Maureen J. Levine

Developmental models of social cognition in assessing psychosocial adjustments in head injury

This study compared the levels of conceptual responses involved in the processing of two parameters of social cognition in a group of 40 adult patients with closed-head injury (CHI) and a group of 26 normal controls. The two parameters, interpersonal negotiation strategies (INS) and self understanding (self) were examined in the framework of Selmans model of social perspective taking and Damon and Harts multidimensional model of self understanding. Differences among the components of the INS conflict dilemmas and aspects of self descriptions were observed in a structure interview. Results supported the hypothesis that the CHI group would respond at lower levels on the development measures of social cognition. The results of the present study are in agreement with the conclusions in the initial study. This study also extended the study of social cognition to the Tennessee Self Concept Scale and the Neurobehavioral Rating Scale, in addition to incorporating a control group. These studies support the view that psychosocial adjustment is a multidimensional construct and developmental social cognition methods appear to advance our understanding of this concept in CHI patients.

A Systematic Review of the mHealth Interventions to Prevent Alcohol and Substance Abuse

Substance abuse in young adults is a public health issue with costs to the individual and society. There is mounting evidence that the increased uses of mHealth approaches have promise as a way to facilitate reductions in substance use. This systematic review evaluated the recent body of research on mHealth-based interventions for substance use, with aims of (a) examining the functionality and effectiveness of these interventions, (b) evaluating the available research on the effectiveness of these interventions for substance use, and (c) evaluating the design, methodology, results, theoretical grounding, limitations, and implications of each study. We identified eligible studies by searching electronic databases using Boolean methods. The reviewed studies (N = 12) indicated that that a wide range of Internet-based, text messaging, and smartphone application interventions have been developed to address substance use. Interventions had an assortment of features; participants in each study highlighted the ease and convenience of the interventions; and the majority of studies provided support for the efficacy of mHealth in reducing substance use. Mobile technology is a promising tool for reducing substance use and warrants further development. Future practice including the use of mHealth interventions can be an integral part of reducing substance use.

Developmental levels of social cognition in head-injury patients

Ten adults, who had sustained a closed head injury, were interviewed regarding their self-understanding, concepts of persons, and interpersonal negotiation strategies. Responses were evaluated in terms of developmental levels of social cognition. Levels of interpersonal negotiation strategies were significantly lower than levels of self-understanding, descriptions of psychological characteristics of self were at a significantly higher level than descriptions of active and physical characteristics of self. Within interpersonal conflict situations, proposed solutions were at a significantly lower level than the justifications offered for the solutions. In general, developmental levels of social cognition were comparable to levels exhibited by non-clinical samples of adolescents. The two areas in which the head-injury patients appeared to perform at a significantly higher level than adolescents were their justifications for their proposed solutions to the interpersonal conflict situations and their ability to express the emotional consequences of interpersonal conflict.

Psychological, Neuropsychological, and Educational Correlates of Reading Deficit.

Forty-four children who were at least one year behind in reading ability were tested on 59 psychoneurological, psychological, and educational tests. The present study contributed considerable information on how children with reading disability perform on these variables; these results were compared with previous research. Support was provided to show that these children may be classified as being predominantly analytic or nonanalytic in conceptualization. Evidence was also found to indicate that learning depends upon the integration of different sense modalities.

Comparison of the Efficacy of the Minnesota Percepto-Diagnostic and Bender-Gestalt in Assessing Brain Damage in Adolescents

The Minnesota Percepto-Diagnostic Test-Revised (MPD-R) and Bender-Gestalt (BG) were administered to 34 brain-damaged (BD) and 34 functional psychiatric individuals (NBD) 17 years of age or younger. The order of administration for the MPD-R and BG was counterbalanced to control for practice effects. The MPD-R used a two-step procedure for diagnosis, while the BG was scored according to the Hutt system. Correlations (Phi) and chi-squares were computed for the MPD-R and BG for test diagnosis compared to actual (correct) diagnosis. The MPD-R diagnosis was found to be associated significantly with frequency of actual (correct) diagnosis, while the BG demonstrated a low association with frequency of actual (correct) diagnosis. The MPD-R correctly identified 78% of all subjects; the BG identified 60%. The results were interpreted as evidence that the MPD-R provides a more sensitive and accurate measure for identifying BD and NBD than does the Hutt-scored BG. It appears from this study that the MPD-R is a better test than the Bender-Gestalt for visual-motor perception.

