Childhood Loss Experiences, Religiousness/Spirituality, and Hope as Predictors of Adult Life Satisfaction.

The purpose of this study was to explore how adaptive patterns of religiousness/spirituality and hope predict adult life satisfaction in adults, even if they had childhood loss experiences. Using a cross-sectional survey design with132 adult participants (mean age 33.8 ± 15.

Perceptions of an Obstetric Clinical Rotation by Nursing Students Who Are Men.

Background: Maternity nursing is perceived as an unwelcoming specialty to many nursing students who are men. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the experiences of nursing students who are men at a Southeastern university before, during, and after their obstetric clinical rotations.

Methods: Students were interviewed individually.

Psychotherapy Experiences of Perpetrators of Child Sexual Abuse.

Cynicism about treatment of sex offenders pervades both professional and lay literature. A Cochrane review of randomized controlled trials concluded there is no evidence to support any psychological intervention for sex offenders, but RCT design has limitations for evaluating sex offender treatment. Rarely has a qualitative approach been used to explore perceptions of offenders themselves about their psychotherapy experiences.

Psychometric Properties of the Dietary Salt Reduction Self-Care Behavior Scale.

Valid, reliable, and culturally-specific scales to measure salt reduction self-care behavior in older adults are needed. The purpose of this study was to develop the Dietary Salt Reduction Self-Care Behavior Scale (DSR-SCB) for use in hypertensive older adults with Orem's self-care deficit theory as a base. Exploratory factor analysis, Rasch modeling, and reliability were performed on data from 242 older Thai adults.

Psychological correlates of HIV-related symptom distress.

This investigation sought to determine the association of symptom distress with selected psychological factors in HIV-infected persons. Data from a randomized controlled trial were used; all subjects who completed baseline data collection were included (N = 99). Data packets included these questionnaires: the Perceived Stress Scale, HIV-related Symptom Distress Scale, and Profile of Mood State.

Development and validation of the dietary sodium reduction self-care agency scale.

A scale did not exist for measuring the capability or self-care agency of lowering salt consumption in older adults with hypertension. Therefore, our objectives were to develop and validate the Dietary Sodium Reduction Self-Care Agency Scale (DSR-SCA Scale). A 24-item scale was developed and tested in 242 older adults with hypertension.

Comparison of temporal artery and axillary temperatures in healthy newborns.

Objective: To compare temperature readings of temporal artery and axillary thermometers in healthy late preterm and term infants in an effort to standardize practice.

Design: Descriptive comparative.

Setting: Thirty-bed, healthy mother/baby unit in an inner-city Level-1 trauma center, averaging 2,500 births per year.

Moderate-Intensity Exercise Improves Body Composition and Improves Physiological Markers of Stress in HIV-Infected Men.

HIV/AIDS and its treatment often alter body composition and result in poorer physical functioning. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a moderate-intensity exercise program on body composition and the hormones and cytokines associated with adverse health outcomes. HIV-infected males (N = 111) were randomized to an exercise group (EX) who completed 6 weeks of moderate-intensity exercise training, or to a nonintervention control group (CON).

Conceptual development of an instrument to measure the internalized stigma of AIDS based on the Roy adaptation model.

In this column the author describes the development of an instrument to measure internalized stigma of HIV/AIDS based on the self-concept adaptive mode of the Roy adaptation model. The Internalized Stigma of AIDS Tool is a 10-item instrument that is derived from the physical self (body sensation and image) and personal self (self-consistency, self-ideal and moral-ethical-spiritual self) as set forth by Roy. An overview of the Roy adaptation model and the theory of the person as an adaptive system illustrates how this instrument was derived.

Social context of rural Women with HIV/AIDS.

The South has more AIDS cases than any other region of the US, with most new diagnoses among African American women (56%). In a previous study, a peer counseling intervention for rural women with HIV/AIDS was developed and tested. The purpose of this analysis was to describe, from the peer counselors' perspective, the predominant concerns of the women, contextualized by living in isolated, impoverished circumstances in the rural Deep South.

Development of an instrument to measure internalized stigma in those with HIV/AIDS.

Stigma has grave consequences for persons living with HIV/AIDS. Stigma hampers prevention of HIV transmission to sexual partners and to unborn babies, diagnosis, and early treatment, and negatively affects mental and physical health, quality of life, and life satisfaction. Internalized stigma of HIV/AIDS may have even more severe consequences than perceived or enacted stigma.

