scholarly journals Evaluación de activación conductual en universitarios que consumen mariguana: estudio piloto

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-22
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Said Baeza Torres ◽  
Sara Eugenia Cruz Morales ◽  
Jennifer Lira Mandujano
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Behavioral Activation ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
High Effect Size ◽  
High Effect ◽  
Behavioral Techniques ◽  
Marijuana Consumption ◽  
Anxiety Depression

Introduction: In Mexico, marijuana consumption has increased in adults and university students, triggering problems in attention, concentration, anxiety, depression, dependence, and cardio-respiratory difficulties. Psychological interventions like brief motivational treatment (BMT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) have reported some difficulties such as a low and medium effect size, decreased consumption without reaching abstinence, and heterogeneity in the use of both cognitive and behavioral techniques. The use of behavioral techniques in Behavioral Activation has reported effectiveness in the treatment of anxiety, depression, and recently in alcohol and tobacco. Objective: to evaluate the effect size of a Behavioral Activation treatment in abstinence of marijuana (BA-M) measured in units, occasions, and quantity of consumption. Method: in a sample of university students (n = 8), the intervention of behavioral activation was applied, which includes functional analysis, planning and goal setting, contingency management, skills training, and relapse prevention. It was carried out a multielement single case design with eight replications, calculating the effect size through the non-overlapping index of all pairs. Results: high effect size was obtained in the consumption pattern, ranging between 91.10% and 100%, 5 university students achieved abstinence. Discussion and conclusions: treatment in BA-M obtained a high effect size in abstinence and a decrease in marijuana abuse these results are similar to those reported in alcohol and tobacco.

scholarly journals Effects of Physical Activity Programs on the Improvement of Dementia Symptom: A Meta-Analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han Suk Lee ◽  
Sun Wook Park ◽  
Yoo Jung Park
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Physical Capacity ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Psychological State ◽  
High Effect Size ◽  
High Effect ◽  
Medium Effect Size ◽  
Meta Analyses

Objective. To confirm that physical activity program improves the symptoms of dementia and the most effective physical activity was selected to help establish exercise programs.Methods. Three databases, PubMed, Science Direct, and Willey online, were used to collect articles. The databases were published between January 2005 and December 2015. Keywords such as “dementia,” and “physical activity” were used in searching for papers. As a result, nine studies were selected in the second screening of the meta-analyses.Results. The improvement in the dementia symptom of physical capacity was 1.05 (high effect size, 95% CI: 0.03 to 0.73), ability of activity of daily living was 0.73 (slightly high effect size, 95% CI: 0.23 to 1.23), cognitive function was 0.46 (medium effect size, 95% CI: 0.26 to 0.66), and psychological state was 0.39 (lower than the medium effect size, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.77).Conclusion. The physical activity for patients with dementia had an effect on the improvement of physical capacity and combined exercise was the most effective physical activity.

Psicologia & saúde treino de habilidades de vida e saúde mental em universitários

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leide Silva do Carmo ◽  
Nelson Iguimar Valerio
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
University Students ◽  
Life Skills ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Risky Behaviors ◽  
Group Life ◽  
Academic Adaptation ◽  
Anxiety Depression

Several factors can cause damage to the mental health of university students, e.g. academic adaptation, housing change, distance from family and friends, and dealing with stressors regarding new requirements, which need some resources to cope with such situations. The content of this book, from the Master's Dissertation developed by the authors at the Stricto-Sensu Psychology and Health Post-Graduation Program at the Medical School of São José do Rio Preto - FAMERP, aims at describing the presence of mental disorders and demonstrating the implementation of a life-skills training in university students (Medicine and Nursing), randomly chosen in a teaching institution in a medium-sized city, interior of São Paulo state. The participants expressed high symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress in the initial evaluation, however, after the training of group life skills, they showed significant improvements with maintenance of these rates during the follow-up. This training can be stood out to improve the mental health and life skills of the students. It is likely that the intervention group may have helped these students to cope with negative pressures, avoiding risky behaviors, communicating effectively; moreover, coping with adaptations and changes in such academic process. It is worthwhile to point out that this study may encourage further research in relation to mental health and life-skills in university students, and that it will encourage the insertion of programs with these skills training, due to their effectiveness, low cost, the participants´ acceptance, improvement in mental health, and provide increasing academic performance.

