1,720,982 research outputs found
Mindfulness Therapy for Survivors of Childhood Adversity: What's the Use?
Get PDFAdverse childhood experiences (ACEs) warrant clinical concern due to the consequences and impacts on the survivors’ biological, psychological, and social functioning. The frontline therapy for survivors of ACEs are trauma-focused therapies (TFTs), however TFTs are infrequently used by therapists. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) may be a promising alternative due to higher use rates among practitioners and similar treatment effects. Questions about potential barriers to using TFTs and MBIs were developed using the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (PARIHS) framework, which purports three core factors that influence clinical uptake: context (e.g., practicing in a workplace congruent with MBIs or TFTs), evidence (e.g., knowing/believing MBIs or TFTs are effective for their clients), and facilitation (e.g., having the training and support to deliver MBIs or TFTs). Via email, this 25-question online survey was sent to 1,449 practicing therapists who see adults and/or children seeking treatment related to ACEs. A total of 68 surveys were completed. Slightly more participants endorsed using MBIs with adults (60%) and children (50%) than endorsed using TFTs with adults (53%) and children (42%) often (at least every other session) endorsed using when using TFTs and MBIs at least every other session, but these differences were not statistically significant (p’s > .2). More participants indicated experiencing strong barriers that prevent use of TFTs compared to MBIs (χ2[2, N = 68] = 6.250, p = .012), particularly context-related barriers (p = .002). These results could be explained by not being able to use TFTs at work due to specific population concerns. Findings may inform training/dissemination of promoting an efficacious treatment for survivors of ACEs
Gratitude as a Moderator of PTSD Symptoms and Health-Related Quality of Life Associated with Potentially Morally Injurious Events in First Responders
Get PDFFirst responders may experience potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) due to the nature of their occupation. Furthermore, gratitude has been shown to buffer the effect of traumatic events on PTSD symptoms. The current study seeks to address gaps in the literature by 1) establishing that PMIEs exist in a first responder population, 2) examining the association of PMIEs with PTSD symptoms and health related quality of life (HRQoL) in a first responder population, and 3) investigating gratitude as a moderator of PMIEs’ association with PTSD symptoms and HRQoL. 294 participants were recruited from multiple first responder agencies/departments within southeastern Texas (in-person) and nationwide (online). Participants completed the Moral Injury Events Scale (MIES), the Posttraumatic Stress Checklist for Civilians (PCL-C), the Gratitude, Resentment, and Appreciation Short Form (GRAT-S), and a modified version of the SF-12 v.2. Average rates of PMIEs in first responders were higher than military samples with an overall average of 40.65% for the sample. Regression analyses indicate PMIEs are significantly associated with PTSD symptoms in first responders (β = .39, p < .001), but gratitude was not a significant moderator of PMIEs’ association with PTSD symptoms or HRQoL. We discuss potential treatment approaches for first responders who have experienced PMIEs as well as potential outreach strategies to increase access to mental healthcare
Examining Mediators of the Effects of Yoga on Sleep in Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy
Get PDFYoga has been increasingly utilized as a complementary therapy by cancer patients. Literature supports the use of yoga therapy as a prophylactic intervention that can improve sleep and preserve the long-term QOL outcomes for patients. Investigation of the mechanisms by which yoga impacts mental and physical health-related outcomes, including sleep, in breast cancer patients is essential to inform potential interventions to potentially address poorer cancer-related outcomes. Previous research suggests that yoga may impact the way in which a traumatic experience, such as cancer diagnosis and treatment, is processed. The effect of yoga on posttraumatic stress and growth may account for the positive effect of yoga on physical and mental health outcomes in cancer patients, but this relationship has been insufficiently explored. The current study is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial of a Tibetan yoga program compared to active and waitlist control groups. The present study aimed to assess if the effect of group (i.e. yoga, stretching, and usual care) on perceived sleep daily disturbances (measured by Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) daily disturbance component (PSQI-DD), objective sleep (i.e. sleep efficiency (SE) and wakefulness after sleep onset (WASO), measured by wrist actigraphy) and in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy is mediated by changes in posttraumatic stress (PTSS, measured by Impact of Event Scales, IES-intrusion, IES-avoidance, IES-total) and posttraumatic growth (PTG, measured by Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI)). No significant relative indirect effect using the conditional indirect mediation model (Model 4), a 1000-sample bootstrap procedure to estimate bias-corrected 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was found. Further exploratory analysis on if the effect of group on 3-month health related Quality of Life (QOL, measured by SF-36 mental health and physical health component score (MCS and PCS)) is mediated by 1-week PTSS and PTG also found no significant indirect mediation. The understanding of how a yoga intervention impacts breast cancer patients’ sleep and QOL, through mediators such as PTG and PTSS, will further support the utility of such complimentary therapies
FOCUSED ATTENTION MEDITATION AND OPEN MONITORING MEDITATION ON AN ATTENTION NETWORK TASK: EXAMINING A METACOGNITIVE MODEL OF MINDFULNESS
Get PDFSemantic ambiguity in the meaning of mindfulness has produced challenges in operationalization, measurement, and interpretation of empirical investigations contributing to wide-spread conceptual and methodological issues. The current study utilized a multimodal approach to investigate mental faculties hypothesized to underlie a state of mindfulness in accordance with Jankowski and Holas (2014)’s metacognitive model of mindfulness. More specifically, the current study examined the effects of two different meditation methods among undergraduate students: open monitoring meditation (OM, n = 37 and focused attention meditation (FA, n = 37) as well as a mind wandering (MW, n = 36) active control. There were no significant differences between interventions on the mindful metacognitive experience of curiosity (TMS-C), the mindful metacognitive knowledge of decentering (TMS-D), or the mindful metacognitive skill of attention (ANTR). Explicit monitoring (JOPA) did not moderate the effect of these interventions on curiosity and decentering or operate as a mechanism of the effect of these conditions on mindful metacognitive skills (i.e., executive control). Overall, the results of the present study did not support a priori hypotheses. Thus, a brief online OM intervention may not have adequately evoked a mental state distinguished by receptive awareness in comparison to FA
Attitudes, Norms, and Behavioral Control Factors Associated with Intention to Receive Cervical Cancer Screening in Hispanic Americans
Get PDFCervical cancer screening rates are significantly lower in Hispanic Americans
than non-Hispanic Americans. This may lead to thousands of unnecessary deaths per
year. The current study sought to understand cervical cancer screening intentions among
Hispanic Americans using the Theory of Planned Behavior.
149 Hispanic American women (100 English-speaking and 49 Spanish-speaking)
were recruited via Amazon Turk to complete a cross-sectional survey measuring attitudes
(medical embarrassment), subjective norms (marianismo beliefs and acculturation), and
perceived behavioral control (self-efficacy and health literacy). Hierarchical regression
was used to determine the individual and collective influence of these variables on
cervical cancer screening intentions.
Results differed based on the language of the sample. Country of origin and
beliefs in being a pillar for the family were significant predictors of intentions in the
English-speaking sample, while beliefs in being virtuous and chaste were significant in
the Spanish-speaking sample. In both samples, self-efficacy was a significant predictor of
cervical cancer screening intentions
Future interventions to increase screening in this population should focus on
strengthening self-efficacy concerning cervical cancer screening. Additionally,
differences in predictors based on spoken language should be taken into account when
encouraging women to obtain screening
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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