scholarly journals Evaluating Cognitive and Behavioral Outcomes in Conjunction with the Secure Base Effect for Dogs in Shelter and Foster Environments

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 932 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren E. Thielke ◽  
Monique A. R. Udell

Although it is widely accepted that dogs and humans form attachment relationships, characterizing attachment styles in dogs has only recently received attention in the literature. Previous research has shown that pet dogs display patterns of behavior in an attachment test that can be classified into secure and insecure attachment styles, much like human children and their caretakers. However, we currently know relatively little about the role of attachment styles in relation to canine well-being. This question may be of particular interest for the 3.9 million dogs that enter animal shelters in the United States alone each year, as this transition marks the dissolution of prior bonds and the establishment of new attachment relationships. Herein, results are presented from analyses of volunteer-reported canine personality and behavior measures, as well as performance on two cognitive tasks as they relate to attachment styles developed within shelter and foster environments. Results from the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ) indicated that foster dogs were scored as having significantly higher levels of attachment and attention-seeking behaviors when compared with shelter dogs. In both environments, dogs categorized as securely attached to a shelter or foster volunteer had lower neuroticism scores. Secure attachment in foster homes was also associated with improved persistence and performance on a point following task. These results provide support for the idea that attachment styles formed with temporary caregivers is associated with other behavioral and personality measures, and therefore may have implications for behavior and welfare in dogs living in foster homes and animal shelters.

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren E. Thielke ◽  
Monique A.R. Udell

This study aimed to characterize attachment relationships between humans and dogs living in animal shelters or foster homes, and to contextualize these relationships in the broader canine attachment literature. In this study, 21 pairs of foster dogs and foster volunteers and 31 pairs of shelter dogs and shelter volunteers participated. Each volunteer–dog dyad participated in a secure base test and a paired attachment test. All volunteers completed the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale (LAPS), a survey designed to measure strength of attachment bonds as reported by humans. Although no significant differences were present in terms of proportions of insecure and secure attachments between foster and shelter populations, proportions in the shelter population were significantly lower (p < 0.05) than the proportions of attachment styles that would be expected in a population of pet dogs based on the published literature on pet dog attachment styles. Additionally, findings are presented in relation to data from a paired attachment test that demonstrate foster and shelter dogs spend more time in proximity to humans when the human is actively attending to the dog and encouraging interaction, as would be expected based on previous studies. We also present findings related to the presence of disinhibited attachment (previously reported in children who spent a significant portion of time living in institutionalized settings) which is characterized by a lack of preferential proximity seeking with a familiar caregiver and excessive friendliness towards strangers in foster and shelter dogs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 823-831
Author(s):  
HUGH MCLEOD

The Yale church historian, Sydney Ahlstrom, had just emerged somewhat dazed from the Sixties when he reviewed the religious trajectory of the United States during that decade. He wrote that by 1966 it was clear that ‘the post-war religious revival had completely frittered out, that the nation was moving towards a crise de la conscience of unprecedented depth’. As well as a ‘growing attachment to naturalism and “secularism”’ he mentioned ‘a creeping or galloping awareness of vast contradictions in American life between profession and performance, the ideal and the actual’ and ‘increasing doubt concerning the capacity of present-day ecclesiastical, political, social and educational institutions to rectify these contradictions’. As Ahlstrom made clear in a later essay, he saw the crisis faced both by the Roman Catholic Church and by the ‘mainline’ Protestant Churches as part of a wider loss of ‘confidence or hope’ in American society and a passing away of ‘the certitudes that had always shaped the nation's well-being and sense of destiny’.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young Lee ◽  
Francesco Aletta

Noise is the most frequent reason for complaints about environmental conditions in the workplace. It is associated with individual health and well-being and decreased productivity and performance. This study identified a set of acoustic strategies for open-plan workplaces and examined a case study applying those to four open-plan offices in the United States. The set of measures was defined based on a literature review and a focus group interview with 17 experts. A total of four topics were identified as key performance indicators of proper acoustic environments in the open-plan workplaces. A total of 19 items were then developed within these 4 topics as the protocols for planning acoustic strategies for workplace health and well-being. In the case study, the level of acoustic performance for workplace health and well-being was highest in the Dallas office (27.5 points out of a total of potential 40.0) followed by the Minneapolis office (26.0). Both offices outperformed the other offices in achieving space planning principles to control noises and occupant noise control in open spaces for acoustical privacy. A further examination on the relationships between acoustic strategies and other health and well-being key performance indicators in these offices suggests that guidance to increase occupants’ auditory comfort, well-being, and performance should be sought by designers in a holistic and integrative way.


