Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Physiological And Behavioural Evaluation Of Common Anaesthesia Practices In The Rainbow Trout, Kieran C. Pounder, Jennifer L. Mitchell, Jack S. Thomson, Tom G. Pottinger, Lynne U. Sneddon

Lynne Sneddon, PhD

Anaesthetic drugs are commonly administered to fish in aquaculture, research and veterinary contexts. Anaesthesia causes temporary absence of consciousness and may reduce the stress and/or pain associated with handling and certain invasive procedures. The rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is a widely-used model species with relevance to both aquaculture and natural ecosystems. This study sought to establish the relative acute impact of commonly used anaesthetics on rainbow trout when used for anaesthesia or euthanasia by exploring their effects on aversion behaviour and stress physiology. Five widely used anaesthetics were investigated at two concentrations reflective of common laboratory practises: MS-222, benzocaine, 2-phenoxyethanol, …

Does Environmental Enrichment Promote Recovery From Stress In Rainbow Trout?, Kieran C. Pounder, Jennifer L. Mitchell, Jack S. Thomson, Tom G. Pottinger, Jonathan Buckley, Lynne U. Sneddon

Lynne Sneddon, PhD

The EU Directive on animal experimentation suggests that all protected animals should have enrichment to improve welfare yet relatively little research has been conducted on the impact of enrichment in fish. Studies employing enrichment in zebrafish have been contradictory and all fish species should be provided with species-specific enrichments relevant to their ecology. Salmonids are important experimental models in studies within aquaculture, toxicology and natural ecosystems. This study therefore sought to establish whether an enriched environment in an experimental aquarium may promote improved welfare in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) by enhancing their recovery from invasive procedures. Trout were …

Flooring And Driving Conditions During Road Transport Influence The Behavioural Expression Of Cattle, Catherine A. Stockman, Teresa Collins, Anne L. Barnes, David Miller, Sarah L. Wickham, David T. Beatty, Dominique Blache, Françoise Wemelsfelder, Patricia A. Fleming

Françoise Wemelsfelder, PhD

This study examined whether observers could distinguish between cattle that were exposed to various road transport conditions: Experiment 1 compared a manipulated flooring treatment (non-grip flooring, NG) with a control transport event (grip flooring, G) and Experiment 2 compared a manipulated driving style (stop-start driving, SS) with a control transport event of smooth, continuous (C) driving. The behavioural expression of cattle was assessed through the process of Qualitative Behavioural Assessment (QBA), and these assessments were tested for correlation with various physiological parameters. Fourteen Angus steers were assessed. Blood samples were collected immediately before and after transport, and heart rate and …

Qualitative Behavioural Assessment And Quantitative Physiological Measurement Of Cattle Naïve And Habituated To Road Transport, C. A. Stockman, T. Collins, A. L. Barnes, D. Miller, S. L. Wickham, D. T. Beatty, D. Blache, F. Wemelsfelder, P. A. Fleming

Françoise Wemelsfelder, PhD

The present study examined whether observers could distinguish between cattle that are naïve to road transport and the same cattle after becoming more habituated to transport. The behavioural expression of cattle was assessed through the method of qualitative behavioural assessment (QBA), and these assessments were correlated with various physiological parameters. Fourteen Angus steers were assessed during their first road trip and then again on their ninth trip, 15 days later. Blood samples were collected immediately before and after transport, and heart rate and core body temperature were measured continuously throughout each trip. Video footage recorded during each trip was edited …

The Effects Of Labyrinth Walking In An Academic Library.Pdf, Donna M. Zucker Rn, Phd, Faan, Jeung Choi, Matthew N. Cook, Janet Brennan Croft

Donna M. Zucker

Explaining The Longitudinal Association Between Puberty And Depression: Sex Differences In The Mediating Effects Of Peer Stress, Colleen Conley, Karen Rudolph, Fred Bryant

