Maternal depression and the learning-promoting effects of infant-directed speech: Roles of maternal sensitivity, depression diagnosis, and speech acoustic cues.

The hypothesis that the associative learning-promoting effects of infant-directed speech (IDS) depend on infants' social experience was tested in a conditioned-attention paradigm with a cumulative sample of 4- to 14-month-old infants. Following six forward pairings of a brief IDS segment and a photographic slide of a smiling female face, infants of clinically depressed mothers exhibited evidence of having acquired significantly weaker voice-face associations than infants of non-depressed mothers. Regression analyses revealed that maternal depression was significantly related to infant learning even after demographic correlates of depression, antidepressant medication use, and extent of pitch modulation in maternal IDS had been taken into account. However, after maternal depression had been accounted for, maternal emotional availability, coded by blind raters from separate play interactions, accounted for significant further increments in the proportion of variance accounted for in infant learning scores. Both maternal depression and maternal insensitivity negatively, and additively, predicted poor learning.

The Use of the Internet to Meet Sexual Partners: A Comparison of Non-Heterosexually-Identified Men with Heterosexually-Identified Men and Women.

In 2008, we conducted online interviews with 65 self-identified adult heterosexual men and women and gay/bisexual men to explore perceptions and experiences with meeting people online. Reasons for meeting people online, desired partner characteristics, and the process of connecting for sex paralleled those observed in real-life; but the Internet allowed people to identify more partners and specific partner characteristics. "Background checks" of online partners, even though often believed to be false, increased familiarity and trust leading to reduced perceived need for condom use. Participants said online condom use negotiation was easier, but usually occurred in face-to-face contexts in practice. (99).

Social responsibility, substance use, and sexual risk behavior in men who have sex with men.

Considerable public health literature focuses on relationships between problematic human characteristics (e.g., psychopathology) and unhealthy behaviors. A recent movement termed positive psychology emphasizes the advantages of assessing relationships between human strengths (e.g., altruism) and beneficial health behaviors. The present study assessed social responsibility, an orientation to help or protect others even when there is nothing to be gained as an individual, and its relationship to HIV-relevant behaviors. In our sample of 350 men who have sex with men (MSM), social responsibility was negatively correlated with substance use and HIV risk behaviors. Men who had been tested for HIV and knew their HIV status-a behavior that helps men protect their partners but does not protect themselves from the virus-also scored higher in social responsibility. Interventions designed to reduce HIV risk behavior in MSM may benefit from efforts to promote human strengths.

Intentional misuse of over-the-counter medications, mental health, and polysubstance use in young adults.

In recent years, the non-medical use of prescription drugs (without a doctor's prescription) has increased dramatically. Less attention has been paid to the intentional misuse of over-the-counter (OTC) medications. Misuse of OTC medications has negative health consequences similar to those of illicit drugs, including psychosis, tachycardia, seizures and agitation. When mixed with alcohol or other drugs, these medications can also be dangerous: OTC-related emergency room visits increased 70% from 2004 to 2008. This study examined the intentional misuse of OTC medications, the non-medical use of prescription drugs, the use of alcohol and illicit drugs, and psychological factors in two samples of young adults (ages 18-25) from different areas of the United States (Total N = 1,197). Overall, 18.6% of the Colorado sample and 13.0% of the Virginia sample reported lifetime misuse of an OTC medication. Participants who reported misusing OTC medications were also significantly more likely to report using marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, and non-medical use of prescription analgesics, stimulants, anxiolytics, and sedatives. Participants who reported misusing OTC medications were more than twice as likely to report hazardous alcohol use, relative to individuals who denied misusing OTC medications. Individuals who had misused OTC medications scored significantly higher in sensation seeking and hopelessness and reported more symptoms of depression, anxiety, and somatic distress, relative to those who denied OTC misuse. Results suggest that a considerable minority of young adults are jeopardizing their health with the misuse of OTC medications as part of a pattern of polysubstance use.

Psychological functioning in adolescents with obesity co-morbidities.

