Heterosexual romantic relationships, interpersonal needs, and quality of life in prison.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the moderating effect of having vs. not having a heterosexual romantic partner inside the prison on the relationship between interpersonal needs and quality of life. In-person interviews were conducted with 55 male and 64 female inmates from the Topas Penitentiary (Spain). Higher levels of social loneliness and lower levels of sexual satisfaction were associated with lower levels of quality of life. In addition, the interaction between sexual satisfaction and romantic partner status was significant. Higher levels of sexual satisfaction were associated with higher levels of quality of life only for the group without a partner. These findings support a “bad is stronger than good” principle and indicate the detrimental aspects that can be associated with not having a satisfactory sexual life while incarcerated

Review of Consequential Strangers: The Power of People Who Don't Seem to Matter … But Really Do

A review of Consequential Strangers: The Power of People Who Don't Seem to Matter … But Really Do. Melinda Blau and Karen L. Fingerman. New York: Norton. 2009

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times: The Place of Close Relationships in Psychology and Our Daily Lives

This article examines the place of relationships in our daily lives and in the field of psychology. The first section of the article offers reasons why relationships are central for humans. Next, the place of relationships in the history, institutional aspects, and subfields of psychology is presented. Then a paradox about relationships is presented: They are both among the most positive, uplifting of life's experiences and yet they can also be among life's darkest aspects. Despite the negative aspects of relationships, most people are very happy in their intimate relations. The paper ends with possible explanations for why satisfaction may be so high

European and Canadian Studies of Loneliness among Seniors

This article provides a commentary on a set of five other articles reporting European and Canadian studies of loneliness among seniors. It places those works involving Canadian, Dutch, Finnish, and Welsh samples in the larger context of research on loneliness; offers reflections on the methods and findings reported in the articles; and addresses the question, Is loneliness universal? Points of similarity in the articles are identified and possible ways of reconciling discrepant findings regarding age trends and gender differences are put forward. A discrepancy model of loneliness is used as a key framework for explaining several points, including why objective social isolation and loneliness don't always go together. L'auteur apporte ses commentaires sur cinq articles décrivant des études sur la solitude chez les personnes âgées effectuées en Europe et au Canada. Il examine ces travaux (qui portent sur des échantillons canadiens, hollandais, finlandais et gallois) sous l'angle élargi de la recherche sur la solitude; il analyse les méthodes et conclusions présentées dans les articles et répond à la question: La solitude est-elle universelle? Il note les similitudes entre les divers articles et propose des façons de rapprocher les conclusions divergentes liées à l'âge et aux différences entre les sexes. Il utilise comme cadre de référence un modèle fondé sur le décalage (discrepancy model) pour expliquer plusieurs points, notamment pourquoi l'isolement social objectif et la solitude ne vont pas toujours de pair

Heterosexual Romantic Relationships Inside of Prison Partner Status as Predictor of Loneliness, Sexual Satisfaction, and Quality of Life

This study investigated the differences in loneliness, sexual satisfaction, and quality of life among three groups of prison inmates: inmates in a heterosexual romantic relationship with a fellow prisoner, inmates with a partner outside the prison, and inmates without a partner. In-person interviews with 70 male and 70 female inmates from the Topas Penitentiary (Spain) were conducted. These inmates lived in the same facility but in gender-segregated modules. After controlling for age, nationality, total time in prison, actual sentence time served, and estimated time to parole, the results showed a lower level of romantic loneliness, and a higher level of sexual satisfaction and global, psychological, and environment quality of life for the group of inmates with a heterosexual partner inside prison. These findings highlight the positive attributes associated with heterosexual romantic relationships between inmates inside the same prison

Gender-typed attributes and marital satisfaction among Mexican immigrant couples: A latent profile approach

Informed by socioecological and dyadic approaches to understanding marriage, the current study examined the patterning of gender-typed attributes among 120 Mexican immigrant opposite sex couples and the subsequent links with spouses’ reports of marital satisfaction. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to identify typologies of couples based on spouses’ self-reported masculine and feminine attributes. Three couple profiles were identified: (a) Androgynous Couples, (b) Undifferentiated Couples, and (c) Mismatched Couples. Results from a mixed model ANCOVA showed profile differences in couples’ marital satisfaction based on profile membership, suggesting that spouses in the Undifferentiated Profile were the least satisfied. Findings illustrate a lack of gender-typing at the individual and couple levels that challenge stereotypical and patriarchal depictions of Latino marital relationships and propose a more complex understanding of Mexican-origin spouses’ gender-typed attributes than has yet been portrayed in the literature. The finding that couples with 1 androgynous partner (i.e., wives in the Mismatched Profile) reported similar levels of marital satisfaction to couples in the Androgynous Profile offers additional insights regarding how these qualities operate under the unique socioecological niches that Mexican immigrant couples inhabit—contexts that may place demands on spouses that challenge gendered and culturally bound depictions of marriage

