Mental and Social Health Commons^™

When Free Is Not For Me: Confronting The Barriers To Use Of Free Quitline Telephone Counseling For Tobacco Dependence, Christine Sheffer, Sharon Brackman, Charnette Lercara, Naomi Cottoms, Mary Olson, Luana Panissidi, Jami Pittman, Helen Stayna

Publications and Research

Remarkable disparities in smoking rates in the United States contribute significantly to socioeconomic and minority health disparities. Access to treatment for tobacco use can help address these disparities, but quitlines, our most ubiquitous treatment resource, reach just 1%–2% of smokers. We used community-based participatory methods to develop a survey instrument to assess barriers to use of the quitline in the Arkansas Mississippi delta. Barriers were quitline specific and barriers to cessation more broadly. Over one-third (34.9%) of respondents (n = 799) did not have access to a telephone that they could use for the quitline. Respondents reported low levels of …

Development Of A Technology-Based Behavioral Vaccine To Prevent Adolescent Depression: A Health System Integration Model, Benjamin W. Van Voorhees, Tracy Gladstone, Stephanie Cordel, Monika Marko-Holguin, William Beardslee, Sachiko Kuwabara, Mark Allan Kaplan, Joshua Fogel, Anne Diehl, Chris Hansen, Carl Bell

Publications and Research

Efforts to prevent depression have become a key health system priority. Currently, there is a high prevalence of depression among adolescents, and treatment has become costly due to the recurrence patterns of the illness, impairment among patients, and the complex factors needed for a treatment to be effective. Primary care may be the optimal location to identify those at risk by offering an Internet-based preventive intervention to reduce costs and improve outcomes. Few practical interventions have been developed. The models for Internet intervention development that have been put forward focus primarily on the Internet component rather than how the program …

Physical Activity Design Guidelines For School Architecture, Jeri Brittin, Dina Sorensen, Matthew Trowbridge, Karen K. Lee, Dieter Breithecker, Leah Frerichs, Terry Huang

Publications and Research

Increasing children’s physical activity at school is a national focus in the U.S. to address childhood obesity. While research has demonstrated associations between aspects of school environments and students’ physical activity, the literature currently lacks a synthesis of evidence to serve as a practical, spatially-organized resource for school designers and decision-makers, as well as to point to pertinent research opportunities. This paper describes the development of a new practical tool: Physical Activity Design Guidelines for School Architecture. Its aims are to provide architects and designers, as well as school planners, educators, and public health professionals, with strategies for making K-12 …

A Meta-Analysis Of The Prediction Of Violence Among Adults With Mental Disorders, Hing Po Lam

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The study of the risk for violence among persons with mental disorders has received substantial scientific attention over the past few decades; however, many uncertainties and controversies remain due to the wide disparities in the reported results. Using the state-of-the-art perspective of public health, a meta-analysis was conducted to clarify the ambiguities by synthesizing quantitative findings from 85 research reports (completed between January 1970 and May 2010) on violence risk assessment among mentally disordered adults. Results of this meta-analytic study revealed that the estimates of the prevalence of violence among the psychiatric population varied considerably from 1.1% to 78.4% with …

Characterization Of Somatosensory Processing In Relation To Schizotypal Traits In A Sample Of Nonclinical Young Adults, Maureen Patricia Daly

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A core feature of schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) is a basic sensory (e.g., visual, auditory) processing disruption, yet few studies have examined somatosensation. The current dissertation project examined somatosensory processes among individuals at varying degrees of psychometric risk for psychosis using tactile texture and spatial discrimination and letter recognition tasks. Differential patterns of associations of somatosensory abilities with schizotypal trait dimensions (positive, negative, disorganized), independent of anxiety and depressive symptoms, and the relative contributions of bottom-up (peripheral and morphologic features) versus top-down (error types) processing were examined. It was hypothesized that: 1) performance on somatosensory tasks would account for significant …

Evolutionary Cognitive Therapy Versus Standard Cognitive Therapy For Depression: A Protocol For A Blinded, Randomized, Superiority Clinical Trial, Cezar Giosan, Oana Cobeanu, Cristina Mogoase, Vlad Muresan, Loretta S. Malta, Katarzyna Wyka, Aurora Szentagotai

