Adolescent brain and nicotine

Adolescence is a period of transition between childhood and adulthood that involves major changes in development in the physical, psychological, social and neurobiological domains. During this phase of life, multiple physical and emotional events occur throughout the body, markedly in the central nervous system, regulated by neurohormones, which are fundamental for human development, responsible for changes in thoughts, attitudes and behaviors that culminate in complete maturity for a laborious and reproductive life. Due to the lability of the neurological tissue in this period, external aggressions by means of chemical substances can cause serious and lasting effects. Nicotine is one of the substances considered legal and that more easily the adolescent comes into contact early, and can cause many harm to current and future health. This article presents some characteristics of the development of the adolescent's nervous system and the deleterious actions that can be caused by nicotine in its various forms of social presentation. Keywords: Adolescence – nicotine – smoking – nicotine addiction

Bodies at Work

Migrant beer sellers in Bangkok, Phnom Penh, and Vientiane engage in multiple contestations over bodily inscriptions, mobilizations, subjectivities, boundaries, and agency. Their bodies are subject to and shaped by the male gaze of recruitment agents, employers, and customers who can influence beer sellers’ incomes through the power they have to hire and place migrant workers in more or less popular venues, to control their movements and interactions with clients, and, to offer the prospects of patronage. Male customers often challenge bodily boundaries and integrity through unwanted touching, coercive sexual encounters, and encouraged co-drinking while, outside work, their social presentation is often judged as scandalous. These interactions work to shape and to reinforce the hegemonic gendered, racialized, and classed social order.

The Comparative Effectiveness of Mobile Phone Interventions in Improving Health Outcomes: Meta-Analytic Review (Preprint)

BACKGROUND As mobile technology continues expanding, researchers have been using mobile phones to conduct health interventions (mobile health—mHealth—interventions). The multiple features of mobile phones offer great opportunities to disseminate large-scale, cost-efficient, and tailored messages to participants. However, the interventions to date have shown mixed results, with a large variance of effect sizes (Cohen d=−0.62 to 1.65). OBJECTIVE The study aimed to generate cumulative knowledge that informs mHealth intervention research. The aims were twofold: (1) to calculate an overall effect magnitude for mHealth interventions compared with alternative interventions or conditions, and (2) to analyze potential moderators of mHealth interventions’ comparative efficacy. METHODS Comprehensive searches of the Communication & Mass Media Complete, PsycINFO, Web of Knowledge, Academic Search Premier, PubMed and MEDLINE databases were conducted to identify potentially eligible studies in peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, and dissertations and theses. Search queries were formulated using a combination of search terms: “intervention” (Title or Abstract) AND “health” (Title or Abstract) AND “*phone*” OR “black-berr*” (OR mHealth OR “application*” OR app* OR mobile OR cellular OR “short messag*” OR palm* OR iPhone* OR MP3* OR MP4* OR iPod*) (Title or Abstract). Cohen d was computed as the basic unit of analysis, and the variance-weighted analysis was implemented to compute the overall effect size under a random-effects model. Analysis of variance–like and meta-regression models were conducted to analyze categorical and continuous moderators, respectively. RESULTS The search resulted in 3424 potential studies, the abstracts (and full text, as necessary) of which were reviewed for relevance. Studies were screened in multiple stages using explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria, and citations were evaluated for inclusion of qualified studies. A total of 64 studies were included in the current meta-analysis. Results showed that mHealth interventions are relatively more effective than comparison interventions or conditions, with a small but significant overall weighted effect size (Cohen d=0.31). In addition, the effects of interventions are moderated by theoretical paradigm, 3 engagement types (ie, changing personal environment, reinforcement tracking, social presentation), mobile use type, intervention channel, and length of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS To the best of our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive meta-analysis to date that examined the overall effectiveness of mHealth interventions across health topics and is the first study that statistically tested moderators. Our findings not only shed light on intervention design using mobile phones, but also provide new directions for research in health communication and promotion using new media. Future research scholarship is needed to examine the effectiveness of mHealth interventions across various health issues, especially those that have not yet been investigated (eg, substance use, sexual health), engaging participants using social features on mobile phones, and designing tailored mHealth interventions for diverse subpopulations to maximize effects.

Presentación: Comunicación como valor de desarrollo social | Presentation: Communication as a Value of Social Development

Presentación: Comunicación como valor de desarrollo socialPresentation: Communication as a Value of Social Development

Ongeschoold maakt onbemind

Uneducated, unloved. A thematic content analysis on the social presentation of the low- and high educated in two Flemish newspapers Uneducated, unloved. A thematic content analysis on the social presentation of the low- and high educated in two Flemish newspapers This paper contributes to the growing body of research that documents the social representation of social groups in the media. Whereas this type of research repeatedly has been applied to groups defined by gender, ethnicity or social class, we apply it to groups defined by educational level. A qualitative content analysis on 824 articles published by two Flemish newspapers during the periods 1990-2000 and 2009-2010, reveals six meaning constructions of meaning that contribute to the social representation of low en highly educated groups and their mutual relationship. In line with the literature that considers educational credentials a form of symbolic capital, it is found that the differences between high and low educated people are represented as very large but in an essentially non-conflicting manner.

Psychosis Incident Cohort Outcome Study (PICOS). A multisite study of clinical, social and biological characteristics, patterns of care and predictors of outcome in first-episode psychosis. Background, methodology and overview of the patient sample

Aims.This paper aims at providing an overview of the background, design and initial findings of Psychosis Incident Cohort Outcome Study (PICOS).Methods.PICOS is a large multi-site population-based study on first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients attending public mental health services in the Veneto region (Italy) over a 3-year period. PICOS has a naturalistic longitudinal design and it includes three different modules addressing, respectively, clinical and social variables, genetics and brain imaging. Its primary aims are to characterize FEP patients in terms of clinical, psychological and social presentation, and to investigate the relative weight of clinical, environmental and biological factors (i.e. genetics and brain structure/functioning) in predicting the outcome of FEP.Results.An in-depth description of the research methodology is given first. Details on recruitment phase and baseline and follow-up evaluations are then provided. Initial findings relating to patients' baseline assessments are also presented. Future planned analyses are outlined.Conclusions.Both strengths and limitations of PICOS are discussed in the light of issues not addressed in the current literature on FEP. This study aims at making a substantial contribution to research on FEP patients. It is hoped that the research strategies adopted in PICOS will enhance the convergence of methodologies in ongoing and future studies on FEP.

Further Investigation of the Predictors of Outcome Following First Schizophrenic Episodes

The outcome at two years of patients who were eligible for a study of first schizophrenic episodes was assessed in terms of occupation (n = 237) and in terms of number of days spent as an in-patient from the time of first admission (n = 252), and was related to social, behavioural, mental state and neurological measures during the initial admission. Poor outcome was in general associated with more social withdrawal, inactivity and abnormal social presentation and with more ‘neurological soft signs'. Good occupational outcome in patients with a relatively short pre-treatment duration of illness was associated with the prescription of placebo medication during the follow-up period.