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Community Participants (community + participant)
Selected AbstractsInterpersonal problems and emotional intelligence in compulsive hoardingDEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, Issue 9 2008Jessica R. Grisham Ph.D. Abstract There is some evidence that compulsive hoarding is associated with social impairment, which may contribute to poor functional outcomes among hoarding patients. In this study, individuals with compulsive hoarding (n = 30) were compared to nonhoarding anxious or depressed patients (n = 30) and nonclinical community participants (n = 30) with respect to clinical characteristics, interpersonal difficulties, and emotional intelligence. All participants were diagnosed using a semi-structured interview and completed self-report measures. Participants with compulsive hoarding endorsed more depression and schizotypal personality disorder symptoms than participants in both comparison groups. Hoarding participants also reported more interpersonal difficulties than community volunteers, but they did not differ significantly from nonhoarding participants with an anxiety or mood disorder. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that hoarding-related beliefs were marginally related to increased interpersonal problems over and above the effect of depression and anxiety. The groups did not differ significantly with respect to emotional intelligence. Depression and Anxiety. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Student and community perceptions about organ donors, non-donors and transplant recipientsJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2009Melissa K. Hyde Abstract Despite efforts to encourage organ donation, low organ donation rates in Australia and other Western nations do not meet the demand for transplantable organs. One influence on organ donation decision-making yet to be fully explored is that of prototype perceptions about organ donors, non-donors and transplant recipients. We conducted focus groups and interviews with 54 student and community participants to explore these perceptions of donors and non-donors in a living and posthumous context, as well as transplant recipients. Using content and thematic analysis, transcripts were analysed for consistently emerging themes. Donors were generally perceived positively as altruistic and giving and as ordinary people; however, some participants questioned the motives of living anonymous donors. Non-donors were commonly viewed negatively as self-absorbed and unaware, with living-related non-donors particularly perceived as cold-hearted and weak. Transplant recipients were generally viewed sympathetically (unfortunate and unwell); however, many participants also expressed negative views about transplant recipients as responsible for their predicament, depending upon the type of organ transplant needed. To encourage people's willingness to donate their organs, it is crucial to understand the extent to which these perceptions influence organ donation decisions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Covenantal and contractual values in marriage: Marital Values Orientation toward Wedlock or Self-actualization (Marital VOWS) ScalePERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, Issue 3 2005JENNIFER S. RIPLEY Cultural constructions of marriage have developed to form 2 marital values orientations. These marital values can be understood along a continuum from covenantal at 1 pole to contractual at the other pole. Covenantal marital values prioritize individual sacrifice for the marriage to promote marital health, commitment, and vow taking to resolve conflict, the collective dyad as the primary unit of the marriage, and often spiritual intervention as a primary means of restoring order. Contractual marital values prioritize individual self-actualization to promote marital health, negotiation, and mutual agreement to resolve conflict, the individual as the primary unit of the marriage, and clinical and psychological interventions as a primary means of restoring order. The authors developed a 26-item scale to measure contractual and covenantal marital values. In 3 studies examining a total of 786 student and community participants, the factor structure of the scale was evaluated, and convergent and discriminant construct validity, item internal consistency, and 4-week test,retest reliability were examined. [source] Visceral fat is associated with lower brain volume in healthy middle-aged adultsANNALS OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 2 2010Stéphanie Debette MD Objective Midlife obesity has been associated with an increased risk of dementia. The underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Our aim was to examine the cross-sectional association of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and computed tomography (CT)-based measurements of subcutaneous (SAT) and visceral (VAT) adipose tissue with various magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) markers of brain aging in middle-aged community adults. Methods Participants from the Framingham Offspring cohort were eligible if in addition to having measurements of BMI, WC, WHR, SAT, and VAT, they had undergone a volumetric brain MRI scan with measurements of total brain volume (TCBV), temporal