Distress and psychosocial needs of a heterogeneous high risk familial cancer population.

In order to assess the levels of distress and psychosocial support needs of a high risk population, we undertook a study to look at both the objective and subjective levels of distress and the wants and needs of individuals from a high familial cancer risk population. Three hundred and eighteen individuals (160 affected, 158 unaffected) completed several distress and psychosocial needs questionnaires (including the Brief Symptom Inventory-18). Sixty key informants were also surveyed about their perspective on the support needs of this population.

The relationship between self-efficacy for behaviors that promote healthy weight and clinical indicators of adiposity in a sample of early adolescents.

Objective: Examine the relationship between self-efficacy and various measures of adiposity in a sample of teens.

Methods: A total of 132 teens were selected from schools participating in an existing research study titled Teen Eating and Activity Mentoring in Schools (TEAMS). Teens completed demographic questionnaires and healthy eating-specific and physical activity-specific measures of self-efficacy.

AllerML: markup language for allergens.

Many concerns have been raised about the potential allergenicity of novel, recombinant proteins into food crops. Guidelines, proposed by WHO/FAO and EFSA, include the use of bioinformatics screening to assess the risk of potential allergenicity or cross-reactivities of all proteins introduced, for example, to improve nutritional value or promote crop resistance. However, there are no universally accepted standards that can be used to encode data on the biology of allergens to facilitate using data from multiple databases in this screening.

Decaying behavioral effects in a randomized, multi-year fruit and vegetable intake intervention.

Objective: To examine the effects of a multi-component, theory-based, 2.5-year intervention on children's fruit and vegetable consumption, preferences, knowledge and body mass index.

Methods: Four inner city elementary schools in the Northeastern United States were randomized to an intervention (n=149) or control group (n=148) in 2005.

Psychosocial Interventions to Improve the School Performance of Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Children with ADHD typically show impairments throughout the school day. A number of interventions have been demonstrated to address both the academic and behavioral impairments associated with this disorder. Although the focus of research has been on classroom-based strategies of intervention for children with ADHD, school-based interventions applicable for non-classroom environments such as lunchrooms and playgrounds are beginning to emerge.

Determining readiness for predoctoral internship training: the process of developing a screening measure.

The purpose of this study was to illustrate the development of a screening measure to assess readiness for psychology internship training. The screening measure was comprised 13 items rated on a 4-point scale. Two program faculty members reviewed the application of each candidate independently.

Functional impairments in children with ADHD: unique effects of age and comorbid status.

Objective: Children with ADHD and comorbid disorders display poorer overall functioning compared with children with ADHD alone, though little research has examined the differential impact of externalizing versus internalizing comorbidities.

Method: This study examined the impact of internalizing and externalizing comorbidities on the academic and social functioning of 416 children with ADHD.

Results: Children with ADHD and a comorbid externalizing disorder (with or without a concomitant internalizing comorbidity) displayed poorer social skills than those with ADHD alone.

Examination of adolescents' screen time and physical fitness as independent correlates of weight status and blood pressure.

Physical fitness performance is an important health correlate yet is often unrelated to sedentary behaviour in early adolescence. In this study, we examined the association of sedentary behaviour (i.e.

Parental ADHD status and its association with proband ADHD subtype and severity.

Objective: To better understand the familial transmission of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a highly heritable disorder, the effects of paternal and maternal ADHD status on probands' ADHD symptoms and subtypes were investigated.

Study Design: In 323 trios with ADHD, data from a structured interview and a self-report scale (score of >21) were used to determine ADHD probands' diagnostic status and parental ADHD status, respectively. Parental ADHD status on proband ADHD severity and subtypes was investigated.

Cognitive-emotional decision making (CEDM): a framework of patient medical decision making.

Objective: Assistance for patients faced with medical decisions has largely focussed on the clarification of information and personal values. Our aim is to draw on the decision research describing the role of emotion in combination with health behaviour models to provide a framework for conceptualizing patient decisions.

Methods: A review of the psychological and medical decision making literature concerned with the role of emotion/affect in decision making and health behaviours.

Obesity prevention in early adolescence: student, parent, and teacher views.

Background: Obesity is a significant health problem among today's youth; however, most school-based prevention programs in this area have had limited success. Focus groups were conducted with seventh- to eighth-grade students, parents, and teachers to provide insight into the development of a comprehensive program for the prevention of adolescent obesity: the Teen Eating and Activity Mentoring in Schools project (TEAMS).

Methods: Questions addressed (1) beliefs about the relationship between early adolescent behavior and health; (2) early adolescents' physical activity habits, preferences, influences, and barriers; (3) early adolescents' dietary habits, preferences, influences, and barriers; and (4) recommendations for interventions to promote physical activity and healthy eating in early adolescence.

An Analysis of Teacher Investment in the Context of a Family-School Intervention for Children with ADHD.

Intervention researchers have often failed to assess treatment integrity; when integrity is examined, the focus is typically on whether the steps of intervention have been applied and not on quality of implementation. In the few studies that have investigated intervention quality, the emphasis has been on how intervention is delivered and not how it is received or the degree of participant engagement. This study was designed to examine participant engagement, specifically teacher investment, in the context of family interventions for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) that were linked with the school.

