The presence of siblings during childhood and adolescence has a significant impact on the behaviors and perceptions of adults later in life. Effects of mixed-gendered sibling dyads on delinquent behavior, gender typing, and romantic and sexual relationships are of interest. These behaviors can lead to notable health disparities, making it imperative to gain insight into factors associated with such behaviors in young adult and adolescent males. This project explored possible correlations between gender composition of siblings and health behavior indicators for violence, competition and risk, and sexual and romantic relationships. Analysis of these variables was performed using data from the Young Adult and Adolescent Male Health Behavior Indicator Scale [YAAMHBIS]. Descriptive analyses showed YAAM understanding of abuse and successful marriage and relationship qualities, as well as a conditional acceptance of violence, competition, and risk. Means testing between those with and without sisters indicated that those with sisters acknowledged abuse, marriage qualities, and the consequences of infidelity. Additionally, those with sisters had, on average, an earlier age of sexual debut than those without supporting previous research regarding the effects of female communication in childhood on adult interactions. The correlations found between sibling gender and YAAM perceptions later in life could lay the groundwork for future studies further investigating sibling gender or split households and an association with health behaviors.

<p>Allosteric modulators are emerging as a new class of therapeutics for the treatment of complex disorders, including psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia. The disease is marked by hyperdopaminergic signaling in the striatum, which plays a role in the development of positive symptoms like delusions, hallucinations, and paranoia. Conventional antipsychotic drug therapy typically employs dopamine D2 receptor antagonists that compete with endogenous dopamine at the orthosteric, or dopamine-binding site, in an attempt to normalize these psychotic symptoms. However, they are often associated with adverse motor and metabolic side effects. Furthermore, only some antipsychotic drugs are able to treat the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, which include social withdrawal and anhedonia, and there is currently no treatment for the cognitive impairment associated with the disease.</p> <p>Allosteric modulators are safer alternatives to conventional orthosteric therapeutics as they interact with their receptor at a novel binding site and their mechanism involves modulation of endogenous signaling. Therefore, levels of endogenous ligand limit the activity of an allosteric modulator. Our lab has synthesized and evaluated over 185 compounds for their activity at the dopamine D2 receptor. Of these compounds, PAOPA is the most potent allosteric modulator, and has been shown to be effective in treating the MK-801 induced preclinical animal model of schizophrenia without causing the adverse effects induced by currently prescribed antipsychotic drugs. The objective of this study was to evaluate PAOPA’s ability to treat behavioural abnormalities in an amphetamine-sensitized model of schizophrenia.</p> <p>Four groups (n=10/group) of male Sprague Dawley rats received intraperitoneal injections three days per week on alternate days over three weeks. Group A received saline, group B received D-amphetamine (1mg/kg during week one, 2mg/kg during week two, 3mg/kg during week three), group C received PAOPA (1mg/kg), and group D received the same doses of amphetamine as group B with PAOPA (1mg/kg). Following a three-week withdrawal, each group was tested for prepulse inhibition, social interaction, and locomotor activity. Amphetamine-sensitized rats were subjected to the same tests following PAOPA administration (1mg/kg). To assess whether behavioural changes were associated with changes in brain chemistry, post-mortem dopamine levels were measured in the striatum, nucleus accumbens, and medial prefrontal cortex. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA or paired t test where appropriate.</p> <p>Amphetamine sensitization induced schizophrenic-like behavioural abnormalities, including deficits in prepulse inhibition and social interaction, as well as increased locomotor activity and sensitivity to amphetamine challenge. Concurrent amphetamine and PAOPA treatment prevented all amphetamine- induced behavioural abnormalities. Furthermore, amphetamine-induced deficits in prepulse inhibition and social interaction were reversed one hour following PAOPA treatment. PAOPA treatment alone had no effect on behaviour or post-mortem striatal dopamine. Behavioural changes in amphetamine-sensitized rats were accompanied by a reduction in post-mortem striatal dopamine levels. In correlation with behavioural results, PAOPA administration during amphetamine sensitization prevented this biochemical change.</p> <p>These results demonstrate that PAOPA can prevent and reverse behavioural and associated biochemical abnormalities in amphetamine-sensitized rats. PAOPA is a candidate for the development of treatments for schizophrenia.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

