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PubMed1994

Effects of maximal exercise and venous occlusion on fibrinolytic activity in physically active and inactive men.

The purposes of this study were to 1) characterize changes in fibrinolytic activity in response to maximal exercise and 5-min venous occlusion and 2) compare responses in men of various habitual physical activity levels. Tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) activity and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) activity were measured in 15 inactive, 15 regularly active, and 15 highly active men. Data were analyzed using a three-way analysis of variance with repeated measures. Pretest TPA activity was similar among groups. TPA activity increased postexercise with higher values seen in the active groups (P < 0.001). The highly active group also significantly increased TPA activity postvenous occlusion (P < 0.01). Pretest PAI-1 activity was different among groups, with the inactive group showing the highest activity and the highly active group the lowest (P < 0.05). PAI-1 activity decreased with exercise (P < 0.01) but did not change with venous occlusion. In conclusion, active men exhibited greater changes in fibrinolytic activity with maximal exercise and venous occlusion than inactive men. This enhanced fibrinolytic activity may be an important mechanism mediating the cardioprotective effect provided by regular physical activity.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Thermal and circulatory responses during exercise: effects of hypohydration, dehydration, and water intake.

This investigation examined the distinct and interactive effects of initial hydration state, exercise-induced dehydration, and water rehydration in a hot environment. On four occasions, 10 men performed a 90-min heat stress test (treadmill walking at 5.6 km/h, 5% grade, 33 degrees C, 56% relative humidity). These heat stress tests differed in pretest hydration [2 euhydrated (EU) and 2 hypohydrated (HY) trials] and water intake during exercise [2 water ad libitum (W) and 2 no water (NW) trials]. HY+NW indicated greater physiological strain than all other trials (P < 0.05-0.001) in heart rate, plasma osmolality (Posm), sweat sensitivity (g/degrees C.min), and rectal temperature. Unexpectedly, final HY+W and EU+W responses for rectal temperature, heart rate, and Posm were similar, despite the initial 3.9 +/- 0.2% hypohydration in HY+W. We concluded that differences in pretest Posm (295 +/- 7 and 287 +/- 5 mosmol/kg for HY+W and EU+W, respectively) resulted in greater water consumption (1.65 and 0.31 liter for HY+W and EU+W, respectively), no voluntary dehydration (0.9% body mass increase), and attenuated thermal and circulatory strain during HY+W.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Efficacy of the accent method of voice therapy.

There is an increasing need for studies of efficacy of behavior readjustment therapy procedures in human communicative disorders. Legal, social, scientific and professional considerations point up the need for more careful documentation of the effects of treatment techniques used by phoniatricians and speech-language pathologists. This study is conducted in order to evaluate the efficacy of the accent method of voice therapy (AM). The AM is one of the holistic approaches for behavior readjustment voice therapy. It tackles collectively and simultaneously the various parameters of voice such as pitch, loudness and timbre. The results of intervention utilizing the AM in this clinical trial are assessed in a relatively controlled setup. Patients with voice problems resulting from various etiologic vocal pathologies are distributed randomly into two groups. Group 1 (G1) is given the full aspect of the AM, that is, voice hygiene advice plus the accent exercises to correct the faulty vocal technique (habit). Group 2 (G2) receives only voice hygiene advice. The AM is administered in individual sessions 20 min each, twice a week, while the voice hygiene advice counseling is given once a week. The assessment of the vocal pathology is done following a diagnostic protocol utilizing subjective as well as quasi-objective measures of evaluation. The initial assessment presents the baseline (pretest) data for both groups. The follow-up evaluations are done at mid intervention (mid-test), that is, 10 sessions for G1 and 5 sessions for G2, and at the termination of intervention/therapy (post-test). The difference in improvement between G1 and G2 at the end of the observation was generally significant in favor of G1. There were significant improvements in G1 in certain items specific for the various etiologic categories. The improvement from pretest to mid-test to post-test values followed a linear tendency. The significance of the results is discussed and the conclusions are outlined and criticized.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A comparative study of two psychometric approaches to detect risk status for dementia.

