Stressful life events and use of physician services among the elderly: The moderating role of pet ownership.

The physician utilization behavior of 938 Medicare enrollees in a health maintenance organization was prospectively followed for 1 year. With demographic characteristics and health status at baseline controlled for, respondents who owned pets reported fewer doctor contacts over the 1-year period than respondents who did not own pets. Furthermore, pets seemed to help their owners in times of stress. The accumulation of prebaseline stressful life events was associated with increased doctor contacts during the study year for respondents without pets. This relationship did not emerge for pet owners. Owners of dogs, in particular, were buffered from the impact of stressful life events on physician utilization. Additional analyses showed that dog owners in comparison to owners of other pets spent more time with their pets and felt that their pets were more important to them. Thus, dogs more than other pets provided their owners with companionship and an object of attachment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Epidemiologic study of cats and dogs affected by the 1991 Oakland fire

OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors of pets affected by the 1991 Oakland, Calif fire for being lost, found, adopted, or reunited with owners. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. ANIMALS: 1,075 cats and 197 dogs affected by the fire and 221 cats and 128 dogs not affected by the fire. PROCEDURES: Records compiled from 1991 to 1995 by the Oakland Firestorm Pet Hotline were analyzed. RESULTS: Peak activity for the hotline was on days 3 and 4 after the fire, but decreased to a low, steady rate by day 21. Many pets were found that had been abandoned or were part of a large free-roaming population that existed at the time of the fire. Many were missing after the fire and presumed killed. The longer owners delayed looking for their pet, the lower the chance of being reunited. Pets wearing collars with the owners' names and addresses had a more than 10-fold chance of being reunited, compared with pets without collars. Increasing odds for adoption of lost pets was associated with their proximity to the fire. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Hotlines set up after sudden impact disasters, such as the Oakland Firestorm Pet Hotline, will probably register primarily abandoned animals. Reunion of pets with their owners appears to be most likely for those that receive an overall better level of care than pets found at other times. Adoption of pets after this disaster was primarily by the person who found that animal and principally resulted when the pet was found close to the disaster area.     

Critters in the cube farm: Perceived psychological and organizational effects of pets in the workplace.

This article reports the findings of an exploratory study examining the perceived functions and psychological and organizational effects of pets in the workplace. Participants were 193 employees from 31 companies allowing pets in the workplace who completed anonymous questionnaires. Results indicated that participants perceived pets in the workplace to reduce stress and to positively affect employee health and the organization. Participants who brought their pets to work perceived greater benefits than participants who did not bring their pets to work and participants who did not own pets. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk for HIV infection among bisexual men seeking HIV-prevention services and risks posed to their female partners.

The present study interviewed gay (n?=?473) and bisexual men (n?=?146) as part of an HIV prevention program and investigated social cognitive factors associated with HIV risk. Results indicated that HIV risk in homosexual men was associated with sexual openness and connections to gay communities, factors not associated with risk for bisexual men. Compared with men at lower risk, those who practiced high-risk sex scored lower on measures of perceived safer sex norms, safer sex self-efficacy, and social skills. Bisexual men with primary female partners often had not disclosed their bisexuality to female partners (75%), and 64% had not modified their behavior to protect female partners. Bisexual men who engage in high-risk behaviors therefore pose a risk to female partners who may be unaware of their involvement with men. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some biochemical properties of the components of Staphylococcus aureus binding to human platelets

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether pulmonary function in children who were lifetime residents of the highly polluted district of Teplice in northern Bohemia was lower than that for children who were lifetime residents of the cleaner district of Prachatice in southern Bohemia. Forced expiratory spirometry was measured twice (February/March and April) in approximately 235 eighth-grade students in each district. On both testing occasions, height-adjusted forced expiratory volume in 1 s and forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75% forced vital capacity were significantly lower (p < .001) in children from Teplice than in those from Prachatice. These differences were not associated with parental smoking habits, presence of pets, heating/cooking fuels, private home/apartment residency, or rural/urban residency. In Teplice, no differences were observed between lung functions measured at the end of the high pollution season (February/March) and those measured after the children breathed much cleaner air for a 4-wk period (April). This result was suggestive of a condition of chronically depressed lung function. No differences across times were observed in Prachatice, indicating that our measurements were reliable.     

