The role of phonological structure and experience in bilingual children's nonword repetition performance.

The current study examined the influence of phonological structure and language experience on the nonword repetition performance of bilingual children. Twenty-six Spanish-dominant and 26 English-dominant Spanish-English bilingual five-year-old children were matched on current exposure to the dominant language and year of first exposure to English. Participants repeated non-wordlike nonwords in English and Spanish.

Story retelling by bilingual children with language impairments and typically developing controls.

Background: To date there is limited information documenting growth patterns in the narratives of bilingual children with and without primary language impairment (PLI).

Aims: This study was designed to determine whether bilingual children with and without PLI present similar gains from kindergarten to first grade in the macro- and microstructure of stories told in Spanish and English.

Methods & Procedures: In this longitudinal study, 21 bilingual children identified with PLI were each matched to a bilingual typically developing (TD) peer on age, sex, non-verbal IQ and language exposure.

Identification of specific language impairment in bilingual children: I. Assessment in English.

Purpose: This study was designed to derive cut scores for English testing for use in identifying specific language impairment (SLI) in bilingual children who were learning English as a second language.

Method: In a 1-gate design, 167 children received comprehensive language assessments in English and Spanish during their first-grade year. The reference standard was identification by a team of expert bilingual speech-language pathologists.

The measure matters: Language dominance profiles across measures in Spanish-English bilingual children.

The purpose of this study was to determine if different language measures resulted in the same classifications of language dominance and proficiency for a group of bilingual pre-kindergarteners and kindergarteners. Data were analyzed for 1029 Spanish-English bilingual pre-kindergarteners who spanned the full range of bilingual language proficiency. Parent questionnaires were used to quantify age of first exposure and current language use.

Use of antidepressants and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: a nested case-control study.

Background: Recent evidence from case reports, observational studies, and randomized trials suggests that long-term use of antidepressants increases the risk of developing diabetes. However, the nature of the relationship between antidepressants and diabetes remains unclear.

Objective: To determine whether there is an association between antidepressant use and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Risk for poor performance on a language screening measure for bilingual preschoolers and kindergarteners.

Purpose: This study documents the risk for language impairment in Latino children who had different levels of exposure to English and Spanish.

Method: A total of 1,029 preschool- and kindergarten-age children were screened in the domains of semantics and morphosyntax in both Spanish and English. Parent report was used to document current exposure to and use of Spanish and English, as well as year of first exposure to English.

Evaluating patient adherence to antidepressant therapy among uninsured working adults diagnosed with major depression: results of the Texas Demonstration to Maintain Independence and Employment study.

This study examined antidepressant adherence and persistence among uninsured working adults diagnosed with major depression enrolled in the Texas Demonstration to Maintain Independence and Employment (DMIE) program. Antidepressant adherence was measured between intervention and control cohorts using proportion of days covered (PDC) during a 365-day observation period. Persistence examined duration of time from drug initiation to discontinuation based on a ≥35-day refill supply gap.

Sexual assault perpetrators' alcohol and drug use: the likelihood of concurrent violence and post-sexual assault outcomes for women victims.

Addressing sexual assault requires policy and practice responses that are well-informed and empirically-grounded. This study examines the impact of perpetrators' drug and alcohol use during and after sexual assault. A representative sample of women, who responded to a random digit dialing survey, and reported that they were sexually assaulted at some time in their lives were utilized.

Use of complementary and alternative medicine for treatment among African-Americans: a multivariate analysis.

Background: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is substantial among African-Americans; however, research on characteristics of African-Americans who use CAM to treat specific conditions is scarce.

Objective: To determine what predisposing, enabling, need, and disease-state factors are related to CAM use for treatment among a nationally representative sample of African-Americans.

Methods: A cross-sectional study design was employed using the 2002 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

Bilingual performance on nonword repetition in Spanish and English.

Background: Nonword repetition (NWR) involves the ability to perceive, store, recall and reproduce phonological sequences. These same abilities play a role in word and morpheme learning. Cross-linguistic studies of performance on NWR tasks, word learning, and morpheme learning yield patterns of increased performance on all three tasks as a function of age and language experience.

What You Hear and What You Say: Language Performance in Spanish English Bilinguals.

PURPOSE: This study assesses the factors that contribute to Spanish and English language development in bilingual children. METHOD: 757 Hispanic Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten age children completed screening tests of semantic and morphosyntactic development in Spanish and English. Parents provided information about their occupation and education as well as their children's English and Spanish exposure.

