The role of assistance dogs in society

Assistance dogs are specially trained to undertake a variety of tasks to help individuals with disabilities. This review gives an overview of the different types of assistance dogs in the UK, including guide dogs, hearing dogs, mobility assistance dogs, service dogs and dual purpose dogs. The literature describes many benefits of assistance dogs, including their impact on physical wellbeing and safety of their ‘owners,’ as well as on psychological wellbeing and social inclusion. The role of assistance dogs in society is widely recognized by the public, but is not currently acknowledged in government social policy. The current evidence on the benefits of assistance dogs is limited by the type and scale of current research. This article highlights the need for independent funding for high quality research to enable social care and policy makers to make evidence-based decisions on the value of assistance dogs to people with disabilities

Distress, anxiety, depression, and emotional well-being in African-American men with prostate cancer

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pon.165

Awareness of the Historical Role of the Church and Change in Self‐Esteem among Older African Americans

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92014/1/j.1758-0854.2012.01072.x.pd

Parental verbal abuse and the mediating role of self-criticism in adult internalizing disorders

Background: Researchers (e.g., [Gibb, B.E., 2002. Childhood maltreatment and negative cognitive styles. A quantitative and qualitative review. Clinical Psychology Review, 22 (2), 223–246]; [Rose, D.T., Abramson, L.Y., 1992. Developmental predictors of depressive cognitive styles: developmental perspectives on depression. In Cicchetti, D., Toth, S.L. (Eds.), Developmental Perspectives on Depression. Rochester symposium on developmental psychopathology, vol. 4, pp. 323–349]) have proposed that when childhood abuse is verbal (rather than sexual or physical), the child is more likely to develop a negative self-schema because the negative self-cognitions are directly supplied to the child by the abuser (e.g., "you are stupid"). Methods: In a test of this theory in adult participants, and drawing on the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) (N=5877), we investigate the mediating role of current levels of self-criticism on the relationship between retrospective reports of parental verbal abuse, as well as sexual and physical abuse, and adult internalizing symptoms. Results: We found self-criticism, but not dependency traits, to fully mediate the relationship between childhood verbal abuse perpetrated by parents and internalizing (depression, anxiety) symptoms. On the other hand, self-criticism was only a partial mediator of the relationship between the other types of abuse and internalizing symptoms. Limitations: The NCS data is cross-sectional, which limits any firm conclusions regarding causality. While these results are suggestive that self-criticism is a mediator of the relationship between abuse and internalizing symptoms, longitudinal data are necessary to help rule out alternative explanations. Conclusions: Results of this study suggest that childhood abuse experiences, and in particular verbal abuse, may confer risk for internalizing disorders in part because verbal abuse influences the development of a self-critical style

Is the relationship between financial development and economic growth monotonic? evidence from a sample of middle income countries

We revisit the relationship between financial development and economic growth in a panel of 52 middle-income countries over the 1980-2008 period. Using pooled mean group estimations in a dynamic heterogeneous panel setting, we show that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between finance and growth in the long-run. In the short run, the relationship is insignificant. This suggests that too much finance can exert a negative influence on growth in middle-income countries. The finding of a non-monotonic effect of financial development on growth is confirmed by estimating a threshold model

Upward spirals of positive emotion and coping: Replication, extension, and initial exploration of neurochemical substrates

The broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson, 1998, 2001) predicts that positive emotions broaden the scopes of attention and cognition, thereby facilitating the building of personal resources and initiating upward spirals toward increasing emotional well-being. This study attempts to replicate and extend previous empirical support for this model. Using a sample of 185 undergraduates, we assessed whether positive affect and broad-minded coping, interpersonal trust, and social support reciprocally and prospectively predict one another over a two-month period, and whether this upward spiral might be partially based in changes in dopaminergic functioning. As hypothesized, PA and positive coping did mutually build on one another, as did PA and interpersonal trust. Contrary to expectation, PA did not demonstrate an upward spiral relation with social support. Results suggest further study of the relationship between PA and changes in dopamine metabolite levels over time is warranted

Relationship between Obesity and Depression in the Korean Working Population

This study was conducted to investigate potential relationship between obesity and depression in Korean working population. A total of 8,121 workers, aged 21-75 yr, participated in this nationwide cross-section research. The participants asked to complete a questionnaire regarding the socio-demographic factors and health-related behaviors, height, and weight. To measure degree of depression, the Korean version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) was used. Chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the degree of association between obesity and depression. Compared to normal-weight women, overweight women had a lower adjusted odds ratio (OR) for depression (OR=0.65, 95% confidence interval 0.46 to 0.97). Underweight (1.42, 0.83 to 2.44) and obese women (BMI ≥30) had higher ORs for depression (1.47, 0.64 to 3.36), but these were insignificant. Compared to normal-weight men, obese men had higher crude ORs (1.94, 1.03 to 3.62) and adjusted ORs (1.77, 0.89 to 3.53) for depression, while underweight and overweight men showed no significant differences. These findings suggest that being overweight may protect Korean female worker against depression

A Systematic Scoping Review: What is the Risk from Child-Dog Interactions to Dog Quality of Life?