<p>The gut and brain are involved in a bi-directional communication system, referred to as the gut-brain axis. While it has been established that antimicrobials induce dysbiosis in the gut, which further disrupts immune and metabolic homeostasis, research on brain and behaviour development is becoming a topic of interest. We propose that alterations via antibiotics at the level of the gut microbiota impacts the gut-brain axis. The primary interest of this thesis is to understand the effects that antibiotics have on brain and behaviour development in conjunction with changes in the immune system and metabolism using the antibiotic mouse model. Mice treated with antibiotics revealed behavioural differences in the open field apparatus and three-chamber social behaviour apparatus, but not in the elevated plus maze and auditory fear conditionings enclosures. Evaluation of intestinal permeability revealed that female Balb/C mice administered a combination of bacitracin, neomycin and primaricin and another group administered a combination of ampicillin, neomycin and primaricin showed reduced intestinal permeability. Furthermore, the immune system condition was evaluated using flow cytometric analysis of spleens, which revealed no effect of treatment on immune cell profiles in CD1 mice treated with ampicillin. Evaluation of serum cytokine levels showed minimal differences in Balb/C and C57Bl/6 mice treated with antibiotics. Body weight and water and food consumption were evaluated in mice administered antibiotics. Weight loss differences were observed in two groups of female Balb/C mice, with the first group administered bacitracin, neomycin and primaricin and the second group administered ampicillin , neomycin and primaricin. Antibiotic treatment dependent differences in water and food consumption were observed. Serum insulin and leptin level investigation revealed that female Balb/C mice administered ampicillin, neomycin and primaricin had reduced serum insulin levels compared to strain matched controls. These findings indicate that antibiotic treatment impact metabolic function. This pilot study using antibiotic treated mouse models provides insight on the microbiota’s effects on the gut-brain axis, which can help to potentially identify methods of preventing gut microbiota mediated pathology in humans.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

This study tested the utility of three different models of personality, namely the social and personality model, the pathological personality traits model, and the psychological dysregulation model, in predicting overt aggression, relational aggression, and delinquency in a sample of detained boys (ages 12 to 18; M age = 15.31; SD = 1.16). Results indicated that the three personality approaches demonstrated different unique associations with aggression and delinquency. The psychological dysregulation approach, composed of behavioral dysregulation, emotional dysregulation, and cognitive dysregulation, emerged as the overall best predictor of overt aggression, relational aggression, and delinquency. After controlling for the Big Five personality traits, psychological dysregulation accounted for significant variance in overt aggression and delinquency, but not relational aggression. After controlling for callous-unemotional traits and narcissistic traits, psychological dysregulation also accounted for significant variance in overt aggression, relational aggression, and delinquency. Psychological dysregulation did not account for significant variance in aggression or delinquency after controlling for borderline traits. The pathological personality traits approach, comprised of callous-unemotional traits, narcissistic traits, and borderline traits performed second best. In particular, within this approach borderline traits accounted for the most unique variance, followed by narcissistic traits, then callous-unemotional traits. Borderline traits accounted for significant variance in overt aggression, relational aggression, and delinquency when controlling for the Big Five traits, but not after controlling for psychological dysregulation. Narcissistic traits only accounted for significant variance in overt aggression and relational aggression after controlling for the Big Five personality traits, but not after controlling for psychological dysregulation. CU traits only accounted for significant variance in overt aggression after controlling for the Big Five personality traits, but not after controlling for psychological dysregulation. The social and personality model, represented by the Big Five personality traits accounted for the least amount of variance in the prediction of aggression and delinquency, on its own, and when pitted against the other two personality approaches. The exception was that the Big Five personality traits accounted for significant variance in relational aggression beyond narcissistic traits, as well as psychological dysregulation. These findings have implications for assessment and intervention with aggressive and antisocial youth.