horn volume (THV), white matter hyperintensity volume (WMHV), and MRI-defined brain infarcts (BI). All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, and time interval between abdominal CT and brain MRI. Results In a sample of 733 community participants (mean age, 60 years; 53% women), we observed an inverse association of BMI (estimate by standard deviation unit ± standard error = ,0.27 ± 0.12; p = 0.02), WC (,0.30 ± 0.12; p = 0.01), WHR (,0.37 ± 0.12; p = 0.02), SAT (,0.23 ± 0.11; p = 0.04), and VAT (,0.36 ± 0.12; p = 0.002) with TCBV, independent of vascular risk factors. The association between VAT and TCBV was the strongest and most robust, and was also independent of BMI (,0.35 ± 0.15; p = 0.02) and insulin resistance (,0.32 ± 0.13; p = 0.01). When adjusting for C-reactive protein levels, the associations were attenuated (,0.17 ± 0.13; p = 0.17 for VAT). No consistently significant association was observed between the anthropometric or CT-based abdominal fat measurements and THV, WMHV, or BI. Interpretation In middle-aged community participants, we observed a significant inverse association of anthropometric and CT-based measurements of abdominal, especially visceral, fat with total brain volume. ANN NEUROL 2010 [source] Community sentiment and the juvenile offender: should juveniles charged with felony murder be waived into the adult criminal justice system?,BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW, Issue 4 2009Nicole M. Garberg M.S. Juveniles are more likely than adult offenders to commit crimes in groups. This tendency makes the juvenile offender more susceptible to the felony murder rule. In three experiments we tested the notion that juveniles arrested and charged under the felony murder rule would be transferred into the adult criminal justice system based on an equalistic (i.e. the application of the felony murder rule) or a proportional (i.e. the just deserts philosophy) rule. Participants read case descriptions of an armed robbery (no death, accidental death, or intentional death) in which defendants had different levels of involvement in the crime (getaway driver, lookout, sidekick, or triggerman). Involvement was manipulated within subjects in Experiment 1 (i.e., participants rendered judgments for each defendant) and between subjects in Experiment 2 (i.e., each participant judged one of the defendants). The participants in Experiments 1 and 2 were undergraduate psychology students selected from a public university located in the mid-west. The purpose of Experiment 3 was to determine whether the results of the first two experiments could be generalized to a community sample. The community sample was randomly selected from the rural and urban areas in the same geographical region as the university samples. The results indicated that the community participants were more likely to transfer the defendants to adult court than the student participants. However, the same pattern of results emerged for all of the samples, indicating that the triggerman was more likely to be transferred to adult court than the other defendants, especially if an intentional or accidental death occurred. These results support the conclusion that the defendants were transferred based on their involvement in the crime, thus supporting the proportional rule or the just deserts philosophy. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Quality of life compared during pharmacological treatments and clinical monitoring for non-localized prostate cancer: a randomized controlled trialBJU INTERNATIONAL, Issue 7 2004H.J. Green OBJECTIVES To investigate the effects of different management strategies for non-localized prostate cancer on men's quality of life and cognitive functioning. PATIENTS, SUBJECTS AND METHODS Men with prostate cancer were randomly assigned to one of four treatment arms: leuprorelin, goserelin, cyproterone acetate (CPA), or close clinical monitoring. In a repeated-measures design, men were assessed before treatment (baseline) and after 6 and 12 months of treatment. A community comparison group of men of the same age with no prostate cancer participated for the same length of time. The men were recruited from public and private urology departments from university teaching hospitals. All those with prostate cancer who were eligible for hormonal therapy had no symptoms requiring immediate therapy. In all, 82 patients were randomized and 62 completed the 1-year study, and of the 20 community participants, 15 completed the study. The main outcome measures were obtained from questionnaires on emotional distress, existential satisfaction, physical function and symptoms, social and role function, subjective cognitive function, and sexual function, combined with standard neuropsychological tests of memory, attention, and executive functions. RESULTS Sexual dysfunction increased for patients on androgen-suppressing therapies, and emotional distress increased in those assigned to CPA or close clinical monitoring. Compared with before treatment there was evidence of an adverse effect of leuprorelin, goserelin, and CPA on cognitive function. Conclusions In deciding the timing of androgen suppression therapy for prostate cancer, consideration should be given to potential adverse effects on quality of life and cognitive function. [source] | |||||||||||||