Turning movements in real life capture subtle longitudinal and preataxic changes in cerebellar ataxia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annika Thierfelder ◽  
Jens Seemann ◽  
Natalie John ◽  
Martin A. Giese ◽  
Ludger Schoels ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Effect Size ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Dynamic Balance ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Longitudinal Change ◽  
Cerebellar Disease ◽  
Lateral Velocity ◽  
Velocity Change ◽  
High Effect Size ◽  
High Effect

OBJECTIVES: Clinical and regulatory acceptance of upcoming molecular treatments in degenerative ataxias might greatly benefit from ecologically valid endpoints which capture change in ataxia severity in patients real life. This longitudinal study aimed to unravel quantitative motor biomarkers in degenerative ataxias in real life turning movements which are sensitive for changes both longitudinally and at the preataxic stage. METHODS: Combined cross-sectional (n=30) and longitudinal (n=14, 1 year interval) observational study in degenerative cerebellar disease (including 8 pre-ataxic mutation carriers) compared to 23 healthy controls. Turning movements were assessed by three body-worn inertial sensors in three conditions: (1) instructed laboratory assessment, (2) supervised free walking, and (3) unsupervised real-life movements. RESULTS: Measures which quantified dynamic balance during turning, lateral velocity change (LVC) and outward acceleration, but not general turning measures such as speed, allowed differentiating ataxic against healthy subjects in real life with high effect size (δ=0.68), with LVC also differentiating preataxic against healthy subjects (δ=0.53). LVC was highly correlated with clinical ataxia severity (SARA score, effect size ρ=0.79) and subjective balance confidence (ABC score, ρ=0.66). Moreover, LVC in real life but not general turning measures, gait measures, or the SARA score allowed detecting significant longitudinal change in one-year follow-up with high effect size (rprb=0.66). CONCLUSIONS: Measures of turning allow to capture specific changes of dynamic balance in degenerative ataxia in real life, with high sensitivity to longitudinal differences in ataxia severity and to the preataxic stage. They thus present promising ecologically valid motor biomarkers for capturing change in real life, even in the highly treatment-relevant early stages of degenerative cerebellar disease.

An Initial Open Trial of a Brief Behavioral Activation Treatment for Depression and Medication Adherence in HIV-Infected Patients

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew T. Tull ◽  
Christopher R. Berghoff ◽  
Joseph R. Bardeen ◽  
Michelle Schoenleber ◽  
Deborah J. Konkle-Parker
Keyword(s):  
Medication Adherence ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Symptom Severity ◽  
Behavioral Activation ◽  
Open Trial ◽  
Cd4 T Cell ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Medium Effect Size

Advances in HIV treatment through highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) have led to a steady decline in HIV-related mortality rates. However, HAART requires adherence to strict and often complicated medication regimens, and nonadherence to HAART can significantly decrease its effectiveness. Depression has consistently shown a robust association with medication nonadherence; consequently, numerous psychological interventions have been developed to target depression and increase medication adherence among HIV-infected individuals. The length of these interventions, however, may be prohibitive for certain HIV-infected populations, such as patients in rural areas. Therefore, this study provides an initial investigation of a one-session behavioral activation treatment for depression designed specifically for HIV-infected patients (BATD-HIV) at a community infectious disease clinic serving a largely rural population. In this initial uncontrolled open trial, BATD-HIV was administered to 10 HIV-infected patients with elevated symptoms of depression following their clinic appointment. Depression, anxiety, and stress symptom severity; behavioral activation processes; medication adherence; and CD4 T-cell count were assessed pre- and 1 month postintervention. Participants exhibited significant reductions in anxiety symptom severity and avoidance of negative aversive states and rumination from pre- to 1 month posttreatment. Although nonsignificant, participants also showed medium effect size reductions in depression and stress symptoms and work/school and social impairment, and medium effect size improvements in medication adherence and CD4 T-cell counts. Despite the preliminary nature of this study, results suggest that BATD-HIV may have utility as a brief treatment for HIV-infected patients with depression and warrants further investigation in larger scale randomized controlled trials.

