Psychopathology and Public Policy

An effective definition of psychopathology would be helpful in distinguishing between normal and abnormal behavior and would provide guidance for important public policy decisions. Overinclusive definitions, such as the capacity/disability formulation, do not provide meaningful direction for defining need or assessing eligibility for insurance or other entitlements. Coping failures due to lack of skill, inadequate preparation, or other factors should be distinguished from those due to dysfunction or disturbance of psychological mechanisms. The capacity/disability formulation encourages confusion between different performance decrements and gives no guidance for appropriate boundaries for psychotherapy.     

Stress and dental caries in the rat

The stress of crowding and exposure to inescapable electric shock increased both the incidence and the severity of dental caries in rats housed in a conventional animal facility. Male Osborne-Mendel rats were inoculated intraorally with cariogenic bacteria, fed a high-sucrose diet, and housed in either a conventional or a sheltered facility. Rats in both housing conditions were subdivided into control and stress groups. At the end of the 56-day trial period, stressed rats from conventional housing had a significant increase in both incidence and severity of dental caries in comparison to their controls. In contrast, stressed rats from sheltered housing had a trend toward increased cariogenesis which reached significance in only one of five scores. These rats also failed to gain weight comparable to their controls, making it possible that stress-induced reduction in appetite partially offset stress-induced exacerbation in cariogenesis.This investigation was supported in part by the following Grants from the United States Public Health Service: CA 20093, HL 22727, and HL 07374.     

Long-term social isolation in the rat induces opposite changes in binding to alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenoceptors in the brain and vas deferens

Rats isolated at the time of calcification of the incisors show, after 14-18 months of social deprivation, an increased number of alpha 1-adrenoceptors labeled with [3H]WB 4101, both in the striatum and in the vas deferens, as well as a decreased number of alpha 2-adrenoceptors labeled with [3H]-clonidine in the vas deferens. Social isolation does not, however, modify the density of [3H]clonidine binding sites in the cerebral cortex. The functional state of alpha-adrenoreceptors in the vas deferens from isolated rats appears to correlate with the binding studies since the isolated tissue is hypersensitive to the contractile effect of exogenous noradrenaline and subsensitive to the inhibitory effect of clonidine on the electrically stimulated preparation.     

安徽省有焦虑症状大学生的社会人口特征及社会心理分析

目的:了解安徽省大学生焦虑症状流行状况及其社会人口和社会心理影响因素。方法:对所有省属高校按专业分层,以校为整群抽样(每专业1校),抽取该校在校生的15%。采用无记名问卷调查,共获得有效问卷4178份。调查工具包括焦虑自评问卷(SAS)和青少年负性生活事件量表(ASLEC)。结果:6.94%的大学生存在焦虑,其中男生7.22%,女生为6.35%。理工学生焦虑检出率最高(10.08%),西医学生最低(3.59%)。卡方检验显示焦虑症状与社会人口特征中的出生地、年级、学习成绩、专业及父亲学历有关;与社会心理因素中的生活事件与生活经历,家庭环境中的大部分特征都有统计意义的相关性。多元逐步回归模型进一步发现焦虑症状受社会人口特征中理工类专业(OR=1.77,95%CI:1.30～2.41)和成绩差(OR=1.45,95%CI:1.09～1.93)的显著影响,同时也受社会心理因素中的负性生活事件(OR=4.76,95%CI:3.36～6.77)、消极社会经历(OR=3.35,95%CI:2.43～4.62)以及家庭环境特征中的亲密度(OR=0.65,95%CI:0.49～0.85)和情感表达(OR=0.71,95%CI:0.54～0.94)的显著影响。结论:大学生焦虑症状受社会人口特征及社会心理各方面的综合影响,大学生焦虑症状的预防需家庭、学校和社会的共同参与和促进。     

不同社交地位小学生的自我意识与社交焦虑的特点及关系

目的:考察不同社交地位小学生自我意识水平和社交焦虑的特点及关系。方法:采用社会测量法、问卷法对272名3~5年级的小学生的社交地位、自我意识和社交焦虑进行评定。结果:(1)3~5年级小学生的自我意识水平有显著的性别、社交地位差异。女生的自我意识水平(58.0±10.7)显著高于男生(53.4±11.3)(t=-3.49,P<0.01),受欢迎组的自我意识水平(59.2±11.1)显著高于被拒绝组(51.2±12.3)和被忽视组(54.2±11.0)(P<0.05)。(2)受欢迎组儿童的社交焦虑水平(6.4±3.2)高于被拒绝组儿童的社交焦虑水平(4.8±3.5,P<0.05)。(3)综合模型中,社会喜好是通过社交自我知觉的中介作用与社交焦虑产生联系,不存在直接效应。结论:小学生的社交地位与其自我意识水平和社交焦虑水平存在一定关联性;社交自我知觉在社交地位和社交焦虑之间起到中介作用。     