Relation of counselor identification of client problem description to continuance in a behavioral weight loss program.

I investigated the relation of counselor ability to articulate salient information to continuance in a weight loss program in two studies. In the first, clients (N?=?39) were asked questions regarding their weight loss problems, and counselors were asked to predict client responses. A higher proportion of accurate predictions occurred for clients who later completed the program than for those who dropped out. Within the completer group, there was greater weight loss in cases that had been accurately predicted than in those that had not. The second study was identical to the first except for program duration, which was eight sessions for the first and six sessions for the second (N?=?41 clients). The results of the second study replicated those of the first with regard to continuance but not outcome. I discuss the relevance of the results to similar research done with different client populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The teacher's pet phenomenon: Rate of occurrence, correlates, and psychological costs.

The teacher's pet phenomenon was investigated in 80 5th-grade Israeli classrooms. Pets were identified through students' sociometric nominations in 80% of the classrooms: exclusive pets in 26% and unexclusive pets in 54% of the classrooms. Pets tended to be girls rather than boys, of Ashkenazi rather than Sephardi origin, very good (but not necessarily the best) students academically, and perceived as charming, socially skilled, and compliant. Teachers who had pets were found to hold somewhat more authoritarian attitudes than teachers who did not have pets, and the rate of occurrence of the pet phenomenon was higher in religious than in secular schools. Students' affective reactions to their teachers were more positive in classrooms without pets, and most negative in exclusive-pet classrooms. Potential favoritism in assigning teacher grades to exclusive pets was also investigated: No overall favoritism was found, but a trace of favoritism by more authoritarian teachers was discovered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work stress and self-reported alcohol use: The moderating role of escapist reasons for drinking.

This study examines the moderating role of escapist reasons for drinking alcohol in the job stress/self-reported alcohol use and problems relationship. It was hypothesized that higher levels of job stress would be associated with higher levels of self-reported drinking (H1) and drinking problems (H2) only for those who endorsed escapist reasons for drinking. For those who did not hold such beliefs, higher levels of job stress were predicted to be associated with lower self-reported alcohol intake (H3) and problems (H4). Survey data from white- and blue-collar workers employed across all paycodes and positions were collected randomly at a large manufacturing organization (62% response rate). Participants responded to questions concerning work stress, reasons for drinking, alcohol intake, and alcohol problems. Using only nonabstainers with complete data (N?=?1,645), results from regression analyses generally supported all hypotheses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Can decline in adult intellectual functioning be reversed?

Examined whether or not cognitive decline in the elderly that has been reliably demonstrated over a 14-yr period can be reversed. 97 male and 132 female participants (aged 64–95 yrs) in a long-term longitudinal study were classified into those who had declined (n?=?122) and those who had remained stable (n?=?107) on the abilities of inductive reasoning and spatial orientation, based on their performances on the Primary Mental Ability Reasoning and Spatial Orientation Tests. Ss were assigned to 5-hr training programs on either ability in a pretest–posttest design that used Ss trained on 1 target ability as controls for those trained on the other. Results show that cognitive training techniques reliably reverse decline in spatial and reasoning ability documented over a 14-yr period in a substantial number of Ss. Training procedures also enhanced the performance of many Ss who had remained stable. Training improvement on spatial orientation was found to be greater for decliners than for those who remained stable and greater for females than for males. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's use of mental state information in selecting persuasive arguments.

