A CASE STUDY TO EXPLORE THE PERCEPTION OF A WOMAN PARTICIPANT IN DRUG COURT OF A COMMUNITY-BASED ARTS PROGRAM ON SUBSTANCE USE RECOVERY OUTCOMES

Addiction to drugs is a complex, chronic, and multi-faceted disease that often involves cycles of relapse and remission. The lifetime prevalence of alcohol and drug use disorders in women in the United States is 19.5 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively (McHugh, Wigderson, & Greenfield, 2014) yet there is a significant dearth of efficacious substance abuse treatment services tailored specifically to women. In addition, literature suggests that the third aspect of Bandura’s Social Cognitive theory (self-efficacy) potentially plays a significant role in abstinence of drug use. The role of art interventions on recovery outcomes for a woman enrolled in the Franklin County, Kentucky drug court program was examined through the lens of self-efficacy using a case study method. Interviews were conducted with a female participant in drug court over a four-month period. In addition, a single one-hour interview was conducted with the judge who oversees this specialty court. The results of this study suggest art interventions can serve as an effective addiction recovery tool for women and can enhance self-efficacy, particularly when incorporated into a larger, more comprehensive program, as it provides an alternative way to process trauma and gives a setting to form relationships with other women in recovery. In addition, this study preliminarily showed that a woman’s belief that she will be successful in maintaining sobriety is equally important to having access to recovery tools and resources. These results revealed potential weaknesses, which can be considered in the design of similar programs. Additionally, as these results are preliminary, the findings can be used to inform ongoing research in this area

Lice and tick in sheep

Body lice and so called ticks or keds are the most serious of the external parasites which infest sheep in Western Australia, and unless they are controlled by systematic dipping, these pests can be the cause of considerable financial loss to flocl owners. The sheep body louse (Damalinaia ovis), which is able to propagate under hot and dry conditions, has a wide distribution and occurs in both the agricultural and pastoral areas. The so-called tick or ked (Melophogus ovinus), has a much more restricted distribution and is confined to the higher rainall areas of the South-West proportion of the State

Spectral aerosol extinction (SpEx): a new instrument for in situ ambient aerosol extinction measurements across the UV/visible wavelength range

We introduce a new instrument for the measurement of in situ ambient aerosol extinction over the 300– 700 nm wavelength range, the spectral aerosol extinction (SpEx) instrument. This measurement capability is envisioned to complement existing in situ instrumentation, allowing for simultaneous measurement of the evolution of aerosol optical, chemical, and physical characteristics in the ambient environment. In this work, a detailed description of the instrument is provided along with characterization tests performed in the laboratory. Measured spectra of NO2 and polystyrene latex spheres (PSLs) agreed well with theoretical calculations. Good agreement was also found with simultaneous aerosol extinction measurements at 450, 530, and 630 nm using CAPS PMex instruments in a series of 22 tests including nonabsorbing compounds, dusts, soot, and black and brown carbon analogs. SpEx measurements are expected to help identify the presence of ambient brown carbon due to its 300 nm lower wavelength limit compared to measurements limited to longer UV and visible wavelengths. Extinction spectra obtained with SpEx contain more information than can be conveyed by a simple power law fit (typically represented by Ångström exponents). Planned future improvements aim to lower detection limits and ruggedize the instrument for mobile operation

Translation, Adaptation and Validation of the Coronary Revascularization Outcome Questionnaire (CROQ) into Greek

Date of Acceptance: 31/05/2015Evaluating the impact of coronary revascularization on patients’ health related quality of life with a patient-based and disease-specific tool is important for drawing conclusions about treatment and outcomes. This study reports on the translation, adaptation and psychometric evaluation of a Greek version of the Coronary Revascularization Outcome Questionnaire (CROQ-Gr)Peer reviewe