As infecções relacionadas à assistência à saúde (IRAS) desafiam constantemente a qualidade da assistência prestada no sistema de saúde como um todo. Apesar do conhecimento acerca do conceito de infecção hospitalar, suas origens, fatores relacionados e principalmente as medidas gerais de prevenção e controle das IRAS, o que normalmente se verifica, é a baixa adesão dos PAS às medidas preventivas. Existem várias medidas fortemente embasadas em evidências científicas, porém, a utilização dessas medidas, por profissionais de saúde, permanece um grande desafio. Estudos mencionam que o não cumprimento das diretrizes é um problema universal, e para desenvolver intervenções bem-sucedidas, são necessárias mais pesquisas sobre os determinantes comportamentais. Diante disso este estudo teve como objetivos avaliar a adesão às práticas de prevenção e controle de infecção dos (PAS) que atuam em UTI, tais como: cuidados de manipulação e curativo de cateteres venosos centrais (CVC) e manipulação direta do paciente e de seu ambiente próximo e investigar uma possível correlação entre a adesão dos PAS e o desempenho de seus testes psicológicos que avaliaram seus Estilos de pensamento, Autoestima, Qualidade de vida, Estresse e Personalidade. Realizou-se um estudo observacional, prospectivo, no período de julho de 2012 a dezembro de 2013 em quatro Unidades de Terapia Intensiva em um grande hospital escola. Foram realizadas 7.572 observações distribuídas entre as práticas selecionadas de 248 profissionais que atuaram em quatro UTIs, constituídos por médicos e enfermeiros (auxiliares de enfermagem, técnicos de enfermagem e enfermeiros). Para a equipe de enfermagem a proporção de adesão para o procedimento de cuidados com a manipulação variou entre 13% e 95%, ficando com a menor adesão as etapas que envolveram a higienização das mãos (HM) antes de manipular o cateter e a desinfecção da conexão do CVC. Para o procedimento de cuidados com o curativo do CVC a proporção de adesão variou entre 14% e 99%, ficando com a menor adesão novamente as etapas que envolveram a HM antes de iniciar a troca do curativo do CVC. Para avaliação da equipe médica foi observada a adesão à HM das mãos nos cinco momentos propostos pela OMS. A proporção de adesão variou entre 10% e 98%. Observou-se menor taxa de adesão para os momentos \"Antes do contato direto com o paciente\", \"Após contato com ambiente próximo ao paciente\" e \"Antes de procedimentos assépticos\". Utilizou-se um modelo de regressão logística ajustado para avaliar a associação entre à adesão às práticas de controle de infecção e os testes psicológicos dos profissionais de saúde e apenas a autoestima e aspectos de personalidade (agressão, assistência, deferência, afago e afiliação) obtiveram associação com a adesão às práticas de controle de infecção. Conhecer fatores biopsicossociais (características de personalidade e autoestima) capazes de gerar comportamentos que influenciam o ato de adesão dos PAS às práticas de controle de infecção, pode ser um passo importante para projetar estratégias de intervenção mais eficientes para modificar o comportamento dos profissionais de saúde e aumentar as boas práticas / Health care-associated infections (HAI) consistently challenge the quality of care provided in the health system as a whole. Despite knowledge about hospital infection, its origins, associated factors and the general measures of prevention and control, usually a low adherence of healthcare professional to preventive measures is observed. There are several scientifically-based preventive measures, however the use of these guidelines by health professionals remains a major challenge. Studies point out that failure to comply with the guidelines is a universal problem and for successful interventions to be developed further research on behavioral determinants is needed. The objective of this study was: -to evaluate the adherence to the prevention and infection control practices by healthcare professionals working in ICUs, during procedures such as handling and dressing of central venous catheters (CVC), and direct manipulation of the patient and the close environment to the patient; and -to investigate a possible correlation between adherence of healthcare professionals and their performance in psychological tests (Styles of Thought, Self Esteem, Quality of Life, Stress and Personality). An observational, prospective study was carried out from July 2012 to December 2013 in four Intensive Care Units in a large teaching hospital. A total of 7,572 observations was made, for 248 healthcare professionals who worked in four ICUs. These were doctors and nurses (nurse assistants, nurse technicians and registered nurses). For the nursing team the proportion of adherence to adequate procedures involving CVC manipulation varied between 13% and 95%. The steps with smaller adhesion were: hand hygiene (HM) before beginning the CVC manipulation and disinfection of the CVC hub. For the CVC dressing, adherence varied between 14% and 99%. Lowest adherence was observed for HM before beginning the dressing. For doctors, hand hygiene was observed during the five moments proposed by the WHO. Compliance varied between 10% and 98%. Lowest compliance was observed for the moments: \" Before direct contact with the patient \",\" After contact with environment close to the patient \"and\" Before aseptic procedure \". An adjusted regression logistics model was used to evaluate the correlation between adherence to infection control practices by the healthcare professionals and their psychological tests. Self-esteem and aspects of personality (aggression, attendance, affiliation and cuddle) were associated with compliance. We believe that knowing biopsychosocial factors (personality traits and self-esteem) that may influence adherence of healthcare professionals to infection control practices can be an important step to develop more efficient intervention strategies to modify behavior and increase quality of care for patients