This study results from an effort to examine the relationship between the diagnostic potentials for detecting risk status for dementia of a cognitive plasticity approach and a traditional status-oriented procedure (test battery) by Storandt et al. [Arch Neurol 1984;41:497-499]. The aim is to compare prediction accuracy for risk for developing dementia with these two approaches. A sample of 106 community-dwelling elderly adults were tested with both procedures, and their scores on the Structured Interview for the Diagnosis of Dementia used as external criterion for predicting risk status. The findings show that figural relations pretest and training gains account for a considerable amount of individual differences in mental status similar to that explained by the traditional test battery. In addition, the accuracy of discrimination between healthy and at-risk participants appears slightly higher when using the figural pretest and training gains. These results suggest the conclusion that use of figural relations tests and the cognitive plasticity approach represents a viable alternative to the traditional, status-oriented test battery as a means of early diagnosis of dementia in nonclinical populations.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Offering preconceptional cystic fibrosis carrier couple screening in the absence of established preconceptional care services.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility and acceptability of different modes of offering preconceptional carrier screening for cystic fibrosis (CF) in the absence of established preconceptional care services. METHODS: Individuals aged 20-35 years were invited by mail, either by the Municipal Health Services (MHS) or by their own general practitioner (GP) to participate in a screening program with their partner. Pretest education was provided either during a group educational session or during a GP consultation. The reasons given by participants and nonrespondents for (not) responding to the invitation for screening, sociodemographic characteristics, and their attitudes were assessed by means of questionnaires. RESULTS: Of 38,114 individuals who received a first invitation, approximately 20% had a partner with whom they were planning to have children. The response rate, as measured by attendance at either a group educational session or a GP consultation, was not affected by whether the letter was sent by the MHS or the person's GP. However, the response rate was about 2.5 times higher when the letter invited people to make an appointment with their GP for a consultation regarding CF carrier screening than when it invited them to attend an educational group session. A total of 559 couples (96%) consented to have the test after education. Repetition of the invitation increased the response. The main reason given by couples for not responding was "lack of time to attend" or "forgot about it" (48%). Another reason given was that they did not want to know their test results (28%). Eighty-nine percent of participants and 69% of nonrespondents believed that screening should be offered routinely to couples planning to have children. The GPs consulted (n = 18) reported no negative experiences, but due to the extra workload, 11 of them would not consider it to be part of their task. CONCLUSIONS: Among couples planning to have children, there is generally a positive attitude towards routinely offering population-based CF carrier screening. Preconceptional CF carrier screening appeared feasible, both in terms of practical achievements and target group accessibility. Participation varied according to the pretest education setting, with the primary care setting producing the highest rate of attendance.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Interaction between attention demanding motor and cognitive tasks and static postural stability.

BACKGROUND: Due to the often-reported decrease in postural stability in the elderly, it is important to understand factors that may contribute to reduced postural stability. It is possible that attention-demanding focal tasks performed concurrent with postural regulation influence postural stability. OBJECTIVE: This study utilized dual-task methodology to determine if motor or cognitive focal tasks interact with center of pressure (COP) excursion during static bipedal stance in healthy young and healthy elderly subjects (n = 18). METHODS: The cognitive task involved silently solving an orally-presented multi-step arithmetic problem over a 30-second period. The motor task was a 30-second bilateral static finger-thumb pinch task performed at 10% of maximal voluntary contraction with a pair of pinch-force transducers. Each focal task was performed separately, and in a condition in which both tasks were performed simultaneously. COP excursion was compared in quiet standing (no focal task) and during performance of the focal tasks with full vision and with vision occluded. RESULTS: Performance on the focal tasks was unaffected by increased postural demands during stance as compared to a seated baseline condition. This was the case for both age groups, and for the full vision and occluded vision conditions. Medio-lateral COP excursion was reduced over the quiet standing pretest condition when attentional focus was on the cognitive task, suggesting that COP was influenced centrally during cognition. In contrast, COP excursion increased over the quiet standing pretest condition when performing the motor focal task, suggesting a reduced ability to suppress sway when the motor system was concurrently occupied with a voluntary task that shared the same input-output resources. CONCLUSION: The ability to share attentional resources among focal and postural tasks was similar in healthy young and elderly subjects.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

An evaluation of the 'Coping with Depression Course' for relapse prevention with unipolar depressed patients.

