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Biomedical subjects

P Marton

Publications and source records attributed to P Marton.

54 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

A study of disturbed and non disturbed adolescents: the Toronto Adolescent Longitudinal Study. I.

The Toronto Adolescent Longitudinal Study was undertaken to examine personality development in a non-clinical sample of children from ages 10 through 19. Fifty-nine boys and girls, selected to represent the full range of behavior presentation in regular classrooms, have participated throughout the complete study. Each year the students and at least one parent participated in a full day evaluation during which a comprehensive battery of measures was administered to assess their psychosocial characteristics. Some exemplary results are presented regarding the personality functioning and associated characteristics of the group at age 13. Our results lead us to conclude that adolescence should not be considered as a homogeneous developmental stage. Young adolescents can be differentiated along a dimension of competence in personality functioning which is associated with differences in their clinical presentation, self concept and behavior patterns.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Personality functioning and clinical presentation in early adolescence. II.

This study describes the presentation of early adolescents on clinical examination and its relation to personality function competence. As part of a longitudinal study 63 non-clinical subjects at age 13 underwent a semi-structured psychiatric interview. On the basis of their responses their phenomenology, attitudes, defence mechanisms and degree of relatedness to significant others were assessed independently and blindly by two psychiatrists. Our findings show that a significant minority of early adolescents have a definite personality function disturbance and that these adolescents differ from their more competent peers on a number of characteristics identifiable in a clinical interview. Such a relationship was observed in boys as well as girls, with girls presenting no greater amount of turmoil than boys. These results indicate that adolescents cannot be adequately described as a homogeneous group. Differences in individual personality functioning result in differences in the presentation and internal experience of the early adolescent.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Maternal caretaking and play with full-term and premature infants.

The contribution of past psychological experiences of the mother and medical complications of the infant to differences in caretaking of pre- and full-term infants are examined. Twenty full- and 20 pre-term matched mother-infant dyads were studied during a feed and play 1, 2 and 3 months after the expected date of birth. Full-term infants were more active than pre-terms at 4 weeks only. Mother of pre-terms showed differences in their interactions at all times. Interactions were related to maternal experiences in full-term infants only. Degree of neonatal illness was correlated with behavioral disorganization of premature infants, leading to differences in caretaking style.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

A transparent chamber for the dorsal skin fold of athymic mice.

A transparent chamber designed for insertion in the dorsal skin fold of athymic mice is described. The chamber is based on ingrowth of a layer of granulation tissue from the surrounding subcutis of the animals. The thickness of the tissue layer in the chamber is accurately given by an exchangeable chamber component and the construction allows repetitive access to the tissue inside the chamber. A freely movable skin flap is prepared surgically on the back of the animals, and the chamber is inserted in this flap in a second operation about 2 weeks later. In the absence of air bubbles, infectious foci and excessive adipose tissue in the chamber, ingrowth of granulation tissue is completed 2-4 weeks after the insertion. When infections of the skin enclosing the chamber and atrophy of the skin flap are prevented, the functioning time of the transparent chamber is determined by the life span of the animals. In the present study the athymic mice remained healthy for 4-5 months after insertion of the chamber although they were kept under conventional conditions, but were given antimicrobial covering. Since athymic mice accept some human xenografts, both normal tissues and neoplasms, vital microscopical studies of such xenografts implanted into the chamber can be performed. Preliminary results of such studies on a human malignant melanoma are presented.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Self-help groups in a premature nursery-a controlled evaluation.

This study examined the effect discussion groups, held in a neonatal intensive care unit with parents of very small premature infants, had on various measures of later parenting competence. Twenth-eight families who met for seven to ten weeks with a nurse co-ordinator and a "veteran mother" who had given birth to a premature infant within the past year were compared with 29 control families. Parents who had participated in the groups visited their infants significantly more often in hospital than did the control parents. They also touched, talked, and looked at their infants in the en face position more during their visits, and rated themselves as more competent on a number of infant care measures. Three months after discharge of the infants, group mothers continued to show more involvement with their babies during feedings and were more concerned about their general development. The implications of such self-help groups for the later development of high-risk premature infants is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Behavioral development of premature infants: an ethological approach.

This study examines the motor and social development of 21 very small preterm infants up to 34 weeks post-conceptional age. Seven infants were born at 26 to 27 weeks gestation, seven at 28 to 30 weeks and seven at 31 to 32 weeks. They were all physically healthy, as were their mothers. All the infants were observed for 40 minutes twice weekly, using a continuous recording technique. 12 types of infant behavior were recorded. The results indicate that the mean percentage and mean duration of both gross motor movements and 'social' behavior of these small infants do not vary between 26 and 34 weeks post-conceptional age. Moreover, infants born at 26 and 27 weeks gestation showed the same distribution of behaivor during their hospital stay as those born at 28 to 30 or 31 to 32 weeks. There was little individual stability over the weeks in the level of motor activity and social behaivor displayed by the infants, which implies that the behavior of these infants is generally variable as long as they remain physically healthy.

Child Development↗
PubMed1978

Mother-child relationships in the premature nursery: an observational study.

In an attempt to develop objective criteria for the process of mother-child bonding, 18 premature infants with a birth weight of less than 1,501 gm were regularly observed alone and together with their mothers during each nursery visit and three home visits, one, two, and three months after discharge from the hospital. Results indicate that (1) mothers visit longer and increase their caretaking behaviors over visits and remain consistent in the rank order of their caretaking behaviors over time. (2) Caretaking behaviors are highly intercorrelated and mothers can be divided into those who show a consistently high, medium, and low amount of interaction with their infants. (3) Highly interacting mothers also visit and telephone the nursery more and stimulate their infants more at home. Mothers who stimulate their infants little in the nursery also visit and phone less and stimulate them little at home. (4) Infant behaviors showed that infants whose gestation was less than 29 weeks did not respond to any type of maternal stimulation. Infants whose gestation was more than 29 weeks, however, showed significantly more eye-openings when their mothers touched them.

Child Behavior↗
PubMed1976

Assessment of a cognitive training program for hyperactive children.

Modeling, self-verbalization, and self-reinforcement techniques were used to train hyperactive children in more effective and less impulsive strategies for approaching cognitive tasks, academic problems, and social situations. Eighteen hyperactive children took part in the training program. The control group, which received no training, consisted of 11 children, matched with the experimental group on age, IQ, and measures of hyperactivity and impulsivity. Several tests and measures, some of which have been shown to differentiate between hyperactive and normal children, were administered prior to training at the end of the 3-month training period, and after a further 3-month period in which no training took place. The trained group showed significantly greater improvement on several of the measures, both at the time of posttesting and on the follow-up evaluation.

Attention↗