Whether and when children use information about others' mental states to invent or select persuasive strategies were examined. In Study 1, preschoolers, 3rd-graders, and 6th-graders (ns?=?11, 12, and 16, respectively; 17 girls) were told about story characters' persuading parents to buy pets or toys. Children were either given or not given information about story parents' beliefs and asked to invent or select appropriate arguments. Older children, but not preschoolers, used belief information to select arguments. Results were replicated in Study 2 (16 kindergartners, 16 3rd-graders; 19 girls). In Study 3, kindergartners and 1st-graders (N?=?16; 6 girls) reasoned well on false-belief tasks but not on persuasion tasks, suggesting that failure to consider mental states in persuasion was not due to lack of a belief concept. Findings suggest that mental state understanding may continue to develop after the preschool years; methodological qualifications are also considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperamental and familial predictors of violent and nonviolent criminal convictions: Age 3 to age 18.

This study examined the relations between family characteristics, childhood temperament, and convictions for violent and nonviolent offenses at age 18 in a representative birth cohort of men who are part of a longitudinal study. Three groups of men were identified on the basis of their conviction status at age 18: Participants who had never been convicted (n?=?404), participants who had been convicted for nonviolent offenses only (n?=?50), and participants who had been convicted for violent offenses (n?=?21). Multivariate analysis of variance and logistic regression analyses indicated that family factors were associated with both types of conviction outcomes, whereas childhood temperament was associated primarily with convictions for violent offenses. The potentially distinct roles of social- and self-regulation in the development of antisocial behavior are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Digit span performance of persons 75–96 years of age: Base rates and associations with selected demographic variables.

Base rates are presented for digit span forward (DF, backward (DB), and DF–DB among normal elderly (n?=?130) individuals. For persons 75 years of age, means on DF, DB, and DF–DB were 5.79 (SD?=?1.21), 4.18 (SD?=?1.20), and 1.62 (SD?=?1.20), respectively. Education was related to DF; education and preretirement occupation were associated with DB. With ≤11 years of education, normal achievement was 4 for DF; with ≥12 years of schooling normal DF was 5. Persons with ≤11 years of education who were previously laborers/operatives or craftsmen/homemakers repeated 3 digits on DB; those with ≥12 years of education and professional/managerial backgrounds repeated 4 digits on DB. A DF–DB >4 was atypical. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Detecting fake-good MMPI-A profiles in a correctional facility.

This study examined the extent to which the validity scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A; J. N. Butcher et al., 1992) could differentiate between correctional adolescents instructed to fake good and both correctional and noncorrectional adolescents who received standard instructions. The noncorrectional participants (n?=?137) were from settings not connected with treatment or correctional facilities. Correctional participants (n?=?140) were from a facility in Northeastern Ohio. Mean profiles resembled those previously reported for adults on the MMPI and MMPI-2 and for adolescents on the MMPI and MMPI-A. It was possible to differentiate between (a) correctional youth instructed to fake good and noncorrectional youth with standard instructions and (b) correctional youth who were faking and correctional youth with standard instructions. Slightly different cutoff scores were needed for these two discriminations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Declarative memory following anterior temporal lobectomy in humans.

Hypothesized that verbal memory decline following anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) is associated with a lack of significant neuropathology in resected left, but not right, hippocampus and is limited to measures of episodic memory only. Tests of immediate (digit span), semantic (visual naming), and episodic memory as measured by the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) were administered before and 6 mo after resection of the anterior left (n?=?36) or right (n?=?26) temporal lobe. There were no effects of hippocampal pathology on measures of immediate or semantic memory for either ATL group or for episodic memory for the right ATL group. Left ATL patients who demonstrated no/mild hippocampal sclerosis exhibited significantly greater postoperative decline in episodic memory compared with those with moderate/marked hippocampal sclerosis on multiple CVLT indices (recall measures, learning characteristics, and contrast measures). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The structure of mother–child play: Young children with Down syndrome and typically developing children.

This study explored developmental changes and effects of Down syndrome on mothers' structuring of their children's play. Mothers and their young children with Down syndrome (n?=?28) were compared with socioeconomically matched samples of mothers and their mental age-matched (n?=?28) and chronological age-matched (n?=?28) typically developing children. Mothers of typically developing children exhibited more object demonstrations with their developmentally younger children, who exhibited less object play. Mothers of children with Down syndrome were more directive and supportive than were mothers of younger and older typically developing children, who did not differ in their frequencies of these behaviors. More maternal supportive object behavior was associated with more object play and vocalization by children with Down syndrome. Mothers and children in all 3 groups were contingently responsive to their partners' behavioral signals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Putatively psychosis-prone subjects 10 years later.