BACKGROUND: Patients with treated episodes of depression are at high risk of relapse and recurrence. This study describes the clinical course of patients who had received cognitive-behavioral group intervention for relapse prevention. METHOD: Forty-four remitted unipolar depressed patients with recently treated episodes of illness participated in a 16-week group program, the 'Coping with Depression Course' (CWD). The majority of patients had suffered from multiple episodes of depression and nearly half of them were only partially remitted when they started the program. Assessments took place throughout the intervention and 17-23 months after the pretest. Descriptive analyses included proportions of reliable and clinically significant improvements, and cumulative relapse rates were estimated using survival analysis. RESULTS: At posttest, residual depression and dysfunctional attitudes had significantly decreased. Improvements were similar in patients with and those without parallel antidepressant medication. Two thirds of patients starting within a dysfunctional depression range showed a clinically significant improvement at the end of the intervention. The estimated cumulative relapse rates at 6, 12, 17, and 23 months after pretest were 13.6, 30.0, 37.0 and 44.9%. CONCLUSIONS: Participants appeared to be protected from relapse during active intervention, but a substantial proportion suffered relapses in the postintervention period. Further research into the CWD is needed within the framework of randomized controlled trials.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy↗
PubMed1991

Body composition and cold resistance of the neonatal pig from European (Large White) and Chinese (Meishan) breeds.

Body composition, plasma parameters and cold resistance were compared in neonatal pigs from Chinese (Meishan, Ms) and European (Large White, Lw) breeds. Newborn Ms pigs weighed less but had a higher (p less than 0.05) percentage of body dry matter and protein than the Lw pigs, whereas both breeds had similar levels of body fat and liver and muscle glycogen. Plasma concentrations of fructose and alpha-fetoprotein were lower (p less than 0.05) in the newborn Ms pigs. Cold resistance test performed in a 6-7 degrees C environment on the same piglets when aged 2 and 24 h, showed that in both breeds, cold resistance was closely dependent upon body weight and significantly improved (p less than 0.01) with age. Despite their 16% lower body weight, Ms piglets were, at both ages studied, as resistant to cold as the Lw ones. Breed had no effect on pretest concentration of plasma glucose and noradrenaline, but pretest concentrations of plasma free fatty acids (FFA) were higher (p less than 0.01) in the Ms than in Lw piglets and those of adrenaline were lower (p less than 0.01) in the Ms Lw piglets and those of adrenaline were lower (p less than 0.01) in the Ms piglets. Breed had no significant effect on the response of plasma glucose, FFA and catecholamines during exposure to cold. At both ages of exposure, plasma concentrations of glucose and catecholamines were significantly increased. Plasma concentrations of FFA were increased (p less than 0.01) at 2 h, but at 24 h a decrease (p less than 0.01) was observed during cold exposure. Colostrum from Ms sows had greater concentration of lipids than that from Lw sows. It is suggested that the similar resistance to cold of the Ms and Lw piglets despite the lower body weight of the former is due, in part, to a greater availability of FFA as an energy source.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

The serum digoxin test and digoxin toxicity: a Bayesian approach to decision making.

The clinician may often be uncertain about the presence of digoxin toxicity. This uncertainty is particularly important when the clinician must make initial therapeutic decisions about continuing or discontinuing digoxin. We describe a method that helps to clarify the role of the serum digoxin test in decreasing the uncertainty surrounding the diagnosis and treatment of toxicity. The relation between the test and toxicity was first determined in our patient population. An approach to the interpretation of the test based on the likelihood ratio was then developed by combining our data with selected data from the literature. The relation between the pretest risk of toxicity (the estimated risk of toxicity in the population under investigation before the test result is known) and the predictive value of the test was established. This relation was also used to analyze the importance of the degree of elevation of the test. The appropriate threshold probability for institution of treatment of toxicity was then determined by an interview technique. The test was able to make the patient's probability of toxicity cross the threshold probability for treatment of toxicity for an intermediate range of pretest risk. Our analysis suggests that the serum digoxin test may have a critical effect on therapeutic decisions and can be best considered as contributing to the spectrum of risk.

