Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Findings Results (finding + result)
Selected AbstractsThe effect of image complexity on attentional bias towards alcohol-related images in adult drinkersADDICTION, Issue 5 2010Melissa A. Miller ABSTRACT Aim Visual probe tasks are often used to measure attentional bias (AB) towards alcohol-related images in drinkers, but little is known about the effect of the properties of the images used in this task: specifically, image complexity. Methods AB was examined in a group of adult drinkers (n = 25). Two measures of attentional bias were obtained from a modified visual probe task. First, a traditional dot probe detection task measured attentional bias in drinkers based on their reaction times to probes replacing neutral and alcohol-related images. Secondly, an eye-tracking measure was applied to this task to directly assess the drinkers' eye gazes to the alcohol-related and neutral images. The effect of image complexity was examined by comparing AB towards images classified as simple and complex. Findings Results showed that drinkers displayed AB only towards simple alcohol-related images as measured by both probe RT and fixation times. Conclusion These findings suggest that complex alcohol-related images might be less effective at capturing drinkers' attention and could result in less attentional bias when used in visual probe tasks. [source] The familial aggregation of cannabis use disordersADDICTION, Issue 4 2009Kathleen R. Merikangas ABSTRACT Aims The aim of this paper is to examine the familial aggregation of cannabis use disorders and other psychiatric conditions among first-degree relatives and spouses of probands with a cannabis use disorder. Design Controlled family study methods. Setting Out-patient psychiatric clinics and the local community (same geographic area). Participants Two hundred and sixty-two probands with a life-time history of cannabis use disorder, alcohol dependence, anxiety disorders or no history of any disorder, and their first-degree relatives and spouses. Measurements Cannabis use disorders and other DSM-III-R disorders in the relatives and spouses using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia. Findings Results reveal an elevated risk of life-time history of cannabis use disorders among siblings [odds ratio (OR: 3.6), adult offspring (OR): 6.9], and spouses (OR: 4.4) of probands with cannabis use disorders. There is a latent familial factor underlying cannabis use disorders that was shared partially with alcohol abuse/dependence. Comorbid mood and anxiety disorders aggregated independently from cannabis use disorders in families. Equal elevation in the magnitude of the association among the first-degree adult relatives and spouses of probands with a cannabis use disorder suggests the probable contribution of both environmental and genetic factors. Conclusions These findings support a family-based approach to drug abuse intervention and the importance of future research concerning environmental mediators of familial transmission of drug abuse. [source] Family members of relatives with alcohol, drug and gambling problems: a set of standardized questionnaires for assessing stress, coping and strainADDICTION, Issue 11 2005Jim Orford ABSTRACT Aims To describe a set of standard questionnaire measures for the assessment of the needs of family members of relatives with alcohol, drug or gambling problems, and to present evidence of their reliability and validity from a series of related studies. Design Includes cross-sectional and repeated-measurement studies. Setting and participants Family members affected by and concerned about the problem drinking or drug-taking of close relatives in treatment and non-treatment samples in the United Kingdom (white and Sikh) and Mexico City; family members of untreated heavy drinkers; and family members of problem gamblers. Measurements Four measures derived from a stress,strain,coping,support model of alcohol, drugs and gambling problems and the family: Family Member Impact scale (FMI), Symptom Rating Test (SRT), Coping Questionnaire (CQ), and Hopefulness,Hopelessness scale (HOPE). FMI, SRT and CQ assess stress, strain and coping, respectively. The exact role of HOPE in the model remains to be determined. The support component remains unmeasured. Findings Results from a number of studies support the internal reliability, discriminant and construct validity and sensitivity to change of the SRT and its two constituent scales (psychological and physical symptoms) and at least two subscales of the CQ (engaged and tolerant,inactive coping). Although showing evidence of satisfactory reliability and some evidence of discriminant validity, further work may be required on the CQ withdrawal coping subscale. Evidence suggests that the FMI is reliable and valid and may have a factor structure that will support future research (distinguishing worrying behaviour from active disturbance). HOPE is a new measure showing promising characteristics. Conclusions A set of standard measures is available for helping to assess the needs of concerned and affected family members, derived from an explicit model of the family in relation to excessive drinking, drug taking or gambling. It may have a role to play in correcting the current neglect of the needs of such family members, estimated to be in the region of nearly a million adults in Britain alone. [source] Diurnal Change of Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone mRNA Expression in the Rat Pars TuberalisJOURNAL OF NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY, Issue 11 2007S. Aizawa Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)-producing cells (TSH cells), which account for a large fraction of the cells in the rat pars tuberalis (PT), have been found to express MT1 melatonin receptor and mammalian clock genes at high densities. Although these findings suggest that TSH production in the rat PT is regulated by melatonin and/or the biological clock, there have been no studies focusing on the diurnal change and regulation mechanism of TSH production in the rat PT. Therefore, in the present study, we examined diurnal changes of in TSH, and ,-glycoprotein subunit (,GSU) mRNA expression and TSH immunoreactivity (-ir) in the rat PT, and also examined the relationship between melatonin and TSH production in vivo. Both TSH, mRNA expression and ,GSU mRNA expression in the PT showed diurnal variations: the expression levels were lowest at the light phase [Zeitgeber time (ZT)4] and high at the dark phase (ZT12 and ZT20). TSH-ir in the PT showed the lowest level at ZT4, as was found for mRNA expression. Interestingly, TSH-ir, which was confined to the Golgi apparatus at ZT4, spread to the cytoplasm, and most of the TSH cells in the PT were uniformly immunostained in the cytoplasm at ZT20. Despite the fact that chronic administration of melatonin suppressed TSH, and ,GSU mRNA expression, TSH-ir in the PT was significantly enhanced. These findings results clearly show that there are diurnal changes in TSH expression and accumulation in rat PT-TSH cells and suggest that these fluctuations are regulated by melatonin. [source] | ||||||||||