Publications and Research

Background: Depression is estimated to become the leading cause of disease burden globally by 2030. Despite existing efficacious treatments (both medical and psychotherapeutic), a large proportion of patients do not respond to therapy. Recent insights from evolutionary psychology suggest that, in addition to targeting the proximal causes of depression (for example, targeting dysfunctional beliefs by cognitive behavioral therapy), the distal or evolutionary causes (for example, inclusive fitness) should also be addressed. A randomized superiority trial is conducted to develop and test an evolutionary-driven cognitive therapy protocol for depression, and to compare its efficacy against standard cognitive therapy for depression.

Methods/design: …

Writing To Cope: Meaning Making For Professionals Caring For The Cancer Patient, Nicole Saint-Louis

Publications and Research

This paper will focus on the use of narrative or writing as an opportunity to bear witness, honor and work through the grief and loss professional caregivers experience in their oncology practice. The discussion includes, meaning making, narrative theory, narrative therapy and the growing literature of narrative medicine. Sample narratives will be shared to elucidate how writing can assist with the pain, loss and grief professional caregivers experience in the care of those coping with death and dying.

Goebl-Parker Administers Cure With Art Therapy, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Culture Ontogeny: Lifespan Development Of Religion And The Ethics Of Spiritual Counselling, Glen Milstein, Amy Manierre

Publications and Research

The counsellor has an ethical obligation to treat the whole person. Humans are cultural beings and the foundation of most cultures is religion. Religion and culture are received from our early relation~ ships and modified through later relationships across the lifespan. The paper introduces the term "culture ontogeny" to emphasize that this is a biological process wherein abstract ideas of culture and religion become material in the developing neurophysiology of each brain. A framework and methods are offered to examine the changing roles of religion in clients' emotional self~ structure, inclusive of those who describe themselves as spiritual, not religious. …

Prenatal Cocaine Exposure Increases Synaptic Localization Of A Neuronal Rasgef, Grasp-1 Via Hyperphosphorylation Of Ampar Anchoring Protein, Grip, Kalindi Bakshi, Mary Kosciuk, Robert G. Nagele, Eitan Friedman, Hoau-Yan Wang

Publications and Research

Prenatal cocaine exposure causes sustained phosphorylation of the synaptic anchoring protein, glutamate receptor interacting protein (GRIP1/2), preventing synaptic targeting of the GluR2/3-containing alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4- isoxazolepropionic acid-type glutamate receptors (AMPARs; J. Neurosci. 29: 6308–6319, 2009). Because overexpression of GRIP-associated neuronal rasGEF protein (GRASP-1) specifically reduces the synaptic targeting of AMPARs, we hypothesized that prenatal cocaine exposure enhances GRASP-1 synaptic membrane localization leading to hyper-activation of ras family proteins and heightened actin polymerization. Our results show a markedly increased GRIP1-associated GRASP-1 content with approximately 40% reduction in its rasGEF activity in frontal cortices (FCX) of 21-day-old (P21) prenatal cocaineexposed rats. This cocaine effect …

Relationships Between Self-Reported Smoking, Household Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure And Depressive Symptoms In A Pregnant Minority Population, Sylvia Tan, Lauren P. Courtney, Ayman El-Mohandes, Susan M. Blake, Marie G. Gantz, Jutta Thornberry, M. Nabil El-Khorazaty, David Perry, Michele Kiely

Publications and Research

This study sought to examine relationships between depressive symptoms and prenatal smoking and/or household environmental tobacco smoke exposure (HHETSE) among urban minority women. We analyzed private, audio computer-assisted self interview data from a clinic-based sample of 929 minority pregnant women in Washington, DC. Depressive symptoms were assessed via the Beck Depression Inventory Fast Screen. HH-ETSE, current smoking, and former smoking were assessed via self-report. Depression levels and demographic characteristics were compared: (1) among nonsmokers, for those reporting HH-ETSE versus no HH-ETSE; and (2) among smokers, for those reporting current smoking (in last 7 days) versus former smokers. Measures associated with …

