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Disordered eating among adolescents with chronic illness and disability: the role of family and other social factors.

OBJECTIVES: To compare prevalence rates of weight-control behaviors among adolescents with and without chronic illness and to explore the role of familial and other social factors on associations between disordered eating and chronic illness. DESIGN AND SETTING: Survey conducted in public schools in Connecticut. PARTICIPANTS: A representative statewide population-based sample of 9343 7th-, 9th-, and 11th-grade public school students, of whom 1021 reported a chronic illness. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Disordered eating (vomiting, diet pills, and laxatives), dieting, and exercise for weight control; chronic illness status; family structure, family communication, parental caring, parental monitoring, parental expectations, peer support, and sexual and physical abuse. RESULTS: Adolescents with chronic illness were at greater risk for disordered eating than youth without chronic illness, after controlling for sociodemographic variables (girls: odds ratio, 1.59 [95% confidence interval, 1.19-2.14]; boys: odds ratio, 2.22 [95% confidence interval, 1.49-3.32]). Adolescents with chronic illness were less likely to come from 2-parent families; reported lower levels of family communication, parental caring, and parental expectations; and reported more sexual and physical abuse than youth without chronic illness. Male adolescents with chronic illness were more likely to report low peer support and low parental monitoring. Most of these familial-social factors were also associated with an increased prevalence of disordered eating. After familial-social factors were controlled for, however, associations between disordered eating and chronic illness remained statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents with chronic illness are at greater risk for disordered eating behaviors than youth without chronic illness. Factors other than the familial-social factors assessed in this study may be contributing to this increased risk. In the clinical setting, youth with chronic illness need to be screened for disordered eating and familial and other social concerns.

Adolescent↗

Behavioral responses of periparturient sows and juvenile pigs to prostaglandin F2 alpha.

Within minutes after prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha) injection on d 112 postcoitum and again in the last few hours before delivery of the first piglet around 22 h later, sows in pens intensely rooted and pawed, which is typical prepartum nestbuilding behavior. Control sows engaged in most such typical prepartum activity (TPA) within 16 h before delivery. The overall frequencies and durations of TPA for the 48-h prepartum period were not influenced by injection, but injection of PGF2 alpha did alter the temporal pattern of behavior and resulted in a bimodal profile of activity. The PGF2 alpha injected 24 h postpartum immediately induced TPA in sows, but it was less intense and shorter than prepartum TPA. Postpartum only, some PGF2 alpha sows rubbed or kicked at their abdomens and seemed to experience discomfort. Because PGF2 alpha elicited TPA both pre- and postpartum, TPA probably was not directly triggered by changes in plasma progesterone concentration or in the estrogen:progesterone ratio. After injection of .5 or 1 mg PGF2 alpha, prepubertal pigs (approximately 10 kg) lay more but also changed posture more often. After PGF2 alpha, slight or no TPA was seen, but pigs pawed more often, showed signs of abdominal discomfort, defecated more often, stretched and arched their backs and scratched or kicked at their sides or abdomens. Most PGF2 alpha-induced TPA by prepartum sows probably is not caused by some general peripheral effect, but rather by some neural or endocrine change that stimulates nestbuilding specifically in animals primed by the endogenous endocrine environment of late pregnancy.

Animals↗

Abnormal breathing in the Rett syndrome.

Four girls affected with the Rett syndrome showed stereotyped hand movements and psychomotor regression beginning in the first or second year of life after initially normal development, with total loss of language, a severe gait, and chewing and swallowing disturbances. Breathing during active wakefulness was abnormal, with clusters of arrhythmic, tachypneic and irregular respiratory acts, intermixed with prolonged apneic episodes causing cyanosis and even fainting. On the other hand, breathing was regular during both NREM and REM sleep stages. Breathing impairment in the Rett syndrome is characterized by an inability to maintain normal respiratory patterns during wakefulness, and represents a functional disturbance of the behavioral control of breathing, which occurs during active wakefulness.

