Physical activity has been demonstrated in the literature as an effective way to reduce the risk for development of chronic disease. The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of behavior change has been developed as a means to predict and facilitate movement into healthier lifestyle behaviors. The model is centered on "stages of change", which describe a continuum of readiness to engage in a health behavior change. Stages contain temporal, qualitative, and quantitative characteristics. This was a six-month study that evaluated the effectiveness of stage-matched (theorized to be pertaining only to the maintenance stage of change) vs. generic (theorized to be pertaining to anyone, regardless of stage) newsletters in assisting subjects to attain the Maintenance stage of change. It also sought to identify further qualitative characteristics that can differentiate between the Action and Maintenance stages of change. Results indicated that monthly stage-matched newsletters were no more effective in helping subjects reaching Maintenance than were the generic newsletters. Exerciser self-schema was related to stages of change, but those relationships differed from baseline to six-month follow-up, indicating development of exerciser self-schema during the study period. Implications of this are discussed. Other concepts discussed included "structure" of change process, in that three new scores were developed …

For the past quarter century, the public has been educated and warned about the dangers of smoking, and both smokers and health researchers have been in search of cost-effective, smoking cessation programs that will lead to long-term cessation. This study used a randomized experimental design to investigate the effectiveness of adding Web-based support materials to a nationally sponsored self-help smoking intervention. There was no significant increase in abstinence rates nor progression through the stages of change by those participants who had access to the Web site. However, there were some overall significant trends that suggested these self-help interventions were successful at decreasing daily rates of smoking and nicotine dependency, as well as tended to encourage repeated quit attempts. Although Web-based supports did not appear to increase the effectiveness of the nationally sponsored self-help intervention, this study demonstrated overall 12 week follow-up abstinence rates of 30-32%--greater than what might be expected, given average success rates of other self-help interventions. This study also supports the notion that women may face additional barriers to smoking cessation. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was twofold: to determine the construct validities of comparable AD/HD instruments that were developed according to our current, DSM-IV classification system for AD/HD; and to identify potential +neurocognitive and socioemotional markers for AD/HD. The sample consisted of 145 children ages 8 to 11 years of age who were diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), or Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD). Children were administered a battery of neurocognitive tests and completed a self-report measure of personality. Parents completed several, AD/HD instruments pertaining to their children. The AD/HD instruments used in this study were the Attention Deficit Disorder Evaluation Scale-Home Version (ADDES), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Test (ADHDT), and the Attention Problems and Hyperactivity scales from the BASC-Monitor (BASC-M). Of interest was how each AD/HD instrument compared to the DSM-IV, particularly in terms of the cross-consistency of AD/HD subtype classifications. The findings showed that the AD/HD instruments classified participants differently from the initial, DSM-IV entry diagnosis. Rates of agreement were better for some of the AD/HD instruments than for others yet there was little overall consistency. The neurocognitive measures used in the study were the Cognitive Assessment System-Basic Battery scales. The socioemotional measures used in the …

This study investigated the relationship among anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances and the treatment of these three disorders through neurotherapy. Research suggests that these conditions commonly co-occur in the general population and that central nervous system (CNS) arousal may play a primary role in the development and maintenance of these disorders. Several recent studies suggested that neurotherapy, a biofeedback-based treatment for CNS dysregulation, might be an effective treatment for comorbid conditions, particularly the ones of interest here, depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances. This investigation used a clinical case-series design to assess pre/post neurotherapy changes on objective measures of anxiety, depression, and sleep and to determine whether changes in anxiety and depression then predict improvements in sleep quality. Data for 23 participants (10 males) were obtained from files of adults (Mage = 40.22 years, SD = 16.20) who received at least 15 neurotherapy sessions (M = 47.83 sessions, SD = 22.23) the University of North Texas Neurotherapy Lab. Matched pair t-tests revealed that symptoms of sleep disturbance, depression, and anxiety showed significant improvements following neurotherapy. Neurotherapy treatment effect sizes generally ranged from moderate to large (d = .414 - .849). Multiple regression analysis found that changes in self-reported anxiety symptoms, but …

