Adolescent Substance Abuse Patients Within the Therapeutic Alliance: An Integrative Literature Review

Background: Adolescent patients with substance use disorders (SUD) struggle with seeking treatment, staying motivated during treatment, and are at a higher risk of relapse following treatment compared with other SUD patients. A positive therapeutic alliance between provider and patient has been shown to positively affect treatment outcomes. Therefore, describing interpersonal patient traits which influence this alliance is integral to keeping patients in treatment and preventing relapse post-treatment. Objectives: The purpose of this integrative review was to identify interpersonal characteristics of adolescent patients with a substance use disorder which can significantly influence their therapeutic alliance with the provider, ultimately leading to better treatment engagement and outcomes. Method: An integrative literature review was conducted according to Torraco (2016) within CINAHL, PsycInfo, ProQuest and PubMed databases. These databases were searched using the following key terms: substance use disorder, substance abuse, drug abuse, drug misuse, alcohol abuse, adolescents, adolescence, youth, teenagers, rehabilitation, therapy, treatment, readmission, relationship, therapeutic alliance, interpersonal characteristics, or personality. Results: Interpersonal variables correlating with stronger therapeutic alliance were: older age, higher baseline levels of motivation, self-efficacy, coping skills, and commitment to recovery. In addition, general social support, problem orientation, and risky recovery environments were also significant predicts of highly rated alliance. While cautious personalities, submissive, and dominant personalities were also associated with higher rated alliance scores, even though over longer treatment stays submissive, or warm , patients experienced less effective treatment outcomes. Conclusion: This integrative literature review synthesized major interpersonal variables and personality traits influential in the development of early therapeutic alliance within the adolescent substance abuse patient population. Using the Tidal Model, these findings were integrated within the context of the nursing profession. Keywords: adolescents, substance use disorder, therapeutic alliance, treatment, interpersonal characteristics, personalit

Affective responses to physical activity in obese women: A high-intensity interval bout vs. a longer isocaloric moderate-intensity bout

BACKGROUND: As the prevalence of obesity and inactivity continue to increase worldwide, the need for effective intervention strategies remains. Despite the well-known benefits of leading a physically active lifestyle, of those individuals classified as obese, only 3.0% of the women and 6.4% of the men trying to lose weight actually meet the 60 min/day physical activity guidelines for weight management (Bish et al., 2005). With lack of time being one of the most oft-cited reasons for not being active (King et al., 2000), the use of short-duration, high-intensity interval training (HIT) has been suggested as a time-efficient means to potentially address this problem (Gibala, 2007). However, the long-term sustainability of the HIT approach in non-athletic populations has not been investigated. Affective responses to bouts of exercise have been linked to exercise adherence (Williams et al., 2008) and, importantly, obese individuals have been found to report lower levels of pleasure in response to exercise than normal-weight and overweight individuals (Ekkekakis, Lind & Vazou, in press). PURPOSE: Thus, the aim of the present study was to compare the affective responses of obese women during a shorter, high-intensity interval session and a longer, isocaloric moderate-intensity session, in order to evaluate the appropriateness and practicality of implementing HIT exercise for this population. METHODS: Twenty-four obese and inactive women (mean age 39.25 years) first completed an incremental cycle ergometer exercise test to determine their ventilatory threshold (VT). They then completed two experimental exercise conditions that were counterbalanced: 1) a high-intensity interval session (HIT) that involved 4 intervals of cycling at 85% of VT for 2 min and 115% of VT for 3 min for a total of 20 min and 2) an isocaloric, moderate-intensity bout (MOD) that involved cycling at 90% of VT for 25 min. The Feeling Scale was administered before, during, and after exercise. The Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) was also administered after the cool-down. RESULTS: The participants\u27 Feeling Scale and PACES scores were significantly lower (indicating less pleasure and enjoyment, respectively) during the HIT session, than the MOD session. CONCLUSION: On the basis of affective responses and enjoyment, the HIT protocol used in the current study appears to be even more challenging than the traditional MOD format for obese inactive women. These data may have implications for the practicality and long-term sustainability of HIT training protocols in the domain of public health. In evaluating the appropriateness of the HIT approach for inactive obese women, exercise practitioners should take into consideration the impact of this method on affective responses, as well as its possible implications for adherence

Trafficking and Domestic Violence: Where Are We and Where Are We Going

Editors explain their view on the intersection of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and domestic violence

Endocide-Induced Abnormal Growth Forms of Invasive Giant Salvinia (Salvinia molesta)

Giant salvinia (Salvinia molesta) is one of the most noxious invasive species in the world. The fern is known to have primary, secondary, and tertiary growth forms, which are also commonly hypothesized as growth stages. The identification of these forms is primarily based on the size and folding status of the floating leaves. However, we identified 12 forms in the greenhouse and the field. Our experiments showed that the folding of floating leaves is a reversible trait dependent on water access. The floating leaves quickly fold in response to water shortage, reducing water loss and needs, decreasing growth, and avoiding trichome damage. The leaves re-open to allow trichomes repel water and enhance growth when having adequate water supply. Larger secondary or tertiary forms do not produce small-leaf primary forms without high intensity stress. These results do not support the hypothesis that three growth forms represent sequential growth stages. The abnormal small-leaf forms are the result of endocide-induced autotoxicity and some of them never grow into other forms. The development of abnormal forms and reversible leaf folding strategy in response to high stress along with rapid asexual reproduction are major adaptive traits contributing to the invasiveness of S. molesta