Arrhythmias, Cardiac↗
PubMed1985

Alternative diagnostic strategies for coronary artery disease in women: demonstration of the usefulness and efficiency of probability analysis.

Alternative strategies using conditional probability analysis for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD) were examined in 93 infarct-free women presenting with chest pain. Another group of 42 consecutive female patients was prospectively analyzed. For this latter group, the physician had access to the pretest and posttest probability of CAD before coronary angiography. These 135 women all underwent stress electrocardiographic, thallium scintigraphic, and coronary angiographic examination. The pretest and posttest probabilities of coronary disease were derived from a computerized Bayesian algorithm. Probability estimates were calculated by the four following hypothetical strategies: SO, in which history, including risk factors, was considered; S1, in which history and stress electrocardiographic results were considered; S2, in which history and stress electrocardiographic and stress thallium scintigraphic results were considered; and S3, in which history and stress electrocardiographic results were used, but in which stress scintigraphic results were considered only if the poststress probability of CAD was between 10% and 90%, i.e., if a sufficient level of diagnostic certainty could not be obtained with the electrocardiographic results alone. The strategies were compared with respect to accuracy with the coronary angiogram as the standard. For both groups of women, S2 and S3 were found to be the most accurate in predicting the presence or absence of coronary disease (p less than .05). However, it was found with use of S3 that more than one-third of the thallium scintigrams could have been avoided without loss of accuracy. It was also found that diagnostic catheterization performed to exclude CAD as a diagnosis could have been avoided in half of the patients without loss of accuracy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Risk factors for syncope recurrence after a positive tilt-table test in patients with syncope.

BACKGROUND: Recent work with head-up tilt-table testing has suggested that many patients with syncope may have recurrent neurally mediated episodes of bradycardia, hypotension, or both. The purpose of this study was to determine how to identify patients at high risk of a recurrence of neuromediated syncope after a positive isoproterenol/tilt-table test. METHODS AND RESULTS: A cohort of 101 drug-free patients in a university hospital outpatient clinic with syncope and a positive isoproterenol/tilt-table test underwent baseline assessment of demographic variables, symptomatic burden, and hemodynamic and clinical responses to tilt testing. The primary outcome measure was the time to the first recurrent syncopal spell. The actuarial probabilities of remaining syncope free after 1 and 2 years were 72% and 60%, respectively. Multivariate proportional hazards analysis demonstrated that the most powerful predictor of a recurrence of syncope was the logarithm of the number of preceding syncopal spells (P<.001). Other predictive variables included the duration of syncopal symptoms, tilt test symptomatic outcome, and trough heart rate. The probability of a recurrence of syncope also varied with the logarithm of the frequency of preceding spells (P=.008). The median frequency of pretest spells was 0.3/month; after the tilt test, the median frequency dropped approximately 90% to 0.03 per month. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of a recurrence of syncope after a positive tilt-table test can be predicted with simple pretest and intratest variables.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Active finger extension predicts outcomes after constraint-induced movement therapy for individuals with hemiparesis after stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) is a rehabilitative strategy used primarily with the post-stroke population to increase the functional use of the neurologically weaker upper extremity through massed practice while restraining the lesser involved upper extremity. Whereas research evidence supports CIMT, limited evidence exists regarding the characteristics of individuals who benefit most from this intervention. The goal of this study was to investigate the potential of 5 measures to predict functional CIMT outcomes. METHODS: A convenience sample of 55 individuals, >6 months after stroke, was recruited that met specific inclusion/exclusion criteria allowing for individuals whose upper extremity was mildly to severely involved. They participated in CIMT 6 hours per day. Pretest, post-test, and follow-up assessments were performed to assess the outcomes for the Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT). The potential predictors were minimal motor criteria (active extension of the wrist and 3 fingers), active finger extension/grasp release, grip strength, Fugl-Meyer upper extremity motor score, and the Frenchay score. A step-wise regression analysis was used in which the potential predictors were entered in a linear regression model with simultaneous entry of the dependent variables' pretest score as the covariate. Two regressions models were determined for the dependent variable, for immediate post-test, and for follow-up post-test. RESULTS: Finger extension was the only significant predictor of WMFT outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: When using finger extension/grasp release as a predictor in the regression equations, one can predict individual's follow-up scores for CIMT. This experiment provides the most comprehensive investigation of predictors of CIMT outcomes to date.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1999

Functional anatomy of perceptual and semantic processing for odors.

