Disordered Eating Behaviors and Substance Use in Women: A Comparison of Perceived Adverse Consequences∗

The study investigated the adverse consequences on varied life domains of dieting, bingeing, vomiting and laxative use and compared them to the adverse consequences of alcohol drinking, tobacco smoking, and marijuana use. Results showed that the percentages of women who reported adverse consequences related to eating disordered behaviors were often comparable, if not higher, than the percentages of women who reported adverse consequences related to their substance use. This is the first study to compare the adverse consequences of disordered eating patterns and substance use behaviors. Results suggest the importance of recognizing the adverse consequences of disordered eating patterns.     

Influence of Lifestyle Factors on Inflammation in Men and Women with Type 2 Diabetes: Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999–2004

Background

Type 2 diabetes is associated with low-grade systemic inflammation, increasing the risk for various adverse health outcomes.

Purpose

Our objective was to investigate the association between C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker for systemic inflammation, and lifestyle factors in a national sample of people with type 2 diabetes.

Methods

This study analyzed data from 1,086 men and women with diabetes, who completed the 1999?C2004 NHANES. Lifestyle factors included diet quality, body mass index (BMI), smoking, and physical activity.

Results

Stratified logistic regression showed that for both men and women, BMI was a strong predictor of elevated CRP after adjusting for age, energy intake, race/ethnicity, medications, diabetes duration, and glycosylated hemoglobin. However, among men, but not among women, the likelihood of elevated CRP increased with lower diet quality and physical inactivity.

Conclusions

Among people with type 2 diabetes, higher levels of CRP were associated with lower diet quality and physical inactivity among men, and with obesity among both men and women.     

The Association Between Prenatal Stress and Externalizing Symptoms in Childhood: Evidence From the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children

Background

It has been suggested that prenatal maternal stress may increase the risk of childhood externalizing disorders, yet no large cohort study has investigated this association across a large range of acute stressors. Our objective was to estimate the association between prenatal stressful events and risk of offspring conduct disorder and hyperactivity.

The Prospective Links Between Hyperactive/Impulsive,Inattentive, and Oppositional-Defiant Behaviors in Childhood and Antisocial Behavior in Adolescence: The Moderating Influence of Gender and the Parent–Child Relationship Quality

We prospectively investigated the effect of child hyperactive/impulsive, inattentive, and oppositional/defiant behaviors on the development of youth antisocial behaviors, and the moderating influence of gender and the parent–child relationship quality in a normative sample. Participants (N = 673, 50 % girls) were assessed at 10 years of age (parent reports) and at age 15 (parent and adolescent reports). Using latent change models, we found that initial levels of, as well as increases in, hyperactivity/impulsivity and oppositional behaviors and initial levels of inattention behaviors predicted youth antisocial behaviors. The increase in oppositional behaviors was predictive of youth antisocial behaviors in girls only. Child hyperactive/impulsive behaviors predicted youth antisocial behaviors only in children for whom the quality of the parent–child relationship deteriorated from childhood to adolescence. Thus, both initial levels of and increases in disruptive behaviors as well as gender are important for understanding the development of antisocial behaviors in adolescence. We received partial support for the hypothesized, moderating role of a high-quality parent–child relationship.     

Naming in Patients With Alzheimer’s Disease: Influence of Age of Acquisition and Categorical Effects

The role of age of acquisition (AoA) and other variables classically supposed to influence lexical semantic tasks is explored in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients. A naming test that included living and nonliving items was given to patients and controls. Measures of AoA of the test items were obtained from normal subjects. Living items were acquired earlier than nonliving items. Semipartial correlation analyses were performed to determine the independent contribution of each variable to naming. The “category” (living vs. nonliving items) was included as an independent factor. It emerged that AoA, name agreement and category (with living category predicting lower scores) were the main predictors of naming in AD patients. Only factor agreement reached significance in control groups. The hypothesis is discussed that the category dissociation may be produced by the different nature of the semantic correlation network that makes the categories differentially demanding of processing resources.     

Brief Report: Abnormal Association Between the Thalamus and Brain Size in Asperger’s Disorder

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between thalamic volume and brain size in individuals with Asperger’s disorder (ASP). Volumetric measurements of the thalamus were performed on MRI scans obtained from 12 individuals with ASP (age range: 10–35 years) and 12 healthy controls (age range: 9–33 years). A positive correlation was found between total brain volume and thalamic size in controls, but not in ASP subjects. This occurred in the absence of differences in mean thalamic volumes between the study groups. Findings from this investigation point to an abnormal relationship between the thalamus and its projection areas in ASP and are consistent with similar studies in autism, supporting that these disorders are qualitatively similar and possibly quantitatively different.     

The Relationship Between Perceived Family Support and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence: What is the Moderating Role of Coping Strategies and Gender?