Headache pain impacts most of the population at some point in life, at an enormous cost to day-to-day functioning. Determination of the variables that are associated with prevalence and severity of headaches has been inconsistent. One area that deserves more attention is the relationship between headaches and sleep. For instance, several sleep parameters may precipitate or exacerbate headaches, but previous research often used inconsistent and limited assessments of both headaches and sleep, making results difficult to interpret and compare. The current study seeks to extend previous research by using more comprehensive and empirically validated assessment techniques to study the relationship between sleep and headaches in a healthy sample. Greater self-reported sleep quality is related to lower headache frequency and severity, and lower self-reported sleep quality is characteristic of individuals having migraine-type headaches. Greater sleep efficiency is related to lower headache severity and shorter headache duration. Greater sleep onset latency is related to longer headache duration and greater headache severity. Greater number of nighttime awakenings is related to greater headache severity and is characteristic of individuals having a diagnosable headache disorder (either tension-type or migraine-type). Stress appeared to be a partial mediator between self-reported sleep quality and headache severity. Further experimental …

This study explores the possibility that attentional deficits are an early clinical symptom of Alzheimer's disease. The three goals are to demonstrate that individuals with Alzheimer's disease are impaired on tasks of attentional processing, to compare the sensitivity of currently used measures of attention to attentional dysfunction, and to compare the behavioral response styles (errors of commission) of Alzheimer's disease subjects and non-impaired subjects. The subjects were 22 males and 46 females with a mean age of 70.76 years. Thirty-six had the presumptive diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease; 18 were identified as mildly impaired and 18 as moderately impaired on the Cognitive Capacity Screening Examination. The remaining 32 subjects comprised the non-impaired control group. Five measures of attention were administered to all participants: the Digit Span Subtest of the WAIS-R, the Seashore Rhythm Test of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery, the Vigilance and Distractibility tasks of the Gordon Diagnostic System, and the Concentration/Interference task. The results show a significant difference in attentional processing between normal (non-impaired) subjects and subjects diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. All measures of attention used in this study, except the Concentration/Interference task, differentiated normal subjects from moderately impaired Alzheimer's disease subjects. The Digit Span Subtest and the Seashore Rhythm …

The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between the location of the initial onset of back pain as revealed by the subject's pain drawing and the site of maximum muscle tension at rest, while jaw-clenching and during a cold stressor, in men and women. Subjects were 30 males and 30 females divided into three groups of 10 males and 10 females each and designated according to back pain history as no back pain (NBP), upper back pain onset (UBP) and lower back pain onset (LBP). Six bipolar, bilateral electromyographic (EMG) recording sites were instrumented on each subject. EMG levels were recorded from the forehead, forearm, upper back, lower back, thighs and ankles under conditions of rest, jaw-clenching and a cold stressor. Seven hypotheses predicted that EMG levels would distinguish groups and gender of the subjects and that interactions would exist between site of pain onset and EMG elevations.

The Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (LNNB) was published in 1980 as an attempt to provide clinicians with a standardized version of the neuropsychological assessment and diagnostic procedures proposed by A. R. Luria and A, L. Christensen. Research on the LNNB included a series of factor analyses for each of eleven clinical scales. The analyses were completed on the combined scores obtained from a sample of normal, brain-damaged, and psychiatric populations. A second version of the LNNB was published in 1985 as a largely parallel version of Form I, but included changes in stimulus materials, administration procedures, and scoring procedures. The present study completed factor analyses on same eleven clinical scales using data generated with the newer LNNB Form II. The statistical procedures and criteria employed in the present investigation were identical to those used earlier on Form I to allow for comparisons between the two resulting sets of factor structures. The patient populations were different, however, in that all subjects in the current study were receiving inpatient care in a private psychiatric hospital which specializes in long-term treatment. Despite the changes in materials and procedures and the difference in subject parameters, the factors identified in the present investigation are similar to …

The differences among certain physiological changes occurring in response to mirthful laughter, directed relaxation, and verbal speech were investigated. These changes included amount of muscle tension, as measured with surface electromyography, in the forehead and in the upper body as recorded from the forearms bilaterally, peripheral surface skin temperature, heart rate, and respiration rate. The study sought to determine whether the net effect of laughter, as measured on these five variables after a three-minute refractory period, is a more relaxed state than existed before the laughter. Determination of the similarity between the changes following laughter and the changes following directed relaxation was made in comparison with the changes following verbal speech. Factors of prior anxiety, pre- and post-self-esteem levels, humor level, and laughter intensity were examined. Historical and theoretical perspectives were reviewed, as well as the known information on physiological responses to laughter.

