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PubMed1990

Effects of a school-based prevention program for potential high school dropouts and drug abusers.

This study tested the effects of a prevention program based on an integrated social support and psychoeducational model. A semester-long Interpersonal Relations (IPR) class was predicted to deter school drop-out problems and drug abuse among adolescents. Quasi-experimental designs were used to field test the IPR program with 264 high-risk students in one of two conditions: (1) pretest, treatment, and posttest; (2) pretest and posttest. All hypotheses were supported. Significantly more potential dropouts were retained in the treated (74%) versus the comparison group (61%); differences in daily attendance (F = 12.88) and GPA, school achievement (F = 16.89), were significantly better in the treatment group (p less than .0001); drug involvement declined significantly from pre- to posttreatment for IPR program participants (t = 4.61, p less than .0001). Implications for treatment and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Absenteeism↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Multiple marker screening for Down syndrome--whom should we screen?

BACKGROUND: The multiple marker test highlights the complexities of an expanding number of genetic tests that family physicians can offer to their patients. Many concerns surround the use of the multiple marker test, including a poor understanding of the test by physicians and patients, limited sensitivity, increased anxiety among women, and the risks of amniocentesis in patients who have false-positive results. METHODS: An online search of the medical literature was used to select English-language articles addressing the burden of suffering from Down syndrome, and efficacy, cost-effectiveness, and psychological effects of screening. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Down syndrome occurs in 0.99 per 1000 births, and the risk increases with age. Between 10% and 20% of infants die in the first year, predominantly from heart defects. Special education, the move away from institutionalization, and more employment opportunities have improved the outlook for these persons. The multiple marker test has an overall detection rate for Down syndrome of 56% with a 7% false-positive rate. A laboratory cutoff ratio of 1:190 is the most efficient for optimizing the detection rate and minimizing the false-positive rate. Limited screening to women older than 30 years appears most cost-effective, reducing losses of normal fetuses secondary to amniocentesis and the number of pregnant patients requiring pretest counseling. The family physician needs to inform the patient of the nature, purpose, and risks of screening including the psychological effects. Pretest counseling should be nondirective.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Intermittent vision and one-handed catching: the effect of general and specific task experience.

In Experiment 1, 15 skilled and 15 less skilled participants performed 1-handed catching in 4 conditions. For both groups, catching performance deteriorated significantly when no visual information was available for 40 ms between 20-ms visual samples (20/40) and continued to decline with subsequent increases in the duration between visual samples (i.e., 20/80 and 20/120). In Experiment 2, 50 participants performed a pretest and a posttest in a 20/80 condition, separated by 4 blocks of practice (N=80). Participants who practiced with intermittent vision (20/40, 20/80, and 20/120) exhibited a significant improvement between pretest and posttest. Although general practice with intermittent vision enabled some adaptation, posttest performance did not equal performance in the 1st block of continuous vision.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Zinc stores in chickens delay the onset of zinc deficiency symptoms.

Three chick assays were conducted to evaluate Zn depletion rates in whole body and various tissues. In Assay 1, chicks fed a corn-soybean meal diet containing 1,037 mg Zn/kg had twice as much Zn in intestine and bone and 50% more Zn in liver and whole body than chicks fed 37 mg Zn/kg (P < .01). In Assay 2, the minimum Zn requirement for growth of chicks consuming a chemically defined, amino acid diet was 10.6 mg Zn/kg. In Assay 3, chicks were fed the chemically defined diet containing either 300 or 10.6 mg Zn/kg during an 8-d pretest period, after which they were fed either 0 or 10.6 mg Zn/kg for 9 d. Tissue Zn concentrations were determined on Days 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9 of the test period. Following the pretest period, Zn was higher in the liver, tibia, and small intestine, but not in muscle, of chicks fed 300 mg Zn/kg than of those fed 10.6 mg Zn/kg (P < .01). Growth of chicks switched from 10.6 to 0 mg Zn/kg was less than for chicks maintained on 10.6 mg Zn/kg by Day 5 (P < .05), whereas chicks switched from 300 to 0 mg Zn/kg did not display a growth depression relative to the control until Day 8 (P < .05). Zinc that accumulated in the liver and small intestine of chicks fed the 300 to 0 Zn regimen declined until Day 3 of the test period, whereas tibia Zn decreased until Day 8. Chicks fed the 10.6 to 0 regimen did not display a substantial decrease in small intestine, liver, or tibia Zn. The data confirm that Zn can accumulate in bone, liver, and intestine and can subsequently be released for use during a period of Zn deficiency. The data also indicate that chicks fed a diet containing the minimum requirement of Zn cannot accumulate reserves of Zn that become available for use during a subsequent period of Zn depletion.

Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena↗
PubMed2003

Inference suppression and semantic memory retrieval: every counterexample counts.

Reasoning with conditionals involving causal content is known to be affected by retrieval of counterexamples from semantic memory. In this study we examined the characteristics of this search process in everyday conditional reasoning. In Experiment 1 we manipulated the number (zero to four) of explicitly presented counterexamples (alternative causes or disabling conditions) for causal conditionals. In Experiment 2, using a generation pretest, we measured the number of counterexamples participants could retrieve for a set of causal conditionals. One month after the pretest, participants were presented a reasoning task with the same conditionals. The experiments indicated that acceptance of modus ponens linearly decreased with every additionally retrieved disabler, whereas affirmation of the consequent acceptance linearly decreased as a function of the number of retrieved alternatives. Results for denial of the antecedent and modus tollens were less clear. The findings show that the search process does not necessarily stop after retrieval of a single counterexample and that every additional counterexample has an impact on the inference acceptance.

Cognition↗
PubMed1998

Spectral-motion aftereffects and the tritone paradox among Canadian subjects.

The effect of spectral motion on the tritone paradox was investigated by pretesting subjects residing in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the tritone task, presenting them with a continuous ascending or descending chromatic scale created using Shepard tones, and then retesting them on the tritone task. Results indicated a negative-motion aftereffect that affected the orientation of the pitch class circle. Differential effects of perceived pitch height on the lower portion of the pitch class circle and of adaptation on the upper portion of the pitch class circle were found in the pre- and postadaptation data, respectively. The implications of this dissociation are discussed. In addition, since our subjects lived relatively close to the U.S. border, the experimental pretests allowed us to examine the hypothesis that a canonical American pitch template similar to that found among "Californian" subjects (Deutsch, 1991) is propagated by linguistic influences of media such as television and radio (Ragozzine & Deutsch, 1994). A survey of our subjects indicated that overall, the majority of time engaged in listening to the radio and watching television or movies was spent with American sources. Despite this, and despite the fact that subjects had widely varying language and cultural backgrounds, a tight distribution of peak-pitch classes was found that is indicative of a "British" pitch template (Deutsch, 1991) for every subject tested.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Determinants of subjective contour: Bourdon illusions and "unbending" effects.

Wenderoth and O'Connor (1987b) reported that, although matches to the straight edge of two triangles placed apex to apex revealed an apparent bending in the direction of the chevron formed by the hypotenuse pair (the Bourdon effect), no perceptual unbending of the bent chevron occurred. Using subjective contour figures, Walker and Shank (1988b) found large and approximately equal bending and unbending effects, consistent with two theories that they proposed. In Experiment 1, using adjustable chevron matching and subjective contours, we found that Bourdon effects, equivalent in magnitude to those reported by Walker and Shank, were 4-5 times larger than unbending effects. In Experiment 2, we used a variation of Walker and Shank's measurement technique, in which subjects selected a matching angle from a graded series. We obtained Bourdon effects similar to those in Experiment 1, but much larger unbending effects. Nevertheless, Bourdon effects were significantly larger than unbending effects in one set of data; and in another, Bourdon test means were larger than unbending test means. In both data sets, there was a large and significant pretest bending effect, which enhanced the magnitude of unbending test minus pretest scores. These results were consistent with our theory but not the theories of Walker and Shank. The variance of unbending test matches, 3-4 times that of Bourdon test matches, reflected the task difficulty. We propose that subjective obtuse angle contraction that exceeds real obtuse angle contraction explains the fact that unbending effects are larger in subjective than in real contours.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Creating a game for sexuality and aging: the Sexual Dysfunction Trivia game.

BACKGROUND: Older adults often present with signs and symptoms of sexual dysfunction, and nurses must possess the necessary knowledge to address this issue. Therefore, The Sexual Dysfunction Trivia Game was designed to educate staff nurses about sexual dysfunction and the aging process. METHOD: A pilot test was conducted. Five staff nurses played The Sexual Dysfunction Trivia Game. Each nurse completed a pretest before playing the game and a posttest after playing the game. RESULTS: After playing the board game, the nurses were more knowledgeable about what the physical examination includes, what the laboratory tests are, and what the treatment options are for sexual dysfunction. CONCLUSION: Based on the pretest and posttest findings, The Sexual Dysfunction Trivia Game appears to be an effective teaching tool to educate staff nurses about sexual dysfunction in the older adult. However, more studies are needed to measure its effectiveness.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A comparison of computer-based and instructor-led training for long-term care staff.