Psychophysiological responses in closed head injury.

This study compared the psychophysiological parameters involved in the processing of bisensory memory tasks and their recall in a group of 30 adult patients with closed head injury and a group of 29 normal controls. Utilizing an automated on-line computerized system, continuous recording of heart rate, galvanic skin response and respiration were carried out during four intersensory, experimental conditions. Differences among the physiological and performance measures employed, the interaction of the modality of the task (auditory or visual) and the recall parameters (serial or paired) were observed in the set of experimental conditions. The findings in the present study were discussed in the context of the cortical control of the autonomic nervous system.

Systematic review of surveillance by social media platforms for illicit drug use.

Background The use of social media (SM) as a surveillance tool of global illicit drug use is limited. To address this limitation, a systematic review of literature focused on the ability of SM to better recognize illicit drug use trends was addressed. Methods A search was conducted in databases: PubMed, CINAHL via Ebsco, PsychINFO via Ebsco, Medline via Ebsco, ERIC, Cochrane Library, Science Direct, ABI/INFORM Complete and Communication and Mass Media Complete. Included studies were original research published in peer‐reviewed journals between January 2005 and June 2015 that primarily focused on collecting data from SM platforms to track trends in illicit drug use. Excluded were studies focused on purchasing prescription drugs from illicit online pharmacies. Results Selected studies used a range of SM tools/applications, including message boards, Twitter and blog/forums/platform discussions. Limitations included relevance, a lack of standardized surveillance systems and a lack of efficient algorithms to isolate relevant items. Conclusion Illicit drug use is a worldwide problem, and the rise of global social networking sites has led to the evolution of a readily accessible surveillance tool. Systematic approaches need to be developed to efficiently extract and analyze illicit drug content from social networks to supplement effective prevention programs.

REMIT: Development of a mHealth theory-based intervention to decrease heavy episodic drinking among college students

Abstract mHealth apps are an effective means of delivering health interventions, and the college-age population is particularly proficient at using apps. Informed by current theories of Ecological Momentary Interventions (EMI), Motivational Interviewing (MI), and the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of Change, investigators have developed a self-monitoring app—Reductions through Ecological Momentary/Motivational Intervention/Transtheoretical (REMIT)—with the aim of reducing hazardous drinking among college students. The app was developed using the Integrate, Design, Assess, and Share (IDEAS) framework. This step-by-step process for developing digital behavior change interventions was conducted in five phases to: (1) understand the users, (2) determine target behavior, (3) base the intervention in behavioral theory; (4) create delivery strategies, and (5) develop the REMIT prototype. REMIT uses assessments (informed by EMI) and components of MI and TTM to guide administration of nine modules designed to engage users in reducing alcohol use and related problems. REMIT users self-monitor their alcohol consumption and develop strategies to change drinking behaviors using a range of easy-to-use features, such as the Virtual Coach, automated text messages, interactive gaming mechanisms (gamification), drink consumption tracking, and Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) calculators. mHealth interventions have been shown to reduce alcohol use among college students when they are applied in real-life, real-time contexts. REMIT is a theory-based app that incorporates user-friendly features to reduce hazardous drinking among college students. The next step is to conduct a pilot trial to test the efficacy of the app and enhance the REMIT prototype.

Reaction and movement time variability in ADD/H: effect of tactile . experience

A clinical group of children with attention deficit disorders with hyperactivity (ADD/H) was compared to a control group, each divided into high and low variability (HV and LV) on reaction time (RT) and movement time (MT) measures. The effects of tactile-somatosensory experience on performance was also investigated. Analyses of the HV and LV groups based on RT variability found improvement on MT in both HV groups (ADD/H and control) following a tactile-somatosensory task. Both HV groups based on MT variability also showed improvement in MT following the TPT administration. No LV group (based on either RT or MT) showed improvement in MT or RT. The results in this study indicated that HV (either RT or MT) predicted improved speed and accuracy following a tactile somatosensory task. Several neuroanatomical models for the study of response variability and the role of tactile somatosensory training programmes in paediatric rehabilitation are discussed.