Neuropsychological tests have been used in differentially diagnosing schizophrenic and brain damaged populations. Research indicated some subgroups of schizophrenia exhibit certain symptoms of brain damage; and that schizophrenia involves difficulty in sensory integration. The Haptic Visual Discrimination Test (HVDT) designed to test tactilevisual integration, Bender Gestalt, and Information and Digit Symbol subtests of the WAIS were used to test performance abilities of forty schizophrenic subjects, forty subjects medically diagnosed as brain damaged (10 right hemisphere, 10 left hemisphere, and 20 diffuse), and normals as defined by the standardized age norm scores.

The present study sought to determine whether a dietary and multi-element psychological treatment (DMPT) approach in combination with standard medical treatment would offer a more efficacious therapeutic package to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients than would standard medical treatment (SMT) employed alone. The DMPT group (N = 19) received a stress management training package for a 2 week period consisting of relaxation training, imagery, and bowel sound biofeedback training via a stethoscope, in addition to instructions to increase their daily consumption of dietary fiber. They also were to continue the implementation of whatever standard medical treatment they were currently receiving, be it a bulking agent, or anti-anxiety, anti-cholinergic, or anti-depressant medications, etc. The SMT group (N = 19) simply received whatever conventional medical treatment they had been prescribed.

This study is a comparison of four treatments involving education and imagery relaxation for the amelioration of dysmenorrhea. Treatment was presented to 76 subjects by videotape during a one-hour session. A six month follow-up was performed using one of the original instruments, the Symptom Severity Scale (Cox & Meyer, 1978) and a questionnaire designed for the study. Analysis of the test instruments indicated a significant treatment effect for the educational group. The second most effective treatment was a combined treatment utilizing imagery relaxation and education, although this group did not produce significant results. The no-treatment control group was more effective in diminishing symptoms than the fourth group, imagery relaxation alone. The lack of effectiveness of the imagery relaxation treatment was hypothesized to be due to lack of reinforcement of the technique. The educational treatment modality offered the individual an opportunity to learn about many different etiological facets of dysmenorrhea, including biological, learning, and cognitive factors. The presentation also introduced the individual to several different treatment modalities in order to provide an armamentarium of effective methods for diminishing or eliminating dysmenorrhea. These results suggest that there is a need for education about dysmenorrhea before menarche, in order to prepare, prevent, treat, …

Whether an individual's state of mind can influence the body's immune system has been studied for several decades. Historical notions of a homeostatic, self-contained, and self-monitored system have been discarded. Studies have explored conditioning effects and cognitive behavioral methods to affect the immune response. This study is based on the assumption that relaxation imagery can be used as an endogenous means to produce specific physiological change in the immune function. Subjects were instructed to make a directional change in the absolute number of peripheral lymphocytes using relaxation imagery.

The present study investigates the effect of brain damage on verbal-spatial-cognitive (VSC) and sensorimotor (SM) measures included in the McCarron-Dial System (MDS). The subjects include 141 brain damaged adults and 42 psychiatric controls. The following research questions are addressed: (a) Does the brain damaged group differ significantly from controls? (b) Are there significant differences among left, right, anterior, posterior, and diffuse brain damaged groups? (c) Do early onset, late onset, acute, and chronic damaged groups differ significantly? and (d) Does a cerebral palsy group differ significantly from a non-CP brain damaged group?