Colleen S. Conley

This research investigated whether exposure to peer stress serves as one pathway through which pubertal development contributes to depression over time, differentially for girls and boys. Youth (N = 149; 9.6–14.8 years) and their caregivers provided information at two waves, 1 year apart, on puberty (Wave 1), peer stress (occurring between Waves 1 and 2), and depression (Waves 1 and 2). Structural equation modeling analyses examined sex differences in the extent to which peer stress mediated the impact of pubertal status and timing on subsequent depression (i.e., tests of moderated mediation). Significant sex-moderated mediation was found for both pubertal status …

Explaining The Longitudinal Association Between Puberty And Depression: Sex Differences In The Mediating Effects Of Peer Stress, Colleen Conley, Karen Rudolph, Fred Bryant

Fred B. Bryant

This research investigated whether exposure to peer stress serves as one pathway through which pubertal development contributes to depression over time, differentially for girls and boys. Youth (N = 149; 9.6–14.8 years) and their caregivers provided information at two waves, 1 year apart, on puberty (Wave 1), peer stress (occurring between Waves 1 and 2), and depression (Waves 1 and 2). Structural equation modeling analyses examined sex differences in the extent to which peer stress mediated the impact of pubertal status and timing on subsequent depression (i.e., tests of moderated mediation). Significant sex-moderated mediation was found for both pubertal status …

Social Motivation Is Associated With Elevated Salivary Cortisol In Boys With An Asd, Vicki Bitsika, Christopher Sharpley, Linda Agnew, Nicholas Andronicos

Vicki Bitsika

Because social communication difficulties and stress are common in children with an ASD, and because it has been hypothesised that the two are related, the association between these two variables was investigated in a sample of 90 boys with an ASD and who were aged between 6 years and 12 years of age. The Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) was completed by the parents of these boys about their sons, plus salivary cortisol samples were collected from the boys. Results indicated that only one aspect of the boys' SRS was significantly correlated with cortisol—Social Motivation (SM). Factor analyses revealed two discrete …

Which Aspects Of Sensory Features Are Associated With Elevated Cortisol Concentrations In Boys With An Autism Spectrum Disorder?, Vicki Bitsika, Christopher Sharpley, Nicholas Andronicos, Linda Agnew, Richard Mills

Vicki Bitsika

Difficulties in Sensory Features (SF) have been included in the most recent diagnostic processes for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and are more common in children with an ASD than their non-ASD peers. In addition, these difficulties with SF have been suggested as causing elevated stress and concentrations of salivary cortisol in young people with an ASD. However, previous studies have not examined the specific aspects of SF that are associated with elevated cortisol and that was the focus of this study with 135 boys with an ASD aged 6–18 years. The boys’ mothers assessed their sons’ SF with the Sensory …

Disadvantages Of Being An Individualist In An Individualistic Culture: Idiocentrism, Emotional Competence, Stress, And Mental Health, Gregory Scott, Joseph Ciarrochi, Frank Deane

joseph Ciarrochi

Based on past cross-cultural research, it was hypothesised that people who had strong individualistic values and beliefs within an individualistic culture would have smaller social support networks, lower emotional competence, lower intentions to seek help from a variety of sources, and poorer mental health. A total of 276 first-year students attending an Australian university completed an anonymous survey assessing individual differences in individualism (i.e., idiocentrism), social support, emotional competence, hopelessness, depression, and suicide ideation. As expected, idiocentrism was associated with smaller and less satisfying social support networks, less skill in managing both self and others' emotions, lower intentions to seek …

Emotional Intelligence Moderates The Relationship Between Stress And Mental Health, Joseph Ciarrochi, Frank Deane, Stephen Anderson

joseph Ciarrochi

Despite a great deal of popular interest and the development of numerous training programs in emotional intelligence (EI), some researchers have argued that there is little evidence that EI is both useful and different from other, well established constructs. We hypothesized that EI would make a unique contribution to understanding the relationship between stress and three important mental health variables, depression, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation. University students (n=302) participated in a cross-sectional study that involved measuring life stress, objective and self-reported emotional intelligence, and mental health. Regression analyses revealed that stress was associated with: (1) greater reported depression, hopelessness, and …

Effects Of Stretch-Based Progressive Relaxation Training On The Secretion Of Salivary Immunoglobulin A In Orofacial Pain Patients, Jeffrey Sherman, Charles Carlson, James Mccubbin, John Wilson

