Behavior change

We compared the effectiveness of two extinction interventions, extinction by omission and noncontingent delivery of reinforcement, to treat aggressive behavior with a 10-year-old boy. Before the intervention, a functional analysis revealed that aggression was maintained by positive reinforcement in the form of attention. The extinction by omission intervention consisted of ignoring aggressive behavior. Noncontingent reinforcement involved delivering attention to the boy on a fixed-time schedule. Both treatments were compared using a multielement research design. Noncontingent reinforcement produced a more rapid elimination of aggression. Additionally, the schedule of noncontingent reinforcement was gradually thinned during the intervention. Finally, both parents successfully implemented the noncontingent schedule of reinforcement independently for up to 5 weeks after treatment.

... Retrieved September 5, 2008, 501 from http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/maple-leaf-identifies-likely-502 source ... Listeriosis probe identifies multiple deficiencies. ... Retrieved April 21, 2009, from 508 http://blog.mapleleaf.com/2009/04/follow-up-statement-on-subcommittee ...

The aim of the study was the functional neurodevelopmental assessment of children with posterior fossa tumors, specifically examining whether tumor location in particular cerebellar structures determines particular neuropsychological deficits. The examined group consisted of 34 children treated between 1999 and 2007 at the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery Silesian University Medical School in Katowice, Poland. Twelve girls and 22 boys between 5 and 21 years of age were examined. The mean age was 12.3 years. There were 21 total and 8 subtotal resections of tumor, and marsupialization was performed in cases of arachnoid cysts. Hydrocephalus in 19 patients was fixed surgically. Histopathological diagnoses of tumors were as follows: 4 medulloblastomas, 8 pilocytic astrocytomas, 6 fibrillary astrocytomas, 1 anaplastic astrocytoma, 2 oligodendrogliomas, 4 anaplastic ependymomas, 1 choroid plexus papilloma, and 5 arachnoid cysts. The children were assessed by age-appropriate tests that examine higher mental functions such as cognitive processes, visual–spatial functions, verbal fluency, planning, sequential memory, and emotions. Additionally, speech examination and tests were performed. The clinical state of all patients was also evaluated, including a full neurological examination. Posterior fossa tumors can disturb normal development of higher mental functions, especially in the development of linguistic and emotional traits. Our study aimed to better understand the functional anatomy of the cerebellum in the context of behavioral changes. Exploration of the consequences of damage to posterior fossa structures may lead to a better understanding of their function in the emotional and cognitive development of children. Moreover, this work may enable the prediction of neurobehavioral disorders and offer appropriate strategies for rehabilitation, qualification, and surgical procedures.

This paper explores how symptoms of mental health problems influence acquired immune deficiency syndrome-related risk behaviors, and how changes in those symptoms relate to risk behaviors engaged in by young adults. Repeated interviews with 602 youths since 1984 provide a history of change in behaviors. Mental health symptoms during adolescence (alcohol/drug [r = .28]; conduct disorder [r = .27]; depression [r = .16]; suicide [r = .14]; anxiety [r = .16]; and posttraumatic stress [r = .09]) are associated with higher numbers of risk behaviors (specifically, prostitution, use of intravenous drugs, and choice of a high-risk sex partner) during young adulthood. Changes in mental health symptoms between adolescence and young adulthood are related to the number of risk behaviors engaged in by young adulthood (total number of symptoms [B = .10], alcohol/drug abuse or dependence [B = .34], depression [B = .20], suicidality [B = .35], anxiety [B = .13], and posttraumatic stress [B = .14]). Changes in symptoms of mental health problems are associated specifically with those risk behaviors that are initiated primarily in young adulthood: intravenous drug use, prostitution, and choice of risky partners. The findings show that prevention and treatment of mental health problems are important components of preventive interventions for human immunodeficiency virus infection in high-risk teens and young adults.

The study aim was to test whether a brief motivational intervention, with or without a booster session, would improve drinking-related outcomes more than standard Emergency Department (ED) treatment. The study population consisted of 539 (78% male) injured patients treated in the ED and discharged to the community following their treatment. Injured patients met inclusion criteria if they were assessed as hazardous or harmful drinkers by scoring eight or more on the AUDIT and/or having alcohol in their system at the time of their injury or ED visit. Patients were randomly assigned to either standard care (SC), brief intervention (BI) or brief intervention plus a booster session (BIB). At 1-year follow-up, 447 patients (83% of the sample) were re-interviewed to measure alcohol-related negative consequences, injuries and drinking. Patients receiving BIB, but not B1 patients, reduced alcohol-related negative consequences and alcohol-related injuries more than did those in the SC group. ...

