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Biomedical subjects

A Biglan

Publications and source records attributed to A Biglan.

49 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Operant conditioning of EMG activity using cigarette puffs as a reinforcer.

This study was a test of an operant conditioning model of cravings. The model posits that smoking or opportunity to smoke may reinforce physiological reactions to cigarette deprivation that are typically labeled as cravings. More specifically, the rate and amplitude of a physiological response (EMG activity) can be modified, and brought under stimulus control, using cigarette puffs as a reinforcer. Three adult smokers, who were deceived as to the purpose of the study, served as subjects. Three subjects were exposed to two conditions: baseline and response-contingent tone and puff. A single subject reversal design was used. Two of the three subjects showed conditioning effects with the mean level of EMG responding and rate of criterion responding in the response-contingent condition exceeding baseline levels of responding. For one of these subjects, two additional control conditions were used. Responding in the response-contingent condition was higher than in either control condition. The need for replication and extension of the present procedures are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Expired air carbon monoxide and saliva thiocyanate: relationships to self-reports of marijuana and cigarette smoking.

This study examined the relationship between self-reports of marijuana and cigarette smoking, and the physiological measures of expired air carbon monoxide (CO) and saliva thiocyanate (SCN) in a sample of 1,130 seventh, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders. Subjects who reported marijuana smoking were likely to also report cigarette smoking. The correlation between self-reported marijuana smoking and SCN was negligible. The correlation between CO and self-reported marijuana smoking was statistically significant, but when the variance due to cigarette smoking was removed, this relationship also became negligible. The existence of a sizeable number of marijuana smokers in this sample of adolescents did not alter the correlation between CO and self-reports of cigarette smoking. However, in adult samples, where marijuana and cigarette smoking are less highly correlated, marijuana smoking could affect the relationship between CO and self-reported cigarette smoking. Carbon monoxide predicted self-reported cigarette smoking better than did saliva thiocyanate. There was an interaction between grade and the CO/cigarette smoking correlation. The correlations were generally higher in upper grades.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Smoking onset among teens: an empirical analysis of initial situations.

This study attempted to identify factors associated with smoking onset among teens. It was hypothesized that initial cigarette smoking is largely prompted by peers, and that these prompts and subsequent social reinforcement may account for smoking participation. An in-depth structured interview investigating the first three smoking or smoking pressure experiences was conducted with 157 teens, including persistent experimental smokers (who smoked more than 10 cigarettes), minimal experimental smokers (who smoked less than 10 cigarettes), and nonsmokers. Analyses confirmed that prompting by peers is characteristic of a large majority of smoking onset situations. Initial situations are much more likely to involve others of the same sex. In roughly half of the incidents another young person was trying a cigarette for the first time. Persistent experimenters, when compared with minimal experimenters, were exposed to significantly more influences to smoke. These influences included modeling and social encouragement. Additional data suggested that persistent experimenters were more primed to smoke than minimal experimenters. For example, they had engaged in more premeditation, accepted offers to smoke with less hesitation, and inhaled more frequently. Also, pleasant emotional and physiological effects discriminated continuers from quitters. Nonsmokers appeared to possess more effective response strategies to refuse cigarettes. Implications of these data for prevention program design are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

A situational analysis of adolescent smoking.

Forty-four adolescent smokers self-monitored their smoking for 1 week. Four 4 hr each day subjects recorded the person, place, and activity associated with each cigarette smoked. Seventy-one percent of all cigarettes were smoked in the presence of another person. Roughly half of those cigarettes were were smoked with peers. A surprising amount of smoking occurred in the subject's own home, suggesting that the smoking of the subjects is accepted, if not condoned , by their parents. The data generally confirm the social nature of adolescent smoking.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Adolescents' compliance with self-monitoring and physiological assessment of smoking in natural environments.

Brief daily telephone calls were evaluated as a method of enhancing adolescents' compliance with self-monitoring and physiological assessments of cigarette smoking in the natural environment. Seven direct and indirect measures of compliance were devised. Results indicated that subjects receiving telephone calls complied significantly more than control subjects in providing saliva samples and recording detailed self-monitoring data.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Paradoxical techniques in strategic family therapy: a behavioral analysis.

Accounts of paradoxical intervention with individuals are appearing increasingly in the behavior therapy literature. As yet little attention has been given to the use of such interventions with families. The present article examines their use in the context of strategic family therapy, the assumptions of which are briefly stated. The treatment of a case of family discord is described, and a behavioral analysis of its effects is provided.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Peer modeling effects in the smoking behavior of teenagers.

Modeling influences on adolescent smoking behavior were investigated. Twenty-eight male and twenty-eight female teenagers were exposed to each of three experimental conditions: a male smoking confederate, a female smoking confederate, and no model present. The order of each of these half-hour long conditions was counterbalanced across subjects. Three aspects of smoking behavior were directly observed: number of cigarettes smoked, number of puffs per cigarette, and duration of each cigarette. The presence of a smoking model increased the number of people who smoked and the number of cigarettes smoked and decreased the number of puffs per cigarette. The sex of the model did not affect the smoking behavior of either male or female subjects. Boys tended to smoke more cigarettes than girls (p less than .06) and boys took significantly more puffs per cigarette than did girls in the model present conditions. The results provide experimental confirmation that modeling influences teenagers' smoking behavior, but the rate of smoking in the absence of a model demonstrates that modeling effects cannot account for the maintenance of smoking.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Psychosocial predictors of self-care behaviors (compliance) and glycemic control in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

This study assessed potential psychosocial correlates of self-care behaviors (compliance) and of glycemic control in a community sample of 184 people diagnosed as having non-insulin-dependent (type II) diabetes mellitus. Four different diabetes self-care behaviors were studied (medication taking, glucose testing, diet, and exercise), and glycemic control was assessed by glycosylated hemoglobin analyses. Multiple measures were collected within each of several categories of psychosocial variables including knowledge, stress, depression, anxiety, diabetes-specific health beliefs, and social support. Findings indicate that approximately 25% of the variance in self-care behaviors can be explained by psychosocial and demographic variables. In contrast, psychosocial variables were not significant predictors of level of glycemic control. The diabetes-specific psychosocial measures of health beliefs and social support were the most consistent and strongest predictors of self-care behavior across the different regimen areas studied. Possible reasons for these findings, limitations of the study, and directions for future research are discussed.

Adult↗