Military, demographic, and psychosocial predictors of military retention in enlisted army soldiers 12 months after deployment to Iraq.

Objective: To examine military, demographic, and psychosocial predictors of military retention following operational deployment.

Methods: Military status 12 months following return from Iraq deployment was assessed via service records in 740 regular active duty Army Soldiers. Potential predictors of military retention were derived from prospectively administered in-person interviews and questionnaires conducted within 3 months following return from Iraq.

Associations among smoking, anhedonia, and reward learning in depression.

Depression and cigarette smoking co-occur at high rates. However, the etiological mechanisms that contribute to this relationship remain unclear. Anhedonia and associated impairments in reward learning are key features of depression, which also have been linked to the onset and maintenance of cigarette smoking.

Nicotine acutely inhibits erectile tumescence by altering heart rate variability.

Objective: To examine potential mechanisms underlying nicotine's effects on male sexual arousal by exploring the mediating role of heart rate variability (HRV).

Methods: The sample comprised 22 healthy, nicotine-naïve men (mean age = 20.91 years; standard deviation = 2.

Concurrent relations among cigarette smoking status, resting heart rate variability, and erectile response.

Introduction: Heart rate variability (HRV) is a marker of sympathovagal balance; it has been implicated in erectile function and is also altered by tobacco use. Furthermore, smoking and erectile health are strongly related, given that smokers are at increased risk for erectile dysfunction. Few studies have explored the interrelationships between smoking, HRV, and erectile function concurrently.

Prospective examination of cigarette smoking among Iraq-deployed and nondeployed soldiers: prevalence and predictive characteristics.

Background: Identifying characteristics that influence smoking behavior among military personnel is critical to protect health and operational functioning.

Purpose: This study prospectively examined rates of cigarette smoking and predictors of changes in smoking behavior as a function of Iraq deployment.

Methods: One thousand eighty-two US Army soldiers (n = 773 Iraq-deployed; n = 309 nondeployed) completed assessments at two sessions [time 1: April 2003-July 2004; time 2: May 2004-July 2004 (nondeployers); January 2005-September 2006 (deployers)].

Smoking Status and Exercise in relation to PTSD Symptoms: A Test among Trauma-Exposed Adults.

The present investigation examined the interactive effect of cigarette smoking status (i.e., regular smoking versus non-smoking) and weekly exercise (i.

Predictors of attrition from an expressive writing intervention for sexual abuse survivors.

This study examined predictors of attrition from a clinical trial examining the effects of an expressive writing intervention for sexual problems among female survivors of child sexual abuse. Participants were 124 women all reporting sexual difficulties, who were randomized to a trauma-focused condition (n = 45), an experimental sexual schema-focused condition (n = 37), or a control condition (n = 42). Thirty-five women (28%) dropped out before completing posttreatment assessments.

Association between exercise and posttraumatic stress symptoms among trauma-exposed adults.

The present investigation examined associations between intensities of exercise involvement and posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptom cluster severity (reexperiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyperarousal). The sample was comprised of 108 adults (54.6% women; M age = 23.

The relationship between resting heart rate variability and erectile tumescence among men with normal erectile function.

Introduction: Individuals with erectile dysfunction (ED) have been shown to display lower heart rate variability (HRV), suggesting dysregulation of cardiac autonomic function. No studies have explored whether HRV is predictive of erectile response among men with clinically normal erectile function.

Aim: The study aims to examine associations between resting HRV and objective measures of genital response (i.

Association between smoking and heart rate variability among individuals with depression.

Background: Both depression and smoking have been independently associated with lower heart rate variability (HRV), suggesting dysregulation of cardiac autonomic function. However, no studies have systematically explored the effects of smoking on HRV among depressed patients.

Purpose: This study examined differences in HRV based on smoking status among depressed individuals.

Effects of smoking cessation on heart rate variability among long-term male smokers.

Background: Cigarette smoking has been shown to adversely affect heart rate variability (HRV), suggesting dysregulation of cardiac autonomic function. Conversely, smoking cessation is posited to improve cardiac regulation.

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of smoking cessation on HRV among a community sample of chronic smokers.

Recreational use of erectile dysfunction medications and its adverse effects on erectile function in young healthy men: the mediating role of confidence in erectile ability.

Introduction: Oral erectile dysfunction medications (EDMs) have become an increasingly popular drug of abuse among young men without a medical indication. In addition to being associated with increased sexual risk behaviors, recreational EDM use may adversely impact psychological aspects of sexual function, primarily by affecting one's confidence in pharmacologically unaided erectile ability. To date, these associations have not been investigated empirically.

Evidence for a curvilinear relationship between sympathetic nervous system activation and women's physiological sexual arousal.

There is increasing evidence that women's physiological sexual arousal is facilitated by moderate sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activation. Literature also suggests that the level of SNS activation may play a role in the degree to which SNS activity affects sexual arousal. We provide the first empirical examination of a possible curvilinear relationship between SNS activity and women's genital arousal using a direct measure of SNS activation in 52 sexually functional women.

Association between smoking cessation and sexual health in men.

Objective: To provide the first empirical investigation of the association between smoking cessation and indices of physiological and subjective sexual health in men.

Subjects And Methods: Male smokers, irrespective of erectile dysfunction status, who were motivated to stop smoking ('quitters'), were enrolled in an 8-week smoking cessation programme involving a nicotine transdermal patch treatment and adjunctive counselling. Participants were assessed at baseline (while smoking regularly), at mid-treatment (while using a high-dose nicotine transdermal patch), and at a 4-week post-cessation follow-up.

Recreational use of erectile dysfunction medications in undergraduate men in the United States: characteristics and associated risk factors.

Mounting evidence indicates that erectile dysfunction medications (EDMs) have become increasingly used as a sexual enhancement aid among men without a medical indication. Recreational EDM use has been associated with increased sexual risk behaviors, an increased risk for STIs, including incident HIV infection, and high rates of concomitant illicit drug use. The aim of the present study was to investigate the characteristics and associated risk factors for recreational EDM use among young, healthy, undergraduate men.

Sexual motivation in women as a function of age.

Introduction: Women's motivations to engage in sex are likely influenced by their past sexual experiences, the type of relationship in which they are involved in, and numerous lifestyle factors such as career and family demands. The influences of these factors undoubtedly change as women age.

Aim: This study aimed to examine potential differences in sexual motivation between three distinct age groups of premenopausal women.

The inhibitory effects of nicotine on physiological sexual arousal in nonsmoking women: results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial.

Introduction: Extensive research suggests that long-term cigarette smoking is an independent risk factor for the introduction of sexual dysfunction in men. However, results of limited data investigating this relationship in women are mixed. No studies have examined the acute effects of tobacco or nicotine on physiological sexual response in women.

Acute effects of nicotine on physiological and subjective sexual arousal in nonsmoking men: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Introduction: Chronic nicotine treatment has deleterious effects on vascular functioning and catecholamine modulation, which may compromise erectile functioning. Evidence that long-term cigarette smoking is an independent risk factor for introducing impotence is robust. However, limited studies have focused on the acute effects of smoking on physiological sexual response, and none have investigated the deleterious effects of isolated nicotine on human sexual arousal.

Linkage of eye movement dysfunction to chromosome 6p in schizophrenia: additional evidence.

Establishing the genetics of physiological traits associated with schizophrenia may be an important first step in building a neurobiological bridge between the disease phenotype and its genetic underpinnings. One of the best known of the traits associated with schizophrenia is a disorder of smooth pursuit eye tracking (ETD), which is present in 50-80% of schizophrenia patients. ETD is more than three times more prevalent in the families of a schizophrenia patient than is schizophrenia itself.