The functional anatomy of perceptual and semantic processings for odors was studied using positron emission tomography (PET). The first experiment was a pretest in which 71 normal subjects were asked to rate 185 odorants in terms of intensity, familiarity, hedonicity, and comestibility and to name the odorants. This pretest was necessary to select the most appropriate stimuli for the different cognitive tasks of the second experiment. The second one was a PET experiment in which 15 normal subjects were scanned using the water bolus method to measure regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during the performance in three conditions. In the first (perceptual) condition, subjects were asked to judge whether an odor was familiar or not. In the second (semantic) condition, subjects had to decide whether an odor corresponded to a comestible item or not. In the third (detection) condition, subjects had to judge whether the perceived stimulus was made of an odor or was just air. It was hypothetized that the three tasks were hierarchically organized from a superficial detection level to a deep semantic level. Odorants were presented with an air-flow olfactometer, which allowed the stimulations to be synchronized with breathing. Subtraction of activation images obtained between familiarity and control judgments revealed that familiarity judgments were mainly associated with the activity of the right orbito-frontal area, the subcallosal gyrus, the left inferior frontal gyrus, the left superior frontal gyrus, and the anterior cingulate (Brodmann's areas 11, 25, 47, 9, and 32, respectively). The comestibility minus familiarity comparison showed that comestibility judgments selectively activated the primary visual areas. In contrast, a decrease in rCBF was observed in these same visual areas for familiarity judgments and in the orbito-frontal area for comestibility judgments. These results suggest that orbito-frontal and visual regions interact in odor processing in a complementary way, depending on the task requirements.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Peak flow variability in the SAPALDIA study and its validity in screening for asthma-related conditions. The SPALDIA Team.

We used 3-wk peak expiratory flow (PEF) measurements (twice daily) made in the diary study of the population-based Swiss Study on Air Pollution and Lung Disease in Adults to describe PEF-variability (PEF(var)) (amplitude as a percent of the mean, PEF [i.e., difference between morning and evening values divided by the mean]) in the study population and in five subgroups (physician-diagnosed asthma; current asthma, or physician-diagnosed asthma plus asthma attacks and/or medication; history of wheezing without a cold; hyperreactive; and nonsymptomatic). We assessed the performance of PEF(var) as a potential tool with which to screen for asthma. Alternatively, subjects with a PEF(var) of >/= 20%, >/= 30%, and >/= 50% on at least 2 d were considered to have high variability. The analyses were conducted for subgroups with different pretest probabilities for asthma-related conditions. The median PEF(var) was 4.5%. Among asthmatic subjects, women had nonsignificantly higher PEF(var) values than did men. In all other groups, women had significantly lower PEF(var). Both in the entire population and in subgroups with a higher pretest probability for asthma-related conditions, screening performance of PEF was limited. A PEF(var) of >/= 20% on at least 2 d detected current asthma with a sensitivity of 36% (specificity = 90%; positive predictive value = 16.4%). Results were better among subjects with a history of wheezing without colds (sensitivity = 40.4%; specificity = 83.6%; positive predictive value = 45.2%). PEF(var), a useful measure both clinically and in epidemiology, is of limited value when unselected populations are screened for asthma-related conditions, since the overlap of PEF(var) distributions across subgroups is large.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

A comparison of clinical assessment and home oximetry in the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea.

