonstrated altered stress system responsiveness, most notably the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stress axis, in patients with fibromyalgia. These findings, and one promising avenue for investigating the interaction between psychological and biological factors in the onset of chronic pain syndromes including fibromyalgia, are discussed.

Fibromyalgia↗
PubMed1989

Judgments of quantity and conservation of quantity: the area of a rectangle.

This study examines the relationships between perceptive judgment of quantity and conservation judgment of quantity with regard to the concept of area. Twenty children who passed an area conservation task (mean age = 8) and 20 children who failed it (mean age = 6, 7) were administered an area judgment task. This task was a replication of Anderson and Cuneo's study (1978, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 107, 335-378). The conserving children generally appeared to apply an additive rule (the height and width rule) observed by Anderson and Cuneo in 5 year olds. The nonconserving children in contrast generally presented patterns suggesting centration on one of the two dimensions. The implications for Anderson's and Piaget's conceptions of conservation development are discussed.

Age Factors↗