Decisions to initiate involuntary commitment: the role of intensive community services and other factors.

Objective: This study examined the predictors of actions to initiate involuntary commitment of individuals experiencing a mental health crisis.

Methods: Emergency services clinicians throughout Virginia completed a questionnaire following each face-to-face evaluation of individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. Over a one-month period in 2007, a total of 2,624 adults were evaluated.

Effectiveness of A-CRA/ACC in treating adolescents with cannabis-use disorders.

An evidence-based treatment for adolescent cannabis users, Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach with Assertive Continuing Care, was implemented in a rural county and small city in the USA. A total of 147 adolescents, ages 12-18, were enrolled and assessed at baseline and three time points: 3, 6, and 12 months using the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs and related measures. Program effectiveness was confirmed.

Attachment style and coping in relation to posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among adults living with HIV/AIDS.

Research indicates that a significant proportion of people living with HIV/AIDS report symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Moreover, attachment style has been associated with psychological and behavioral outcomes among persons living with HIV/AIDS. Attachment style may influence the ability to cope with traumatic stress and affect PTSD symptoms.

The effect of community mental health services on hospitalization rates in Virginia.

Objective: This study examined the relationship between the availability of mental health outpatient services provided by 40 publicly funded community service boards (CSBs) and the use of inpatient mental health treatment among Medicaid recipients.

Methods: Three-year data were obtained for Medicaid recipients aged 18-64 from the Medicaid claims database for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Medicaid recipients who had a mental disorder diagnosis and who had received at least one community mental health service were included in the sample.

Health disparities between Appalachian and non-Appalachian counties in Virginia USA.

Unlabelled: The examination of health disparities among people within Appalachian counties compared to people living in other counties is needed to find ways to strategically target improvements in community health in the United States of America (USA).

Methods: A telephone survey of a random sample of adults living in households within communities of all counties of the state of Virginia (VA) in the USA was conducted.

Findings: Health status was poorer among those in communities within Appalachian counties in VA and health insurance did not make a difference.

An evaluation of a computer-imaging program to prepare women for chemotherapy-related alopecia.

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate a computer program named Help with Adjustment to Alopecia by Image Recovery (HAAIR) that was developed to provide educational support and reduce distress in women with hair loss following chemotherapy.

Methods: Forty-five women who had been diagnosed with cancer and anticipated alopecia following treatment were randomly assigned to either the Imagining group (IG) or Standardized Care group (SCG). Patients in the IG used a computer-imaging program that created the patient's image on a screen to simulate baldness and use of wigs whereas patients in the SCG were directed to a resource room at the Cancer Center established for women with chemotherapy-related alopecia.

Mental health system transformation after the Virginia Tech tragedy.

On 16 April 2007, a deeply disturbed Virginia Tech student murdered thirty-two fellow students and faculty and then shot himself. Less than one year later, the Virginia legislature improved the emergency evaluation process, modified the criteria for involuntary commitment, tightened procedures for mandatory outpatient treatment, and increased state funding for community mental health services. The unanswered question, however, is whether the necessary political momentum can be sustained for the long-term investment in community services and the fundamental legal changes needed to transform a system focused on managing access to scarce hospital beds to a community-based system of accessible voluntary services.

Alcohol use and sexual risk behavior among college students: understanding gender and ethnic differences.

Objectives: The purpose of the current study was to assess the role of gender and ethnicity in the relationship between alcohol use and risky sexual behavior.

Method: Sexually active college students (n = 425) reported on alcohol expectancies, perceived risk of HIV, and drinking and sexual behavior in the context of a larger health behavior survey.

Results: Approximately one-third of participants reported binge drinking 3 or more times in the past two weeks.

Salivary cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone, and testosterone interrelationships in healthy young males: a pilot study with implications for studies of aggressive behavior.

The present small pilot study was designed to demonstrate the feasibility and relevance of using salivary assessments of biological markers to model a complex biological substrate of aggressive behavior. Five college-aged males completed the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory on enrollment and provided saliva samples at 2000, 0200 and 0800 h during one mid-week 24-h period for three consecutive weeks. Saliva samples were assayed for cortisol (C), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and testosterone (T).

Physician attitudes regarding hypoactive sexual desire disorder in a primary care clinic: a pilot study.

Introduction: Female sexual dysfunction (FSD), in particular, complaints of low desire, affects many American women. Despite the impact FSD may have on these women, many do not present their symptoms to their physicians.

Aim: To determine physician attitudes and practices regarding hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) in the primary care setting.

Relationships of depression to child and adult abuse and bodily pain among women who have experienced intimate partner violence.

