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PubMed1975

Communicative behavior in schizophrenia. The relation of adaptive styles to kinetic and linguistic aspects of interview behavior.

Recent studies of formal kinetic and linguistic aspects of communication suggest that these may be important signposts of internal processes responsible for the regulation and organization of verbal thought. If so, the formal analysis of communication patterns of patients known to have difficulty in cognitive organization (chronic schizophrenics) should reveal kinetic and linguistic characteristics consistent with their level of adaptive cognitive functioning. In the present study, 16 chronic nonparanoid schizophrenic patients were video recorded during a clinical interview, and their kinetic and linguistic behavior was analyzed according to systems developed in our laboratory. Eight of these patients were chronic, isolated patients, classified by means of a scale for measuring proneness to future hospitalization, as extremely "prone" to rehospitalization, and eight were chronic, overtly oppositional patients, classified as "nonprone" to hospitalization. Prone patients are known to exhibit a relatively impoverished form of cognitive functioning, while nonprone patients exhibit more highly differentiated cognitive functioning. The major findings of this study revealed that the isolated prone patients could be distinguished from the nonprone patients, in their communicative behavior, by an increased utilization of the most repetitive and unpatterned stimulation of body parts, as well as the most simple form of linguistic narration of experience. The oppositional nonprone patients more often utilized circumscribed, patterned, and brief kinetic stimulation of body parts, as well as a form of language construction characterized by a complex conditional (i.e., causal, deductive, or purposive) framework for the expression of thought. In addition, social and affective components of the scale measuring hospital proneness were related to our formal kinetic and linguistic scoring categories. An explanation of these findings was offered based upon the well documented relationship observed in the literature between isolation and hyperarousal in chronic schizophrenia. That is, an attempt was made to integrate these findings with the notion that the schizophrenic disorder reflects an integrative deficit which is regulated by increasing the magnitude of proprioceptive feedback (and hence, arousal) through stereotyped repetitive motor activity.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2006

Applying a health behavior theory to explore the influence of information and experience on arsenic risk representations, policy beliefs, and protective behavior.

The common sense model (CSM) shows how people process information to construct representations, or mental models, that guide responses to health threats. We applied the CSM to understand how people responded to information about arsenic-contaminated well water. Constructs included external information (arsenic level and information use), experience (perceived water quality and arsenic-related health effects), representations, safety judgments, opinions about policies to mitigate environmental arsenic, and protective behavior. Of 649 surveys mailed to private well users with arsenic levels exceeding the maximum contaminant level, 545 (84%) were analyzed. Structural equation modeling quantified CSM relationships. Both external information and experience had substantial effects on behavior. Participants who identified a water problem were more likely to reduce exposure to arsenic. However, about 60% perceived good water quality and 60% safe water. Participants with higher arsenic levels selected higher personal safety thresholds and 20% reported a lower arsenic level than indicated by their well test. These beliefs would support judgments of safe water. A variety of psychological and contextual factors may explain judgments of safe water when information suggested otherwise. Information use had an indirect effect on policy beliefs through understanding environmental causes of arsenic. People need concrete information about environmental risk at both personal and environmental-systems levels to promote a comprehensive understanding and response. The CSM explained responses to arsenic information and may have application to other environmental risks.

Arsenic↗
PubMed2000

NPY-leptin: opposing effects on appetitive and consummatory ingestive behavior and sexual behavior.

Many studies have indicated that neuropeptide Y (NPY) stimulates and leptin inhibits food intake. In line with this, intracerebroventricular injection of NPY (10 microg) stimulated and leptin (10 microg) inhibited intake of a sucrose solution when female rats were required to obtain the solution from a bottle. However, NPY inhibited and leptin stimulated intake if the solution was infused intraorally. Thus NPY stimulates the responses used to obtain food but inhibits those used to consume food, and leptin has the opposite effects. To test the specificity of these responses the sexual behavior of male rats was examined. NPY-treated males showed minor deficits in sexual behavior but chose to ingest a sucrose solution rather than copulate with a female if offered the choice. By contrast, leptin-treated males ingested little sucrose and displayed an increase in ejaculatory frequency if given the same choice. It is suggested that NPY is not merely an orexigenic peptide, but one that directs attention toward food. Similarly, leptin may not be an anorexic peptide, but one that diverts attention away from food toward alternate stimuli.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1980

Thalamocortical mechanisms in odor-guided behavior. II. Effects of lesions of the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus and frontal cortex on odor preferences and sexual behavior in the hamster.