Canagliflozin and renal outcomes in type 2 diabetes and nephropathy

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of kidney failure worldwide, but few effective long-term treatments are available. In cardiovascular trials of inhibitors of sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), exploratory results have suggested that such drugs may improve renal outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS In this double-blind, randomized trial, we assigned patients with type 2 diabetes and albuminuric chronic kidney disease to receive canagliflozin, an oral SGLT2 inhibitor, at a dose of 100 mg daily or placebo. All the patients had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 30 to <90 ml per minute per 1.73 m2 of body-surface area and albuminuria (ratio of albumin [mg] to creatinine [g], >300 to 5000) and were treated with renin–angiotensin system blockade. The primary outcome was a composite of end-stage kidney disease (dialysis, transplantation, or a sustained estimated GFR of <15 ml per minute per 1.73 m2), a doubling of the serum creatinine level, or death from renal or cardiovascular causes. Prespecified secondary outcomes were tested hierarchically. RESULTS The trial was stopped early after a planned interim analysis on the recommendation of the data and safety monitoring committee. At that time, 4401 patients had undergone randomization, with a median follow-up of 2.62 years. The relative risk of the primary outcome was 30% lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group, with event rates of 43.2 and 61.2 per 1000 patient-years, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59 to 0.82; P=0.00001). The relative risk of the renal-specific composite of end-stage kidney disease, a doubling of the creatinine level, or death from renal causes was lower by 34% (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.81; P<0.001), and the relative risk of end-stage kidney disease was lower by 32% (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.86; P=0.002). The canagliflozin group also had a lower risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.67 to 0.95; P=0.01) and hospitalization for heart failure (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.80; P<0.001). There were no significant differences in rates of amputation or fracture. CONCLUSIONS In patients with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, the risk of kidney failure and cardiovascular events was lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group at a median follow-up of 2.62 years

Pathways from performance monitoring to negative symptoms and functional outcomes in psychotic disorders.

BACKGROUND: Performance monitoring entails rapid error detection to maintain task performance. Impaired performance monitoring is a candidate pathophysiological process in psychotic disorders, which may explain the broader deficit in executive function and its known associations with negative symptoms and poor functioning. The current study models cross-sectional pathways bridging neurophysiological measures of performance monitoring with executive function, symptoms, and functioning. METHODS: Data were from the 20-year assessment of the Suffolk County Mental Health Project. Individuals with psychotic disorders (N = 181) were originally recruited from inpatient psychiatric facilities. Data were also collected from a geographically and demographically matched group with no psychosis history (N = 242). Neural measures were the error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe). Structural equation modeling tested mediation pathways. RESULTS: Blunted ERN and Pe in the clinical cohort related to impaired executive function (r = 0.26-0.35), negative symptom severity (r = 0.17-0.25), and poor real-world functioning (r = 0.17-0.19). Associations with executive function were consistent across groups. Multiple potential pathways were identified in the clinical cohort: reduced ERN to inexpressivity was mediated by executive function (β = 0.10); reduced Pe to global functioning was mediated by executive function and avolition (β = 0.10). CONCLUSIONS: This supports a transdiagnostic model of psychotic disorders by which poor performance monitoring contributes to impaired executive function, which contributes to negative symptoms and poor real-world functioning. If supported by future longitudinal research, these pathways could inform the development of targeted interventions to address cognitive and functional deficits that are central to psychotic disorders

Pathways from performance monitoring to negative symptoms and functional outcomes in psychotic disorders

Performance monitoring entails rapid error detection to maintain task performance. Impaired performance monitoring is a candidate pathophysiological process in psychotic disorders, which may explain the broader deficit in executive function and its known associations with negative symptoms and poor functioning. The current study models cross-sectional pathways bridging neurophysiological measures of performance monitoring with executive function, symptoms, and functioning. Data were from the 20-year assessment of the Suffolk County Mental Health Project. Individuals with psychotic disorders (N = 181) were originally recruited from inpatient psychiatric facilities. Data were also collected from a geographically and demographically matched group with no psychosis history (N = 242). Neural measures were the error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe). Structural equation modeling tested mediation pathways. Blunted ERN and Pe in the clinical cohort related to impaired executive function (r = 0.26-0.35), negative symptom severity (r = 0.17-0.25), and poor real-world functioning (r = 0.17-0.19). Associations with executive function were consistent across groups. Multiple potential pathways were identified in the clinical cohort: reduced ERN to inexpressivity was mediated by executive function (β = 0.10); reduced Pe to global functioning was mediated by executive function and avolition (β = 0.10). This supports a transdiagnostic model of psychotic disorders by which poor performance monitoring contributes to impaired executive function, which contributes to negative symptoms and poor real-world functioning. If supported by future longitudinal research, these pathways could inform the development of targeted interventions to address cognitive and functional deficits that are central to psychotic disorders

sj-docx-1-jtt-10.1177_1357633X241233788 - Supplemental material for Digitally enabled asynchronous remote medical management of anxiety and depression: A cohort study

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-jtt-10.1177_1357633X241233788 for Digitally enabled asynchronous remote medical management of anxiety and depression: A cohort study by Amichai Perlman, Yishai Pickman, Michael Dreyfuss, Itay Manes, Peter Bak, Daniel Souroujon, Edo Paz, Jon O Ebbert, and Dan Zeltzer in Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare</p