Adolescent↗

Psychiatric status of adolescents who had extreme temperaments at age 7.

Two temperamentally extreme (extremely easy and extremely difficult) subgroups of children were selected at the age of 7 years from a large random sample of the general population of Quebec City. The clinical status, family functioning, IQ, and academic performance of these children were reassessed at 12 and 16 years of age. Findings suggest that extreme temperament at age 7 predicts psychiatric status in preadolescence and adolescence only when family functioning is also taken into account. The adolescents who had been temperamentally difficult children and who were living in families with dysfunctional behavior control displayed more clinical disorders.

Achievement↗

Comparison of the rheological behavior of hemocytometry controls and fresh patient EDTA-anticoagulated blood specimens.

For rheological reasons high viscosity specimens are more sensitive to deficiencies, if any, in the aspiration systems of whole blood flow cytometers and consequently are more likely to give erroneous values. For this reason the rheological behavior of hemocytometry controls was compared with that of patient blood specimens. It is shown that the behavior of controls and patient specimens of comparable hematocrit is similar at shear rates that are probably occurring during aspiration (exceeding approximately 40 s-1). The hematocrit is shown to be a major determinant of the viscosity of both controls and patient specimens. The results suggest that from the rheological point of view the fundamental IFCC premise is met, "that errors detected by means of control specimens exactly mirror errors occurring with patients' specimens", provided their hematocrits are taken into account.

Anticoagulants↗

Prior cocaine exposure disrupts extinction of fear conditioning.

Psychostimulant exposure has been shown to cause molecular and cellular changes in prefrontal cortex. It has been hypothesized that these drug-induced changes might affect the operation of prefrontal-limbic circuits, disrupting their normal role in controlling behavior and thereby leading to compulsive drug-seeking. To test this hypothesis, we tested cocaine-treated rats in a fear conditioning, inflation, and extinction task, known to depend on medial prefrontal cortex and amygdala. Cocaine-treated rats conditioned and inflated similar to saline controls but displayed slower extinction learning. These results support the hypothesis that control processes in the medial prefrontal cortex are impaired by cocaine exposure.

Animals↗

The adolescent outcome of hyperactive children diagnosed by research criteria--III. Mother-child interactions, family conflicts and maternal psychopathology.

The present study reports the results of a prospective, 8-year follow-up study of 100 hyperactive and 60 normal children followed from childhood into adolescence. Ratings of child behavior problems and family conflicts as well as direct observations of mother-child interactions were taken in childhood and again at adolescent follow-up. At outcome, hyperactives continued to have more conduct and learning problems and to be more hyperactive, inattentive, and impulsive than controls. Hyperactives were also rated by their mothers as having more numerous and intense family conflicts than the normal controls, although the adolescents in both groups did not differ in their own ratings of these conflicts. Observations of mother-adolescent interactions at outcome found the hyperactive dyads displaying more negative and controlling behaviors and less positive and facilitating behaviors towards each other than in the normal dyads. These interaction patterns were significantly related to similar patterns in mother-child interactions observed 8 years earlier. Mothers of hyperactives also reported more personal psychological distress than normal mothers at outcome. Further analyses of subgroups of hyperactives at outcome, formed on the presence or absence of ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), indicated that the presence of ODD accounted for most of the differences between hyperactives and normals on the interaction measures, ratings of home conflicts, and ratings of maternal psychological distress. Results suggest that the development and maintenance of ODD into adolescence in hyperactive children is strongly associated with aggression and negative parent-child interactions in childhood.

Achievement↗

Bleaching injection equipment: influencing factors among IDUs who share.