A Prompt to the Web: The Media and Health Information Seeking Behaviour

UNLABELLED: OBJECTIVE, DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The objective was to investigate media influence on consumers' health related behaviours. A cross-sectional survey of randomly selected adults (18+ years) residing in the Hunter Region of New South Wales Australia was conducted. The sample was selected using a combination of the white pages and random digit dialling. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The proportions of respondents who recalled seeing or hearing about conditions or treatments in the media over the 12 months prior to interview (August 2009-August 2010) and their subsequent health related behaviour. RESULTS: Although most survey participants reported seeking health information from their doctors, around two-thirds of survey participants (551, 68.8%) recalled hearing, seeing or reading about one or more medical conditions (total = 1097 instances) in the mainstream media over the past 12 months. Almost 40% of respondents (307, 38.4%) stated that they had looked for more information about a condition as a result of hearing about it in the media, and most used the internet (269, 87.4%). More than a quarter of respondents (215, 26.9%) indicated that they had asked their doctor about a condition they had heard about in the media. Around half of those who asked their doctor (109, 50.6%) reported that their inquiry resulted in them receiving treatment, of whom almost half (53, 48.3%) reported being prescribed a medicine. CONCLUSION: The survey results show that consumers become aware of medicines through traditional media and then to learn more often turn to the internet where quality of information may be poor

The factor structure of the Forms of Self-Criticising/Attacking & Self-Reassuring Scale in thirteen distinct populations

There is considerable evidence that self-criticism plays a major role in the vulnerability to and recovery from psychopathology. Methods to measure this process, and its change over time, are therefore important for research in psychopathology and well-being. This study examined the factor structure of a widely used measure, the Forms of Self-Criticising/Attacking & Self-Reassuring Scale in thirteen nonclinical samples (N = 7510) from twelve different countries: Australia (N = 319), Canada (N = 383), Switzerland (N = 230), Israel (N = 476), Italy (N = 389), Japan (N = 264), the Netherlands (N = 360), Portugal (N = 764), Slovakia (N = 1326), Taiwan (N = 417), the United Kingdom 1 (N = 1570), the United Kingdom 2 (N = 883), and USA (N = 331). This study used more advanced analyses than prior reports: a bifactor item-response theory model, a two-tier item-response theory model, and a non-parametric item-response theory (Mokken) scale analysis. Although the original three-factor solution for the FSCRS (distinguishing between Inadequate-Self, Hated-Self, and Reassured-Self) had an acceptable fit, two-tier models, with two general factors (Self-criticism and Self-reassurance) demonstrated the best fit across all samples. This study provides preliminary evidence suggesting that this two-factor structure can be used in a range of nonclinical contexts across countries and cultures. Inadequate-Self and Hated-Self might not by distinct factors in nonclinical samples. Future work may benefit from distinguishing between self-correction versus shame-based self-criticism.Peer reviewe

Avaliação da Vergonha em Adolescentes: ‘The Other as Shamer Scale’

Shame, as a self-conscious, multidimensional and socially focused emotion, plays a central role in the mental health of individuals. In adolescents, shame is also a frequent experience and its assessment is important for research and clinical practice. This study aims to validate a brief measure of external shame (Other as Shamer Scale – brief version for adolescents: (OASB-A). The participants were 834 adolescents with a mean age of 15 years. The final model of the OASB-A (8 items), obtained through CFA, presents a good fit to the data. The OASB-A shows a good internal consistency and an adequate temporal reliability. The OASB-A also reveals significant correlations with traumatic shame experiences (IES-R) and psychopathological symptoms (DASS-21). The OASB-A is an economic and reliable measure to assess external shame in adolescents

Factorial validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in clinical samples: A critical examination of the literature and a psychometric study in anorexia nervosa

There is extensive use of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in research and clinical practice in anorexia nervosa (AN), though it is not empirically established in this population. This study aims to examine the factorial validity of the TAS-20 in a Portuguese AN sample (N = 125), testing four different models (ranging from 1 to 4 factors) that were identified in critical examination of existing factor analytic studies. Results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) suggested that the three-factor solution, measuring difficulty identifying (DIF) and describing feelings (DDF), and externally oriented thinking (EOT), was the best fitting model. The quality of measurement improves if two EOT items (16 and 18) are eliminated. Internal consistency of EOT was low and decreased with age. The results provide support for the factorial validity of the TAS-20 in AN. Nevertheless, the measurement of EOT requires some caution and may be problematic in AN adolescents.Center for Psychology at the University of Porto, Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT UID/PSI/00050/2013) and EU FEDER through COMPETE 2020 program (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007294info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio