The Development of a Community-Based Drug Intervention for Filipino Drug Users

This article documents the development of a community-based drug intervention for low- to mild-risk drug users who surrendered as part of the Philippine government\u27s anti-drug campaign. It highlights the importance of developing evidence-informed drug recovery interventions that are appropriate to the Asian culture and to developing economies. Interviews and consultations with users and community stakeholders reveal the need for an intervention that would improve the drug recovery skills and life skills of users. Evidence-based interventions were adapted using McKleroy and colleagues’ (2006) Map of Adaptation Process (MAP) framework. The resulting intervention reflected the country\u27s collectivist culture, relational values, propensity for indirect and non-verbal communication, and interdependent self-construal. The use of small groups, interactive and creative methodologies, and the incorporation of music and prayer also recognised the importance of these in the Philippine culture

Managing stress through rational behavior training

This research was designed to determine the effectiveness of Rational Behavior Training (RBT), an educative model and psychotherapeutic system originally developed by Dr. Albert Ellis from the insights of the early stoic philosophies, as an intervention strategy in the management of stress. Combining the idiographic (N=1) approach and the one-group pre-post quasiexperimental method, the investigation was carried out primarily in a group setting. Progress was recorded for each single case to maintain subject-uniqueness, but group data across comparable measures were analyzed and subjected to statistical tests to provide for the systematic detection of treatment effects. The 15 subject-participants, all working professionals, were chosen through purposive sampling on the basis of their stress experience. Specific intervention strategies included a lecture discussion on RET’s fundamental concepts, principles and techniques, workshop exercises in Rational Self-Analysis (RSA) and Rational Emotive Imagery (REI), homework assignments, readings (Rational Bibliography), group and individual follow-through. Results pointed out that RBT brings about substantial beneficial changes in the general functioning of professionals suffering from stress. Mid-treatment and post-treatment behaviors of subject-participants showed demonstrable qualitative and quantitative changes in cognition, which in turn, set into motion, further profound changes in affect, physiology, interpersonal relating, and overt behavior. These therapeutic gains across the different modalities of human functioning, were moreover found to be durable and lasting. Overall, Rational Self Analysis (RSA), as an intervention technique within the program design was reported to have the greatest impact on the participants

Assessing the factor structure of acute stress disorder symptoms among Filipino adolescent survivors of a deadly flash flood disaster

Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) was introduced in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) to account for stress symptoms appearing within the first month after a trauma exposure. However, there is scant literature assessing the validity of models pertaining to ASD, particularly among Asian adolescent samples. This study aims to address this gap by examining the latent structure of five proposed models of ASD among adolescent survivors of a deadly flash flood. Two hundred twenty-five (225) respondents were assessed using the Acute Stress Disorder Interview within a month after a flash flood disaster. Series of confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a five-factor inter-correlated model (dissociation, intrusion, avoidance, dysphoric arousal and anxious arousal) yielded a more nuanced structure that portrays the subtleties in the data that are glossed over and missed by one-factor DSM-5 and even other multifactor models. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

The role of functionality in the latent structure of posttraumatic growth among survivors of a flash flood disaster

Several studies have examined what model of posttraumatic growth (PTG) best represents its latent structure among Asian population but yielded inconsistent results. Furthermore, there is limited literature assessing the factor structure of PTG in the aftermath of a disaster, and so far, none have looked into the moderating effect of functionality. The present study examined the role of functionality in various areas (work/occupation, domestic chores, relationship with friends, leisure activities, and relationship with family) in the latent structure of PTG among survivors of flash flood disaster (N=912). Findings revealed the 3-factor model as the best-fitting and can be generalized between functional and dysfunctional groups in the areas of work/occupation, domestic chores, and leisure activities, but not with relationships with family and friends. The findings that relationships with family and friends moderate the latent structure of PTG can be vital in integrating interventions that would address the relational issues among survivors. © National Academy of Psychology (NAOP) India 2015

Examining the latent structure of posttraumatic growth between male and female survivors in the immediate aftermath of a flash flood disaster

The study examined and compared the latent structure of posttraumatic growth (PTG) based on three proposed models: 1-factor, 3-factor and 5-factor models in order to (1) find out the factor structure that has the best fit for the Filipino sample; (2) find out the factor structure that best represents PTG in the immediate aftermath of a flash flood disaster; and (3) examine the generalizability of the best-fitted model across gender. A sample of 895 survivor-respondents answered the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) within a month after a deadly flash flood. Based on the best-fitted model, a multi-group comparison between male and female was conducted to determine gender generalizability. Results showed that the 3-factor model comprising of Changes in Self/Positive Life Attitudes, Philosophy of Life, and Relating to Others fitted best in contrast to the other two models. The data also demonstrated the generalizability of the 3-factor model across gender, with invariance in factor loadings, item intercepts, factor variance and covariance, and factor means. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York