2022 ◽  
pp. 1-38
Author(s):  
Maria João Ferreira ◽  
Fernando Moreira ◽  
Isabel Seruca

Digitalization is changing business and organizations. In the organizational context, the potential that can be realized through digitalization is manifest, namely the expenditure reduction and higher innovative power. However, it is not enough to integrate digitalization; a change of culture and behavior is necessary. To this extent, social media relations have the potential to create communication capabilities that can be turned into useful resources, which in turn will result in more significant competitive advantage and performance. Taking advantage of social tools within social business contexts requires an exercise in how to demonstrate usefulness regarding the creation, access, and sharing of content securely. To this end, this chapter will provide a comprehensive view of a new context of labor (i.e., social business supported by mobile IST-m_CSDIT2) to improve the organizational well-being through the collective intelligence and agility dimensions.


HortScience ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda Knuth ◽  
Bridget K. Behe ◽  
Charles R. Hall ◽  
Patricia T. Huddleston ◽  
R. Thomas Fernandez

In the coming decades, no natural resource may prove to be more critical to human health and well-being than water. There is abundant evidence that the condition of water resources in many parts of the United States is deteriorating. In some regions of the country, the availability of sufficient water to meet growing domestic uses, and the future sufficiency of water to support the use of landscape plants where we live, work, and play is in doubt. Conservation through water efficiency measures and water management practices may be the best way to help resolve water problems. Yet, consumer perceptions and attitudes and behavior toward water conservation may differ widely, particularly in the presence of drought. This study sought to add to the current horticulture and water conservation literature by exploring consumer attitudes and behavior during real and perceived drought situations, especially in terms of their landscape purchases and gardening/landscaping activities. Study findings could better inform educational programs and marketing strategies, helping to ensure the future demand of Green Industry products and services. With a national sample of 1543 subjects, an online survey tool was used to classify respondents into categories based on whether they accurately perceived if the region in which they lived was experiencing drought. We hypothesized that consumers were heterogeneous in their attitudes and behavior regarding plants and water conservation, depending on their real and perceived drought situations, and that their attitudes affected their behavior regarding plant purchases. Results confirmed this hypothesis. Attitudes and behaviors for those who correctly perceived they were in drought were different from those who correctly perceived they were not in drought, as well as those who incorrectly did not perceive they were in an actual drought.


2007 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-314 ◽  

Many aspects of human physiology and behavior are dominated by 24-hour circadian rhythms that have a major impact on our health and well-being, including the sleep-wake cycle, alertness and performance patterns, and many daily hormone profiles. These rhythms are spontaneously generated by an internal "pacemaker" in the hypothalamus, and daily light exposure to the eyes is required to keep these circadian rhythms synchronized both internally and with the external environment. Sighted individuals take this daily synchronization process for granted, although they experience some of the consequences of circadian desynchrony when "jetlagged" or working night shifts. Most blind people with no perception of light, however, experience continual circadian desynchrony through a failure of light information to reach the hypothalamic circadian clock, resulting in cyclical episodes of poor sleep and daytime dysfunction. Daily melatonin administration, which provides a replacement synchronizing daily "time cue, " is a promising therapeutic strategy, although optimal treatment dose and timing remain to be determined.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-9
Author(s):  
Matthew W. Epperson ◽  
Amy Blank Wilson ◽  
Gina Fedock

This paper describes the concept of “Smart Decarceration” and introduces the special issue of Criminal Justice and Behavior entitled “Research to Advance Smart Decarceration Policies, Programs, and Interventions.” The concept of Smart Decarceration originated nearly a decade ago as the United States reached a tipping point in mass incarceration, and it focuses on three interrelated outcomes: substantially reducing the use of incarceration and other forms of punishment; reversing racial disparities and other inequities in the criminal justice system; and promoting safety and well-being, particularly for communities that have been most impacted by mass incarceration. Ultimately, Smart Decarceration efforts should prioritize reducing the overall footprint of the criminal justice system, while building capacity outside of the system to support safety, health, and well-being. Research plays a critical role in advancing Smart Decarceration, as new forms of knowledge and evidence must be developed to replace ineffective and unjust policies and practices associated with mass incarceration. The paper discusses approaches to research that move beyond typical criminal justice outcomes and focus on the multifaceted goals of Smart Decarceration. The six articles in this special issue are introduced, highlighting their foci across ecological levels and the breadth of the criminal justice continuum, centering populations most impacted by incarceration, and identifying practice and policy innovations.


