Biomedical subjects

Marita P McCabe

Publications and source records attributed to Marita P McCabe.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

Controlled trial of dementia training with a peer support group for aged care staff.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the impact of an eight-session training program for aged care staff in managing dementia-related challenging behaviours. Participation in the training program with an additional five-session peer support group was compared with both participation in training only and a wait-list control condition. METHODS: Outcomes were evaluated for 90 participating staff members and 113 residents with challenging behaviours from six aged care facilities. Measures of staff attitudes and the behaviours of staff and residents were collected pre- and post-intervention, and at six month follow-up. RESULTS: Staff members in both dementia training groups reported improved attitudes regarding their knowledge and skills in managing residents with challenging behaviours, immediately after the training and six months later. Facility supervisors rated the nursing performance of trained staff more positively, particularly those who participated in a peer support group. The dementia training programs, whether with or without the inclusion of peer support, did not impact on levels of staff burnout or substantially reduce the level of challenging behaviours among aged care residents. CONCLUSIONS: While training programs may impact positively on staff performance, organisational characteristics of aged care facilities, including low levels of management support for staff training initiatives, limit the potential outcomes. Methodological limitations are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

An individualized psychosocial approach for "treatment resistant" behavioral symptoms of dementia among aged care residents.

BACKGROUND: Behavioral symptoms of dementia are common among residents in mainstream aged care settings, and have a substantial impact on residents and professional caregivers. This study evaluated the impact of individualized psychosocial interventions for behavioral symptoms through a small preliminary study. METHOD: Interventions were delivered to a patient group of 31 psychogeriatric aged care residents who presented with behavioral symptoms of dementia that had failed to respond to pharmacological treatment approaches. Outcome data on severity of behaviors, health service utilization and staff burden of care were collected. RESULTS: A modest but significant reduction in staff ratings of the severity of aggressive and verbally agitated behavioral symptoms was found, with an associated reduction in their perceptions of the burden of caring for these patients. Reduced behavioral disturbance was associated with a reduction in the requirement for primary care consultations, and all participants were able to continue to reside in mainstream aged care facilities, despite an increase in the severity of dementia. CONCLUSIONS: This study supported the use of individualized psychological strategies for behavioral symptoms at all stages of dementia. Methodological limitations of this preliminary study are discussed.

Aged↗

PubMed2006

Early detection of depression and associated risk factors in adults with mild/moderate intellectual disability.

The aim of this study was to determine the presentation and risk factors for depression in adults with mild/moderate intellectual disability (ID). A sample of 151 adults (83 males and 68 females) participated in a semi-structured interview. According to results on the Beck Depression Inventory II, 39.1% of participants evinced symptoms of depression (2 severe, 14 moderate, and 43 mild). Sadness, self-criticism, loss of energy, crying, and tiredness appeared to be the most frequent indicators of depression or risk for depression. A significant difference was found between individuals with and without symptoms of depression on levels of automatic negative thoughts, downward social comparison and self-esteem. Automatic negative thoughts, quality and frequency of social support, self-esteem, and disruptive life events significantly predicted depression scores in people with mild/moderate ID, accounting for 58.1% of the variance.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Depression among older people with cognitive impairment: prevalence and detection.

BACKGROUND: Past research has demonstrated that there is a high level of depression among older people, particularly for those with cognitive impairment and those in residential care. The current study was designed to determine the prevalence of depression among older people in hostels with cognitive impairment using a structured diagnostic interview. A further aim was to determine an appropriate screening instrument to detect depression within this population. It was also designed to evaluate the extent to which depression among these older people had previously been detected. METHOD: Five commonly used depression scales were administered and compared to the results of the diagnostic interview. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that 38.9% of older people were diagnosed with depression, but that only 50% of these people had been previously diagnosed with this disorder. All scales showed some level of validity to detect depression. CONCLUSIONS: The implications of these findings for our understanding of depression among older people with cognitive impairment are discussed.

Aged↗

PubMed2006

The construction of the adolescent male body through sport.

The present study examined the role played by sport in understanding adolescent males' views about their body. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 40 adolescent boys aged between 15 and 17 years. An inductive thematic analysis of boys' narratives showed that sport provided adolescent males with a context for discussing their body image. Attributes which males liked about their body were synonymous with those associated with being successful at sport. In addition, sport was used as a forum for competing with other males both through playing sport and by using sport performance to make favourable social comparisons about their body size.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Evaluation of a prevention program to address body focus and negative affect among children.

