Executive and nonexecutive demands of constructional measures within a children's psychiatric inpatient setting.

This study examined the role of executive functioning in constructional task performance (measured with the Rey Complex Figure Test-Copy Condition [RCFT] and Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration [Beery-VMI]) within a children's psychiatric inpatient setting. A chart review was conducted for 88 children (aged 6-12) who received a neuropsychological evaluation during a psychiatric inpatient hospitalization. Multiple regression analyses investigated the role of executive and nonexecutive demands on RCFT and Beery-VMI performance.

The contribution of pre- and postdisaster social support to short- and long-term mental health after Hurricanes Katrina: A longitudinal study of low-income survivors.

A previous study of Hurricane Katrina survivors found that higher levels of predisaster social support were associated with lower psychological distress one year after the storm, and that this pathway was mediated by lower exposure to hurricane-related stressors. As a follow-up, we examined the impact of pre- and postdisaster social support on longer-term of mental health-both psychological distress and posttraumatic stress. In this three-wave longitudinal study, 492 residents in the region affected by Hurricane Katrina reported levels of perceived social support and symptoms of psychological distress prior to the storm (Wave 1).

Posttraumatic stress disorder and one-year outcome in methadone maintenance treatment.

Background: Although opiate use may be associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), it is not clear whether PTSD is associated with retention in methadone maintenance.

Objectives: To evaluate among those receiving methadone maintenance at an urban methadone maintenance clinic the frequency of life-time traumatic experiences, the predictors and prevalence of current PTSD, and whether PTSD affects retention at 1 year.

Methods: Eighty-nine people participated in the study.

Living well: an intervention to improve self-management of medical illness for individuals with serious mental illness.

Objective: Individuals with serious mental illness have elevated rates of comorbid chronic general medical conditions and may benefit from interventions designed to support illness self-management. This study examined the effectiveness of a modified version of the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program called Living Well for individuals with serious mental illness.

Methods: A total of 63 mental health consumers with serious mental illness and at least one concurrent chronic general medical condition were randomly assigned to receive the 13-session peer-cofacilitated Living Well intervention or usual care.

Feasibility of telephone-based cognitive behavioral therapy targeting major depression among urban dwelling African-American people with co-occurring HIV.

Given the burden of depression among those with HIV, and the impact of HIV on urban minority communities there is an urgent need to assess innovative treatment interventions that not only treat depression but do so in a way that allows for increased access to mental health care. This single site, uncontrolled, pilot study sought to determine the feasibility and depression outcomes of an 11-session telephone-based cognitive behavioral therapy intervention delivered over 14 weeks targeting low-income, urban-dwelling, HIV-infected African-American people with major depression. The diagnosis of major depression was made using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview.

Baclofen interactions with nicotine in rats: effects on memory.

Nicotine has been shown in numerous previous studies to significantly improve memory on the radial-arm maze, yet the critical mechanisms underlying this effect are not fully characterized. Nicotine stimulates the release of a number of neurotransmitters important for memory function including (gamma-aminobutyric acid) GABA. The importance of nicotinic-GABA interactions regarding memory is currently unknown.