In order to determine whether measurement of arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) could identify patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), 98 consecutive patients referred for assessment of snoring and/or daytime somnolence were assessed clinically and then underwent both unsupervised oximetry in their homes and formal polysomnography. Clinical assessment identified patients with an apnea+hypopnea index (AHI) > or = 15 events per hour with a sensitivity of 79% and a specificity of 50%. Home oximetry analyzed by counting the number of arterial oxygen desaturations recorded was inferior to clinical assessment. For desaturations of 2% or more from baseline, desaturation index (DI) > or = 15 per hour identified patients with AHI > or = 15 with sensitivity 65% and specificity 74%; for 3% desaturations, sensitivity was 51% and specificity 90%; and for 4% desaturations, sensitivity was 40% and specificity 98%. From the oximetry data, the percentage of time spent at SaO2 below 90% (CT90) was also calculated. CT90 > or = 1% identified patients with AHI > or = 15 with sensitivity 93% and specificity 51%; for patients with AHI > or = 15 ultimately given nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), the sensitivity of a CT90 > or = 1% was 100%. We concluded that home oximetry with CT90 < 1% practically excludes clinically significant OSA. Conversely, home oximetry with DI > or = 15 for 4% desaturations makes OSA likely: the positive predictive value for OSA is 83% if the pretest probability of OSA is 30% and over 90% if the pretest probability is at least 50%.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Diagnosing pneumonia during mechanical ventilation: the clinical pulmonary infection score revisited.

The clinical pulmonary infection score-original or modified-has been proposed for the diagnosis and management of ventilator-associated pneumonia. In 79 episodes of suspected pneumonia, we prospectively assessed the diagnostic accuracy of the physicians' clinical assessment of probability and of the modified clinical pulmonary infection score, both measured before (pretest) and after (post-test) incorporating gram stains results, using bronchoalveolar lavage fluid culture as the reference test. The pretest clinical estimate was inaccurate (sensitivity 50%, specificity 58%); the mean clinical pulmonary infection score at baseline was 6.5 +/- 1.3 (range, 3-9) and 5.9 +/- 1.7 (range, 3-9), respectively, for the 40 confirmed and the 39 nonconfirmed episodes (p = 0.07), and only slightly more accurate (sensitivity 60%, specificity 59%) than the clinical prediction. Incorporating the gram stain results of either directed or blind protected sampling increased the diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity and specificity of 85% and 49% and 78% and 56%, respectively) of the clinical score and increased the likelihood ratio for pneumonia of a score of more than six from 1.46 to 1.67 and 1.77. The clinical pulmonary infection score has low diagnostic accuracy; however, incorporating gram stains results into the score may help clinical decision making in patients with clinically suspected pneumonia.

Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid↗
PubMed2007

Cognitive behavior therapy and paroxetine in the treatment of hypochondriasis: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: This study, to the authors' knowledge, is the first randomized controlled trial comparing the efficacy of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), paroxetine, and a placebo (administered in a double blind fashion) in the treatment of hypochondriasis. METHOD: The authors randomly assigned 112 subjects with hypochondriasis according to DSM-IV criteria to 16 weeks of outpatient treatment with CBT, paroxetine, or a placebo. The main outcome measure was the Whiteley Index. The authors made pretest and posttest assessments and analyzed all outcome measures using a General Linear Model 3x2 repeated measures analysis of variance with Helmert contrasts. The authors considered subjects who scored at least one standard deviation below the mean pretest score on the Whiteley Index as responders. All analyses were conducted on intent-to-treat and completer bases. RESULTS: On the Whiteley Index, Helmert contrasts on the intent-to-treat and completer cohorts revealed that pooled CBT and paroxetine were significantly superior to placebo, but did not differ significantly from each other. The responder analysis on the intent-to-treat cohort and completer cohort, respectively, revealed the following percentages of responders per group: CBT group, 45% and 54%; paroxetine group, 30% and 38%; and placebo group, 14% and 12%. In the intent-to-treat analysis, only CBT differed significantly from the placebo. In the completer analysis, both paroxetine and CBT differed significantly from the placebo. CONCLUSIONS: CBT or paroxetine are effective short-term treatment options for subjects with hypochondriasis.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

The relationship between anxiety and problem-solving skills in children with and without learning disabilities.

This study compared the effects of low, medium, and high pretest anxiety levels on the social and nonsocial problem-solving performance of 45 boys with learning disabilities (LD) and 45 boys with no learning disabilities (NLD). Participants ranged from 9 to 11 years of age. Boys with LD reported significantly higher pretest trait and state anxiety on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children than did NLD boys, and their perceived state anxiety escalated over the course of the problem-solving session. There were no pervasive effects of LD status on problem solving by itself, boys with LD being as effective in problem solving as NLD boys. However, means for task solution suggest a tendency for an interaction between group and anxiety level, which should be examined using a larger, well-defined sample and an unstructured task.

Achievement↗