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Interviews with children who experienced major life stress: family and child attributes that predict resilient outcomes.

Demographically comparable groups of children exposed to major life-stress, with stress resilient (SR) and stress affected (SA) outcomes at ages 10 to 12, were interviewed to assess perceptions of their caregiving environments, peer relationships, and themselves. SR children compared with SA children reported more: (1) positive relationships with primary caregivers, (2) stable family environments, (3) inductive and consistent family discipline practices, and (4) positive expectations for their futures. SR girls viewed their mothers as more nurturing than did SA girls. Perceptions of fathers, quality of peer relationships, and global self-concept did not differentiate the groups. A discriminant function analysis identified four variables that correctly classified 74% of the subjects as SR or SA. Findings support the view that caregiver-child relationships play a key role in moderating children's developmental outcomes under conditions of high stress.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Dental plaque-induced gingival diseases.

Gingival diseases are a diverse family of complex and distinct pathological entities found within the gingiva that are the result of a variety of etiologies. There are several clinical characteristics common to all gingival diseases and these features include clinical signs of inflammation, signs and symptoms that are confined to the gingiva, reversibility of the disease by removing the etiology, the presence of bacterial laden plaque to initiate and/or exacerbate the severity of the disease and a possible role as a precursor for attachment loss around teeth. Defining and classifying gingival diseases has not been an easy task. The tools and methods to identify gingival diseases have varied depending on the criteria used by epidemiologists, researchers, or the practicing clinician. The classification of gingival disease in this review relied upon experimental and/or epidemiological human studies that accurately and reliably assessed an underlying functional derangement that was localized to the gingiva and was reported in a peer-reviewed journal. The classification of gingival diseases that depends on dental plaque to initiate the disease process(es) has been categorized into two groups. The two categories of plaque-induced gingival diseases are those affected by local factors and those that are affected by local factors and modified by specific systemic factors found in the host. In this review, the clinical characteristics of gingival disease associated with plaque, endogenous hormone fluctuations, drugs, systemic diseases, and malnutrition were investigated.

Dental Plaque↗

Manipulation of zebrafish embryogenesis by phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers indicates minimal non-specific teratogenesis.

The incidence of teratogenicity caused by therapeutic agents is a significant concern in drug development. Approaches to screening active agents in drug development tend to be limited by relevance to humans, cost from the large number of animals required for testing and complicated by barriers to drug entry into the test organism. The era post-human, -mouse and -zebrafish genome sequence determination should result in more precise experimental approaches to the evaluation of teratogenic potential. Peer-reviewed publications (204 papers) from independent investigators evaluating phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PMOs) in functional genomic studies are reviewed. These studies utilized over 47,000 embryos and resulted in 0.3% off-targeted or potential teratogenic effects, while at the same time producing the 74% phenotypic penetrance expected for the targeted gene. This represents a very compelling case for the minimal teratogenic potential of PMO chemistry.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗

Systematic literature review for clinical practice guideline development.

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the quality and scope of the published literature on functional impairment due to cataract in adults as reviewed for the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research Clinical Practice Guideline. We examined the method of literature retrieved and analysis performed in the course of development of literature-based recommendations for the guideline panel. To collect data, we reviewed the process of literature acquisition and identification and the quality assessments made by reviewers of 14 individual topics composed of 77 issues related to the guideline. We collated this information to provide an assessment of the quality and scope of the relevant literature. Less than 4% (310) of the approximately 8,000 articles initially identified as potentially relevant to the guideline were ultimately used. The majority covered three topics (surgery and complication, 100; Nd:YAG capsulotomy, 77; and potential vision testing, 40). Three other topics--indications for surgery, preoperative medical evaluation, and rehabilitation--were devoid of articles meeting inclusion criteria. For 43 issues, there was no identifiable relevant literature. With few exceptions, the quality of the literature was rated fair to poor owing to major flaws in experimental design. Case series (256 reports) of one type or another accounted for the majority of the included literature. There were 17 random controlled trials. This review revealed a sparse and generally low-quality literature relevant to the management of functional impairment due to cataract, despite a relatively large data base in reputable peer-reviewed journals.

Adult↗

Treatment of a 15 year old hebephrenic girl in a community hospital.

The preceeding discussion and case histroy illustrate the modern eclecticism which must be utilized in a synergistic manner to effect remissions in psychiatric illnesses heretofore unresponsive to treatment. The community psychiatrist must be capable of functioning in the face of adversity and sometimes must receive the criticism of his peers with equanimity and tolerance by accepting the opportunity as a challenge to educate colleagues to the full potentiality of modern psychiatry.

