Does Participation in an Inpatient Psychiatric Adventure-Based Counseling (ABC) Program Improve Client Outcome on Intrapersonal Criminogenic Risk Factors?

Rehabilitation within forensic psychiatric offenders has traditionally focused on the reduction of symptomatology. An emerging idea, however, is to additionally target their criminogenic risk factors, such as depression and self-esteem. Adventure-Based Counseling, a type of Wilderness Therapy, has been shown to be efficacious in treating certain non-forensic populations. The current study is an attempt to merge these two different lines of research and evaluate this type of counseling in a forensic psychiatric population. The current study will look at the effectiveness of the Adventure-Based Counseling program on a number of intrapersonal criminogenic risk factors in a sample of forensic psychiatric patients. This is an innovative form of treatment for this population, which consists of an Adventure-Based Counseling program across 12 sessions. The treatment modality will employ outdoor challenges such as a rock climbing activity and team-building exercises. Measures include depression, anxiety, hopelessness, perceived stress, self-esteem, as-needed medication use, and risk or threat of self-harm events. Participants were patients from the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care in St. Thomas, Ontario. All participants suffer from a mental illness and have come into contact with the criminal justice system. Results showed directionality for a number of the variables; however the only significant change was in the wrong direction. Limitations and future directions are discussed

Improving metabolic parameters of antipsychotic child treatment (IMPACT) study: rationale, design, and methods

BACKGROUND: Youth with serious mental illness may experience improved psychiatric stability with second generation antipsychotic (SGA) medication treatment, but unfortunately may also experience unhealthy weight gain adverse events. Research on weight loss strategies for youth who require ongoing antipsychotic treatment is quite limited. The purpose of this paper is to present the design, methods, and rationale of the Improving Metabolic Parameters in Antipsychotic Child Treatment (IMPACT) study, a federally funded, randomized trial comparing two pharmacologic strategies against a control condition to manage SGA-related weight gain. METHODS: The design and methodology considerations of the IMPACT trial are described and embedded in a description of health risks associated with antipsychotic-related weight gain and the limitations of currently available research. RESULTS: The IMPACT study is a 4-site, six month, randomized, open-label, clinical trial of overweight/obese youth ages 8–19 years with pediatric schizophrenia-spectrum and bipolar-spectrum disorders, psychotic or non-psychotic major depressive disorder, or irritability associated with autistic disorder. Youth who have experienced clinically significant weight gain during antipsychotic treatment in the past 3 years are randomized to either (1) switch antipsychotic plus healthy lifestyle education (HLE); (2) add metformin plus HLE; or (3) HLE with no medication change. The primary aim is to compare weight change (body mass index z-scores) for each pharmacologic intervention with the control condition. Key secondary assessments include percentage body fat, insulin resistance, lipid profile, psychiatric symptom stability (monitored independently by the pharmacotherapist and a blinded evaluator), and all-cause and specific cause discontinuation. This study is ongoing, and the targeted sample size is 132 youth. CONCLUSION: Antipsychotic-related weight gain is an important public health issue for youth requiring ongoing antipsychotic treatment to maintain psychiatric stability. The IMPACT study provides a model for pediatric research on adverse event management using state-of-the art methods. The results of this study will provide needed data on risks and benefits of two pharmacologic interventions that are already being used in pediatric clinical settings but that have not yet been compared directly in randomized trials. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trials.gov NCT0080623

Selective gene silencing by viral delivery of short hairpin RNA

RNA interference (RNAi) technology has not only become a powerful tool for functional genomics, but also allows rapid drug target discovery and in vitro validation of these targets in cell culture. Furthermore, RNAi represents a promising novel therapeutic option for treating human diseases, in particular cancer. Selective gene silencing by RNAi can be achieved essentially by two nucleic acid based methods: i) cytoplasmic delivery of short double-stranded (ds) interfering RNA oligonucleotides (siRNA), where the gene silencing effect is only transient in nature, and possibly not suitable for all applications; or ii) nuclear delivery of gene expression cassettes that express short hairpin RNA (shRNA), which are processed like endogenous interfering RNA and lead to stable gene down-regulation. Both processes involve the use of nucleic acid based drugs, which are highly charged and do not cross cell membranes by free diffusion. Therefore, in vivo delivery of RNAi therapeutics must use technology that enables the RNAi therapeutic to traverse biological membrane barriers in vivo. Viruses and the vectors derived from them carry out precisely this task and have become a major delivery system for shRNA. Here, we summarize and compare different currently used viral delivery systems, give examples of in vivo applications, and indicate trends for new developments, such as replicating viruses for shRNA delivery to cancer cells

Test Taking: A Research Proposal to Examine the Pressures to Conform on High and Low Self-Monitors

The proposed study will add to the prior research on self-monitoring and conformity. It will investigate whether conformity can be induced in a test taking situation, and whether people who are high or low in self-monitoring (SM) differ in their level of conformity. Participants will be 80 undergraduate students who will complete the Self-Monitoring Scale (SMS; Snyder, 1974). They will then take a test consisting of 50 math questions, while in a room of confederates who leave either early or later. The time it takes for participants to hand in their test will be measured. Expected results are that participants who are high in SM will conform the most to confederates. Implications, such as test structure, as well as limitations and future directions are discussed

Test Taking: A Research Proposal to Examine the Pressures to Conform on High and Low Self-Monitors

The proposed study will add to the prior research on self-monitoring and conformity. It will investigate whether conformity can be induced in a test taking situation, and whether people who are high or low in self-monitoring (SM) differ in their level of conformity. Participants will be 80 undergraduate students who will complete the Self-Monitoring Scale (SMS; Snyder, 1974). They will then take a test consisting of 50 math questions, while in a room of confederates who leave either early or later. The time it takes for participants to hand in their test will be measured. Expected results are that participants who are high in SM will conform the most to confederates. Implications, such as test structure, as well as limitations and future directions are discussed