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Attachment in marriage: effects of security and accuracy of working models.

Working models of attachment in marital functioning were examined. The security and accuracy of working models were measured with a new Q-sort method. Spouses with secure working models (self as relying on partner and partner as psychologically available) showed more constructive modulation of emotion and reported better marital adjustment. The accuracy of internal working models, measured with an objective index of spouses' agreement about models, was associated with independent reports of marital adjustment and observers' ratings of communication in problem-solving and confiding tasks. Behavior in communication tasks showed predictable associations with attachment security. Husbands' attachment security covaried with wives' rejection during problem solving, and wives' security covaried with quality of husbands' listening during a confiding task. A reciprocal interaction view of working models and marital functioning is supported.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Presurgery experiences of prostate cancer patients and their spouses.

PURPOSE: In this article, the authors describe the experiences of men with prostate cancer and their spouses between diagnosis and surgery. DESCRIPTION: As part of a longitudinal qualitative study, semistructured interviews were held with 34 prostate cancer patients who were waiting for surgery. Separate interviews were held with their spouses. RESULTS: Six main components of experience were evident from the analysis of transcripts related to the presurgery period: 1) the news of a diagnosis of prostate cancer came initially as a shock for both partners, the impact of which lessened over time; 2) the new reality of illness necessitated readdressing the marital relationship, most often resulting in a sense of renewed connection and commitment; 3) the illness crisis precipitated a search for information to guide decisions about treatment; 4) there was a need for couples to decide who to inform about the cancer diagnosis and how much to say about it; 5) couples attempted to seek a semblance of normality in their lives, especially after treatment decisions had been made; and 6) despite attempts to minimize the potential impact of upcoming surgery, anxiety was typically experienced at least intermittently by one or both partners. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Physicians, nurses, social workers, and other health professionals need to facilitate attempts by the patient to gather and synthesize information. Cancer specialists can play a positive role in reducing distress in couples, and, thus, the attention of the specialists to communication issues is critical. The strain of waiting for surgery must be considered when treatment recommendations are made; watchful waiting protocols require further study from a psychological perspective. Clinicians need to be alert to the balance between being positive and carrying on as normal, and acknowledging and dealing with the distress that arises.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Teaching children about health: an example of secondary gain in an academic-community partnership.

CONTEXT: The Partners in Health Education (PHE) program is an elective that pairs first and second year medical students with local classroom teachers to promote health messages to students in kindergarten through grade eight. Designed with the primary goal of helping medical students improve their communication skills through the process of teaching children about health, the PHE program has secondary goals of supporting community teachers in their efforts to promote health and of teaching children about health and the prevention of disease and injury. This report contains the results of the assessment of program impact on the school children. METHODS: A total of 327 elementary grade students in 14 experimental classrooms and 13 comparison classrooms comprised the participants for the study. Students were individually interviewed twice over an eight-week period using a structured interview form designed to capture self-report information about health and healthy living. Repeated measures analysis of variance was conducted. The effect of interest in each case was the treatment x time interaction. RESULTS: There were significant treatment x time interactions for several measures of children's reported knowledge and attitudes about health. DISCUSSION: Although designed primarily to help medical students improve their communication skills, the PHE program produced a secondary gain such that elementary students in participating classrooms reported learning more about health than did students in comparison classrooms. Programs such as PHE can provide ways to meet the goal of helping children become empowered to take charge of their own health and to make healthy choices.

Journal Article↗

Hormone-induced intercellular signal transfer dissociates cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase.

We used co-cultures of porcine ovarian granulosa cells and mouse adrenocortical tumor cells (Y-1) to examine the kinetics of contact-dependent intercellular signal transfer and to assess the molecular mechanisms employed by this process. Exposure to follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) caused cAMP-dependent protein kinase dissociation in granulosa cells and, with time, in Y-1 cells if, and only if, they contacted a responding granulosa cell. Y-1 cells close to a granulosa cell but not touching it failed to respond similarly. In reciprocal experiments, co-cultures were stimulated with adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). Y-1 cells dissociated protein kinase as did granulosa cells in contact with Y-1 cells; however, granulosa cells that were not in contact with Y-1 cells failed to respond to the hormone. Fluorogenic steroids were secreted by Y-1 cells cultured alone and stimulated with ACTH, but were not secreted by cultures exposed to FSH. Neither hormone caused fluorogenic steroid production by granulosa cells. On the other hand these steroids were secreted in co-cultures stimulated with ACTH and to a lesser degree in co-cultures exposed to FSH. Autoradiography revealed that I125-FSH bound only to granulosa cells, never to Y-1 cells, even if they were in contact with an ovarian cell. The possibility of cell fusion was tested by experiments in which Y-1 cell membranes were labeled with cationized ferritin. These cells were then placed in co-culture with ovarian granulosa cells that had previously been allowed to ingest latex spheres. At regions of gap junctions between Y-1 and granulosa cells ferritin remained attached to the adrenal cell membrane and was never observed to migrate to the granulosa cell membrane. From these data, we conclude that hormone specific stimulation of one cell type leads to protein kinase dissociation in heterotypic partners only if they contact a hormone responsive cell. This signal transfer is bidirectional, exhibits temporal kinetics and occurs in the absence of apparent cell fusion. The only structural feature connecting Y-1 and granulosa cells were gap junctions implying they provided the communication channels; however, alternative mechanisms cannot be excluded. We have not established the identity of the signal being transferred although cAMP is a logical candidate.

8-Bromo Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate↗

The winds of change: medical staff relations.

Are hospital governing boards and medical staffs natural adversaries in the health care ecosystem, or are they partners in a common effort? Are they parallel but equal organizations with different roles and different points of view, or, eventually, must one emerge with authority over the other? This article discusses how medical staff/board relations are changing and the need for better communications between the two leadership groups.

Communication↗

Scent marking and the maintenance of dominant/subordinate status in male golden hamsters.

Since it is thought that flank marking communicates dominance status, experiments were designed to look at changes in aggression and flank marking behaviors in pairs of male hamsters with intact flank glands (Experiment One) or when one (Experiment Two) or both (Experiment Three) members of a pair had their flank glands surgically removed. In Experiment One the dominant members of twelve pairs of hamsters had a mean daily frequency of flank marks that was over two-fold greater than their subordinate partners, F(1,11) = 17.59, p less than 0.001. Over the course of five consecutive daily tests there was a significant decrease in the aggression index of both the dominant, t(44) = 4.49, p less than 0.01, and subordinate, t(44) = 3.33, p less than 0.01, hamsters. Accompanying the decrease in aggression was a significant increase in the flank marking of both dominant, t(44) = 7.8, p less than 0.01, and subordinate, t(44) = 3.59, p less than 0.01, hamsters. In Experiment Two, six out of eleven flank glandectomized hamsters were dominant over their sham operated partners while the remaining five were subordinate. Unlike Experiment One there was no significant difference in the flank marking between dominant and subordinate hamsters, in fact, in seven pairs the subordinate hamsters flank marked more than their dominant partners. In Experiment Three both hamsters had their flank glands removed, and as in Experiment Two, there was no significant difference in flank marking between dominant and subordinate hamsters, neither was there any significant change in their aggression and flank marking behaviors over the course of the five test periods.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aggression↗

In vivo and in vitro assessment of B-B cell interactions: inhibition of proliferation and antibody production of the CRIA B cells mediated by the surface immunoglobulins of anti-CRIA B cells.

In this work we have assessed the effect of cell surface anti-immunoglobulin (Ig) of anti-idiotypic B cells on their idiotypic counterparts in vivo and in vitro, as a surrogate for soluble anti-surface Ig, using the well-characterized anti-arsonate system. The response of A/J mice against the hapten arsonate coupled to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (ARS-KLH) is dominated by a closely related family of antibodies sharing the same determinant, named the CRIA idiotype. We show herein that a massive induction of anti-CRIA B cells, subsequent to immunization with the mAb 3665 (CRIA+, arsonate binding) coupled to KLH, mediated a strong and long-lasting inhibition of this dominant oligoclonal response to arsonate. The titer of anti-arsonate antibodies remained, however, unchanged. Adoptive transfers to x-irradiated syngeneic mice showed that anti-CRIA-producing B cells have a direct effect on induction of inhibition. This was supported by the in vitro data where irradiated anti-CRIA B cells could induce inhibition of both antibody production and mitogenesis of their counterparts, CRIA B cells. This inhibitory effect could be decreased when the surface anti-surface Ig were hidden by the 3665 Fab fragments but not by anti-MHC class II antibodies. These interactions between CRIA and anti-CRIA B cells were solely Igh restricted and the inhibition was likely initiated by hyperaggregation of surface Ig. The presence of ARS-KLH-primed T cells in vitro could prevent the growth inhibition but not the suppression of antibody production. A similar profile was noticed in vitro for soluble polyclonal rabbit anti-CRIA Ab. All together, our data suggest that a negative signaling in B cells may be initiated by surface Ig of their idiotypic partners subsequent to a strong cross-linking of their surface Ig receptors.

