Using Smartphone Technology to Track Real-Time Changes in Anxiety/Depression Symptomatology Among Florida Cannabis Users.

Objective: Recent scientific attention has focused on the therapeutic effectiveness of cannabis use on a variety of physical and mental ailments. The present study uses smartphone technology to assess self-reported experiences of Florida cannabis users to understand how cannabis may impact anxiety and depression symptomatology. Method: Several hundred Releaf App™ users from the state of Florida provided anonymous, real-time reports of their symptoms of anxiety and/or depression immediately before and after cannabis use sessions. Linear mixed-effects modeling was used to analyze the data at the symptom and user level. Results: Results showed that for the majority of users, cannabis use was associated with a significant decrease in depression and anxiety symptomatology. While symptom type, doses per session, consumption method, and CBD levels were significant predictors of relief change, their effect sizes were small and should be interpreted with caution. At the user level, those who had positive relief outcomes in anxiety reported more doses and sessions, and those in the depression group reported more sessions. Conclusions: Our results generally support the therapeutic effectiveness of cannabis against depression/anxiety symptomatology. Future work should include standardized statistics and effect size estimates for a better understanding of each variable's practical contribution to this area of study.

Endorsement of interpersonal strategies for dealing with hypothetical everyday arthritis problems as a function of marital status, gender, and problem severity.

We used hypothetical vignettes to examine whether older adults' endorsement of interpersonal strategies for dealing with health-related (arthritis) everyday problems varied as a function of marital status, gender, and the severity of the problem. Adults 60 years and older (N=127, M = 71.40 years, SD = 7.21) rated interpersonal (i.e., discuss with doctor, spouse, relative) and other strategies (e.g., deal with the problem alone, pray) for solving two hypothetical everyday problems (one mild and one severe arthritis problem). Women reported a greater likelihood of using interpersonal strategies. Married people rated interpersonal strategies that involved their spouse higher than other strategies. Greater severity of problems was associated with greater endorsement of interpersonal strategies. Implications of the results for understanding the conditions under which older adults endorse strategies that may initiate collaborative everyday problem solving are discussed.

Collaborative everyday problem solving among same-gender friends in early and later adulthood.

To investigate potential age-related differences in performance gains (compensation and optimization) and losses (failure to actualize potential) of collaboration with a familiar partner, the authors compared pairs of older (N = 75; 69% women) and younger (N = 75; 52% women) age-homogeneous same-gender friends who interacted or worked alone to generate strategies for solving interpersonal and instrumental problems. Two indexes of strategy fluency (total and unique number of strategies) and 2 indexes of strategy type (content of strategy repertoires and strategy selected as most effective by older and younger adults) were examined. Strategies generated by interacting pairs were compared with nominal pair scores. Nominal pair scores indexed dyadic potential and were created by pooling the performance of 2 individuals who worked alone. Age differences in strategy fluency and type were largely similar to prior research based on individual problem solvers. Interacting pairs produced fewer strategies than nominal pairs, but there were no differences in strategy type. For interpersonal problems, older adults were relatively more likely to actualize their dyadic potential.

The increasing prevalence of diabetes in pregnancy.

The authors review studies published in the past 10 years that examine the prevalence and trends in the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The prevalence of GDM in a population is reflective of the prevalence of type 2 diabetes within that population. In low-risk populations, such as those found in Sweden, the prevalence in population-based studies is lower than 2% even when universal testing is offered, whereas studies in high-risk populations, such as the Native American Cree, Northern Californian Hispanics, and Northern Californian Asians, reported prevalence rates ranging from 4.9% to 12.8%. Prevalence rates for GDM obtained from hospital-based studies similarly reflect the risk of type 2 diabetes in a population with a single hospital-based study in Australia reporting prevalences ranging from 3.0% in Anglo-Celtic women to 17.0% in Indian women. Finally, of the eight studies published that report on trends in the prevalence of GDM, six report an increase in the prevalence of GDM across most racial/ethnic groups studied. In summary, diabetes during pregnancy is a common and increasing complication of pregnancy.