There is growing interest in the value of assistance dogs, therapy dogs, and untrained pet dogs, for supporting children with specific needs. Research in this area focuses almost exclusively on the effect of dogs on child well-being and quality of life. The lack of research reporting the role of dog quality of life in this dynamic limits the development of best practice guidelines. Little attention has been paid to the risk from structured and unstructured exposures to children for dog quality of life to best protect the well-being of both parties and maximize the quality of interactions to enhance therapeutic effects. This systematic scoping review searched five databases to address the question ‘what is the risk from child-dog interactions to the quality of life of assistance, therapy and pet dogs?’ The review identified that there is limited specific scientific investment in understanding the relationship between child-dog interactions and dog quality of life. Of the five relevant articles that were identified specifically addressing this issue, two looked at aspects relating to quality of life of dogs living in family homes, (1=pet dogs, 1=trained assistance dogs). The remaining three papers reported factors relevant to quality of life of trained dogs working in structured therapy sessions. Specific child-dog interactions may be important risk factors to consider in relation to dog quality of life, specifically interactions involving unprovoked child attention (e.g., rough contact), interactions and environmental predictability (e.g., meltdowns and recreation time) and child initiated games (e.g., ‘dress up’). Identifying and monitoring the intensity and frequency of these interactions may be important for protecting dog quality of life in the therapeutic and home environment

Nociceptor Overexpression of NaV1.7 Contributes to Chronic Muscle Pain Induced by Early-Life Stress

Adult rats previously submitted to neonatal limited bedding (NLB), a model of early-life stress, display muscle mechanical hyperalgesia and nociceptor hyperexcitability, the underlying mechanism for which is unknown. Since voltage-gated sodium channel subtype 7 (NaV1.7) contributes to mechanical hyperalgesia in several preclinical pain models and is critical for nociceptor excitability, we explored its role in the muscle hyperalgesia exhibited by adult NLB rats. Western blot analyses demonstrated increased NaV1.7 protein expression in L4-L5 dorsal root ganglia (DRG) from adult NLB rats, and antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (AS ODN) targeting NaV1.7 alpha subunit mRNA attenuated the expression of NaV1.7 in DRG extracts. While this AS ODN did not affect nociceptive threshold in normal rats it significantly attenuated hyperalgesia in NLB rats. The selective NaV1.7 activator OD1 produced dose-dependent mechanical hyperalgesia that was enhanced in NLB rats, whereas the NaV1.7 blocker ProTx-II prevented OD1-induced hyperalgesia in control rats and ongoing hyperalgesia in NLB rats. AS ODN knockdown of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, which enhances NaV1.7 function, also inhibited mechanical hyperalgesia in NLB rats. Our results support the hypothesis that overexpression of NaV1.7 in muscle nociceptors play a role in chronic muscle pain induced by early-life stress, suggesting that NaV1.7 is a target for the treatment of chronic muscle pain. PERSPECTIVE: We demonstrate that early-life adversity, induced by exposure to inconsistent maternal care, produces chronic muscle hyperalgesia, which depends, at least in part, on increased expression of NaV1.7 in nociceptors

Risk of malnutrition is associated with mental health symptoms in community living elderly men and women: The Tromsø Study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Little research has been done on the relationship between malnutrition and mental health in community living elderly individuals. In the present study, we aimed to assess the associations between mental health (particularly anxiety and depression) and both the risk of malnutrition and body mass index (BMI, kg/m²) in a large sample of elderly men and women from Tromsø, Norway.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a cross-sectional survey, with 1558 men and 1553 women aged 65 to 87 years, the risk of malnutrition was assessed by the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool ('MUST'), and mental health was measured by the Symptoms Check List 10 (SCL-10). BMI was categorised into six groups (< 20.0, 20.0-22.4, 22.5-24.9, 25.0-27.4, 27.5-29.9, ≥ 30.0 kg/m²).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The risk of malnutrition (combining medium and high risk) was found in 5.6% of the men and 8.6% of the women. Significant mental health symptoms were reported by 3.9% of the men and 9.1% of the women. In a model adjusted for age, marital status, smoking and education, significant mental health symptoms (SCL-10 score ≥ 1.85) were positively associated with the risk of malnutrition (odds ratio 3.9 [95% CI 1.7-8.6] in men and 2.5 [95%CI 1.3-4.9] in women), the association was positive also for subthreshold mental health symptoms. For individuals with BMI < 20.0 the adjusted odds ratio for significant mental health symptoms was 2.0 [95% CI 1.0-4.0].</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Impaired mental health was strongly associated with the risk of malnutrition in community living elderly men and women and this association was also significant for subthreshold mental health symptoms.</p