Animals↗

The personality of young adult couples and wives' work patterns.

The influence of personality in 63 couples at the time of family formation on wives' work patterns 15 years later was examined in variable-centered and person/couple-centered ways. Four factor dimensions on the Adjective Check List assessed personality. Work patterns were assessed with measures of type, amount, and status of work and with schematic work narratives describing characters and plots abstracted from wives' mid-life data. Hierarchical regression analyses showed individuality of husbands to affect work outcomes after wives' college-age goals, their young adult personality, and the duration of marriages were taken into account. Conjoint high-low patterns of individuality in 34 couples were associated with different schematic work stories. These stories show distinctive personality and relational correlates at age 27. They flesh out and qualify hypotheses that individualistic partners would be open to women's careers and would show revealing strategies of combining self- and other interests in the transition to parenthood.

Adult↗

Becoming a social partner with peers: cooperation and social understanding in one- and two-year-olds.

One- and two-year-old peer dyads were presented with a simple cooperative task. Age differences were found in amount of coordinated activity, monitoring the peer's activity and location in relation to the goal, and attempting to achieve the goal when the peer was (or was not) available as a partner. One-year-olds' coordinated actions appeared more coincidental than cooperative whereas older children appeared to be more actively cooperating toward a shared goal. Differences in coordinated activity with peers were associated with differences in attention sharing with an adult and with language about self and other. The ability to cooperate with peers, becoming a true social partner, develops over the 2nd and 3rd years of life in concert with growing social understanding.

Age Factors↗

Directive and nondirective spousal support: differential effects?

In this study we investigated whether the following factors influenced married partners' reactions to spousal support: type of support (directive vs. nondirective); individual differences (gender, depressive symptoms); and dimension along which support was evaluated (level of helpfulness vs. valence of emotional impact). Nondirective support was consistently rated more favorably on the dimension of partner's impact than on the dimension of partner's helpfulness, and this effect was exaggerated for those self-reporting a high level of depressive symptoms. Nonetheless, directive support was provided more frequently than was nondirective support in this sample. Gender differences and complications introduced by partner dysphoria suggest some situations in which directive support may be particularly difficult to provide effectively. Implications for couple therapy are discussed.

Adult↗

Delayed and forgone care for children with special health care needs in New York State.

OBJECTIVE: To identify characteristics associated with delayed/forgone care for children with special health care needs (CSHCN) in New York State (NYS) as reported by their parents. METHODS: Data come from NYS participants in the 2000-2002 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs. Data were analyzed using weighted bivariate and multivariate regression models. The dependent variable was report of delayed/forgone routine health care. Independent variables included illness characteristics, potential and actual access to care, and provider care characteristics. RESULTS: In NYS, 8.4% reported delayed/forgone health care for their child. Parents of children with delayed/forgone care were more likely to report that their child was uninsured (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 3.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3-11.8), had experienced interrupted health insurance (aOR 3.9, 95% CI 1.5-9.7), or their child's insurance was not adequate for CSHCN (aOR 3.6, 95% CI 1.4-9.1). Further, these parents were more likely to report that providers never spend adequate time (aOR 6.3, 95% CI 1.2-34.4), provide sufficient information (aOR 8.0, 95% CI 2.5-25.0), act as partners in care (aOR 6.7, 95% CI 2.3-19.7), or display cultural sensitivity (aOR 5.4, 95% CI 1.2-24.3). CONCLUSIONS: An estimated 40,771 NYS CSHCN experience delayed/forgone routine health care. Their families report two noteworthy barriers: inadequate or discontinuous insurance coverage and poor communication with health-care providers. Access to care for CSHCN can be improved by increasing consistent comprehensive insurance coverage and increasing sensitivity in relationships between health care providers and families of CSHCN.