Gussie Klorer Uses Art To Help Children Heal, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Coping, Productive Time Use, And Negative Mood Among Adults With Severe Mental Illness: A Daily Diary Study, Philip T. Yanos, Michelle L. West, Stephen M. Smith

Publications and Research

Most studies on coping among persons with severe mental illness have relied on retrospective self-report methods; a limitation of this methodology is susceptibility to recall bias. The purpose of the present investigation was to expand the current understanding of the impact of coping among persons with severe mental illness by examining coping strategies, mood, and social functioning (operationalized as productive time use) using a daily process design. Twenty-seven adults diagnosed with severe mental illness completed baseline clinical interviews and up to 20 days of nightly telephone interviews addressing coping and daily life. A total of 198 coping efforts were reported …

Blood/Lust: Freud And The Trauma Of Killing In War, Nolen Gertz

Publications and Research

During World War I, Sigmund Freud and his followers held a special symposium in Budapest entitled "Psycho-Analysis and the War Neuroses." Their contributions centered on the importance of trying to understand what can cause a soldier to become traumatized in war by investigating the individual factors of each case as opposed to merely the situational factors. Thus by redefining such ambiguous illnesses as shell shock and war strain into the Freudian framework of the traumatic neuroses, they were able to do what the neurologists could not — explain the meaning behind the soldiers' symptoms and treat them with successful results. …

Internalized Stigma As A Barrier To Improvement In Vocational Functioning Among People With Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders, Philip T. Yanos, Paul Lysaker, David Roe

Publications and Research

We examined the relationship between internalized stigma and changes in vocational function. Persons with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (n=78) were assessed at baseline and 5 months after vocational rehabilitation. Internalized stigma and cognitive–behavioral treatment predicted change in vocational functioning, supporting the view that internalized stigma compromises vocational outcomes.

Moderate Alcohol Use And Mortality From Ischaemic Heart Disease: A Prospective Study In Older Chinese People, Mary Schooling, Sun Wenji, Sai Yin Ho, Wai Man Chan, May Ked Tham, Kin Sang Ho, Gabriel M. Leung, Tai Hing Lam

Publications and Research

Abstract
Background: Moderate alcohol use is generally associated with lower ischaemic heart disease (IHD) mortality but it is difficult to ascertain whether this is due to attributes of moderate alcohol users or the properties of alcohol itself. Evidence from populations with different patterns of alcohol use and IHD can provide crucial evidence. We assessed the association of moderate alcohol use with IHD mortality in older Chinese people from Hong Kong.

Methodology
We used Cox regression to determine whether moderate alcohol use was associated with IHD mortality in a prospective, population-based cohort study of all 56167 attendees, aged 65 years or …

Queering Psychoanalysis: The Relational Turn, Jack Drescher

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

On Thursday, March 25, CLAGS hosted a panel entitled "Queering Psychoanalysis: The Relational Turn." The program, part of an ongoing CLAGS effort, introduced academics and scholars more familiar with Freud and Lacan to contemporary, relational psychoanalytic theories and practices.

Ackerman Lecture, Suzanne Iasenza

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

The First Annual Dr. John Patten Memorial Lecture was held November 14 at the Hunter College of Social Work. CLAGS agreed to cosponsor the lecture, developed to honor the life and work of Dr. John Patten, faculty member of the Ackerman Institute for Family Therapy, Medical Director of the Institute's AIDS Project, and co-founder and co-director f the Institute's Gay and Lesbian Family Study Project. Dr. Patten was also co-founder and senior editor of In The Family Magazine, a family therapy-oriented magazine for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and their relations. He died of AIDS on October 4, 1995.

Nazi Doctors, Psychology, And Evil, University Faculty Senate

CUNY UFS Publications

University Faculty Senate, Annual Dinner Meeting, Dec. 16, 1986

V. .Dessert/Guest Lecturer: Distinguished Professor Robert J. Lifton -"Nazi Doctors, Psychology, and Evil." Professor Lifton was appointed to John Jay College, the Graduate School and University Center, and the CUNY Mt. Sinai School of Medicine.

This talk was produced and distributed after the meeting Minutes.