Rationale  Mescaline is a nonselective serotonin receptor agonist. It has relatively delayed onset of action and prolonged duration. Mescaline attenuates various behavioral parameters in rats; however, no information is available about its pharmacokinetics in rats and its relation to the behavioral changes produced by the drug. Objectives  The present study evaluates the spontaneous locomotor activity and sensorimotor gating in relation to mescaline

Social marketing is contributing to a number of fields of research and the successful application of marketing tools and techniques in social issues is well established. Gordon’s (2013) Special Edition of the Journal of Social Marketing (Vol 3 Issue 3) challenged social marketing researchers to consider their endeavours in terms of new and fresh approaches. This issue challenges the social marketing domain to go beyond behaviour change and consider how social marketing can contribute to the fields of social innovation, social change, social advocacy and to develop macro or meso level social good (Kotler, 2013; Lusch, 2013). Social marketers must work across the various levels to enhance social good, this means that they must focus on activities and programs that go beyond behaviour change. Behaviour change contributes to and happens within the context of broader social change, while social change can manifest, demand, condition, or inhibit desirable change in human behaviour.

Mobile phones have been shown effective in several public health domains. However, there are few evaluations of the effectiveness of mobile health in health promotion. Also, although many studies have referenced behavioral theory, none appears to have explicitly tested theoretical assumptions or demonstrated mechanisms of change. More robust evaluation models that incorporate theory and measurement of behavioral mediators are needed. As in all public health programs, mobile health operates within a social ecological context. For example, organizational- and individual-level programs seek to influence health and health care practices and individual health behaviors. New programs such as Text4baby demonstrate how theory and explicit testing of mediators can be incorporated in evaluations. There are challenges and opportunities facing mHealth evaluations given the nature of the mobile channel. Mobile communication is ubiquitous, available at all times and places, and thus experimental control is often difficult. Natural experiments using variation in dosage of mHealth and place- or location-based designs may increase experimental control. Text4baby is a text messaging program that provides prenatal care messages to pregnant women and new mothers. It uses a partnership model with health care facilities often serving as local implementation partners. The authors review a case example of the evaluation of Text4baby at Madigan Army Medical Center. Participants were randomized to usual prenatal care plus text messaging or usual care alone. The evaluation has a theoretical model of behavior change and measures mediators as well as behavioral outcomes. Results will inform how behavioral theory works within mobile health programs.

The study uncovered a number of major findings which have implications for policy and practice in the country, including: the epidemic may be less severe, less generalized and more heterogeneous than previously believed, with marked regional variations; the diversity of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) epidemic seems to be related to sexual behavior patterns; small towns may be HIV hot-spots that have had marginal attention in HIV prevention efforts to date; traditional high-risk groups such as sex workers seem to be reducing some of their risky behaviors. Young populations, especially never-married sexually active females have the greatest risk of HIV infection in the country; discordant couples are also a concern, pointing to a clear need for couple counseling services which are presently non-existent or rudimentary. The lack of recent data and research, especially on high risk groups, makes further conclusions difficult, and highlights the clear need for more research.

Prediction of adherence and planning of behavior change can be systematically accomplished by using or modifying well-investigated theories. An overview of these models and recommendations for their use is offered. Control Clin Trials 2000;21:156S–163S

The impacts of COVID-19 have yet to manifest and are not predictable due to their scale or nature. This is shown in the infection, morbidity, and mortality rates, even more so in the implications on the agriculture sector and agricultural trade. On the other hand, it is well known that these effects will have an impact on both small-scale agriculture and other links in the production chain. This study aims to examine the current situations and problems of households‟ socio-economic characteristics of Thai rubber farmers. The study correspondingly tries to identify the behavioral changes of rubber farmer households and livelihoods. The study found that many rubber farmers are going to be hooked on loan from the community source. However, on the contrary, a large number of people become able to adjust and balance their lives in line with their financial aspects. The study found that, 93.6% farmers had decreasing incomes, while 47.7% had adequacy of household incomes, and 38.5% had economic dependency, e.g., borrowing money from the system outside. In contrast, to highlight the positive effects on the economy, the study found that most of the farmers (92.7%) saved money and considered more before spending during the pandemic. Similarly, an overwhelming portion (86.2%) of the farmers applied the philosophy of sufficiency economy for livelihoods, while 74.3% had built institution and culture of saving for households, and 73.4% had attempted to seek more income to support their family.