Adolescent↗

The genetic architecture of house fly mating behavior.

This chapter summarizes several experimental approaches used to identify the effects of dominance, epistasis, and genotype-by-environment interactions in the genetic architecture of the mating behavior of the common house fly (Musca domestica L.). Quantitative genetic investigations of mating behavior hold special intrigue for unraveling the complexities of fitness traits, with applications to theory on sexual selection and speciation. Besides being well suited to large-scale quantitative genetic protocols, the house fly has a remarkably complex courtship repertoire, affording special opportunities for studies on communication, social interactions, and learning. Increased additive genetic variances for the courtship repertoire of experimentally bottlenecked populations provided evidence for the presence of dominance and/or epistasis. Negative genetic variances in these populations suggested genotype-by-environment interactions, where the environment is the mating partner. Line cross assays of populations that had been subjected to selection for divergent courtship repertoire confirmed that both dominance and epistasis have significant effects. These crosses also showed more directly that the expression of the male's genotype is dependent upon the preferences of his mating partner. Repeatability studies also detailed how males alter their courtship performances with successive encounters within and across females, such that the males learn to improve their techniques in securing copulations. A review of 41 animal behavior studies found that a wide range of traits and taxa have dominance, epistasis, and genotype-y-environment interactions, although house fly courtship may remain a unique model where learning is an intersexually selected trait. Future development of more sophisticated molecular techniques for the M. domestica genome will help unravel the underlying biochemical and developmental pathways of these quantitative genetic interactions for a more complete understanding of the processes of inbreeding depression, outbreeding depression, and pleiotropy.

Animals↗

[epiDRB--a new minimally invasive concept for referencing in the field of computer-assisted orthopaedic surgery].

AIM: Optoelectronic navigation for computer-assisted orthopaedic surgery (CAOS) is based on a firm connection of bone with passive reflectors or active light-emitting diodes in a specific three-dimensional pattern. Even a so-called "minimally-invasive" dynamic reference base (DRB) requires fixation with screws or clamps via incision of the skin. Consequently an originally percutaneous intervention would unnecessarily be extended to an open procedure. Thus, computer-assisted navigation is rarely applied. Due to their tree-like design most DRB's interfere with the surgeon's actions and therefore are at permanent risk to be accidentally dislocated. Accordingly, the optic communication between the camera and the operative site may repeatedly be interrupted. The aim of the research was the development of a less bulky, more comfortable, stable and safely trackable device that can be fixed truly percutaneously. METHOD: With engineering support of the industrial partner the radiolucent epiDRB was developed. It can be fixed with two or more pins and gains additional stability from its epicutaneous position. The intraoperative applicability and reliability was experimentally tested. RESULTS: Its low centre of gravity and its flat design allow the device to be located directly in the area of interest. Thanks to its epicutaneous position and its particular shape the epiDRB may perpetually be tracked by the navigation system without hindering the surgeon's actions. Hence, the risk of being displaced by accident is minimised and the line of sight remains unaffected. CONCLUSION: With the newly developed epiDRB computer-assisted navigation becomes easier and safer to handle even in punctures and other percutaneous procedures at the spine as much as at the extremities without an unproportionate amount of additional trauma. Due to the special design referencing of more than one vertebral body is possible at one time, thus decreasing radiation exposure and increasing efficiency.

Equipment Design↗

Awareness of interpersonal style and self-evaluation.