The current study evaluated a program to improve the body image and positive and negative affect of children. Participants were 368 children aged 8-12 years. The results demonstrated that boys placed more importance on and were less satisfied with their muscles; girls were less satisfied with their weight and the importance of weight increased with increasing age. Children with a large BMI were less satisfied with their weight. Boys in the intervention group showed reduced levels of negative affect over time. Further research is required to develop prevention and intervention programs to lower the effects of body dissatisfaction and negative affect among children.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Negative affect as a mediator between body dissatisfaction and extreme weight loss and muscle gain behaviors.

Negative affect has been found to mediate the relationship between body dissatisfaction and bulimia. However, it is unknown if this relationship also applies to disordered eating, excessive exercise and strategies to increase muscle for men or women. The aim of this study was to investigate whether negative and positive affect mediate the relationship between body dissatisfaction, and these body change strategies. Respondents were 93 men and 97 women (age range: 18-25 years), who completed measures of body dissatisfaction, positive and negative affect and body change strategies to lose weight or increase muscles. Body dissatisfaction was associated with strategies to lose weight, dietary restraint and bulimia for both genders. Negative affect mediated the relationship between dissatisfaction with muscles and strategies to lose weight, dietary restraint and bulimia for women only. The results confirm previous findings related to the association between negative affect and disordered eating for women. They also demonstrate the need to further investigate the impact of negative affect on body change strategies, particularly among men, and those strategies related to increasing muscles.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Adolescent body image and psychosocial functioning.

Researchers have highlighted the significance of a poor body image in the development of dysfunctional eating but have systematically investigated few other outcomes. The authors examined the relationships between different aspects of body image and psychosocial functioning. Participants were 245 boys and 173 girls from Grades 8 and 9 (M age = 13.92 years, SD = 0.69 years). Respondents completed measures of physical attractiveness, body satisfaction, body image importance, body image behaviors, appearance comparison, social physique anxiety, self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and same-sex and opposite-sex relations. Whereas girls tended to report a more negative body image than did boys, the relevance of body image to self-esteem was similar for boys and girls. Concern about others' evaluation of their bodies was especially important in understanding low female self-esteem, whereas for boys, ratings of general attractiveness most strongly predicted self-esteem. The authors found a negative body image to be unrelated to symptoms of negative affect but to be strongly associated with poor opposite-sex peer relationships, especially among boys. A negative body image also affected same-sex relations among girls.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2005

Behavioral characteristics of men accused of rape: evidence for different types of rapists.

The aim of this study was to determine whether the behavioral characteristics demonstrated by rapists clustered together into groups that were similar to the common rapist typology in the literature: anger, power exploitative, power reassurance, and sadistic. Two studies were conducted to examine the evidence for this typology. Study 1 involved the analysis of data from 130 men charged with sexual assault and Study 2 involved the analysis of court transcripts from 50 rape cases tried through the court system. The results of Study 1 revealed that there was some validity to the characteristics usually associated with each of the four types of rape, especially for the power reassurance and sadistic rapists. However, there were some unexpected outliers within both the anger and power exploitative types of rapists, which may suggest that there is more than one type of anger rapist and more than two types of power rapists. The results of Study 2 very closely replicated the results of Study 1. Future research needs to focus on the behavioral, motivational, and cognitive characteristics associated with each of the types of rapists and research them separately, so that it is possible to further evaluate the evidence for the typology identified in this study.

Aggression↗

PubMed2005

A prospective study of pressures from parents, peers, and the media on extreme weight change behaviors among adolescent boys and girls.