scholarly journals Influencia del calzado en el movimiento del pie durante la marcha y la carrera en niños y niñas de 6 y 7 años (Influence of footwear on foot movement during walking and running in boys and girls aged 6-7)

Retos ◽  
2016 ◽  
pp. 128-132
Author(s):  
Jose Luis López Elvira ◽  
Diego López Plaza ◽  
Alejandro López Valenciano ◽  
Carolina Alonso Montero
Keyword(s):  
Effect Size ◽  
Metatarsophalangeal Joint ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
School Students ◽  
Protection Mechanism ◽  
Walking Gait ◽  
High Effect Size ◽  
3D Motion Analysis ◽  
High Effect ◽  
El Sistema

La elección del calzado infantil durante el desarrollo del niño/a puede ser determinante en la aparición o prevención de problemas asociados con el pie por las diferentes características intrínsecas de los niños. Por ello, el objetivo del presente trabajo fue evaluar los movimientos del pie durante el apoyo en marcha y carrera con y sin calzado. Participaron 12 niños y 12 niñas de primaria. El sistema de captura del movimiento Vicon fue utilizado para obtener variables cinemáticas del movimiento del pie. Los resultados mostraron una reducción significativa en la flexión en la articulación metatarsofalángica con calzado en ambos géneros y en ambas habilidades de en torno a 20º (p < .05 y tamaño del efecto alto), pudiendo asociarse a un mecanismo de protección. Así mismo se constató un aumento de la velocidad de caída del pie en carrera con calzado, especialmente en chicas, al contrario de la marcha, posiblemente por cambios en la técnica de pisada y/o características propias del calzado según el género. Por último, se encontró un desajuste en el eje de flexión de los metatarsos de aproximadamente 1 cm hacia la parte anterior del pie con calzado (p < .05 y tamaño del efecto alto), lo que lleva a recomendar que el diseño del calzado se ajuste con más precisión a la población que lo utiliza.Abstract.  The choice of children's shoes can be decisive in the appearance or prevention of problems associated with children’s feet individual characteristics. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate foot movements during the support phase of walking and running gait, with and without shoes. Twenty-four primary school students (12 boys and 12 girls) participated in the study. Vicon 3D motion analysis system was used to obtain foot kinematic variables. Results showed a significant decrease in the flexion of metatarsophalangeal joint with shoes in both genders in walking and running around 20º (p < .05 and high effect size), which can be associated with a protection mechanism. We also found an increased foot fall speed when running with shoes, especially in girls, but not in walking gait, probably due to changes in the technique and/or characteristics of the shoes according to gender. Finally, data show a 1-cm forward displacement of the metatarsal flexion axis with shoes (p < .05 and high effect size), which suggests that shoes design should be more accurately adapted to children population.

scholarly journals THE EFFECT OF MINDFULNESS ON ACADEMIC SELF-EFFICACY: A RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL

2019 ◽  
pp. 170-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack R. Menges ◽  
Marie L. Caltabiano
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Emotional Wellbeing ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Mindfulness Intervention ◽  
Academic Self Efficacy