Adolescent↗

Psychosocial function during treatment for familial hypercholesterolemia.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether children treated for familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) have greater psychosocial dysfunction compared with their peers. CHILDREN: Children were 86 boys and 66 girls 7-16 years of age attending a lipid clinic. They were screened and instructed to follow a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol 18 months to 9 years earlier (mean, 4 years), and their mean dietary intake, estimated by a quantitative food frequency questionnaire, was within recommended limits. One-fourth had lost a parent or had a parent who had had cardiovascular disease due to FH (parental disease group). METHODS: Results of the Child Behavior Checklist, Teacher's Report Form, and Youth Self-Report were compared with a population sample. A semistructured interview, the Child Assessment Schedule, was administered to the children with FH and a well-functioning comparison group from the population (epidemiologic cohort; n = 62). RESULTS: Psychosocial scores were similar in the children with FH and the population sample. The Child Assessment Schedule showed that, compared with the epidemiologic cohort, children with FH did not have increased symptoms in any area of function, and scores for family, mood, and expression of anger were lower (less symptomatic). The prevalence of psychiatric diagnoses was 10%, which was not greater than expected. Children from the parental disease group had higher symptom scores in the areas of school and expression of anger than the rest of the children with FH. Their mean Children's Global Assessment Score (CGAS, which gives average children scores of 70-79) was slightly lower (77 vs 79). Belonging to the parental disease group predicted a lower CGAS in multivariate regression analyses, as did male sex, parental divorce, and low parental educational level. These factors explained up to 19% (95% confidence interval, 9%-31%) of the variance in CGAS. CONCLUSIONS: We found that the prevalence of psychosocial dysfunction was not greater than expected in children treated for FH. Psychosocial function within the group was associated with the usual demographic characteristics and with the loss or disease of a parent, beyond the period of bereavement or immediately after the event.

Adolescent↗

Academic misconduct among nursing students: a multivariate investigation.

The purpose of the study was to determine the degree to which several independent variables correlate with perceived instance of academic misconduct among nursing students. Maslow's Need-Goal Motivation Model served as the guiding framework for the study. It was postulated that nursing students' perceptions of their peers' maturity, academic commitment, and neutralizing attitude would be correlated with perceptions of their peers' involvement in various forms of academic misconduct. Results indicated a moderately high degree of correlation exists among the variables (Function I Rc2 = 0.325; p < .001).

Age Factors↗

A peer-based assistance program for officers with the New York City Police Department: report of the effects of Sept. 11, 2001.

Few data on stress symptoms related to the World Trade Center disaster in law enforcement personnel have been reported. Most New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers had significant exposure to the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Approximately 5,000 officers responded within the first 2 days, and more than 25,000 officers worked at ground zero, the morgues, or the Staten Island landfill. Because the police are the first line of defense against terrorist attacks, it is imperative that they maintain optimal health and functioning. Concern for the long-term effects from traumatic exposure is warranted. In partnership with Project Liberty, peer officers and clinicians from the Police Organization Providing Peer Assistance performed outreach, support work, and screening for stress symptoms related to the disaster in the NYPD from December 2002 until December 2003. Psychological issues in law enforcement personnel, a description of the outreach program, and data from these screenings are presented.

Confidentiality↗

The effect of clitoral surgery on sexual outcome in individuals who have intersex conditions with ambiguous genitalia: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The effects on sexual function of surgical removal of parts of the clitoris are unknown. For infants with intersex conditions and ambiguous genitalia being raised female, this surgery is often undertaken in early childhood. Our aim was to assess the effects of surgery on sexual outcome in this population. METHOD: We did a cross-sectional study to which we recruited 39 adults who had intersex conditions with ambiguous genitalia who were living as female from clinical (n=15) and peer-support (n=24) settings. We obtained data by use of a postal questionnaire, incorporating a validated sexual function assessment inventory. We also obtained hospital notes of 36 respondents who did not want to remain anonymous, and did genital examinations of 19 women. We assessed sexual problems in relation to surgical history and compared the results for our population to those of a healthy control group. FINDINGS: Of the 39 individuals enrolled, 28 had been sexually active and all had sexual difficulties. The 18 women who had undergone clitoral surgery had higher rates of non-sensuality (78%) and of inability to achieve orgasm (39%) than did the ten who had not had surgery (20% [p=0.002] and 0% [p=0.03], respectively). INTERPRETATION: Sexual function could be compromised by clitoral surgery. Debate on the ethics of the use of this surgery in children should be promoted and further multicentre research is needed to ensure representative samples and comprehensive outcome assessment. Meanwhile, parents and patients who consent to clitoral surgery should be fully informed of the potential risks to sexual function.