Consent Procedures and Participation Rates in School-Based Intervention and Prevention Research: Using a Multi-Component, Partnership-Based Approach to Recruit Participants.

Evaluations of school-based interventions and prevention programs typically require parental consent for students to participate. In school-based efforts, program evaluators may have limited access to parents and considerable effort is required to obtain signed consent. This issue is particularly salient when conducting research in under-resourced, urban schools, where parent involvement in the school setting may be somewhat limited.

An initial evaluation of a culturally adapted social problem-solving and relational aggression prevention program for urban African-American relationally aggressive girls.

Recent research demonstrating that relational aggression is associated with peer relationship difficulties, internalizing and externalizing behaviors, social processing deficits, and possibly later mental health disorders among girls has emphasized the need to address the unique expression of aggression among females. Despite these findings, almost all aggression interventions have been directed toward physically aggressive boys. In the current article, the authors describe the acceptability and initial effectiveness of a culturally adapted social problem-solving/social skills intervention for inner-city 3rd- to 5th-grade urban, African American, relationally aggressive girls called the Friend to Friend Program.

School-based interventions for students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder typically manifest impairments in multiple settings. Perhaps the most common reason for referral relates to the school impairments experienced by these children. A wide range of intervention strategies have been developed for these children to improve attention and behavior, enhance academic competence, and promote social competence.

Identifying learning problems in children evaluated for ADHD: the Academic Performance Questionnaire.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the usefulness of the Academic Performance Questionnaire (APQ) to identify low reading and math achievement in children who are being evaluated for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Methods: Charts of 997 patients who were seen in a multidisciplinary ADHD evaluation program were reviewed. Patients who were in first-through sixth-grade and had complete APQ and Wechsler Individual Achievement Test II Basic Reading and Numerical Operations subtests were enrolled in this study.

Brief report: parenting styles and obesity in Mexican American children: a longitudinal study.

Objective: To assess longitudinally the relations between four parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, uninvolved, and indulgent) and child weight status in Mexican American families.

Methods: Sixty-nine low-income Mexican American mothers and their 4- to 8-year-old children participated in a 4-year longitudinal study. Mothers completed demographic and parenting measures.

Family Involvement in School-Based Health Promotion: Bringing Nutrition Information Home.

Family-school collaboration related to children's physical development has become increasingly important as childhood obesity rates continue to rise. The present study described the development and implementation of a literacy-based, family component of a school-based health education program and investigated its viability, acceptability, and effectiveness. Interactive children's books were the mechanism by which students, parents, and teachers received consistent messages at home and school regarding nutrition information.

Longitudinal behavioral effects of a school-based fruit and vegetable promotion program.

Objective: This study examined the longitudinal effects of a school-based program on kindergarten and first grade children's fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption.

Methods: The program included lunchroom, classroom, school-wide, and family components. The primary dependent variable, F&V consumed at lunch, was assessed using weighed plate waste.

FaSTR DNA: a new expert system for forensic DNA analysis.

The automation of DNA profile analysis of reference and crime samples continues to gain pace driven in part by a realisation by the criminal justice system of the positive impact DNA technology can have in aiding in the solution of crime and the apprehension of suspects. Expert systems to automate the profile analysis component of the process are beginning to be developed. In this paper, we report the validation of a new expert system FaSTR DNA, an expert system suitable for the analysis of DNA profiles from single source reference samples and from crime samples.

Murres, capelin and ocean climate: inter-annual associations across a decadal shift.

To ensure energy demands for reproduction are met, it is essential that marine birds breed during periods of peak food availability. We examined associations of the breeding chronology of common murres (Uria aalge) with the timing of the inshore arrival of their primary prey, capelin (Mallotus villosus) from 1980 to 2006 across a period of pervasive change in the Northwest Atlantic ecosystem. We also assessed the influence of ocean temperature and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO; an index of winter climate and oceanography) on these interactions.

Predictors of fear of death and self-mortality: an Atlantic Canadian perspective.

This research was undertaken to explore gender, religiosity, perceived time-left-to-live and the interactions between these variables as predictors of fear of death in 144 Atlantic Canadian students using the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale (MFODS). Predictions about cause, age, marital status, and place of death were also derived from the Do-It-Yourself-Death-Certificate and compared with actuarial data to determine accuracy. Results showed significant gender effects on 2 MFODS subscales, such that women demonstrated greater fear for significant others and fear of the dead.

5-HTTLPR genotype, stressful life events and late-life depression: no evidence of interaction in a French population.

Modification of the effect of life events on risk of depression by a polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene promoter (5-HTTLPR) has been reported in child, adolescent, adult and elderly populations. Replication attempted on data collected from 1421 individuals aged 65 and over from a French community study provided no evidence of a similar modifying effect. In the only analysis known to the authors to be carried out in an exclusively elderly, European population, this null finding remained consistent after restriction of analysis to prevalent or incident cases.

Assessing Children's Homework Performance: Development of Multi-Dimensional, Multi-Informant Rating Scales.

Efforts to develop interventions to improve homework performance have been impeded by limitations in the measurement of homework performance. This study was conducted to develop rating scales for assessing homework performance among students in elementary and middle school. Items on the scales were intended to assess student strengths as well as deficits in homework performance.