Individual exercise sessions alter circulating hormones and cytokines in HIV-infected men.

Exercise has the potential to impact disease by altering circulating anabolic and catabolic factors. It was the goal of this study to determine how different regimens of low-intensity and moderate-intensity exercise affected circulating levels of these anabolic and catabolic factors in HIV-infected men. Exercise-naive, HIV-infected men, medically cleared for study participation, were randomized into one of the following groups: a moderate-intensity group (MOD, who completed 30 min of moderate-intensity aerobic training followed by 30 min of moderate-intensity resistance training; a low-intensity group (LOW), who completed 60 min of treadmill walking; or a control group (CON), who attended the clinic but participated in no activity.

Cranial electrotherapy stimulation for the treatment of depression.

More prevalent in women than men, clinical depression affects approximately 15 million American adults in a given year. Psychopharmaceutical therapy accompanied by psychotherapy and wellness interventions (e.g.

Understanding and responding to HIV/AIDS stigma and disclosure: an international challenge for mental health nurses.

Stigma and discrimination are challenges in the care and treatment of persons with HIV infection worldwide. Fear of negative social consequences often causes persons with HIV/AIDS to keep their infection secret, resulting in negative psychological and physical outcomes and continued spread of the disease. Mental health nurses have a unique opportunity to influence the trajectory of HIV/AIDS though counseling and interventions that address HIV/AIDS stigma with clients, communities, and society.

Men seeking sex on an intergenerational gay Internet website: an exploratory study.

Objective: This study explored the characteristics and sexual behaviors reported by men who have sex with men (MSM) seeking sex on an intergenerational website. Of special interest was to determine whether and how seeking sex on the Internet contributed to risky sex behaviors.

Methods: This descriptive exploratory study extracted data from a stratified random sample of 1,020 profiles posted by men seeking sex on a gay intergenerational website.

Embodied work: insider perspectives on the work of HIV/AIDS peer counselors.

Our aim in this study was to explore HIV/AIDS peer counseling from the perspective of women actively engaged in this work within the context of a community-based program in rural areas of the southeastern United States. Based on this research we suggest that the embodied work of HIV/AIDS peer counselors is constructed around their personal identities and experiences. This work involves gaining entry to other HIV-positive women's lives, building relationships, drawing on personal experiences, facing issues of fear and stigma, tailoring peer counseling for diversity, balancing risks and benefits, and terminating relationships.

Moderate intensity exercise training reverses functional aerobic impairment in HIV-infected individuals.

HIV infection and HIV drug therapies result in physical and psychological challenges to those living with HIV. These conditions contribute to decreased functional aerobic capacity (FAC). The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a combined moderate-intensity aerobic and resistance exercise intervention on the FAC of HIV-infected individuals.

Social support, coping, and medication adherence among HIV-positive women with depression living in rural areas of the southeastern United States.

This study examined the relationships among sociodemographic factors, social support, coping, and adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) among HIV-positive women with depression. The analyses reported here were limited to the 224 women receiving ART of 280 women recruited from community-based HIV/AIDS organizations serving rural areas of three states in the southeastern United States. Two indicators of medication adherence were measured; self-report of missed medications and reasons for missed medications in the past month.

Creativity in older adults: a plethora of possibilities.

Aging continues to be an important topic of study. For many older adults, the elder years can be a challenging, if not difficult, time. Creativity interventions have been shown to positively affect mental and physiological health indicators.

Alcohol and other drug disorders, comorbidty and violence in rural African American women.

African-American women report less alcohol and drug (AOD) use than Caucasian women. However, African-Americans disproportionately experience negative health and social consequences of AOD use. This is especially true for rural women, many of whom live in poverty and have debilitating co-morbid psychiatric disorders that go undiagnosed and treated.

HIV/AIDS peer counselors' perspectives on intervention delivery formats.

This research sought to elicit HIV/AIDS peer counselors' perspectives about delivery formats for a counseling intervention. Peer counselors identified personal contact as the major advantage of the face-to-face format. Personal contact afforded counselors better opportunities to understand and assess clients' physical, emotional, and environmental status and allowed them to connect with peers in more concrete and personal ways.