Examining the Latent Structure of Posttraumatic Growth Between Male and Female Survivors in the Immediate Aftermath of a Flash Flood Disaster

The study examined and compared the latent structure of posttraumatic growth (PTG) based on three proposed models: 1-factor, 3-factor and 5-factor models in order to (1) find out the factor structure that has the best fit for the Filipino sample; (2) find out the factor structure that best represents PTG in the immediate aftermath of a flash flood disaster; and (3) examine the generalizability of the best-fitted model across gender. A sample of 895 survivor-respondents answered the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) within a month after a deadly flash flood. Based on the best-fitted model, a multi-group comparison between male and female was conducted to determine gender generalizability. Results showed that the 3-factor model comprising of Changes in Self/Positive Life Attitudes, Philosophy of Life, and Relating to Others fitted best in contrast to the other two models. The data also demonstrated the generalizability of the 3-factor model across gender, with invariance in factor loadings, item intercepts, factor variance and covariance, and factor means. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York

Loci associated with ischaemic stroke and its subtypes (SiGN): a genome-wide association study

BACKGROUND: The discovery of disease-associated loci through genome-wide association studies (GWAS) is the leading genetic approach to the identification of novel biological pathways underlying diseases in humans. Until recently, GWAS in ischaemic stroke have been limited by small sample sizes and have yielded few loci associated with ischaemic stroke. We did a large-scale GWAS to identify additional susceptibility genes for stroke and its subtypes. METHODS: To identify genetic loci associated with ischaemic stroke, we did a two-stage GWAS. In the first stage, we included 16 851 cases with state-of-the-art phenotyping data and 32 473 stroke-free controls. Cases were aged 16 to 104 years, recruited between 1989 and 2012, and subtypes of ischaemic stroke were recorded by centrally trained and certified investigators who used the web-based protocol, Causative Classification of Stroke (CCS). We constructed case-control strata by identifying samples that were genotyped on nearly identical arrays and were of similar genetic ancestral background. We cleaned and imputed data by use of dense imputation reference panels generated from whole-genome sequence data. We did genome-wide testing to identify stroke-associated loci within each stratum for each available phenotype, and we combined summary-level results using inverse variance-weighted fixed-effects meta-analysis. In the second stage, we did in-silico lookups of 1372 single nucleotide polymorphisms identified from the first stage GWAS in 20 941 cases and 364 736 unique stroke-free controls. The ischaemic stroke subtypes of these cases had previously been established with the Trial of Org 10 172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) classification system, in accordance with local standards. Results from the two stages were then jointly analysed in a final meta-analysis. FINDINGS: We identified a novel locus (G allele at rs12122341) at 1p13.2 near TSPAN2 that was associated with large artery atherosclerosis-related stroke (first stage odds ratio [OR] 1·21, 95% CI 1·13-1·30, p=4·50 × 10-8; joint OR 1·19, 1·12-1·26, p=1·30 × 10-9). Our results also supported robust associations with ischaemic stroke for four other loci that have been reported in previous studies, including PITX2 (first stage OR 1·39, 1·29-1·49, p=3·26 × 10-19; joint OR 1·37, 1·30-1·45, p=2·79 × 10-32) and ZFHX3 (first stage OR 1·19, 1·11-1·27, p=2·93 × 10-7; joint OR 1·17, 1·11-1·23, p=2·29 × 10-10) for cardioembolic stroke, and HDAC9 (first stage OR 1·29, 1·18-1·42, p=3·50 × 10-8; joint OR 1·24, 1·15-1·33, p=4·52 × 10-9) for large artery atherosclerosis stroke. The 12q24 locus near ALDH2, which has previously been associated with all ischaemic stroke but not with any specific subtype, exceeded genome-wide significance in the meta-analysis of small artery stroke (first stage OR 1·20, 1·12-1·28, p=6·82 × 10-8; joint OR 1·17, 1·11-1·23, p=2·92 × 10-9). Other loci associated with stroke in previous studies, including NINJ2, were not confirmed. INTERPRETATION: Our results suggest that all ischaemic stroke-related loci previously implicated by GWAS are subtype specific. We identified a novel gene associated with large artery atherosclerosis stroke susceptibility. Follow-up studies will be necessary to establish whether the locus near TSPAN2 can be a target for a novel therapeutic approach to stroke prevention. In view of the subtype-specificity of the associations detected, the rich phenotyping data available in the Stroke Genetics Network (SiGN) are likely to be crucial for further genetic discoveries related to ischaemic stroke