The role of the thalamocortical "olfactory" pathway in odor preferences and sexual behavior was examined in the hamster, a species which depends crucially upon olfaction for mating. Before and after ablation of primary or secondary olfactory structures, male hamsters were tested for threshold, interest, and preference for the odor of an estrus female hamster and other odors. Sexual competency was also observed in daily mating sessions. Disruption of the primary olfactory pathway resulted in an absence of interest in odors and mating. Lesions of the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus or frontal neocortex of the rhinal sulcus did not result in anosmia, but did eliminate or alter odor preferences and resulted in inappropriate, inefficient, precopulatory and copulatory behavior. It appears that substructures in the thalamofrontal pathway playa role in discriminative or cognitive aspects of processing adaptively significant stimuli.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Sad, blue, or depressed days, health behaviors and health-related quality of life, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 1995-2000.

BACKGROUND: Mood disorders are a major public health problem in the United States as well as globally. Less information exists however, about the health burden resulting from subsyndromal levels of depressive symptomatology, such as feeling sad, blue or depressed, among the general U.S. population. METHODS: As part of an optional Quality of Life survey module added to the U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, between 1995-2000 a total of 166,564 BRFSS respondents answered the question, "During the past 30 days, for about how many days have you felt sad, blue, or depressed?" Means and 95% confidence intervals for sad, blue, depressed days (SBDD) and other health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measures were calculated using SUDAAN to account for the BRFSS's complex sample survey design. RESULTS: Respondents reported a mean of 3.0 (95% CI = 2.9-3.1) SBDD in the previous 30 days. Women (M = 3.5, 95% CI = 3.4-3.6) reported a higher number of SBDD than did men (M = 2.4, 95% CI = 2.2-2.5). Young adults aged 18-24 years reported the highest number of SBDD, whereas older adults aged 60-84 reported the fewest number. The gap in mean SBDD between men and women decreased with increasing age. SBDD was associated with an increased prevalence of behaviors risky to health, extremes of body mass index, less access to health care, and worse self-rated health status. Mean SBDD increased with progressively higher levels of physically unhealthy days, mentally unhealthy days, unhealthy days, activity limitation days, anxiety days, pain days, and sleepless days. CONCLUSION: Use of this measure of sad, blue or depressed days along with other valid mental health measures and community indicators can help to assess the burden of mental distress among the U.S. population, identify subgroups with unmet mental health needs, inform the development of targeted interventions, and monitor changes in population levels of mental distress over time.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Cognitive behavioral therapy to promote exercise behavior in older adults: implications for physical therapists.

Although exercise has both physical and psychological benefits, most older adults do not exercise on a regular basis. Physical therapists need to explore ways to encourage sustained commitment. This article proposes that cognitive factors contribute to older adults inactivity and that the self regulation of exercise maintenance model is a means of promoting exercise. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), an intervention guided by the self-regulation model, is presented as a practical way to help older adults see how thoughts guide their exercise behavior. The article concludes with a hypothetical case in which principles of CBT are used to promote exercise with older adults.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Effect of artificial photoperiod on eating behavior and other behavioral observations of dairy cows.

Twenty-eight cows were assigned randomly to a daily photoperiod of 18 h light and 6 h darkness or to continuous light and were observed 1 day each month from December 1981 to February 1982. Lighting regimen did not affect eating behavior or milk production. Overall means of total eating time, number of eating bouts, and average time eating per bout on the 3 observation days were 270 to 280 min, 10 to 12 times, and 24 to 27 min. Eating behavior and milk production were not significantly correlated. Eating patterns were similar in both groups and across observation days. Peaks of eating activity occurred before sunset, bracketing the evening milking and after the offering of fresh feed in the morning. Approximately 80% of total eating activity occurred between 0900 and 2100 h in both groups. Cows had a clear preference for entry into the right or left side of the milking parlor, and entry order was repeatable. Milking order and milk production were not correlated. In one group, location of free stalls did not influence utilization; but in the other group, centrally located stalls were utilized more than stalls at either end of the alley. About 40% of cows had individual free stall preferences.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

[Automatic social behavior: how does activation of the concepts of egoism and altruism influence helping behavior?].

An experimental study investigated the influence of priming on helping behavior. A scrambled sentence test was used to prime groups with the concepts of altruism or egoism. In a third group a neutral concept was activated. The results indicated that there is no difference in helping behavior between the altruism and the neutral group. However, in the egoism priming condition participants showed higher latencies and helped less often than participants in both other conditions.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Use of differential reinforcement of other behavior during dyadic instruction to reduce stereotyped behavior of autistic students.

Effects of a differential reinforcement of other behavior procedure (DRO) on the stereotypic responses and task performance of 3 autistic students during dyadic instruction were examined. The procedures effectively reduced the stereotypic behavior of 2 children and substantially increased the task performance of the 2 lowest performing students. The procedure was unique because the time interval employed between potential opportunities for reinforcement for the absence of stereotypy was the natural length of one instructional trial delivered to a peer. Results were discussed in terms of models for intervention within task context and the usefulness of the procedure under natural teaching conditions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Behavioral therapy: its application to reduce disruptive behaviors of the elderly in nursing homes.

Nurses who care for the elderly in nursing homes and auxiliary hospitals have many goals. They provide for the health, recreational, social and emotional needs of their patients. They also strive to increase their patients' levels of self-care and self-respect. Unfortunately, because many patients exhibit disruptive behaviors--striking staff or other patients, throwing temper tantrums, lying on the floor in corridors, refusing to take medication and so on, these desirable goals cannot always be met. What nurses need, in addition to their specialized, medically oriented training, is training in a consistent strategy for handling these problems. Behavioral therapy provides this strategy.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

Parent-adolescent congruency in reports of adolescent sexual behavior and in communications about sexual behavior.

Agreement between mothers' and adolescents' reports of communication about sex, satisfaction with the parent-child relationship, maternal disapproval of adolescent sexual activity, and adolescent sexual behavior was investigated in a sample of 745 African American adolescents (ages 14-17) and their mothers. Congruence between the 2 sets of reports tended to be low. Adolescent perceptions and reports were found to be more predictive of adolescent sexual behavior than maternal reports. Mothers tended to underestimate the sexual activity of their teens and teens tended to underestimate their mother's level of disapproval of their engaging in sexual activity. Reasons for these misperceptions were explored.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

The Missouri Children's Behavior Checklist behavioral classification system: a construct validity study with nonreferred children.

This study provides validity information about the Missouri Children's Behavior Checklist (MCBC) classifications system with nonreferred children. MCBC behavior patterns of 41 children were related to DSM-III symptomatology ascertained through a structured clinical interview, the Child Assessment Schedule, conducted with the mother. The findings indicated that considering the Undifferentiated Disturbance pattern as an indicator of poor adjustment may be unwarranted with nonreferred children.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Behavioral phenotype of fragile X syndrome: DSM-III-R autistic behavior in male children.

Comparison of 34 fragile X [(fra(X)] male children (age 3-18 years) with 32 IQ- and age-matched, non-fra(X) male control children was conducted using specific DSM-III-R criteria for autism. Statistical analyses supported predictions that fra(X) males show increased dysfunction in peer social play, nonverbal communication (e.g., gaze aversion, gesturing), verbal communication (e.g., rate, volume, word/phrase perseveration), and repetitive motor behaviors (e.g., handflapping, rocking). There was a trend for fra(X) children to show abnormal responsivity to sensory stimuli as well such as oversensitivity to sound and increased mouthing or smelling of objects. The investigation supports the contention that fra(X) males manifest a specific subset of behaviors from the autistic spectrum. Implications for treatment are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Behavioral teratogenic effect of methylmercury and d-amphetamine: meta-analysis and power analysis of data from the Collaborative Behavioral Teratology Study of National Center for Toxicological Research.