Interpersonal theorists assume that the greater the discrepancy between a person's own assessment of his or her interpersonal style and the perceptions of others, the greater will be that individual's reported psychological distress. In the present study, 32 U.S. undergraduate students, all female, completed the Interpersonal Checklist (ICL) of LaForge and Suczek (1955) to measure their interpersonal styles and the Symptom Distress Checklist-Revised (SCL-90-R) of Derogatis (1983) to measure their psychological distress. On the basis of their ICL scores, they were placed with complementary partners of the same sex to interact for 7 min. Verbal transcripts and soundless videotapes were prepared from the videotapes of their interactions. After either reading the verbal transcript or watching the soundless videotape, raters completed an ICL describing the impression each participant was communicating. When, on the basis of either the videotape or the transcript, raters judged a participant as more dominant than the participant judged herself, the discrepancy was significantly related to SCL-90-R scale scores on Positive Symptom Total, Global Severity Index, Interpersonal Sensitivity, Anxiety, and Depression. The results supported the assumption that self-other discrepancy was associated with psychological difficulties, especially when the discrepancy involved participants believing themselves less dominant than others perceived them.

Adult↗

Exploring relationships among communication, sexual satisfaction, and marital satisfaction.

This study examined relationships among couple communication, sexual satisfaction, and marital satisfaction in 387 married couples. Regression analyses demonstrated that communication and sexual satisfaction independently predict marital satisfaction. However, there is a significant interaction between communication and sexual satisfaction; if couples are successful at communicating constructively, sexual satisfaction fails to contribute to marital satisfaction. Alternatively, if couples have difficulty communicating but are sexually satisfied, they will experience greater marital satisfaction than if they have a less satisfying sexual relationship. Thus, sexual satisfaction may partially compensate for the negative effects of poor communication on marital satisfaction.

Adult↗

Student opinion leaders and HIV/AIDS knowledge and risk behavior.

This research applied the construct of opinion leadership to the health area of AIDS. Approximately 290 college students completed a questionnaire that identified individuals whom peers tended to use as sources of information about AIDS. The results showed that, among men, the AIDS opinion leaders tended to have a larger number of sexual partners than their nonleader counterparts and that they were no more likely to practice safer sex or be more knowledgeable about safer sex. Female AIDS opinion leaders tended to engage in less sexual activity than their nonleader counterparts, but showed a greater reluctance to communicate with men about condom use. In addition, female AIDS opinion leaders were neither more knowledgeable about safer sex nor more likely to engage in safer sex than were their nonleader counterparts.

Adult↗

Parental coping with sudden infant death after donor insemination: case report.

We report the case of an artificial donor insemination couple experiencing sudden infant death of their 8-month-old child. Six months after the incident, the couple were investigated by means of an extensive interview, a repertory grid investigation and the Family Assessment Measure, as well as at 6 years after the incident by an extensive interview. The results show the importance of the diagnosis of male infertility and the preceding fertility treatment for coping with the death of their child. Six months after the incident, acute feelings associated with bereavement are mixed with feelings of anger and shame, apparently due to the experience of infertility. However, secrecy and shame associated with male infertility and donor insemination make it impossible for the couple to communicate their feelings to each other or to friends and relatives; furthermore, they decline psychological counselling. Repertory grid investigation and the Family Assessment Measure point to significant problems within the partnership. Six years after the incident, the couple's relationship is destabilized and both partners plan to divorce. We suggest a possible link between donor insemination secrecy and difficulties with coping. We discuss implications for couple counselling and emphasize the necessity for an improved legal framework for donor insemination in Germany.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Translation and validation of the condom self-efficacy scale with Thai adolescents and young adults.

PURPOSE: To translate the 14-item Condom Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES) into Thai and to validate the Thai version of the Condom Self-efficacy Scale (CSES-T) among Thai adolescents and young adults. METHODS: The CSES was translated using a back-translation technique and validated with a cluster-based sample of 425 participants aged 18 to 22 years from eight randomly selected private vocational schools in Bangkok. Participants completed anonymous self-administered scales. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation was conducted to identify latent factors. RESULTS: Factor analysis indicated three factors: communication, correct use, and consistent use. Items loading on the original CSES also loaded on the same factors of the CSES-T except one item. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients were .85 for the total scale, .70 for consistent use, .79 for correct use, and .80 for communication. CONCLUSIONS: Based on psychometric properties, the CSES-T is a valid and reliable tool. It is culturally appropriate for Thai young adults. Thai researchers and health care providers can use the CSES-T to assess adolescents' and young adults' self-efficacy to use condoms as well as to further develop and evaluate interventions to increase condom use.

Adolescent↗