Sports Holdings in the Southeastern Conference University Libraries: Football as a Case Study

Of the twelve National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision conferences, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) has attained prominence. But how do the SEC’s university libraries fare when evaluated for their football holdings? While university libraries develop their collections mainly to support research and teaching functions, according to accepted collection development practice, the extent to which sports of local importance are represented in their collections is a subject given little attention in the professional literature. In order to help close the gap, this study evaluates the football holdings of the 12 SEC university library systems using the checklist method of each library’s Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) system from a remote location. The evaluation is meant to serve as a case study of sports holdings in the SEC libraries by using an authoritative checklist consisting of the best fiction and nonfiction football books. The checklist method, which compares a library’s holdings to an authoritative list, is an effective means of identifying collection strengths and weaknesses

The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey V: Extended Radio Sources in Massive Galaxy Clusters at z~1

We present the results from a pilot study with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA) to determine the radio morphologies of extended radio sources and the properties of their host-galaxies in 10 massive galaxy clusters at z~1, an epoch in which clusters are assembling rapidly. These clusters are drawn from a parent sample of WISE-selected galaxy clusters that were cross-correlated with the VLA Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters survey (FIRST) to identify extended radio sources within 1$^{\prime}$ of the cluster centers. Out of the ten targeted sources, six are FR II sources, one is an FR I source, and three sources have undetermined morphologies. Eight radio sources have associated Spitzer data, 75% presenting infrared counterparts. A majority of these counterparts are consistent with being massive galaxies. The angular extent of the FR sources exhibits a strong correlation with the cluster-centric radius, which warrants further investigation with a larger sample.Comment: accepted to Ap

The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey: SZ effect Verification with the Atacama Compact Array -- Localization and Cluster Analysis

The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey (MaDCoWS) provides a catalog of high-redshift ($0.7\lesssim z\lesssim 1.5$) infrared-selected galaxy clusters. However, the verification of the ionized intracluster medium, indicative of a collapsed and nearly virialized system, is made challenging by the high redshifts of the sample members. The main goal of this work is to test the capabilities of the Atacama Compact Array (ACA; also known as the Morita Array) Band 3 observations, centered at about 97.5 GHz, to provide robust validation of cluster detections via the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect. Using a pilot sample that comprises ten MaDCoWS galaxy clusters, accessible to ACA and representative of the median sample richness, we infer the masses of the selected galaxy clusters and respective detection significance by means of a Bayesian analysis of the interferometric data. Our test of the "Verification with the ACA - Localization and Cluster Analysis" (VACA LoCA) program demonstrates that the ACA can robustly confirm the presence of the virialized intracluster medium in galaxy clusters previously identified in full-sky surveys. In particular, we obtain a significant detection of the SZ effect for seven out of the ten VACA LoCA clusters. We note that this result is independent of the assumed pressure profile. However, the limited angular dynamic range of the ACA in Band 3 alone, short observational integration times, and possible contamination from unresolved sources limit the detailed characterization of the cluster properties and the inference of the cluster masses within scales appropriate for the robust calibration of mass-richness scaling relations.Comment: 19 pages (including appendices), 14 figures, and 4 tables; accepted for publication in A&

Multi-person sex among a sample of adolescent female urban health clinic patients

Adolescent sexual activity involving three or more people is an emerging public health concern. The goal of this exploratory, cross-sectional study was to describe the prevalence, correlates, and context of multiple-person sex among a sample of adolescent females seeking health care from an urban clinic. Because sex involving multiple people may either be consensual (i.e., “three-ways” or “group sex”) or forced (i.e., “gang rape”), we use the term “multi-person sex” (MPS) to encompass these experiences. Subjects were 328 females, ages 14–20 years old, who utilized a Boston-area community- or school-based health clinic between April and December of 2006, and completed an anonymous survey using computer-assisted self-interview software. Overall, 7.3% reported ever having had a MPS experience. Of these, 52% reported ever being pressured to engage in MPS and 43% reported ever being threatened or forced. Condom nonuse by at least one male participant in the most recent MPS was reported by 45%. Controlling for potential demographic confounders, MPS was associated with cigarette smoking (adjusted prevalence ratio [APR], 3.83; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.56–9.44), sexual initiation prior to age 15 (APR, 2.50; 95% CI, 1.04–5.98), ever being diagnosed with an STI (APR, 2.55; 95% CI, 1.08–6.03), dating violence victimization (APR, 4.43; 95% CI, 1.68–11.69), childhood sexual abuse victimization (APR, 4.30; 95% CI, 1.83–10.07) and past-month pornography exposure (APR, 4.79; 95% CI, 1.91–11.98). Additional study of the perpetration and prevention of adolescent MPS is urgently needed