The current study was designed to evaluate the role of sociocultural influences over a 16 month period on strategies to lose weight, extreme weight loss strategies, and strategies to increase muscles among adolescent boys (n=344) and girls (n=246). All participants completed measures of body dissatisfaction, body image importance, strategies to lose weight, extreme weight loss strategies, and strategies to increase muscles. Measures of perceived pressure to lose weight or increase muscles from mother, father, best male friend, best female friend and the media were also evaluated. Data were gathered on three occasions, 8 months apart. The results demonstrated that boys showed a decrease in strategies to lose weight and increase muscles over time, whereas girls showed an increase. Both boys and girls showed an increase in extreme weight loss strategies with girls demonstrating a greater increase than boys. The sociocultural influences generally were perceived by girls to relate to messages to lose weight, whereas for boys they were perceived to relate to increasing muscles. Messages from parents, particularly fathers, were strong predictors of both strategies to lose weight and increase muscles among boys, with the media and best male friend playing a limited role. For girls, the strongest influences were mothers and best female friends, with few influences from fathers or the media. The results of this study are discussed in terms of the importance of the various sociocultural influences in shaping body change strategies among young adolescent boys and girls, and the implications of these findings for intervention programs for adolescents.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Mood and self-esteem of persons with multiple sclerosis following an exacerbation.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to determine the impact of an exacerbation in the symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) on the mood and self-esteem of persons with MS over an 18-month period. METHODS: Participants were 243 (80 males and 163 females) persons with MS and 184 (56 males and 128 female) persons from the general population. Information was obtained about coping styles, mood, and self-esteem among all respondents at Time 1, Time 2 (6 months later), and Time 3 (18 months later). RESULTS: The results demonstrated that both groups of persons with MS experienced poorer mood levels than the general population, with the exacerbation group showing the highest levels of anxiety and confusion. Coping strategies did not predict mood in either of the MS groups. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study demonstrate that persons with MS experience significant problems with their mood states. However, respondents need to be tracked over a longer period to further explore the role of coping strategies in the adjustment of persons with MS.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2005

A theoretical discussion of the impact of stigma on psychological adjustment to having a sexually transmissible infection.

This paper provides a discussion of the utility of stigma theory as a conceptual framework for the interpretation and analysis of the psychological impact of contracting a sexually transmissible infection (STI). Most particularly, it focuses on those viral infections that cannot be medically cured, such as genital herpes and genital human papilloma virus. Recent research in the area of STIs suggests that the stigma associated with these conditions can hinder psychosocial and sexual adjustment post-diagnosis, and provides support for the use of stigma theory as a conceptual framework with which to analyse these experiences. This paper defines the concept of stigma and presents a theoretical overview of the process of stigmatisation. Three dimensions of stigma relevant to the experience of having a STI are then presented: the degree of concealability of the condition including the social consequences of concealing a condition; the origin of the condition; and the degree of peril presented by the condition. An overview of the way in which the presence of a stigmatising condition such as a STI may affect a person's feelings of self and his/her intimate relationships is then presented. Finally, the implications of stigma theory as a conceptual framework for guiding future research in the area of personal and interpersonal reactions to STIs is discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2005

The utility of the Trans-theoretical Model of Behavior Change in the treatment of sex offenders.

This paper discusses the use of the Trans-theoretical Model of Behavior Change in the treatment of sex offenders. Constructs within this theory are the Stages of Change, Processes of Change and Decisional Balance. The first section of this paper provides a brief description of these constructs. The second section provides a brief review of research related to these constructs and discusses the implications of this research in relation to the treatment of sex offenders. The third section of this paper provides a practical description of the use of the constructs of the Trans-theoretical Model of Behaviour Change in the treatment of sex offenders. Although the validity of this model among sex offenders requires further investigation, the Trans-theoretical Model of Behavior Change appears to have considerable utility as an overarching theoretical model to conceptualize and facilitate behavior change among sex offenders.

Behavior Control↗

PubMed2005

Attitudes and perceptions of workers to sexual harassment.

The authors investigated how individual factors (age, gender, gender role, past experiences of sexual harassment) and organizational factors (gender ratio, sexual harassment policies, the role of employers) related to workers' attitudes toward and perceptions of sexual harassment. In Study 1, participants were 176 workers from a large, white-collar organization. In Study 2, participants were 75 workers from a smaller, blue-collar organization. Individuals from Study 2 experienced more sexual harassment, were more tolerant of sexual harassment, and perceived less behavior as sexual harassment than did individuals from Study 1. For both samples, organizational and individual factors predicted workers' attitudes toward and experiences of sexual harassment. Individual factors-such as age, gender, gender role, past experiences of sexual harassment, and perceptions of management's tolerance of sexual harassment-predicted attitudes toward sexual harassment. Workers' attitudes, the behavioral context, and the gender of the victim and perpetrator predicted perceptions of sexual harassment. The authors discussed the broader implications of these findings and suggested recommendations for future research.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Media influences on body image and disordered eating among indigenous adolescent Australians.