Shared characteristics and predictors of psychological distress are beginning to be identified in research on women seeking genetic testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations. This study further explored patterns of psychological distress for 51 community women waiting to receive such genetic test results. There was no significant relationship between psychological distress and family cancer history, personal cancer history, social support networks, and family environment. Women in this sample tended to rely more on females and relatives for support than males and friends. Social support satisfaction was not related to gender or number of relatives providing support. Thirty-four of the 36 women classified on the family environment type were from Personal Growth-Oriented families. Comparisons with normal and distressed family means revealed increased cohesion and expressiveness with decreased conflict, indicative of supportive family environments. Limitations and implications are discussed.

In the present study, the Electromechanical Therapeutic Apparatus was examined to determine the extent to which its repeated use can influence intellectual performance and mood state. The Electromechanical Therapeutic Apparatus is a device designed to mildly stimulate the body and brain, while facilitating relaxation. Its three components include a rotating platform-bed; a weak, extremely-low-frequency, external-electric field; and music. In the present study, three groups were contrasted, a music-only group which served as a placebo; a group which combined motion-vestibular stimulation and music; and a group which combined motion-vestibular stimulation and music with an externalelectric field. The sample included 33 randomly selected men and women whose average age was 34.6 years.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate post-burn adjustment in light of the self-esteem of child burn survivors. The study attempted to assess the viability of using a single, explicit self-report measure of self-esteem (Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale) as an index of post-burn adjustment. It appears that pediatric burn patients do not suffer a compromised self-concept secondary to the burn injury and, rather, are successful in incorporating their post-burn state, physically and psychologically, into a positive self-concept. It is suggested that evaluation of overall self-esteem incorporate a comprehensive picture of post-burn adjustment, based upon psychological and physiological parameters. Further research is justified and suggestions for future examinations are presented.

Metopic synostosis is a condition in which the metopic suture of the human cranium fuses prematurely and may be related to poor behavioral inhibition leading to behaviors commonly associated with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The purpose of this project was to examine the behavior patterns among children with a history of metopic synostosis. It was hypothesized that children with a history of metopic synostosis would exhibit many of the same behavioral patterns associated with ADHD. It was also hypothesized that children with a history of simple synostosis not involving the metopic suture would not evidence this type of behavioral pattern. In order to test these hypotheses, the behavior of three groups of children was compared including (1) children who had a history of metopic synostosis (M= 7.63 years, SD = 1.92 years), (2) children who had a history of simple craniosynostosis not involving the metopic suture (M= 7.54 years, SD = 1.88 years), and (3) a group of children diagnosed with ADHD (M=7.78 year, SD = 1.87 years). It was found using the Home and School versions of the Attention Deficit Disorders Evaluation Scale (ADDES) that children with a history of metopic synostosis demonstrate significantly more behavioral disturbances than children …

Diabetes has alarming prevalence rates not only in the U.S., but also worldwide. Ethnicity plays a large role with Hispanic-Americans having one of the highest prevalence rates. Diabetes is a complicated disease that requires significant lifestyle modifications. The health belief model (HBM) has been investigated as a theory to explain behavior change. However, little research has been done to determine its utility to Mexican-Americans. In the current study, participants were Mexican-American adults (N = 66) with type II diabetes who were recruited from family medicine clinics. Self-report questionnaires included the General Acculturation Index (GAI) and the Multidimensional Diabetes Questionnaire (MDQ). Participants had the option to complete them in either Spanish or English. Laboratory values were collected from medical charts. A MANCOVA indicated that two variables were significant, perceived severity (PS) and misguided support behaviors (MSB), p < .05. With respect to the HBM, PS was identified as a component of an individual's perception, acculturation was a modifying factor, and MSB was a component of the likelihood to change factors. These three affected glycemic control. Odds ratios determined that individuals with better glycemic control had less perceived severity and less misguided supportive behavior. Individuals with the least acculturation were more likely …