Nursing facility administrators must find new and innovative ways to meet the training needs of their staff. The authors faced the challenge of teaching nursing facility staff about fire safety using computer-based training that had been adapted from a print-based/instructor-led (IL) program. This article discusses the effectiveness of the computer-based (CB) training as compared to the effectiveness of the traditional IL format. The CB and IL versions of a fire safety training program were presented to staff of a nursing facility. The 141 participants were randomly assigned to the CB, IL, or control groups. The control group completed a pretest and posttest, but received no training until the study was completed. Both the CB and IL groups significantly increased their knowledge scores from pretest to posttest and both significantly outperformed the control group. How the participants responded to the CB training was also important. Staff reported they enjoyed the CB training and had no difficulty using the computers. Computer-based training can be an effective alternative training technique for this population.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hardiness training among nurse managers: building a healthy workplace.

BACKGROUND: This exploratory study investigated development of a model hardiness training program to determine whether stress could be reduced and hardiness could be increased and sustained among nurse managers. METHOD: Thirteen nurse managers at an urban hospital completed pretests for hardiness levels and underwent initial hardiness training for 2.5 days. Posttests were completed after initial training, after the 6 weekly sessions, and after 6 and 12 months. RESULTS: Changes in hardiness scores between pretest and the first posttest were significant (p < .05). Scores after the third posttest were decreased for the subscale control but were unchanged for subscales commitment and challenge. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that the use of a hardiness training program and intermittent follow-up can be effective in increasing and sustaining hardiness levels in nurse managers and may have a positive impact on staff turnover rates.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

Changes in health status of elderly patients following hip replacement surgery.

This study investigated changes in health status following a total hip replacement among a convenience sample of 22 male and 23 female patients, all of whom had been suffering from hip dysfunction and associated arthritic pain and impaired mobility. Subjects were pretested in an orthopedic pre-admission clinic with the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales questionnaire and were posttested with the same instrument 3 1/2 months after the initial contact and subsequent to hip replacement surgery. Analysis of pretest and posttest mean differences showed significant improvement in scores for pain and physical activity. No significant changes were demonstrated in the psychological and social domains of health status.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1984

Teaching methodologies: knowledge acquisition and retention.

In studying the curriculum of a nursing program, knowledge acquisition and retention by nursing students is a primary concern of nursing instructors. The purpose of this study was to determine if a lecture which stimulated several senses would significantly increase knowledge acquisition and retention compared to lectures that stimulate only the auditory sense. Forty-three, junior year, diploma nursing students who had essentially the same clinical experience were the subjects randomly assigned to either Group A or B for this study. Group A (control group) attended a formal lecture on "Spinal Cord Injuries" which stimulated only the auditory sense. Group B (experimental group) attended a lecture on the same subject which stimulated the auditory, visual, and tactile senses. A pretest was given to evaluate the knowledge base prior to the lecture, a posttest was given immediately after the lecture to evaluate initial knowledge acquisition, and a retention test was given three weeks later to evaluate amount of knowledge retained. Students attending the multimodal lecture demonstrated a significantly higher retention test score at the .05 level although they did not demonstrate a significantly higher gain score from pretest to posttest.

Cognition↗
PubMed1984

Continuing education program evaluation for course improvement, participant effect and utilization in clinical practice.

An evaluation of a single continuing education (CE) program was conducted by the presenter to assess impact of the offering and gather information for course improvement. The purpose of this evaluation was to document if and to what extent the learners attained the program's objectives and also to systematically examine the program to see how it might be improved. The third purpose was to document if participants' interest was stimulated by the program and if they actually used the information in clinical practice or at least found it helpful. Fifty-five nurses participated in completing a pretest and posttest, reactionnaire at the conclusion of the program and follow-up questionnaire. Participants made significantly (p less than .05) better scores on the posttests as compared to the pretest. On the evaluation form, 98% of the nurses responded that they had learned new facts, and 75% indicated that information was moderately new. In addition, a slight majority (58%) responded that they changed their beliefs about assertiveness. Of returned follow-up questionnaires, 95% told others about the program, and 59% read articles. All nurses indicated they had found the information useful, and 87% had actually used the information in clinical practice. This study documents a method for CE administrators and educators to evaluate the impact of CE and provide information for course improvement. The evaluation supports the program's worth. Participants benefited in terms of knowledge and interest. In addition, program strengths/weaknesses were identified.

Achievement↗
PubMed1987

Test anxiety in master's students: a comparative study.

