Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to K M Wright.
Interviews with and observations of experienced and inexperienced personnel were conducted to determine their coping strategies before, during, and after their work with the bodies of people who had died violently. Avoidance, denial, and social support from the work group and spouse appeared to facilitate coping. The implications of these findings for therapeutic intervention are discussed.
In addition to the direct psychological effects of disaster stressors, anticipation of stress can itself be debilitating. We examined the relationship between the anticipated stress of handling the dead and gender and experience. Experienced persons had lower anticipated stress than inexperienced persons. Inexperienced, females had higher anticipated stress than inexperienced males; experienced males and females did not differ. Results provide support for an 'inoculation' theory of stress buffering in disaster workers.
The psychological responses of two groups of fire fighters were examined following the performance of rescue work. Four types of responses were reported: identification with the victims, feelings of helplessness and guilt, fear of the unknown, and physiological reactions. Stress was found to be mediated by availability of social support, type of leadership, level of training, and use of rituals. Implications of these findings for preventive intervention measures are discussed.
A stochastic computer simulation is used to investigate the effects of restricted diffusion in NMR microscopy. It is shown that diffusion contributes to a loss of interfacial resolution through two main mechanisms. The first applies to spatial regions bound by impermeable interfaces and involves diffusive averaging of the frequency differences set up by the applied field gradients. This effect can be made arbitrarily small by increasing the magnitude of the field gradient. The second mechanism involves diffusion through permeable membranes or interfaces defining the sample morphology. This effect can, in principle, be reduced by multiple echo imaging with short pulse spacings. The possibility of imaging diffusive flow through a permeable interface is discussed.
Based on observational and interview data following a major air crash, a classification of individuals affected by catastrophe is proposed in which degree of involvement is used to characterize the dynamic nature of the disaster community. The model encompasses individual and group activities, roles and relationships, and the shared meaning of the traumatic event. Implications for the identification of neglected participants and for preventive community intervention are offered.
The worst peacetime disaster in United States Army history occurred on December 12, 1985 in Gander, Newfoundland. A charter airline carrying 248 soldiers home from peacekeeping duties in the Sinai Desert crashed after a refueling stop, killing all on board. After the crash, Army family assistance workers were appointed to help the surviving family members of each dead soldier. While substantial attention has been paid to the impact of sudden disasters on survivors and bereaved relatives, little is known about the health risks to those who perform helper roles. This study aimed to: a) identify the major stress areas for disaster family assistance workers; b) examine the relation between degree of exposure to these stressors and health; and c) locate risk factors, or resistance resources that might modulate any ill effects of exposure. A survey instrument assessed duration and intensity of family-helping activities and psychological well-being, psychiatric symptoms, major illness indicators, and social and personality variables at 6 months after the crash and again at the 1-year point for 131 family assistance officers. Results indicate a dose-response effect between exposure measured at time 1 and well-being, symptoms, and illness at time 2. Analysis of covariance findings also show that social supports (work supervisors, family, and friends) modulate the effects of exposure on symptoms and well-being. Social supports and the personality style of hardiness (or dispositional resilience) interact to modulate the effects of exposure on illness. These results demonstrate: a) a delayed negative impact of helper stress on family assistance workers, and b) a protective function of social supports and personality hardiness. Further research in this area should thus consider the potential influence of social/situational variables and personality dispositions in coping with disaster helper stress.
The effectiveness of awareness training alone in treating multiple tics in a young adult was assessed using a multiple baseline across behaviors design. The results showed that the awareness training was very effective in suppressing both head and facial tics and that the treatment effects generalized to a nonclinic situation. Follow-up data showed that both tics were still at low levels one, two, four and eight months after treatment. Treatment satisfaction ratings by the subject and social validation ratings by independent observers are also reported.
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxation and q-space diffusion measurements have been used to probe the microscopic water distribution in a variety of starch-based systems, including packed beds of native starch granules with varying water contents, starch gels, and freeze-dried starch gels. The q-space data for the granular beds is compared with a variety of theoretical models and conforms best to unbounded diffusion in a lower dimensional space. In contrast to some earlier reports, the data for the gelatinized samples are not anomalous and conform to simple unrestricted diffusion in a three-dimensional space. The paper concludes with a novel method for probing pore size distribution in freeze-dried starch gels by infusion of acetone.