The data of the Collaborative Behavioral Teratology Study (CBTS) were analyzed. Population-effect sizes were estimated, in terms of confidence intervals, by meta-analysis. A treatment effect of methylmercury was clearly observed and a dose-response effect was also observed. On the other hand, no clear treatment effect was observed in the d-amphetamine study. The effect of auditory startle habituation was very large, although it was limited to the high-dose group in the methylmercury study. The effects observed for physical landmarks were, as a whole, somewhat larger than those for behavioral measures. There is no clear evidence for sex-related differences except for activity measures. A curious treatment effect that was not referred to in the CBTS report was observed: eye-opening day and incisor-eruption day were hastened by the treatment of methylmercury. Power analysis results showed that obtaining a statistically significant effect for these compounds is very difficult, suggesting that even though published papers reported the significant effect of these compounds there might have been many unpublished experiments that obtained nonsignificant effects. If one uses these compounds as positive controls, a very large sample size will be needed. No highly sensitive test that is reproducible across compounds or dose-levels was observed among tests employed in the CBTS.

Amphetamine↗
PubMed1991

The behavioral genetics of colony defense in honeybees: genetic variability for guarding behavior.

Guard honeybees stand at the entrance of colonies and facilitate the exclusion of nonnestmates from the colony. In this study, we examined the hypothesis that genetic variability among individuals in colonies might explain variability in guarding activity. To do this, we cross-fostered honey bees between colonies with high-defensive responses and colonies with low-defensive responses in alarm pheromone tests. Individuals from high-defensive colonies were more likely to guard in their own colonies (controls) than cross-fostered bees from low-defensive colonies. Cross-fostered high-defensive bees also were more like to guard in low-defense colonies. These results support the hypothesis that interindividual differences in guarding behavior are at least partially under genetic control. A positive correlation between number of guards and response to alarm pheromone demonstrates a link between behaviorally separated components of the overall defensive response.

Agonistic Behavior↗
PubMed1996

[Behavioral symptoms of children and adolescents in Germany, the Netherlands and USA. A cross-cultural study with the Child Behavior Checklist].

The goal of the study was a cross-cultural comparison of the parent ratings of behavior problems of children and adolescents aged 4-18 years in Germany, The Netherlands and the United States using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). The analyses were undertaken in a German community sample (n = 1622) and a Dutch community sample (n = 2076). The results were compared with the data published by Achenbach for the national US sample. The analyses were based on the scales of the 1991 CBCL version and were performed for four age and sex groups (4- to 11-year-old boys/girls and 12- to 18-year-old boys/girls). In general, relatively minor differences could be detected between the three random samples. The range in the different samples was between -0.04 and 0.35, which is in line with other cross-cultural analyses using the CBCL. As long as no representative norms for Germany are available, the American norms can serve as an orientation for German studies using the CBCL.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Evaluation of emotional and behavioral problems in language impaired children using the Child Behavior Checklist.

Speech and language impaired children are at special risk for developing psychiatric disorders. Attention deficit, aggressive behaviour as well as overanxiety and excessive shyness have been reported in speech and language impaired children. The purpose of this study was to determine how the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) could be used as a screening instrument in language impaired children. In a sample of 83 language impaired children, emotional and behavioural problems were evaluated using the CBCL. Independent of this assessment, DSM-IV diagnoses were established for all children. Sixty-six of the 83 children had a psychiatric diagnosis. The use of the Total Behavior Problem score (TBP) as a global measure of behavioural disturbance showed that children with a psychiatric diagnosis had significantly higher scores on the TBP score than children without a psychiatric diagnosis. The specificity of the TBP was 88.2%, the sensitivity 75.8%, and the false classification rate 21.6%. The most frequently reported behavioural disturbances were problems on scale VI ("Attention Problems"-39 children) and on scale I ("Withdrawn"-32 children). A small group of children with a receptive language disorder and pronounced compulsive behavioural problems had elevated scores on scale V ("Thought Problems").

Affect↗
PubMed1986

The reinforcement of calm sitting behavior: a method used to reduce the self-injurious behavior of a profoundly retarded boy.

The frequency and intensity of a 14-year-old profoundly retarded male's self-injurious behavior was significantly reduced by the reinforcement of calm sitting behavior. Social validation ratings confirmed the effectiveness of treatment, and showed that gains generalized across treatment and non-treatment settings and across people associated or not with treatment. Treatment gains were maintained at 6- and 12-month follow-ups.

Adolescent↗