As infecções relacionadas à assistência à saúde (IRAS) desafiam constantemente a qualidade da assistência prestada no sistema de saúde como um todo. Apesar do conhecimento acerca do conceito de infecção hospitalar, suas origens, fatores relacionados e principalmente as medidas gerais de prevenção e controle das IRAS, o que normalmente se verifica, é a baixa adesão dos PAS às medidas preventivas. Existem várias medidas fortemente embasadas em evidências científicas, porém, a utilização dessas medidas, por profissionais de saúde, permanece um grande desafio. Estudos mencionam que o não cumprimento das diretrizes é um problema universal, e para desenvolver intervenções bem-sucedidas, são necessárias mais pesquisas sobre os determinantes comportamentais. Diante disso este estudo teve como objetivos avaliar a adesão às práticas de prevenção e controle de infecção dos (PAS) que atuam em UTI, tais como: cuidados de manipulação e curativo de cateteres venosos centrais (CVC) e manipulação direta do paciente e de seu ambiente próximo e investigar uma possível correlação entre a adesão dos PAS e o desempenho de seus testes psicológicos que avaliaram seus Estilos de pensamento, Autoestima, Qualidade de vida, Estresse e Personalidade. Realizou-se um estudo observacional, prospectivo, no período de julho de 2012 a dezembro de 2013 em quatro Unidades de Terapia Intensiva em um grande hospital escola. Foram realizadas 7.572 observações distribuídas entre as práticas selecionadas de 248 profissionais que atuaram em quatro UTIs, constituídos por médicos e enfermeiros (auxiliares de enfermagem, técnicos de enfermagem e enfermeiros). Para a equipe de enfermagem a proporção de adesão para o procedimento de cuidados com a manipulação variou entre 13% e 95%, ficando com a menor adesão as etapas que envolveram a higienização das mãos (HM) antes de manipular o cateter e a desinfecção da conexão do CVC. Para o procedimento de cuidados com o curativo do CVC a proporção de adesão variou entre 14% e 99%, ficando com a menor adesão novamente as etapas que envolveram a HM antes de iniciar a troca do curativo do CVC. Para avaliação da equipe médica foi observada a adesão à HM das mãos nos cinco momentos propostos pela OMS. A proporção de adesão variou entre 10% e 98%. Observou-se menor taxa de adesão para os momentos \"Antes do contato direto com o paciente\", \"Após contato com ambiente próximo ao paciente\" e \"Antes de procedimentos assépticos\". Utilizou-se um modelo de regressão logística ajustado para avaliar a associação entre à adesão às práticas de controle de infecção e os testes psicológicos dos profissionais de saúde e apenas a autoestima e aspectos de personalidade (agressão, assistência, deferência, afago e afiliação) obtiveram associação com a adesão às práticas de controle de infecção. Conhecer fatores biopsicossociais (características de personalidade e autoestima) capazes de gerar comportamentos que influenciam o ato de adesão dos PAS às práticas de controle de infecção, pode ser um passo importante para projetar estratégias de intervenção mais eficientes para modificar o comportamento dos profissionais de saúde e aumentar as boas práticas / Health care-associated infections (HAI) consistently challenge the quality of care provided in the health system as a whole. Despite knowledge about hospital infection, its origins, associated factors and the general measures of prevention and control, usually a low adherence of healthcare professional to preventive measures is observed. There are several scientifically-based preventive measures, however the use of these guidelines by health professionals remains a major challenge. Studies point out that failure to comply with the guidelines is a universal problem and for successful interventions to be developed further research on behavioral determinants is needed. The objective of this study was: -to evaluate the adherence to the prevention and infection control practices by healthcare professionals working in ICUs, during procedures such as handling and dressing of central venous catheters (CVC), and direct manipulation of the patient and the close environment to the patient; and -to investigate a possible correlation between adherence of healthcare professionals and their performance in psychological tests (Styles of Thought, Self Esteem, Quality of Life, Stress and Personality). An observational, prospective study was carried out from July 2012 to December 2013 in four Intensive Care Units in a large teaching hospital. A total of 7,572 observations was made, for 248 healthcare professionals who worked in four ICUs. These were doctors and nurses (nurse assistants, nurse technicians and registered nurses). For the nursing team the proportion of adherence to adequate procedures involving CVC manipulation varied between 13% and 95%. The steps with smaller adhesion were: hand hygiene (HM) before beginning the CVC manipulation and disinfection of the CVC hub. For the CVC dressing, adherence varied between 14% and 99%. Lowest adherence was observed for HM before beginning the dressing. For doctors, hand hygiene was observed during the five moments proposed by the WHO. Compliance varied between 10% and 98%. Lowest compliance was observed for the moments: \" Before direct contact with the patient \",\" After contact with environment close to the patient \"and\" Before aseptic procedure \". An adjusted regression logistics model was used to evaluate the correlation between adherence to infection control practices by the healthcare professionals and their psychological tests. Self-esteem and aspects of personality (aggression, attendance, affiliation and cuddle) were associated with compliance. We believe that knowing biopsychosocial factors (personality traits and self-esteem) that may influence adherence of healthcare professionals to infection control practices can be an important step to develop more efficient intervention strategies to modify behavior and increase quality of care for patients