2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vern L. Houston ◽  
Gangming Luo ◽  
Carl P. Mason ◽  
Martin Mussman ◽  
MaryAnne Garbarini ◽  
...  

Abstract Foot problems are quite common. Epidemiological studies have shown as many as 86% of elderly individuals report having problems with their feet, ranging from calluses, cracking and ingrown nails to inflammation, swelling, ischemia, ulceration, and gangrenous necrosis [1]. Persons suffering chronic Diabetes Mellitus are at particular risk of trauma to their feet because of peripheral neuropathy, plantar fat pad and muscle atrophy, and vascular insufficiency. Half of all lower limb amputations each year in the United States are performed on diabetics because of foot and ankle injuries that fail to heal [2]. At the very least, podalgia and pedal trauma restrict person’s mobility and limit their independence, impacting their fiscal as well as their physical well-being. With the exception of memorable catastrophic events, the etiopathogenesis of podalgia and other problems contributing to pedal trauma are generally not well understood. In work with Hansen’s disease and diabetic patients, Brand et al. [3] showed that stresses as small as 1/2 psi could produce trauma in the foot fat pads of even healthy animals, if chronically and repetitively applied without adequate time for tissues to recover and rest, Pedorthic insoles (often with orthopedic shoes) are prescribed for curative as well as prophylactic treatment of podalgia and pedal trauma, especially for diabetic patients with peripheral vascular disease, and arthritic patients with osseous deformity. There are hundreds of such devices commercially available, that range in composition and mechanical characteristics from extremely soft silicone elastomers to stiff plastic and metal plates. They maybe thin or thick, flat or custom milled with precision CAD/CAM systems using 3D laser scans of the individual’s feet to match their pedal contours. Although numerous studies [4, 5, 6] have been conducted, measuring pedal plantar interface stresses, no general quantitative principles for design, performance assessment, or prescription have been developed. These procedures remain highly subjective, and quite variable, depending upon the training, experience, and skill of the patient’s pedorthotist, podiatrist, and/or physcian. The objective of this study was to investigate the stresses and strains incurred in the soft plantar tissues of the foot as a function of insole material and design geometry to enhance understanding of footwear biomechanics and contribute to development of quantitative criteria for prescription, design, and performance assessment of pedorthic footwear.


Author(s):  
Estefanía Mónaco ◽  
Konstanze Schoeps ◽  
Inmaculada Montoya-Castilla

Attachment relationships with parents, as well as emotional competencies, are protective factors against stress and other physical, mental, and relational health symptoms in adolescence. In this paper, we will examine the mediating role of emotional competencies in the relationship between attachment to parents and the well-being of adolescents, taking into account the influence of gender. There were 1276 Spanish adolescents between 12 and 15 years old (M = 13.48; SD = 1.09). We measured mother and father attachment relationships (trust, communication and alienation), emotional competencies (perceive and understand emotions, label and express emotions, manage and regulate emotions), and adolescent well-being using the indicators: somatic complaints, stress, satisfaction with life and affectivity. Descriptive analyses, Pearson correlations, and a multi-group path analysis were performed. The results indicated that emotional competencies partially mediate the relationship between attachment to parents and well-being variables. Attachment to one’s mother and father, along with emotional competencies, are relevant variables in adolescent well-being. This highlights the importance of understanding the protective factors of well-being in adolescence, a time when levels of well-being are reduced compared to childhood.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 480-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny H. Conviser ◽  
Amanda Schlitzer Tierney ◽  
Riley Nickols

It is estimated that 1.6 million people in the United States are currently diagnosed with an eating disorder. Eating disorders (EDs) have high rates of morbidity and mortality and remain the most severe mental illness. Unfortunately, rates of EDs and disordered eating behaviors (DEBs) among athletes appear to be increasing. In this study, authors summarize ED-related risks that pose compromises in psychological and social functioning, medical health, and overall quality of life. The importance of early detection and formal evaluation in preserving the athlete’s health, well-being and sustaining successful sport participation, and performance are highlighted. Athlete-specific factors, which challenge the ease and accuracy of ED detection and assessment, are noted. The recommended components of effective ED assessment are identified, including use of self-report measures and clinical interviews conducted by ED certified and licensed professionals. The importance of being well informed in tenets of ED awareness, prevention and supporting early detection, and referral for formal ED assessment are noted. Conclusions reflect the vital roles that both the multidisciplinary sport personnel and the sport environment/culture play in reducing the serious health risks of DEBs and EDs. Each is needed to protect an athlete’s well-being while fostering safe and successful sport participation.


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