Adolescent↗

Criminal decision making: the development of adolescent judgment, criminal responsibility, and culpability.

Theories of judgment in decision making hypothesize that throughout adolescence, judgment is impaired because the development of several psychosocial factors that are presumed to influence decision making lags behind the development of the cognitive capacities that are required to make mature decisions. This study uses an innovative video technique to examine the role of several psychosocial factors--temporal perspective, peer influence, and risk perception--in adolescent criminal decision making. Results based on data collected from 56 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18 years revealed that detained youth were more likely to think of future-oriented consequences of engaging in the depicted delinquent act and less likely to anticipate pressure from their friends than nondetained youth. Examination of the developmental functions of the psychosocial factors indicates age-based differences on standardized measures of temporal perspective and resistance to peer influence and on measures of the role of risk perception in criminal decision making. Assessments of criminal responsibility and culpability were predicted by age and ethnicity. Implications for punishment in the juvenile justice system are discussed.

Adolescent↗

Meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of intradiscal electrothermal therapy (IDET).

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the representative outcomes of the intradiscal electrothermal therapy (IDET) procedure in terms of pain relief, reduction of disability, and risk of complications. DESIGN: Meta-analysis, using a random-effects model. A Medline literature search was conducted using search terms associated with the IDET procedure including IDET, intradiscal electrothermal therapy, intervertebral disk, and annuloplasty. OUTCOME MEASURES: The outcomes analyzed were the visual analog scale (VAS) assessment of pain, the bodily pain, and physical functioning subscales of the SF-36 health survey, and the Oswestry disability index. RESULTS: From 1998 to March 2005, 62 peer-reviewed articles were identified regarding the IDET procedure. Forty-five articles were excluded, leaving a total of 17 unique published reports included in this review. The overall mean improvement in pain intensity was 2.9 points as measured by the VAS. The overall mean improvement in physical function was 21.1 points as measured by the SF-36. The overall mean improvement in bodily pain was 18.0 points as measured by the SF-36. The overall mean improvement in disability was 7.0 points as measured by the Oswestry disability index. The overall incidence of complications was 0.8%. CONCLUSION: Although variation exists in the reported outcomes among the various studies of the IDET procedure, the pooled results of the published studies provide compelling evidence of the relative efficacy and safety of the IDET procedure.

Back Pain↗

Reporting peer wrongdoing in the healthcare profession: the role of incompetence and substance abuse information.

This article reports an analysis of the thinking processes nurses use when making decisions to report peer wrongdoing. Nurses (N=120) were asked to provide subjective probability estimates of the likelihood that they would report a hypothetical coworker for substance abuse and/or incompetence related to practice. Data were analyzed using formal inference-based recursive modeling (FIRM). Findings confirm that when considering workplace wrongdoing, nurses view working under the influence of any type of substance to be a very serious offense. More interesting, nurses combined incompetence and substance-abuse cues in complex ways, possibly due to the critical-thinking skills acquired during their education and practice.

Adult↗

Chronic illness, psychosocial problems, and school absences. Results of a survey of one county.

The number of days absent from school during the 1979-80 school year for 573 children aged 6-17 years in Berkshire County, Massachusetts was ascertained by parent reporting in a random household survey. Children with a wide range of chronic health impairments were reported as missing more school than their healthy peers (8.7 days vs. 5.8, p less than .001). Although there was a trend for children reported as having functional impairments to miss more school than those with chronic conditions without functional impairments (11.0 vs. 8.1), the difference was not statistically significant. Children with a variety of reported psychosocial difficulties missed more school than those without psychosocial difficulties for the sample as a whole and for those with reported chronic conditions. These findings document support for the assumption that children with a wide range of physical and psychological problems miss more school than their healthy peers and illustrate that the etiology of school absences is multifactoral and reflects behavioral as well as purely physical phenomena.

Absenteeism↗

Social networks and social competence: exploring the effects of early adolescent friendships.

This study explored the relationship between friendship social network variables and social competence indices using a sample of 98 young black lower SES adolescents. Analyses indicated that perceived emotional support received from friends and the number of reciprocated best friends in an adolescents' social network were related positively. Multivariate hierarchical regression analyses indicated that perceived friend emotional support and number of reciprocated best friends contributed independently to school competence, peer competence, and perceived self-competence measures. The friendship network's school achievement orientation was related positively to school competence but was unrelated to peer or perceived self-competence. Friendship network density did not add to the variance explained by the other network variables. Methodological contributions of this study include the development of a computer program to map friendship networks and the expansion of network analysis beyond the examination of social support functions.