Evaluation events are major problems for graduate students in nursing. The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation of test anxiety before and cognitive interferences during a comprehensive examination. The sample (N = 54) consisted of two groups of students (Group I, N = 30 and Group II, N = 24) in a master's program at a state university. Data were collected using three questionnaires: To measure general test anxiety, the Test Anxiety Questionnaire (TAQ) by Sarason was used; the Pre-Examination Questionnaire (PEQ) by Morris, Davis, and Hutchings (1981) was used to measure pretest anxiety; and to identify cognitive interferences during the examination, the Cognitive Interference Questionnaire (CIQ) by Sarason and Stoops (1976) was used. Findings revealed positive correlations between the two groups of students' general test anxiety and their cognitive interferences about evaluative outcome of the examination. Positive correlations were found also between the two groups' general test anxiety and their pretest anxiety immediately prior to writing the examination. No significant relationships were found between the student's performance rankings on the examination and their test anxiety.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Effect of a CVIS instructional program regarding therapeutic communication on student learning and anxiety.

This quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest design study explored the effect of a computer video-interactive system (CVIS) instructional program regarding therapeutic communication on senior baccalaureate nursing students' learning and anxiety as they anticipated interaction with patients in psychiatric settings. The 75 subjects were randomly divided into two groups. Group I received a basic lecture and a supplementary CVIS instructional program on therapeutic communication, while Group II received the same lecture discussion on therapeutic communication and a videotape. Two hypotheses were tested, using analyses of covariance. Hypothesis I, that Group I would score significantly higher on a therapeutic communication posttest than would Group II, was supported (P less than .001). This finding validates previous observations that computer-video interaction programs do enhance learners' application of knowledge. Hypothesis II, that Group I would evidence significantly less state anxiety at posttest than would Group II, was not supported. Although there were no significant differences for state anxiety scores between the groups at either pretest or posttest, these scores remained higher than reported normative state anxiety scores. This finding suggests that anticipated interaction with psychiatric patients is an anxiety-inducing situation for nursing students.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1989

Effect of a career decision-making course on the career planning of nursing students.

This study assessed whether participation in a structured career decision-making course would enhance the career planning of 42 final semester associate degree nursing students. Levels of career planning were measured by the Career Planning Scale (CPS) (Super, Thompson, Lindman, Jordaan, & Myers, 1982), and the Nursing Career Development Inventory (NCDI) (Savickas, 1984). Subjects were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group. The experimental group received a four-week career decision-making course, which included self-assessment of values, interests, and skills, and information on occupational opportunities in nursing. An ANOVA on the change scores from pretest to post-test revealed significance between the groups on the CPS (p = .002), and on the NCDI (p less than .00001). The experimental group progressed much more in career planning. All subjects were found to have lower levels of career planning than the average college student at pretest. Intercorrelational data and multiple regression analyses indicated that individuals who had worked in a nursing-related field had higher levels of career planning. Overall, the course emerged as being effective in enhancing the career planning of nursing students.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Multidimensional stress management in nursing education.

This study investigated the effectiveness of multidimensional stress management training for beginning baccalaureate nursing students (N = 57). An experimental pretest-posttest placebo group, control group design was used. Two pretest and three posttest measurements of the dependent variables of state anxiety (SA), reported emotions, and coping methods were completed. The program incorporated cognitive, physiological, and behavioral approaches. Second, this study examined the relationship of self-esteem, recent life experiences, and trait anxiety (TA) to encountered stressors. A repeated measures analysis of variance demonstrated no significant differences between treatment groups across time. However, written workshop evaluations demonstrated a strongly positive response by the experimental group. Significant within-subjects change was demonstrated for all 57 subjects over the semester on the dependent variables of SA, Threat emotions, and Challenge emotions reinforcing Lazarus' transactional model. A correlation matrix revealed that individuals with low self-esteem appraised the environment in a negative manner as did those subjects with high state and TA. Recommendations include further revision of the multidimensional stress management approach and continued use of the transactional theoretical framework.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1999

A comparison of self-reported cultural competency skills among two groups of nursing students: implications for nursing education.

This study was designed to examine self-reported cultural competency skills of second-semester junior-level nursing students toward clients from culturally diverse backgrounds. The purpose of this study was to ascertain if the addition of an innovative cultural sensitivity intervention facilitated greater self-perceived cultural competency skills when compared with the traditional method of incorporating cultural diversity into a junior-level clinical course. The Ethnic Competency Skills Assessment Inventory was used to collect data from participants attending a university in an urban midwestern county. Significant differences were noted between the pretest scores and posttest scores. Pretest scores were significantly lower than posttest scores for both groups. Nurse educators must examine further the differences in learning experiences related to cultural diversity that may account for these differences.

Analysis of Variance↗