BACKGROUND: An understanding of the relationships among obesity severity, medical co-morbidities, and psychological complications is important in the design of interventions to encourage overweight youth and families to accomplish healthy lifestyle changes. METHODS: We evaluated associations among psychological status, diagnosed medical co-morbidities consistent with components of the metabolic syndrome, and BMI among 166 obese adolescents (11-18 years) referred for endocrinology consultation. We hypothesized that there would be higher levels of psychological distress among youth with more diagnosed components of the metabolic syndrome (i.e., more medical co-morbidities associated with obesity). RESULTS: Contrary to expectation, we found that meeting criteria for extreme obesity alone was more predictive of psychological difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: The degree of obesity may be more relevant than the number of associated medical co-morbidities in impacting psychological health. It is important to recognize individual differences between patients in terms of identifying motivating goals for accomplishing weight management.

A developmental decline in the learning-promoting effects of infant-directed speech for infants of mothers with chronically elevated symptoms of depression.

Infants of mothers who varied in symptoms of depression were tested at 4 and 12 months of age for their ability to associate a segment of an unfamiliar non-depressed mother's infant-directed speech (IDS) with a face. At 4 months, all infants learned the voice-face association. At 12 months, despite the fact that none of the mothers were still clinically depressed, infants of mothers with chronically elevated self-reported depressive symptoms, and infants of mothers with elevated self-reported depressive symptoms at 4 months but not 12 months, on average did not learn the association. For infants of mothers diagnosed with depression in remission, learning at 12 months was negatively correlated with the postpartum duration of the mother's depressive episode. At neither age did extent of pitch modulation in the IDS segments correlate with infant learning. However, learning scores at 12 months correlated significantly with concurrent maternal reports of infant receptive language development. The roles of the duration and timing of maternal depressive symptoms are discussed.

Non-medical use of prescription drugs and sexual risk behavior in young adults.

In recent years, the non-medical use of prescription drugs (without a doctor's prescription) has increased dramatically, particularly in young adults. Previous work has noted associations between the non-medical use of prescription drugs and the use of illicit drugs, and associations between the use of illicit drugs and sexual risk behavior. Investigations examining associations between the non-medical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD) and sexual risk behavior are sparse. In the present study, undergraduate students (n=435) ages 18-25 completed an instrument assessing these behaviors. Overall, 35.6% of participants reported NMUPD. Individuals who reported NMUPD were more likely to also report the use of alcohol, marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, methamphetamine, and poppers. Participants who indicated they had used prescription medications without a doctor's consent had significantly higher rates of sexual risk behavior, including more sexual partners and more instances of unprotected sex in the previous 3 months. Results suggest that a significant minority of young adults are using prescription medication recreationally and are risking negative consequences, including the potential for addiction, dangerous interactions between prescription and recreational drugs, and greater risk for contracting sexually transmitted infections.

Nonmedical use of prescription drugs and HIV risk behavior in gay and bisexual men.

BACKGROUND: Previous research has demonstrated associations between substance use and sexual risk behavior in men who have sex with men (MSM). Recent trends in substance use show increasing use of prescription medications (e.g., Vicodin) without a physician's prescription, yet associations between the nonmedical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD) and HIV risk behavior have not been well examined in MSM. METHODS: MSM attending a gay pride festival completed a self-report measure assessing NMUPD, motivations for use, use of traditional recreational drugs, and HIV risk behavior. RESULTS: More than one-third of the sample (38%) reported lifetime NMUPD and 17% reported NMUPD in the previous 3 months. The most common class of medications used was prescription analgesics. Men reporting NMUPD also reported higher rates of the use of marijuana, poppers, ecstasy, cocaine, methamphetamine, GHB, ketamine, heroin, and rohypnol, and had significantly higher rates of HIV risk behaviors, including more sexual partners and more unprotected sex. CONCLUSIONS: A significant minority of MSM are using prescription medications without a doctor's consent. Men who do so are risking negative consequences of such use, including the potential for addiction, potentially dangerous interactions between prescription and recreational drugs, and greater risk for contracting HIV.