Illusory Correlations in Mental Illness Stigma

The purpose of this research is to examine people’s readiness to form an association between those diagnosed with a mental health condition and negative behavior in the absence of objective evidence for that association. The research expands on a traditional illusory correlation paradigm to include social group information and two types of negative behavioral statements. The traditional paradigm exposes research participants to a series of statements describing the behaviors of members of two different social groups, including desirable and undesirable behaviors, and participants are then required to recall behavioral information and rank members of both groups on a series of character traits. One hundred and nineteen undergraduate students enrolled in the Introduction to Psychology course, Psychology 205, at Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY, served as participants for this research. The findings demonstrated that the illusory correlation effect was replicated across all conditions and was influenced slightly by negative behavior type. Participants were especially likely to demonstrate a bias toward the control group, perhaps because the negative behaviors of control group members were more unexpected or unusual to participants than negative behaviors of the mentally ill group

Deficits in visual working-memory capacity and general cognition in African Americans with psychosis

On average, patients with psychosis perform worse than controls on visual change-detection tasks, implying that psychosis is associated with reduced capacity of visual working memory (WM). In the present study, 79 patients diagnosed with various psychotic disorders and 166 controls, all African Americans, completed a change-detection task and several other neurocognitive measures. The aims of the study were to (1) determine whether we could observe a between-group difference in performance on the change-detection task in this sample; (2) establish whether such a difference could be specifically attributed to reduced WM capacity (k); and (3) estimate k in the context of the general cognitive deficit in psychosis. Consistent with previous studies, patients performed worse than controls on the change-detection task, on average. Bayesian hierarchical cognitive modeling of the data suggested that this between-group difference was driven by reduced k in patients, rather than differences in other psychologically meaningful model parameters (guessing behavior and lapse rate). Using the same modeling framework, we estimated the effect of psychosis on k while controlling for general intellectual ability (g, obtained from the other neurocognitive measures). The results suggested that reduced k in patients was stronger than predicted by the between-group difference in g. Moreover, a mediation analysis suggested that the relationship between psychosis and g (i.e., the general cognitive deficit) was mediated by k. The results were consistent with the idea that reduced k is a specific deficit in psychosis, which contributes to the general cognitive deficit

Cognitive impairment from early to middle adulthood in patients with affective and nonaffective psychotic disorders

Background.—Cognitive impairment is a core feature of psychotic disorders, but the profile of impairment across adulthood, particularly in African-American populations, remains unclear. Methods.—Using cross-sectional data from a case–control study of African-American adults with affective (n = 59) and nonaffective (n = 68) psychotic disorders, we examined cognitive functioning between early and middle adulthood (ages 20–60) on measures of general cognitive ability, language, abstract reasoning, processing speed, executive function, verbal memory, and working memory. Results.—Both affective and nonaffective psychosis patients showed substantial and widespread cognitive impairments. However, comparison of cognitive functioning between controls and psychosis groups throughout early (ages 20–40) and middle (ages 40–60) adulthood also revealed age-associated group differences. During early adulthood, the nonaffective psychosis group showed increasing impairments with age on measures of general cognitive ability and executive function, while the affective psychosis group showed increasing impairment on a measure of language ability. Impairments on other cognitive measures remained mostly stable, although decreasing impairments on measures of processing speed, memory and working memory were also observed. Conclusions.—These findings suggest similarities, but also differences in the profile of cognitive dysfunction in adults with affective and nonaffective psychotic disorders. Both affective and nonaffective patients showed substantial and relatively stable impairments across adulthood. The nonaffective group also showed increasing impairments with age in general and executiv

A Phase I Dose Escalation Trial of Gemcitabine with Radiotherapy for Breast Cancer in the Treatment of Unresectable Chest Wall Recurrences

The purpose of this study was to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of gemcitabine when given concurrently with standard radiotherapy for the treatment of chest wall recurrences, and to compare actuarial rates of local-regional control with those achieved in historical controls. Patients with unresectable chest wall recurrences were enrolled in a phase I trial of concurrent gemcitabine and radiotherapy. Gemcitabine was increased at 150 mg/m 2 /week increments, starting at 300 mg/m 2 /week. Radiotherapy was delivered to the chest wall and regional nodes to a total of 60 to 70 Gy in 2 Gy daily fractions. Treatment toxicity was assessed and a comparison of treatment outcome was performed between study patients and historical groups treated with either radiotherapy alone or excision followed by radiotherapy. The dose-limiting toxicities of neutropenia and thrombocytopenia occurred at the second planned dose of 450 mg/m 2 /week after accrual of only six patients, resulting in a MTD of 300 mg/m 2 /week. Myelosuppression and skin desquamation were commonly observed. Actuarial rates of local-regional control were 100%, 50%, and 90% at 2 years for the gemcitabine with radiotherapy, radiotherapy alone, and excision followed by radiotherapy groups, respectively ( p  = 0.105). The difference among the Kaplan–Meier curves for overall local-regional control was statistically significant at p  = 0.007 in favor of combined gemcitabine and radiotherapy. The MTD of gemcitabine is 300 mg/m 2 /week when gemcitabine is delivered concurrently with radiotherapy for unresectable chest wall failures. This novel approach suggests excellent local-regional control when compared to historical controls. A phase II trial is warranted. Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75565/1/j.1075-122X.2004.21305.x.pd

The Women\u27s Advocacy: A Nonprofit by Women for Women

The Women’s Advocacy (WA) is a hypothetical, not-for-profit organization that empowers women of adverse or catastrophic backgrounds. With the support of female volunteers, the organization strives to prevent and respond to the oppressive behaviors that hinder potential for a healthy and successful lifestyle. Through marketing strategy and community outreach, the WA is expanding its network of volunteers so that we may offer the best services possible and foster social justice and equality within our communities

EVALUATING THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PSYCHOTROPIC MEDICATION USE AND SYMPTOM TRAJECTORIES IN CLINICAL HIGH-RISK YOUTH FOR PSYCHOSIS**

Our study deepens the understanding of psychotropic medication\u27s role in symptom progression among youth at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR-P). We tapped into the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study 3 (NAPLS3) data, examining 253 CHR-P diagnosed individuals out of an initial pool of 807. Participants were medication-free at baseline and were observed for the introduction of antipsychotic or antidepressant treatment prior to the subsequent 2-month follow-up assessment and examined the severity of symptoms classified into Positive, Negative, Disorganization, and General categories, as measured by the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes (SIPS) and the Scale of Prodromal Symptoms (SOPS). The core hypothesis is that, compared to CHR-P individuals who do not receive psychotropic medication, individuals who begin psychotropic treatment after baseline will show reductions in symptom severity at the 2-month follow-up. We performed an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc tests to explore significant changes in symptom scores across distinct medication groups, from baseline to the 2-month juncture. Our results so far suggest that, barring the Disorganization group, all other symptom domains showed significant improvement post-medication initiation. Particularly, individuals starting antipsychotic treatment exhibited substantial reductions across all symptom categories. This in-depth analysis is poised to shed light on the nuanced effects of psychotropic interventions, guiding future therapeutic strategies for CHR-P populations. Future research will focus on showing distinct impacts of medication groups on the symptom scores controlling for sex, age, and baseline scores