This study investigates factors influencing needle-bleaching intentions and behavior among IDUs who share injection equipment. Analysis of 443 interviews conducted with IDUs who share revealed that intention to bleach and frequency of bleaching were positively associated with attitudes, social norms, perceived behavioral control, and perceived risk of unsafe sharing. Intention was related (positively) to exposure to AIDS-prevention information, whereas frequency of bleaching was associated (negatively) with frequency of intoxication. Exposure to AIDS information may be more effective in creating intention to bleach needles than in stimulating behavior, and noninjection drug use may inhibit bleaching behavior.

Adult↗

Hypertension induced by hypothalamic transplantation from genetically hypertensive to normotensive rats.

The role of the hypothalamus (HTH) in the pathogenesis of genetic hypertension was studied in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). It is currently believed that, in this strain, the genetic defect manifests itself mainly in the HTH. We examined this hypothesis by grafting HTH neurons from embryos of SHR or control Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats into the HTH of adult normotensive WKY rats. Changes in host systolic blood pressure (SBP) were monitored, and alterations in vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) gene expression of the host brain were studied. In rats grafted with HTH tissue from SHR embryos (G-SHR), the blood pressure rose by 31% as compared with that in the grafted control group. The blood pressure climbed gradually over a period of 6 weeks to its highest level, which was maintained for at least 3 months following grafting. Along with the elevated blood pressure, the heart weight increased by 80% compared to controls. Behavioral changes were also evident in the G-SHR rats, and these were similar to those of the native SHR strain. In situ hybridization histochemistry showed a 40% elevation in VIP transcripts in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the host G-SHR brain compared to controls. These studies demonstrate that transplantation of embryonic SHR HTH tissue into brains of adult normotensive rats results in the development of hypertensive characteristics in the host. It thus appears that the HTH is a prime candidate for the source of changes leading to spontaneous hypertension in mammals.

Animals↗

Body image and eating behavior in adolescents.

Approximately two-thirds of adolescent girls at any age are dissatisfied with their weight, the proportion increasing with actual weight. Slightly more than half of all girls are dissatisfied with the shape of their bodies, an attitude which also is positively correlated with body weight. Girls are most likely to be distressed about excess size of their thighs, hips, waist and buttocks, and inadequate size of their breasts. Those who are dissatisfied with their bodies are more likely to engage in potentially harmful weight control behaviors, such as dieting, fasting, self-induced vomiting, diuretic use, laxative use and diet pill use. Those who diet are more likely to begin in early adolescence, to be white than black, to be of higher socioeconomic status, to engage in other eating-related practices and to have a poor body image and self esteem. Boys who are underweight are most likely to be dissatisfied with their weight and many with normal weight wish to weigh more. Approximately one-third of boys are dissatisfied with their body shape, desiring larger upper arms, chest and shoulders. Dieting and purging are less likely than exercise to be chosen by boys as methods of weight control. Dieting among boys is more likely to be associated with increased body weight and some sports, such as wrestling. Body consciousness and altered body image are widespread among adolescents, and may be associated with potentially harmful eating practices in both sexes, but more so in girls.

Adolescent↗

Augmenting and reducing of visual evoked potentials in high- and low-sensation seeking humans, cats, and rats.

High- and low-sensation seeking behaviors in human and cat are shown to be correlated with visual evoked potential (VEP) augmenting and reducing, respectively. Demonstration of this relationship in RHA/Verh and RLA/Verh rats provides a heuristic animal model with which to investigate the physiological and genetic basis of this relationship. Recent work is described which shows that VEP augmenting and reducing is a true cortical phenomenon and not merely a reflection of differences occurring at the thalamus. Recent evidence is discussed that suggests the role of diffuse subcortical monoaminergic projections to the cortex as the neurochemical basis for sensation seeking behaviors controlled by prefrontal and limbic cortex and perhaps the correlated VEP augmenting/reducing responses recorded from the posterior cortex.

Animals↗

Hypothalamic serotonin in control of eating behavior, meal size, and body weight.