A nutrition and physical activity intervention promotes weight loss and enhances diet attitudes in low-income mothers of young children.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a nutrition and physical activity program for reducing body weight and improving nutrition attitudes in mothers of young children. A convenience sample of 114 intervention mothers and 33 comparison mothers was recruited from public health clinics and community centers. Eligibility criteria included Hispanic, African American, or white ethnicity; body mass index of at least 25 kg/m(2); low income (< 200% of the federal poverty index); and youngest child aged 1 to 4 years.

Assessing health care organizations' ability to implement screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment.

Objectives: : To determine if a new measure of organizational readiness for change reflects site and staff role differences when implementing a screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) program for alcohol and drug misuse in a healthcare organization.

Sample: : One hundred forty-one Community Health Program (CHP) and 45 Emergency Center (EC) respondents completed the survey.

Methods: : Medical and ancillary staff from a Level 1 trauma hospital EC and 3 CHP clinics within a large, urban, publicly funded health-care system were asked to complete the 45-item Medical Organizational Readiness for Change (MORC) survey 5 to 7 months after the start of implementation planning.

The efficacy of Fast ForWord Language intervention in school-age children with language impairment: a randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: A randomized controlled trial was conducted to compare the language and auditory processing outcomes of children assigned to receive the Fast ForWord Language intervention (FFW-L) with the outcomes of children assigned to nonspecific or specific language intervention comparison treatments that did not contain modified speech.

Method: Two hundred sixteen children between the ages of 6 and 9 years with language impairments were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: (a) Fast ForWord Language (FFW-L), (b) academic enrichment (AE), (c) computer-assisted language intervention (CALI), or (d) individualized language intervention (ILI) provided by a speech-language pathologist. All children received 1 hr and 40 min of treatment, 5 days per week, for 6 weeks.

Patterns of complementary and alternative medicine use in African Americans.

Objectives: This study sought to determine (1) characteristics of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) users in the African-American (AA) population; (2) the prevalence of CAM use; and (3) CAM use for treatment and prevention of disease.

Design: The authors analyzed data from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), which included 4256 AA adults representing 23,828,268 AA adults nationwide. Chi-squared tests based on weighted data were used to examine differences in CAM users and nonusers.

Low-income, overweight and obese mothers as agents of change to improve food choices, fat habits, and physical activity in their 1-to-3-year-old children.

Objective: To examine the effects of a weight loss program for mothers on the diet and activity of mothers and their 1-3 year old children.

Design: Overweight and obese mothers participated in an 8-week weight loss intervention encompassing diet, physical activity, and behavioral modification. Anthropometrics, demographic, dietary, and physical activity questionnaires were administered at weeks 0 and 8; anthropometrics were re-evaluated at week 24.

Predictors of weight loss in low-income mothers of young children.

Objective: To identify predictors of weight loss in a tri-ethnic population of low-income mothers.

Design: An 8-week dietary and physical activity program was tested. Demographic data were collected at baseline; anthropometric, dietary, physical activity, and psychosocial data were measured at baseline and week 8.

Predicting the changes in depressive symptomatology in later life: how much do changes in health status, marital and caregiving status, work and volunteering, and health-related behaviors contribute?

This study examined the unique effects of four variable groups on changes in older adults' depressive symptoms for a 2-year period: (1) baseline health and disability status, (2) changes in health and disability since baseline, (3) stability and changes in marital and caregiving status and in work and volunteering, and (4) stability and changes in health-related behaviors. With data from the 1998 and 2000 interview waves of the Health and Retirement Study, the authors used gender-separate multistep (hierarchical) residualized regression analyses in which the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (CES-D) score at follow-up is modeled as a function of the effect of each group of independent variables. As hypothesized, changes in health, disability, marital, and caregiving status explained a larger amount of variance than the existing and stable conditions, although each group of variables explained a relatively small amount (0.

Differences in characteristics of heroin inhalers and heroin injectors at admission to treatment: a preliminary study using a large database of client records.

Aims: To compare the characteristics of heroin injectors vs. inhalers at their first admission to publicly funded treatment in Texas.

Methods: The sample consisted of 9732 unique clients who entered publicly funded treatment programs in Texas between 1997 and 2001 and who had a primary problem with either injected or inhaled heroin, which they had used in the past 30 days.