Transportation-related collisions are ubiquitous and often traumatic. Identifying post-collision psychological distress and the characteristics of the collision survivor that lead to distress are vital to the development of early and appropriate interventions. The goals of this study were: 1) to use a questionnaire as opposed to a typical diagnostic interview, 2) to confirm that psychological distress is present in currently hospitalized transportation-related collision survivors, 3) to confirm that different types of distress co-occur, 4) to determine if distress is more likely to occur in those who have had prior distress, and 5) to explore the relationship between symptoms of distress and perception of control by self, others, and God/Higher Power of past, present, and future collision-related events. Subjects were 100 English speaking adult inpatients, 16 years and older, who were less than 3 weeks post-injury, and receiving some rehabilitation. Participants completed a questionnaire which included the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS) as well as questions regarding demographics, details of the collision/injury, alcohol/drug use, pain, past and present stressors, social support, and perceptions of life change. Information about head injury and collision-concurrent alcohol and/or drug use was collected from the …

Prior research has reported that individual differences influence both placebo and nocebo responses. The present study examined how individual personality, as well as trust, influence placebo/nocebo belief and symptom reporting after receiving an inert capsule that for some was described as an active “cognitively-enhancing” trial medication. Individuals (N = 104) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: condition A participants were told they’d received the medication, condition B participants were told they’d received a placebo, and condition C participants were told, via random assignment, each would receive either the medication or placebo (after the experiment this condition listed the group – medication or placebo - each believed s/he was in). The study was completed in the UNT Student Health and Wellness Center to provide context in a medical setting. Of the 104 participants, 46 (44.2%) were either placed by experimental design or self-report in the medication group. Participants with a belief in medication ingestion, regardless of condition (i.e., A or C), reported significantly more symptoms (M = 16.65, SD = 3.178), than participants who believed they had ingested a placebo (M = 14.21, SD = 2.58), t (102) = 4.32, p = .001. Aspects of Neuroticism and Extroversion, as …

Alzheimer’s Dementia (AD) is among the most common diseases in the Geriatric population, and its prevalence is expected to quadruple by 2047.Vascular Dementia (VaD) is the second most frequent cause of dementia, with studies indicating VaD accounts for 10-20% of dementia cases across the globe. A diagnostic model differentiating AD and VaD would be clinically and scientifically valuable, considering the treatment approaches for these conditions are different. Although there are differences between AD and VaD on their neuropsychological profiles, a diagnostic model that successfully differentiates AD and VaD on neuropsychological testing has not been developed, despite previous attempts. Our study addresses this gap in the literature by examining two diagnostic models used to predict the conversion of AD from mild cognitive impairment, and a third model was proposed to differentiate AD from VaD. We conducted ROC Analyses using the variables LM II Standard Score, Animals Total, and CDRS Sum based on a previous diagnostic model. The sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of mild VaD were calculated for all possible scores of each test measure. The Animals Total cutoff score of 7 achieved excellent sensitivity and specificity, receiving 96% and 92%, respectively. In this sample, patients who could name at …

Pain has been described as the most complex human experience and most frequent reason patients seek medical treatment. Few people fail to experience the pain associated with disease, injury, or medical/surgical procedures. However, the impact of unemployment that results from chronic pain suffering has not been widely researched. To present a comprehensive view of the effect unemployment has upon the chronic pain experience, this study focused upon stress philosophy, chronic pain, employment, and coping effectiveness. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and a Personal Data Questionnaire (PDQ) were administered to 96 persons (four groups of 24 subjects) representing either unemployed or employed and either chronic or non-chronic (acute) pain populations.

Behavior analysts who study verbal behavior theorize that people derive relationships between stimuli - forming stimulus classes such that psychological functions transfer among stimuli and therefore affect behavior. Verbal processes are thought to play a role in cancer patients' behavioral flexibility. The current study examined if an analogue intervention produced changes in relations between health-relevant stimuli from pre- to post-test in patient and student samples. A matching-to-sample (MTS) task required participants to form three 4-member classes that included health, treatment, or neutral terms. Participants next listened to either an acceptance-based or a control-based rationale and therapy exercise, or a distracter task. Then, they were re-exposed to the MTS task. Latencies and accuracies for learning each class as well as between condition differences were examined. Finally, changes in ratings of stimuli from pre to post analogues were measured. Differences in stimuli ratings were seen in the student sample, reflecting transfer of function and some reduction in responsiveness to stimuli following intervention, but overall no learning performances are found. Discussion explores the consistency of the findings with acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) theory in light of the seemingly lack of findings.