This chapter reviews the literature applying health behavior theories to indoor tanning. Few studies have tried to fit full versions of health behavior models to indoor tanning. Theoretical models from the family of theories referred to as the reasoned action approach (e.g., theory of planned behavior, behavioral alternative model, prototype willingness model, etc.) have been most commonly used to study indoor tanning. Results indicate that these models fit indoor tanning data moderately to extremely well. Two lesser known models, problem behavior theory and the terror management health model, have also demonstrated a reasonable fit. Two other common models, the health belief model and social cognitive theory, have never been fully tested with indoor tanning. However, key constructs from these models (e.g., perceived susceptibility and threat, modeling) have been used to understand indoor tanning. Empirical research conducted represents a solid start toward developing strong, comprehensive models of indoor tanning that can guide intervention efforts. This initial work needs to be expanded by conducting longitudinal studies and by including a broader age range in studies because the majority of existing work has focused on young adults. Incorporating findings related to tanning dependency, peer group affiliation, media influences and other constructs into these foundational models will also improve our understanding and ability to develop efficacious interventions to reduce engagement in this health risk behavior.

This chapter reviews the literature examining interventions to reduce indoor tanning (IT). The first objective was to highlight programs that show promise for large scale dissemination. The second objective was to promote criteria and standards for future intervention research efforts. The scope of interest for this review includes universal (for everyone in the population), selective (for those in the population who are at a greater risk), and indicated (for those who already are experiencing conditions that identify them as at risk) programs. The evaluation of the interventions resulted in three levels of evidence: (1) most promising, (2) emerging, and (3) mixed. For an intervention to be considered “most promising”, it was required that ten criteria be met through examination of research findings in published reports consistent with Flay and colleagues (Prev Sci 6(3):151–175, 2005). Interventions that were classified as “emerging” met most of the criteria. Finally, interventions classified as “mixed” did not reach threshold on more than two criteria that were deemed critical. The results revealed that there was very limited research on IT interventions that meet all the evaluation criteria. Only one intervention approach met all of the criteria (Appearance Booklet) (Hillhouse and Turrisi, Behav Med 25(4):395–409, 2002; Hillhouse et al., Cancer 113(11):3257–3266, 2008). Although the number of published papers in the IT area has increased dramatically over the past decade, these efforts have yet to translate into rigorously conducted intervention trials. The review points to important issues that need to be addressed in future research on the prevention of IT. Keywords

Manipulation of stories and events expose issues of false representation and stereotyping within the mainstream media. This research examined the media’s role in shaping the behaviors and experiences of African American male athletes while using Critical Race Theory as the framework in conducting research. A focus group consisting of six former African American male student athletes was conducted. A semi-structured interview schedule was used in order to allow for open discussion. The Constant Comparison Method was instrumental in thematizing the data while QDA Miner software was used to analyze the data. The findings suggested that African American male athletes feel they are portrayed negatively in relation to leadership abilities as well as being portrayed as thugs and rappers. African American male athletes do feel pressured to challenge certain stereotypes presented by the media in order to become better role models for the African American community. Future research should explore the media’s impact on younger generations of African American male athletes as well as African American female athletes to compare whether similarities exists between the groups.

The study theorizes that a nation-state can manifest a condition similar to that of personality commonly associated with humans. Through the identification of consistent behaviors, a personality like condition is recognizable, and the underlining motivations dictate national policy independent of any current social/political influence. The research examines Russia during two historical periods examining the conflict events and social/political transitions of the period, to identify common behavioral characteristics, which indicate the existence of any independent personality like trait. The study focuses on two historical periods: the Monarch Period of Peter I (The Great), and the Post-Soviet Union period of Vladimir Putin, periods selected as historical eras in which Russia experienced major political or social transition. Using a comparative qualitative historical analysis with a behaviorist focus, the research examines these periods by profiling each era’s elements of society and the events of domestic and international conflict that Russia experienced, while evaluating the actions taken in response to each. The research discovers that Russia exhibits personality like traits, similar to those associated with humans and are likewise developed from experience, and once imbedded into Russian psychology, regardless of the current social/political elements or situational conditions, remain prime motivators to Russian behavior. The personality like characteristic identified was similar to inferiority, which leads to behavior characteristics comparable to narcissism, as the definition of narcissism relates to the need for admiration and or acceptance. The study identified the origins of the inferiority like complex and the narcissistic like behavior pattern exhibited by Russia in both periods.