This study examined the effect of a brief mindfulness intervention on academic self-efficacy. Twenty-six university students were randomized to a four-day brief mindfulness intervention or a wait-listed control condition. The brief mindfulness intervention took the form of four 30 minute sessions of mindfulness meditation over four consecutive days. Measures of mindfulness, emotional wellbeing, and academic self-efficacy were obtained via a self-report survey prior to the intervention, post-intervention and at a one-month follow-up. Both groups had comparable baseline measures on all three scales. Data analysis revealed that both academic self-efficacy and mindfulness increased between pre- and post-intervention with a medium effect size (d = 0.472 and 0.415 respectively). Emotional wellbeing significantly increased following the intervention with a large effect size (d = 0.652) and remained at this level after one month. Academic self-efficacy also stayed at elevated post-intervention levels after one month while mindfulness continued to increase following the intervention and was significantly higher at follow-up than at baseline (d = 0.564). There were no significant changes in the measured variables for the control group. Regression analysis revealed that increases in emotional wellbeing significantly predicted increases in academic self-efficacy for participants in the experimental group, both increases in mindfulness and emotional wellbeing were significantly correlated with increases in academic self-efficacy. These findings suggest that a brief mindfulness intervention is an effective and practical means to improve academic self-efficacy and emotional wellbeing in university students. Implications, limitations and future directions for research are discussed.

scholarly journals Characterization of Cervical-Cranial Muscle Network in Correlation with Vocal Features

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rory O’Keeffe ◽  
Seyed Yahya Shirazi ◽  
Sarmad Mehrdad ◽  
Tyler Crosby ◽  
Aaron M. Johnson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Effect Size ◽  
Objective Evaluation ◽  
Clustering Coefficient ◽  
Voice Disorder ◽  
Vocal Performance ◽  
High Effect Size ◽  
Weighted Clustering ◽  
High Effect ◽  
Cranial Muscle ◽  
First Time

AbstractObjective evaluation of physiological responses using non-invasive methods has attracted great interest regarding the assessment of vocal performance and disorders. This paper, for the first time, demonstrates that the topographical features of the cervical-cranial intermuscular coherence network generated using surface electromyography (sEMG) have a strong potential for detecting subtle changes in vocal performance. For this purpose, in this paper, 12 sEMG signals were collected from six cervical and cranial muscles bilaterally. Data were collected from four subjects without a history of a voice disorder performing a series of vocal tasks. The vocal tasks were varied phonation (an /a/ sustained for the maximal duration with combinations of two levels of loudness and two levels of pitch), a pitch glide from low to high, singing a familiar song, spontaneous speech, and reading with different loudness levels. The varied phonation tasks showed the median degree, and weighted clustering coefficient of the coherence-based intermuscular network ascends monotonically, with a high effect size (|rrb| = 0.52). The set of tasks, including pitch glide, singing, and speech, was significantly distinguishable using the network features as both degree and weighted clustering coefficient had a very high effect size (|rrb| > 0.83) across these tasks. Also, pitch glide has the highest degree and weighted clustering coefficient among all tasks (degree > 0.6, weighted clustering coefficient > 0.6). Spectrotemporal features performed far less effective than the proposed functional muscle network metrics to differentiate the vocal tasks. The highest effect size for spectrotemporal features was only |rrb| = 0.19. In this paper, for the first time, the power of a cervical-cranial muscle network has been demonstrated as a neurophysiological window to vocal performance. The results also shed light on the tasks with the highest network involvement, which may be potentially used in monitoring vocal disorders and tracking rehabilitation progress.

scholarly journals Effects of a Single Physical or Mindfulness Intervention on Mood, Attention, and Executive Functions: Results from two Randomized Controlled Studies in University Classes

Mindfulness ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1282-1293
Author(s):  
Christian Müller ◽  
David Dubiel ◽  
Eleni Kremeti ◽  
Manuel Lieb ◽  
Elisabeth Streicher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Physical Activity Intervention ◽  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Mindfulness Intervention ◽  
Randomized Controlled Studies ◽  
Medium Effect Size