The predictive validities of several indicators of psychosis proneness were evaluated in a 10-yr longitudinal study (N?=?508). As hypothesized, high scorers on the Perceptual Aberration Scale, Magical Ideation Scale, or both (n?=?182), especially those who initially reported psychoticlike experiences of at least moderate deviance, exceeded control Ss (n?=?153) on psychoses (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III—Revised [DSM-III-R]), psychotic relatives, schizotypal symptoms, and psychoticlike experiences at follow-up. Ss who initially scored high on the Magical Ideation Scale and above the mean on the Social Anhedonia Scale were especially deviant. The Physical Anhedonia Scale and the Impulsive Nonconformity Scale were not effective predictors of psychosis proneness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult marijuana users seeking treatment.

In an effort to study the efficacy of attracting and intervening with adult marijuana users, 290 men and 92 women were screened for participation in a treatment-outcome study focused on marijuana cessation. The well-educated, self-referred sample reported using marijuana on 79 of the past 90 days before testing. Indices of the severity of marijuana abuse and general psychopathology were in the clinical range for a majority of Ss. Ss who did not report evidence of alcohol or other drug abuse (n?=?144) reported less severe consequences of marijuana use and experienced less general psychological distress than Ss who also reported lifetime (n?=?165) or current abuse (n?=?73) of other substances in addition to marijuana. The findings indicate the need for clinical research targeting adults who are dependent on marijuana. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What is the relationship between breast cancer risk and mammography screening? A meta-analytic review.

This meta-analytic review addresses the issue of how a woman's risk of breast cancer relates to the likelihood that she will obtain mammography screenings. Studies that compared women with or without a family history of breast cancer (n?=?19) showed that women with a family history were more likely to have been screened. Studies that measured perceived risk (n?=?19) showed that feeling vulnerable to breast cancer was positively related to having obtained a screening. Studies that compared women who did or did not have a history of breast problems (n?=?10) showed that those with a positive history were more likely to have been screened. Finally, studies that measured worry (n?=?6) showed that greater worry was related to higher screening levels. Taken together, these data suggest that increasing perceptions of personal vulnerability may increase screening behavior for breast cancer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Obese people who seek treatment have different characteristics than those who do not seek treatment.

A group of obese people who had not sought treatment; an obese group who had sought treatment in a professional, hospital-based program; and normal-weight controls (N?=?547) were compared in regard to level of psychopathology, binge eating, and negative emotional eating. Because the groups differed significantly on several demographic variables, 3 demographically matched groups were created and compared (n?=?177, 59 per group). In the matched subgroups, obese people who had sought treatment reported greater psychopathology and more binge eating than did normal-weight controls or those who had not sought treatment. Both obese groups (including those who had not sought treatment) endorsed more symptoms of distress, negative emotional eating, overeating, difficulty resisting temptation, and less exercise than did normal-weight controls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preventive counseling of HIV-positive men and self-disclosure of serostatus to sex partners: New opportunities for prevention.

This study examined whether preventive counseling of HIV-positive men (N?=?255) was associated with self-disclosure of serostatus to sex partners. Men who reported being counseled at posttest and at their current HIV clinic to disclose their serostatus to partners were more likely to have done so than men counseled only at posttest, only at the HIV clinic, or not counseled at either site. Disclosure increased with the number of times counseled at the HIV clinic. These patterns held for HIV-negative partners, but not for HIV-positive or HIV-unknown partners. Disclosure to HIV-negative partners was associated with safer sexual practices. The findings suggest that counseling interventions for HIV-positive men, when delivered by multiple sources, may provide an effective means of increasing disclosure to sexual partners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)