Serotonin (5-HT) has been implicated in the control of eating behavior and body weight. Stimulants of this monoamine reduce food intake and weight gain and increase energy expenditure, both in animals and in humans. This article reviews evidence that supports a role for hypothalamic serotonergic receptor mechanisms in the mediation of these effects. A variety of studies in rodents indicate that, at low doses, 5-HT or drugs that enhance the release of this neurotransmitter preferentially inhibit the ingestion of carbohydrate, more than fat or protein. This phenomenon is mediated, in part, by 5-HT receptors located in various medial hypothalamic nuclei. A negative feedback loop exists between the consumption of this macronutrient and the turnover of 5-HT in the hypothalamus. That is, carbohydrate ingestion enhances the synthesis and release of hypothalamic 5-HT, which in turn serves to control the size of carbohydrate-rich meals. A model is described that proposes the involvement of circulating hormones and glucose in this feedback process. These hormones, including insulin, corticosterone, and the adipose tissue-derived hormone, leptin, have impact on serotonergic function as well as satiety. This model further suggests that 5-HT exerts its strongest effect on appetite at the start of the natural feeding cycle, when carbohydrate is normally preferred. Clinical studies provide evidence that is consistent with the proposed model and that implicates 5-HT in disturbances of eating and body weight disorders.

Animals↗

Insect circadian clocks: is it all in their heads?

Circadian rhythms are ubiquitous in living organisms, synchronizing life functions at the biochemical, physiological, and behavioral levels. The rhythm-generating mechanisms, collectively known as circadian clocks, are not fully understood in any organism. Research in the fruit fly Drosophila has led to the identification of several clock genes that are involved in the function of the brain-centered clock, which controls behavioral rhythms of adult flies. With the use of clock genes as markers, putative circadian clocks were mapped in the fly peripheral organs and shown to be independent from clocks located in the brain. A homologue of fruit fly period gene has been identified in moths and other insects, allowing investigations of this gene's role in known insect rhythms. This approach may increase our understanding of how circadian clocks are organized into the circadian system that orchestrates temporal integration of life processess in insects.

Journal Article↗

Competition of mesoscales and crossover to theta-point tricriticality in near-critical polymer solutions.

The approach to asymptotic critical behavior in polymer solutions is governed by a competition between the correlation length of critical fluctuations diverging at the critical point of phase separation and an additional mesoscopic length scale, the radius of gyration. In this paper we present a theory for crossover between two universal regimes: a regime with Ising (fluctuation-induced) asymptotic critical behavior, where the correlation length prevails, and a mean-field tricritical regime with theta-point behavior controlled by the mesoscopic polymer chain. The theory yields a universal scaled description of existing experimental phase-equilibria data and is in excellent agreement with our light-scattering experiments on polystyrene solutions in cyclohexane with polymer molecular weights ranging from 2 x 10(5) up to 11.4 x 10(6). The experiments demonstrate unambiguously that crossover to theta-point tricriticality is controlled by a competition of the two mesoscales. The critical amplitudes deduced from our experiments depend on the polymer molecular weight as predicted by de Gennes [Phys. Lett. 26A, 313 (1968)]. Experimental evidence for the presence of logarithmic corrections to mean-field tricritical theta-point behavior in the molecular-weight dependence of the critical parameters is also presented.

Journal Article↗

The role of the flabellar and ellipsoid bodies of the central complex of the brain of Drosophila melanogaster in the control of courtship behavior and communicative sound production in males.

The role of flabellar and ellipsoid bodies of the central complex of the brain of Drosophila melanogaster males in controlling courtship behavior and the accompanying sound production was studied by comparative analysis of the characteristics of courtship and singing in wild-type flies and individuals of five mutant lines with different anatomical defects in these parts of the brain. Investigations were performed using the following fly lines: Canton S (wild-type, controls), ebo(KS263), with defects only in the ellipsoid bodies, and ebo(1041), ceb(849), ceb(892), and cba(KS96), with different levels of abnormality in both parts of the central complex. The data obtained here indicated that the flabellar and ellipsoid bodies are involved in: 1) maintaining a high level of courtship activity; 2) regulating the precision of male movements while following females; 3) in controlling the nature and stability of the sound elements from which communicative signals are constructed; 4) in regulating the rhythmic structure of signals dependent on the stability of pacemakers function; 5) establishing the relationship between behavior and the context in which it occurs.