Abstract Objectives The primary objective of this study was to examine the effects of one-session physical or mindfulness training on university students’ mood, attention and executive functions in two separate randomized studies. Methods Study 1 (physical activity intervention) was implemented in a seminar with 63 and Study 2 (mindfulness intervention) in another seminar with 28 university students. The physical intervention included stretching exercises, balancing tasks, and medium intensity cardiovascular activities. The mindfulness training included yoga exercises, guided attention, and a body scan. In the control conditions, students watched a 15-min fitness or yoga video, respectively. Several mood and attention scales, as well as executive functions were assessed before and after the intervention or control activity. A randomized within-subject cross-over design was applied in both studies. Results Repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed that participants in both intervention conditions reported mood to be more positive, more awake and calmer after the intervention compared to the control conditions. These effects were medium to large (Study 1: eta2 = .08-.30, Study 2: eta2 = .15-.30). Attention scores improved more relative to the control condition after the physical intervention (medium effect size, eta2 = .11). Executive function scores improved more relative to the control condition after the mindfulness intervention (medium effect size, eta2 = .17). Conclusions These results indicate that a short bout (15-min) of physical or mindfulness activity in a university learning setting positively affected dimensions of mood and cognition known to support academic learning.

scholarly journals Transdiagnostic comparison of visual working memory capacity in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine V. Barnes-Scheufler ◽  
Caroline Passow ◽  
Lara Rösler ◽  
Jutta S. Mayer ◽  
Viola Oertel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Full Spectrum ◽  
Small Effect Size ◽  
The Difference

Abstract Background Impaired working memory is a core cognitive deficit in both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Its study might yield crucial insights into the underpinnings of both disorders on the cognitive and neurophysiological level. Visual working memory capacity is a particularly promising construct for such translational studies. However, it has not yet been investigated across the full spectrum of both disorders. The aim of our study was to compare the degree of reductions of visual working memory capacity in patients with bipolar disorder (PBD) and patients with schizophrenia (PSZ) using a paradigm well established in cognitive neuroscience. Methods 62 PBD, 64 PSZ, and 70 healthy controls (HC) completed a canonical visual change detection task. Participants had to encode the color of four circles and indicate after a short delay whether the color of one of the circles had changed or not. We estimated working memory capacity using Pashler’s K. Results Working memory capacity was significantly reduced in both PBD and PSZ compared to HC. We observed a small effect size (r = .202) for the difference between HC and PBD and a medium effect size (r = .370) for the difference between HC and PSZ. Working memory capacity in PSZ was also significantly reduced compared to PBD with a small effect size (r = .201). Thus, PBD showed an intermediate level of impairment. Conclusions These findings provide evidence for a gradient of reduced working memory capacity in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, with PSZ showing the strongest degree of impairment. This underscores the importance of disturbed information processing for both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Our results are compatible with the cognitive manifestation of a neurodevelopmental gradient affecting bipolar disorder to a lesser degree than schizophrenia. They also highlight the relevance of visual working memory capacity for the development of both behavior- and brain-based transdiagnostic biomarkers.

scholarly journals An Egocentric Network Contact Tracing Experiment: Testing Different Procedures to Elicit Contacts and Places

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1466
Author(s):  
Andrew Pilny ◽  
C. Joseph Huber
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Survey Methods ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Physiological Variables ◽  
Medium Effect Size ◽  
Egocentric Network ◽  
Survey Instruments

Contact tracing is one of the oldest social network health interventions used to reduce the diffusion of various infectious diseases. However, some infectious diseases like COVID-19 amass at such a great scope that traditional methods of conducting contact tracing (e.g., face-to-face interviews) remain difficult to implement, pointing to the need to develop reliable and valid survey approaches. The purpose of this research is to test the effectiveness of three different egocentric survey methods for extracting contact tracing data: (1) a baseline approach, (2) a retrieval cue approach, and (3) a context-based approach. A sample of 397 college students were randomized into one condition each. They were prompted to anonymously provide contacts and populated places visited from the past four days depending on what condition they were given. After controlling for various demographic, social identity, psychological, and physiological variables, participants in the context-based condition were significantly more likely to recall more contacts (medium effect size) and places (large effect size) than the other two conditions. Theoretically, the research supports suggestions by field theory that assume network recall can be significantly improved by activating relevant activity foci. Practically, the research contributes to the development of innovative social network data collection methods for contract tracing survey instruments.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document