James A. McCubbin

There is a growing body of evidence that psychologic stressors can affect physical health and proneness to disease through depletion of the body's immune system. Relatively little research, however, has investigated the potential immunoenhancing effect of stress-relieving strategies such as progressive muscle relaxation. This study explored the relationship between immune functioning and relaxation training with persons experiencing persistent facial pain. In a single experimental session, 21 subjects either received relaxation training or rested for an equivalent time period. Salivary immunoglobulin A, mood, pain, and tension levels were measured before and after relaxation and rest periods. Results indicated that a greater …

Laboratory Routines Cause Animal Stress, Jonathan P. Balcombe, Neal D. Barnard, Chad Sandusky

Jonathan Balcombe, PhD

Eighty published studies were appraised to document the potential stress associated with three routine laboratory procedures commonly performed on animals: handling, blood collection, and orogastric gavage. We defined handling as any non-invasive manipulation occurring as part of routine husbandry, including lifting an animal and cleaning or moving an animal's cage. Significant changes in physiologic parameters correlated with stress (e.g., serum or plasma concentrations of corticosterone, glucose, growth hormone or prolactin, heart rate, blood pressure, and behavior) were associated with all three procedures in multiple species in the studies we examined. The results of these studies demonstrated that animals responded with …

Lifting Without Seeing: The Role Of Vision In Perceiving And Acting Upon The Size Weight Illusion, Gavin Buckingham, Melvyn Goodale

Gavin Buckingham

BACKGROUND: Our expectations of an object's heaviness not only drive our fingertip forces, but also our perception of heaviness. This effect is highlighted by the classic size-weight illusion (SWI), where different-sized objects of identical mass feel different weights. Here, we examined whether these expectations are sufficient to induce the SWI in a single wooden cube when lifted without visual feedback, by varying the size of the object seen prior to the lift.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Participants, who believed that they were lifting the same object that they had just seen, reported that the weight of the single, standard-sized cube that they …

Parents, Parenting And Toddler Adaptation: Evidence From A National Longitudinal Study Of Australian Children, Melanie Zimmer-Gembeck, Rae Thomas

Rae Thomas

Because infants and toddlers are particularly susceptible to parents’ socialization efforts, the purpose of this 2-year longitudinal study (N= 4271 infants) was to forecast toddlers’ competence and problems (adaptational outcomes, ageM= 30 months) from parenting experiences when they were infants (age M= 9 months). Using structural equation modeling and data from a nationally representative sample, parenting during infancy was important to toddlers’ adaptational outcomes, with parenting warmth most strongly connected to toddler competence and parenting hostility most strongly connected to toddler problems. Additionally, toddlers’ outcomes were associated with their parents’ mental health symptoms, life difficulty, coping and self-efficacy when measured …

Book Review 18 Make Room For Happiness By Steven Melemis, William C. Mcpeck

William C. McPeck

This is my review of Make Room for Happiness: 12 Ways to Improve Your Life By Letting Go of Tension. Better Health, Self-Esteem and Relationships by Steven Melemis, published by Modern Therapies in 2008.

Stressful Life Events As Predictors Of Functioning: Findings From The Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study, Maria E. Pagano, Andrew E. Skodol, Robert L. Stout, M. Tracie Shea, Shirley Yen, Carlos M. Grilo, Charles A. Sanislow, Donna S. Bender, Thomas H. Mcglashan, Mary C. Zanarini, John G. Gunderson

Charles A. Sanislow, Ph.D.

Objective:  Although much attention has been given to the effects of adverse childhood experiences on the development of personality disorders (PDs), we know far less about how recent life events influence the ongoing course of functioning. We examined the extent to which PD subjects differ in rates of life events and the extent to which life events impact psychosocial functioning. Method:  A total of 633 subjects were drawn from the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study (CLPS), a multi-site study of four personality disorders – schizotypal (STPD), borderline (BPD), avoidant (AVPD), obsessive-compulsive (OCPD) – and a comparison group of major depressive …