This study examined the moderating role of gender and coping strategies in the relationship between perceived family support, self-esteem and depressive symptoms. Data were used from the My World Survey Second Level (MWS-SL), a national survey of mental health among 6062 young people aged 12–19 years. Conditional process analyses indicated that planned coping moderated the relationship between perceived family support and depressive symptoms for those engaging in low-moderate levels but not high levels of planned coping, and this moderating role was stronger for females than males. Avoidance coping was a moderator for those engaging in moderate-high but not low levels of avoidance coping, and gender also moderated this relationship. Support-focused coping only moderated the perceived family support/depressive symptoms relationship for females. Findings suggest that the strength of the relationship between perceived family support and depressive symptoms depends on level of engagement with a particular coping strategy, and this engagement is a consistently stronger moderator for females.     

An Aspect of the Capability for Suicide—Fearlessness of the Pain Involved in Dying—Amplifies the Association Between Suicide Ideation and Attempts

The interpersonal theory of suicide posits that individuals who experience suicide ideation will only develop suicidal intent, and subsequently engage in suicidal behavior when they have concomitant fearlessness about death and tolerance for physical pain (i.e., the capability for suicide). The current studies examined the hypothesis that one aspect of the capability for suicide—fearlessness of the pain involved in dying—would amplify the positive association between current suicide ideation and a previous suicide attempt in two samples at high risk for experiencing suicide ideation and suicide attempts. Study 1 examined this relation using self-report methods in a sample of adults entering treatment in a mental health outpatient clinic. Study 2 utilized similar methods in a sample of adults admitted to inpatient psychiatry. Both studies indicated that those individuals who reported suicide ideation were more likely than non-ideators to report having attempted suicide only if they also reported greater fearlessness of the pain involved in dying. The current findings support the theorized role of the capability for suicide in the transition from ideation to attempt and also support assessing the capability for suicide in risk assessment.     

From TADS and SOFTADS to TORDIA and Beyond: What’s New in the Treatment of Adolescent Depression?

Major depressive disorder in adolescents is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Major advances have been made in recent years in the treatment of adolescent depression, with promising outcomes. However, limitations of currently available treatments have prompted attempts to better understand pediatric depression from a broader perspective and to develop more effective treatment strategies in the future.     

Extending the Minority Stress Model to Incorporate HIV-Positive Gay and Bisexual Men’s Experiences: a Longitudinal Examination of Mental Health and Sexual Risk Behavior

Background

Minority stress theory represents the most plausible conceptual framework for explaining health disparities for gay and bisexual men (GBM). However, little focus has been given to including the unique stressors experienced by HIV-positive GBM.

Purpose

We explored the role of HIV-related stress within a minority stress model of mental health and condomless anal sex.

Methods

Longitudinal data were collected on a diverse convenience sample of 138 highly sexually active, HIV-positive GBM in NYC regarding sexual minority (internalized homonegativity and gay-related rejection sensitivity) and HIV-related stressors (internalized HIV stigma and HIV-related rejection sensitivity), emotion dysregulation, mental health (symptoms of depression, anxiety, sexual compulsivity, and hypersexuality), and sexual behavior (condomless anal sex with all male partners and with serodiscordant male partners).

Results

Across both sexual minority and HIV-related stressors, internalized stigma was significantly associated with mental health and sexual behavior outcomes while rejection sensitivity was not. Moreover, path analyses revealed that emotion dysregulation mediated the influence of both forms of internalized stigma on symptoms of depression/anxiety and sexual compulsivity/hypersexuality as well as serodiscordant condomless anal sex.

Conclusions

We identified two targets of behavioral interventions that may lead to improvements in mental health and reductions in sexual transmission risk behaviors—maladaptive cognitions underlying negative self-schemas and difficulties with emotion regulation. Techniques for cognitive restructuring and emotion regulation may be particularly useful in the development of interventions that are sensitive to the needs of this population while also highlighting the important role that structural interventions can have in preventing these disparities for future generations.

     

Cognitive resilience in clinical and preclinical Alzheimer’s disease: the Association of Amyloid and Tau Burden on cognitive performance

We explored the cross-sectional relationships between β-amyloid (Aβ) and inferior temporal tau deposition (IFT Tau) on cognitive performance and whether cognitive reserve (CR) modifies these associations. We studied 156 participants classified into groups of clinically normal (CN = 133), mild cognitive impairment (MCI = 17) and Alzheimer disease (AD = 6) dementia. AMNART IQ served as a proxy of CR and cognitive performance was assessed using the MMSE. In separate linear regression models predicting MMSE, we examined the interactions of CR x global Aβ and CR x IFT tau across all participants and within the CN group alone. In the whole sample, the interaction between CR and IFT tau was significant (p < 0.003), such that higher CR participants with elevated IFT tau had better MMSE scores compared with low CR participants with similar levels of IFT tau. The interaction between CR and Aβ status did not reach significance (p = 0.093). In CN only, no cross-sectional interactions among CR, Aβ, and IFT tau were observed on MMSE. These findings imply that CR may be protective against early AD processes and enable some individuals to remain cognitively stable despite elevated tau and Aβ burden.