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Biomedical subjects

M Lakin

Publications and source records attributed to M Lakin.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

Stages and processes of change among polydrug users in methadone maintenance treatment.

We applied the stages-of-change model of Prochaska and DiClemente to the problem of drug use among methadone maintenance patients to examine correlates of different stages of treatment readiness. The 276 subjects were divided into stage categories based on self-reported drug use and questionnaire responses regarding plans to discontinue unauthorized drug use in the future. Confirmatory factor analytic procedures validated four process scales derived from a 60-item questionnaire. Each stage was characterized by a profile of change-process scores largely consistent with predictions, though these scores did not distinguish stages as clearly as has been reported in previous research. Analysis of subject characteristics revealed that those in the Precontemplation stage reported significantly longer treatment tenures than subjects in any other stage besides Maintenance.

Adult

The evaluation and nonsurgical management of impotence.

The evaluation of patients with erectile dysfunction and the increasing number of nonsurgical options for its treatment have been reviewed. If nonsurgical options are unsuccessful or unsatisfactory to the patient, then a number of surgical alternatives are available including penile prostheses, and in a selected small number of patients, vascular reconstructive surgical procedures. Hopefully, in the future, a better understanding of erectile dysfunction will result in additional therapeutic options, both nonsurgical and surgical.

Erectile Dysfunction

Some ethical issues in feminist-oriented therapeutic groups for women.

Review of the origins of group psychotherapy reveals concerns with social as well as with personal "psychopathology." Thus, group processes have been mobilized for curative or change purposes for ideological as well as individual therapeutic goals. Psychopolitical as well as personal change are the goals for some groups. The ethical problem stems from a persistent assumption that the group's processes are inherently benign and curative and beneficial to individual participants. A more sophisticated understanding takes into account their essential neutrality and their potential use (or abuse) for purposes of ideological persuasion that may or may not be personally therapeutic. As in other ethically implicated issues in the psychotherapies, the question becomes one of treatment versus exploitation, or therapy for the individual versus recruitment on behalf of a cause.

Ethics

Content analysis of helping group interactions: toward a developmental perspective.

Age comparative content analyses were carried out for eleven support-discussion groups. Comparisons of six groups of elderly persons and five groups of college youth revealed that the older more frequently discuss bodily changes, family relations, significant others and external sources of self respect. The young were more concerned with physical vulnerabilities. The elderly were more likely to discuss matters in terms of the past. The results are considered in the light of a life stage developmental conception of group behavior which could have implications for helping interventions.

Adolescent

Jogger's liver.

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Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury

Coping strategies and continued drug use among methadone maintenance patients.

Drug addiction has been conceived as a maladaptive means of coping utilized by individuals unable or unwilling to deal with stresses in more adaptive ways. Although a growing body of evidence supports the link between alcohol abuse and maladaptive coping styles, there is relatively little empirical support for the connection between maladaptive coping and other kinds of drug use. The present study employed a cross-sectional design to assess coping and drug use in a sample of 276 methadone maintenance patients. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the factor structure of the coping measure and the relationship between coping and unauthorized drug use. The results suggest that coping and drug use are related in this population and that this relationship is different for Black patients than for White patients.

Adaptation, Psychological

Group processes in helping groups: toward a developmental perspective.

Ten interaction dimensions of group behavior and three emotional atmosphere categories were coded and analyzed on the basis of interactions among old and young participants in experimental "support-discussion" groups. The seven groups of elderly and five groups of young differed significantly with respect to frequencies of Boundary, Self-disclosure, and Support behaviors. In addition, the young were rated as showing signs of boredom more frequently. The implications of these results for development and age-linked assumptions about helping group interactions and interventions were explored. The results suggest that this approach is promising in generating knowledge that could facilitate age-appropriate group intervention strategies.

Adolescent