Achievement↗

Prospective childhood predictors of deviant peer affiliations in adolescence.

Data gathered over the course of a longitudinal study of a birth cohort of over 900 New Zealand children were used to examine factors associated with the formation of affiliations with delinquent or substance using peers in adolescence (15 years). The findings of this study include: (1) Adolescent peer affiliations were associated with a wide range of prospectively measured social, family, parental, and individual factors. This analysis indicated that those children most at risk of forming deviant peer affiliations were those from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, dysfunctional families, who showed early onset conduct problems and other difficulties. (2) Regression analysis suggested that specific factors that were associated with increased risks of later deviant peer affiliations included family socioeconomic status, parental conflict, mother/child interaction, childhood sexual abuse, parental alcoholism, parental criminal offending, parental illicit drug use, parental smoking, early conduct problems, early anxiety/withdrawal, and early smoking experimentation. It is concluded that peer affiliations in adolescence are shaped by a complex social, family, and individual process that includes social stratification, family functioning, and individual behavioural predispositions.

Adolescent↗

Family-focused behavioral approach to weight control in children.

To treat the obese child or the child who is becoming obese appropriately, the clinician must determine if the adiposity is temporary or the beginning of a permanent trend that requires intervention. The concept of the "adiposity rebound" helps with this decision. The child's family is important and contributes to his or her body adiposity through both nature--an inherited metabolic tendency towards obesity--and nurture--the eating and activity environment and the family functioning. The activity level and energy intake, which although out of balance for the obese child, may not be low or excessive when compared to recommended amounts for children of that age or to that of peers. A child-family pattern can be defined in overweight children based on presence of a metabolic tendency, energy intake, activity level, and family functioning. In looking at the pattern rather than just the child's weight, the clinician can be much more effective with a weight control program, and with proper referral for changing family functioning prior to such a program if necessary.

Behavior Therapy↗

[Assurance of process-quality in pulmonary practice by means of a peer-review system--a pilot project].

Quality assurance and quality-management have been well anchored in social legislation for years. Peer-reviews to assure process-quality and quality of outcomes have been conducted repeatedly in centres for pulmonary medicine, facilities for pulmonary rehabilitation as well as centres for sleep-medicine. By means of a pilot study we wanted to investigate if assurance of process-quality is feasible and if a peer review system turns out to be a suitable method in pulmonary practice. Medical reports and/or diagnostic protocols of the investigational procedures such as pulmonary function tests, allergy-tests, induction test of bronchial hyperresponsiveness et cetera were randomly collected from nine patients with bronchial asthma or COPD in each of the 44 participating pulmonary practices and forwarded to three peer-reviewers respectively. 396 selected patient-datasets resulted in 1188 reviews. Peer review was conducted by means of a specially developed checklist of markers of process-quality accompanied by an explanatory manual. Measures of quality were determined for every pulmonary practice and a report of results was generated. The health economical efficacy of the therapy and the diagnostic process as well as an assessment of the overall process was evaluated by means of a visual analogue scale. No deficiencies could be detected in clearly more than half of the assessments. Major deficiencies or an unacceptable result in different items could be detected in every sixth assessment. For every item a graphic ranking in terms of benchmarking was generated for each individual report. Since peers were reviewers and subjects of review at the same time, they can now clearly improve and assure their diagnostic and therapeutic process-quality in patients with bronchial asthma and COPD by means of the experience they gained during the review process, as well as by the assessment they received. We were able to demonstrate that a peer-review-system is appropriate to assure process-quality in pulmonary practice and that it is feasible to achieve a continuous assurance and improvement of quality in the long run.

Asthma↗

Interviewing children about past events: the influence of peer support and misleading questions.

The present experiment investigated the influence of peer support and leading and misleading questions on children's reports of a neutral event. Twenty-four children aged between 5 and 7 years and 24 children aged between 8 and 10 years took part in an event which focused on the parts and functions of the human body. Three days later they were interviewed about the event either alone or with a same-sex peer. The younger children recalled less information than the older children during prompted recall, and both age groups made very few errors. For questions, younger children made significantly more errors in response to directly misleading questions that to indirectly misleading questions. Both age groups were very accurate in response to directly and indirectly leading questions. Peer support did not influence children's prompted recall reports about the event or their responses to questions. These results are discussed in the context of their implications for interviewing children about past events.

Child↗