This study investigates whether depression in women who experienced intimate partner violence is associated with having also experienced childhood sexual and physical abuse, psychological abuse by an intimate partner, recent involvement with the abusive partner, and bodily pain. Fifty-seven women who had left a violent relationship with an intimate partner completed measures assessing their demographic characteristics, experiences of abuse in childhood and in their relationship with their intimate partner, and depressive symptoms. Multiple regression analysis showed that women's depression was significantly greater among those who had experienced childhood physical and sexual abuse, more severe psychological abuse, and greater bodily pain (p<.

Using focus group results to inform preschool childhood obesity prevention programming.

Objective: This study about maternal feeding practices and beliefs was conducted as background for the development of a childhood obesity prevention program for multi-ethnic parents in the USA receiving services from a federal government supplemental nutrition program for low-income mothers.

Design: Using a grounded theory approach, focus groups were conducted with low-income African American, white non-Hispanic (i.e.

Fit WIC: attitudes, perceptions and practices of WIC staff toward addressing childhood overweight.

Objective: To assess the attitudes, perceptions, and practices of staff of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in providing nutrition education on childhood overweight topics with WIC participants.

Design: Descriptive and correlational study.

Setting: WIC clinics in Virginia.

Burden of phase-specific sexual dysfunction with SSRIs.

Objective: This study examines phase-specific sexual dysfunction among patients who are being treated for major depression and who do not meet criteria for global sexual dysfunction.

Methods: 6297 adult outpatients receiving antidepressant monotherapy completed the Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire (CSFQ). The sub-sample for this study (n = 3114) comprises participants who were receiving treatment with a SSRI or SNRI and did not meet the gender-specific criterion for global sexual dysfunction on the CSFQ.

Reliability and construct validity of the Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire short-form (CSFQ-14).

The Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire (CSFQ) is a 36-item clinical and research instrument identifying five scales of sexual functioning. This study documents the internal consistency and factor structure of a 14-item version of the CSFQ (CSFQ-14), which yields scores for three scales corresponding to the phases of the sexual response cycle (i.e.

Juvenile sex offender re-arrest rates for sexual, violent nonsexual and property crimes: a 10-year follow-up.

We report the results of a 10-year follow-up recidivism study of two sex offender treatment programs for incarcerated juvenile sex offenders (JSOs) in Virginia. The programs vary in environment and intensity. The more intense JSO program ("self-contained") operates in specialized living units that are separate from those of the general juvenile incarcerated population.

Feasibility and benefits of a parent-focused preschool child obesity intervention.

Objectives: This field study tested the feasibility and benefits of a program to promote 6 targeted parental behaviors to prevent obesity in children served by the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

Methods: Two WIC sites participated in a nonrandomized, controlled 1-year prospective study to assess parents' self-reported behavior changes.

Results: Statistical analyses of preintervention and postintervention assessments of parental behavior demonstrated significant changes in 2 behaviors: frequency of offering the child water and frequency of engaging in active play with the child.

Willingness and competence of depressed and schizophrenic inpatients to consent to research.

In this study, the willingness of psychiatric inpatients to volunteer for research and their capacity to consent to and distinguish between protocols offering different levels of risk and benefit were assessed. Twenty-two inpatients with major depressive disorder, 21 inpatients with schizophrenia, and 21 community control subjects were asked to consider participation in a lower-risk study offering the potential for direct medical benefit and a higher-risk study offering no direct medical benefit. Consent-related capacities were assessed with the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Clinical Research.

A placebo-controlled trial of bupropion SR as an antidote for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor-induced sexual dysfunction.

Objective: This study reports the results of a placebo-controlled, double-blind comparison of bupropion sustained release (SR) as an antidote for sexual dysfunction versus placebo in 42 patients with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)-induced sexual dysfunction. Exploratory analyses of the association of testosterone and sexual functioning in women in the study were also performed.

Method: Patients with DSM-IV major depression who experienced a therapeutic response to any SSRI and were experiencing medication-induced global or phase-specific sexual dysfunction, as measured by the Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire (CSFQ), were randomly assigned to receive either bupropion SR 150 mg b.

Cancer screening practices and attitudes: comparison of low-income women in three ethnic groups.

Objective: Based on the Health Belief Model, this study investigates differences among ethnically diverse, low-income women in the USA to inform better outreach strategies to encourage participation in the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)- sponsored breast and cervical cancer early detection program.

Design: Program-eligible, low-income, Hispanic, Vietnamese and Cambodian American women who were over the age of 40 volunteered to be interviewed in their first language for the study. A total of 78 women completed the interviews.

Psychiatric functioning and substance use: factors associated with HIV risk among incarcerated adolescents.

This study examined several types of psychiatric functioning (neuropsychiatric, emotional, and cognitive functioning) and substance use in relation to HIV risk behavior among 894 incarcerated girls and boys. Youth remanded to juvenile correctional facilities in a southern US state completed a structured interview regarding abuse history, emotional and behavioral difficulties, and demographics. Adolescents who experienced sullen affect were significantly more likely to engage in behaviors that put them at risk for HIV infection.