Neonatal social isolation alters both maternal and pup behaviors in rats

The development of emotional behavior is dependent on the early experiences of the infant and the quality of maternal care. In these experiments, the effects of social isolation during the preweaning period on both pup behavior and maternal responsivity were examined. In the first study, the number of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) emitted after brief maternal separation was measured in neonatal rats with differing histories of social isolation. The social isolation procedure consisted of 5 days of daily separation from the dam and littermates for either 3 or 6 hr. At both ages tested, socially isolated pups vocalized significantly less than control pups. In the second study, the effects of prior isolation either daily for 5 previous days (Chronic Isolation) or for 4 hr prior to testing (Acute Isolation) were examined in a T-maze choice test. Pup vocalizations in the presence of the dam and dams' maternal behavior were assessed. When the dam was confined to the start box or during the maternal free access period, both Chronic and Acute Isolates vocalized less than pups that had never left the home nest. Dams spent more time with and licked and groomed more frequently and for a longer time both Chronic and Acute Isolates compared to pups that had always been with dams in the home nest. These results suggest that early isolation experience can alter subsequent responses to separation stress in neonatal rats and that maternal behavior is sensitive to the prior experiences of offspring.     

Prevalence and distribution of gingivitis and dental caries in children aged 6–12 years in Brisbane primary schools

A study of caries experience and gingivitis prevalence in 6-, 9- and 12-yr-old children attending primary schools in Brisbane was undertaken in November/December 1983. Children from high socioeconomic level (SEL) schools exhibited lower dmft and DMFT scores at all ages. At age 6 yr the proportion of children with caries-free primary dentitions was for high SEL Schools 70%, for middle SEL schools 52% and for low SEL Schools 23%. At 12 yr DMFT scores were 1.8 (high), 2.1 (middle) and 3.3 (low). Similar differences in gingivitis prevalence occurred, children from high SEL schools displaying a much lower proportion of bleeding sites than those from middle and low SEL schools. For selection of children at "high risk" to gingival disease for intensive prevention programmes, an increased emphasis on probing techniques is indicated to achieve diagnostic consistency.     

Perceived parental rearing practices in depressed patients in relation to social class

The occurrence of possible differences in rearing practices related to social class has been investigated in a series of 125 depressed patients by means of a special inventory - the EMBU - constructed by our group. Three factors derived from the EMBU in the course of previous studies: "rejection", "emotional warmth", "overprotection" have been taken into account. The rearing practices experienced by subjects belonging to different social classes did not differ concerning "emotional warmth". On the other hand, subjects belonging to the higher social classes scored their parents higher on the variables "rejection" and "overprotection". Since "emotional warmth" proved in an earlier study to discriminate between depressives and healthy controls, it is concluded that the difference cannot have been biased by possible differences in social class.     

家庭社会经济地位对青少年主观幸福感影响的多重中介效应分析

目的:探讨家庭社会经济地位与青少年主观幸福感的关系及领悟社会支持和积极心理资本的中介作用。方法:采用家庭社会经济地位问卷、幸福感指数量表、领悟社会支持量表和积极心理资本问卷调查了932名青少年。结果:(1)家庭社会经济地位、领悟社会支持、积极心理资本和主观幸福感两两之间相关显著;(2)家庭社会经济地位对主观幸福感的直接效应不显著,但领悟社会支持、积极心理资本在家庭社会经济地位与主观幸福感之间的三条中介路径均显著。结论:为提升低家庭社会经济地位青少年主观幸福感,改善其领悟社会支持和积极心理资本水平是可实现的有效路径。     

微观社会资本对农转非居民主客观健康认知一致性的影响研究

目的探讨微观社会资本对农转非居民自评健康与客观健康认知一致性的影响。方法两层logistic回归模型分析微观社会资本和人口学因素对健康认知一致性的影响。结果自评健康和客观健康的一致率为63.89%,个体社会资本和年龄对主客观健康一致性产生影响。结论使用自评健康作为健康指标时,应考虑个体社会资本的影响,提高自评健康的预测准确性。