There has been no previous investigation of body image concerns and body change strategies among indigenous Australians. This study was designed to investigate the level of body satisfaction, body change strategies, and perceived media messages about body change strategies among 50 indigenous (25 males, 25 females) and 50 non-indigenous (25 males, 25 females) Australian adolescents (mean age 14.05, SD = 1.05). Consistent with past studies, girls were more likely to be dissatisfied with their weight and engage in strategies to lose weight. However, contrary to expectations, indigenous adolescents engaged in more strategies to lose weight, increase weight, and increase muscles than did non-indigenous adolescents, despite perceiving fewer media messages about losing weight. Additional factors that may explain the findings and the need for further research with different cultural groups are highlighted.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Body image dissatisfaction among males across the lifespan: a review of past literature.

OBJECTIVE: Most past research has focused on body dissatisfaction among females. This paper provides a review and evaluation of studies that have examined body dissatisfaction among males. Body dissatisfaction in males has been associated with poor psychological adjustment, eating disorders, steroid use, exercise dependence, as well as other health behaviors. It is therefore important to understand the level of body dissatisfaction, as well as the factors that are related to this construct. METHOD: The review is divided into three sections: body dissatisfaction among children, adolescents and adults. Within each section, levels of body dissatisfaction are examined, as well as the research that relates to sociocultural influences on body dissatisfaction. Difficulties in drawing valid conclusions from the data due to methodological problems are highlighted. RESULTS: From the current data, it would appear that there are strong similarities in the levels of body dissatisfaction of male and female children, with most children demonstrating high levels of body satisfaction. During adolescence, boys are about equally divided between wanting to lose weight and increasing weight, but there are few studies that have examined a desire for increased muscle size. In adulthood, men evidence a stronger desire to lose weight as they get older. CONCLUSION: Overall, past studies have primarily focused on questions that are relevant to females, and there is a need to conduct studies that evaluate areas of body dissatisfaction that have greater relevance for males. This will then allow a better understanding of the relationship between body dissatisfaction and psychological and behavioral problems experienced by males at all stages of the lifespan.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Coping and psychological adjustment among people with multiple sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: This study was concerned with examining the coping and psychological adjustment of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and determining how they were different in these dimensions from people from the general population. The role of severity and duration of illness as well as levels of social support on coping style and adjustment were also evaluated. METHOD: The participants were 381 (144 men, 237 women) people with MS and 291 (101 men, 190 women) people from the general population. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that people with MS (particularly men) were less likely to adopt coping styles related to problem solving and seeking support and demonstrated poorer levels of adjustment on all dimensions. Adopting a wishful thinking coping style, as well as a lack of problem-focused coping or failure to seek social support, was also more likely to be associated with poorer psychological adjustment for both men and women with MS. Levels of health impairment were only minimally related to psychological adjustment, particularly for men. DISCUSSION: These findings highlight the importance of developing educational programs that include strategies to adopt more problem-focused coping strategies, so that people with MS can more readily adjust to their illness.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2004

Exacerbation of symptoms among people with multiple sclerosis: impact on sexuality and relationships over time.

This study was designed to evaluate the impact of an exacerbation in symptoms among men and women with multiple sclerosis (MS) on sexuality and relationship satisfaction. A total of 321 people with MS (120 men, M age = 48.10 years; 201 women, M age = 45.78 years), and 239 people from the general population (79 men, M age = 53.93 years; 160 women, M age = 45.89 years) completed measures of relationship satisfaction and sexuality, and then completed these measures again 18 months later. The results demonstrated that both men and women with MS reported significantly higher levels of sexual dysfunction than did the general population. The no exacerbation group also reported significantly lower levels of sexual activity and of relationship satisfaction than the general population group over the 18-month period. Women in all groups reported significantly higher levels of sexual dysfunction but also higher levels of sexual activity than did men at each time period. They also reported significantly higher levels of sexual satisfaction at the 18-month follow up. These results suggest that men and women respond in similar ways to MS, and that people with MS do not necessarily experience poorer levels of sexual interaction or relationship quality when they experience an increase in their physical symptoms.

Adaptation, Psychological↗