Animal Communication↗

Organizational and unit factors contributing to reduction in the use of seclusion and restraint procedures on an acute psychiatric inpatient unit.

OBJECTIVE: The use of seclusion or restraint (S/R) as an emergency medical intervention to assist patients in regaining behavioral control continues to be an area of interest and concern for the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), consistent with the ongoing concerns in the medical, patient advocate, legislative and legal communities. This study examined unit characteristics and the use of S/R in a VA facility with a secured, acute mental health unit before and after the promulgation of the JCAHO 2000 standards for utilization of S/R for behavioral health reasons. METHODS: Variables examined include patient acuity, patient census, number of admits, number of discharges, length of stay, number of nursing staff on duty, critical incidents and S/R hours per month. RESULTS: Results indicated S/R use began showing a notable decrease corresponding to the time that senior unit management began discussions of the new JCAHO standards. These reductions maintained statistical significance even after controlling for changes in unit environmental variables.

Acute Disease↗

Diabetes self-care knowledge, behaviors, and metabolic control of older adults--the effect of a posteducational follow-up program.

Older adults with diabetes experience greater barriers to practicing self-care activities necessary for disease control than their younger counterparts. It was hypothesized that posteducational follow-up intervention would increase self-care knowledge scores, improve metabolic control, and reduce self-care behavioral deficits. Twenty-seven hospitalized elderly patients with diabetes who had completed an inpatient education program were recruited and randomized into experimental (n = 15) and control (n = 12) groups. A posttest on HbA1c and diabetes self-care knowledge (DKN) was administered to all subjects, and self-care behavioral deficits were measured. A four-week follow-up intervention via telephone contact also was administered to the experimental subjects. No significant difference was observed in DKN and HbA1c values. A significant difference was achieved in reduction of self-care behavioral deficits (P < 0.05-0.01). It was concluded that posteducational follow-up is necessary for enhancing self-care adherence and ensuring safe practice of home care for elderly patients with diabetes.

Aged↗

Chronic treatment with eltoprazine does not lead to tolerance in its anti-aggressive action, in contrast to haloperidol.

The behavioral effects of eltoprazine and haloperidol during a 4 week treatment period were studied in the resident-intruder model of aggression in male rats. Eltoprazine, a serotonergic (5-HT1A/1B) agonist with specific anti-aggressive actions in animals, was compared to haloperidol, a neuroleptic often used to control behavioral disorders. Eltoprazine (1 or 3 mg/kg p.o.) and haloperidol (2 mg/kg p.o.) were given 60 min before a 10 min aggression test. Acutely, eltoprazine reduced aggression, without adversely affecting other behaviors. Eltoprazine (1 or 3 mg/kg p.o.) was subsequently given daily for 4 weeks and aggression tests were performed each week. The anti-aggressive effects of eltoprazine remained stable over the period of 4 weeks whereas exploration was increased. After a wash-out period of 1 week aggression had returned to baseline levels. Acutely given, haloperidol (2 mg/kg p.o.) completely reduced aggression concomitant with massive sedation. Significant tolerance developed to the sedatory actions of haloperidol over the 4 week treatment period. Aggression returned slowly, but remained below baseline values. One week after wash-out a new challenge with haloperidol (2 mg/kg p.o.) revealed significant tolerance. After 2 weeks wash-out aggression had returned to baseline. The data demonstrate persistent and specific anti-aggressive effects after eltoprazine showing no tolerance. In contrast, haloperidol showed tolerance and rebound effects for aggression. The development of tolerance after haloperidol has a different course for sedation than for the anti-aggressive action.

Aggression↗