Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / In the fields of formal and informal online adult education, the absence of a social context for instruction has been found to present significant limitations for learner persistence and retention. In the field of online psychoeducational intervention, self-administered and self-paced individualized prevention programs have been developed for delivery to large populations of anonymous users. These delivery models provide limited social context for instructional activities, due in part to the anonymity of their participants. When social interaction is included in their prevention programs through voluntary, asynchronous self-help/mutual aid discussion forums, anonymity may still limit social interaction, in favor of observational learning advantages for self-efficacy appraisals derived from "lurking". When these large-group models have been applied to online psychoeducation intervention programs for the purposes of encouraging mutual aid, interactive participation has been limited. This mixed methods study focused on a model for the design of an online small group psychoeducational intervention that integrated individual and social learning in a parent management training program. Self-paced participation was replaced with facilitator-led participation in an asynchronous discussion forum where topics were prioritized and sequenced with learning content from individual web-based training modules. Social interaction was facilitated through online problem-based learning discussion group. Despite assertions that interactive participation in online psychoeducational discussion forums may only be accomplished once a subscriber threshold of several hundred participants has been reached, this study found that small group participation through the program's integrated design resulted large effects for increases in parent self-agency and reduction of over-reactive, coercive parenting behaviors. Participation in the online problem-based group discussion forum was found to have contributed to participant outcomes when posting characteristics revealed the presence of both mutual aid processes and the application of individual learning module content.

Therapeutic horseback riding (THR) uses the horse as a therapeutic apparatus in physical and psychological therapy. This dissertation suggests a more appropriate technique for measuring the effect of THR. A research survey of the statistical methods used to determine the effect of THR was undertaken. Although researchers observed clinically meaningful change in several of the studies, this was not supported by statistical tests. A logistic regression approach is proposed as a solution to many of the problems experienced by researchers on THR. Since large THR related data sets are not available, data were simulated. Logistic regression and t-tests were used to analyse the same simulated data sets, and the results were compared. The advantages of the logistic regression approach are discussed. This statistical technique can be applied in any field where the therapeutic value of an intervention has to be proven scientifically. / Mathematical Sciences / M. Sc. (Statistics)

Therapeutic horseback riding (THR) uses the horse as a therapeutic apparatus in physical and psychological therapy. This dissertation suggests a more appropriate technique for measuring the effect of THR. A research survey of the statistical methods used to determine the effect of THR was undertaken. Although researchers observed clinically meaningful change in several of the studies, this was not supported by statistical tests. A logistic regression approach is proposed as a solution to many of the problems experienced by researchers on THR. Since large THR related data sets are not available, data were simulated. Logistic regression and t-tests were used to analyse the same simulated data sets, and the results were compared. The advantages of the logistic regression approach are discussed. This statistical technique can be applied in any field where the therapeutic value of an intervention has to be proven scientifically. / Mathematical Sciences / M. Sc. (Statistics)

Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo geral cartografar a experiência de usuários de crack no município de Recife. Este estudo foi desenvolvid o nos CAPSad e Instituto RAID. Os entrevistados foram usuários de crack do sexo masculino e feminino, com idade a partir dos 18 anos, que estavam em tratamento em decorrência desta substância nas instituições acima citadas durante a coleta de dados. Em cada CAPSad, foi entrevistado um usuário de crack indicado pela equipe técnica que tivesse uma boa organização nas ideias para descrever a sua experiência com o crack, e que se disponibilizou a contribuir com a pesquisa através de entrevista semi-estruturadas. No Instituto RAID foram entrevistados seis usuários escolhidos pelos mesmos critérios. A pesquisa desenvolvida foi qualitativa de inspiração fenomenológica pautada no pensamento de Husserl e no método proposto por A. Giorgi. Este método inclui, basicamente, os seguintes passos: O sentido do todo, a partir da leitura do depoimento do sujeito; Discriminação do depoimento em Unidades de Significados; Compreensão psicológica de cada Unidade de Significado; Síntese de cada depoimento expressa como estrutura da experiência; e a Composição de uma síntese geral que apresenta a essência do fenômeno para todos os sujeitos investigados. A identificação dessas Unidades de Significado nas experiências dos usuários apontou aspectos diversos sobre o tema tais como: A experiência de ser dependente do crack; o que levou os usuários a consumirem essa substância; qual o significado do crack na vida desses usuários; quais as sensações vividas no consumo desta droga; o prazer da morte pela pedra; a culpa sentida por ceder à compulsão; as perdas diante da pedra; a família como fator importante na busca por um tratamento; o crack e a violência; as dificuldades e sucessos no tratamento; o estigma do usuário de crack e o descontrole vivenciado por alguns usuários. Diante da complexidade das questões trazidas nas experiências dos usuários entrevistados, grandes desafios estão postos para as equipes que trabalham no tratamento dos usuários de crack. Torna-se fundamental uma reflexão contínua sobre essa prática / This research had as its main aim to portrait crack-cocaine users experience in the city of Recife. Subjects were crack-cocaine users, males and females, from 18 years old, undertaking treatment at drug addiction health services in Recife (CAPSad and Instituto RAID) during data collection. One subject from each CAPSad (06 in a whole) was interviewed and 06 subjects from Instituto RAID were interviewed. All designated by the health professional teams and with organized thoughts to describe their crack-cocaine use experiences, as well as with willingness to respond to a semi-structured interview. The research was qualitative with phenomenological background inspired by Husserls theory and Giorgis method. Basically, this method includes these steps: 1) reading the entire description of one subject in order to get a sense of the whole; 2) reading through the data a second time and marking those places in the description where a transition in meaning occurred from a psychological perspective (the meanings between transitions are called meaning units); 3) reading all of the meaning units and interrogating them from what they reveal about the phenomenon of interest, in this case, the crack-cocaine use experience, in order to grasp the relevance of the subjects own words for the phenomenon of using crack-cocaine in as direct a manner as possible (this step is called the transformation of the subjects lived experience into direct psychological expression); 4) presenting a situated or general structure of the experience (synthesis of each report expressed as structure of experience); and, 5) comprehending the general synthesis which represents the essence of the phenomenon to all subjects investigated. The identification of crack-cocaine users experience in meaning units pointed out to several themes such as: the experience of being a crack-cocaine user; what took them to use this drug; the meaning of crack-cocaine in their lives; crack-cocaine use sensations; crack-cocaine death pleasure; compulsion guiltiness; losses related to the drug; family as an important factor to seek treatment; crack-cocaine and violence; treatment challenges; crack-cocaine use stigma; and, loss of control experienced by users. These complex issues expressed by research subjects set great challenges to health professional teams treating crack-cocaine users and draw attention to the need of permanent reflection of their practices

M.A. / Crime hits the poor hardest since they are least able to cope with its consequences. In South Africa violent crime especially is increasing and in communities like Mamelodi, citizens are responding by taking the law into their own hands. Vigilantism proliferates necessitating police action and further straining a historically difficult community-police relationship which Community Police Forums (CPFs) aim to transform. This study looks at how residents of Stanza Bopape, an informal settlement in Mamelodi, organise themselves against crime. It considers the implications of this organisation for the CPF, a cornerstone of the Community Policing Model now enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, and examines ways in which the CPF can retain support and enhance its credibility within the community. The opportunity is provided for many different voices in the community to be heard so that diverse groups can participate in the ongoing quest for an effective strategy against crime.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-01T18:08:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_renata_barreto.pdf: 1209055 bytes, checksum: 2ee6794692af99ee898228274042d265 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-03-01 / This research had as its main aim to portrait crack-cocaine users experience in the city of Recife. Subjects were crack-cocaine users, males and females, from 18 years old, undertaking treatment at drug addiction health services in Recife ( CAPSad and Instituto RAID ) during data collection. One subject from each CAPSad (06 in a whole) was interviewed and 06 subjects from Instituto RAID were interviewed. All designated by the health professional teams and with organized thoughts to describe their crack-cocaine use experiences, as well as with willingness to respond to a semi-structured interview. The research was qualitative with phenomenological background inspired by Husserl s theory and Giorgi s method. Basically, this method includes these steps: 1) reading the entire description of one subject in order to get a sense of the whole; 2) reading through the data a second time and marking those places in the description where a transition in meaning occurred from a psychological perspective (the meanings between transitions are called meaning units ); 3) reading all of the meaning units and interrogating them from what they reveal about the phenomenon of interest, in this case, the crack-cocaine use experience, in order to grasp the relevance of the subject s own words for the phenomenon of using crack-cocaine in as direct a manner as possible (this step is called the transformation of the subject s lived experience into direct psychological expression); 4) presenting a situated or general structure of the experience (synthesis of each report expressed as structure of experience); and, 5) comprehending the general synthesis which represents the essence of the phenomenon to all subjects investigated. The identification of crack-cocaine users experience in meaning units pointed out to several themes such as: the experience of being a crack-cocaine user; what took them to use this drug; the meaning of crack-cocaine in their lives; crack-cocaine use sensations; crack-cocaine death pleasure; compulsion guiltiness; losses related to the drug; family as an important factor to seek treatment; crack-cocaine and violence; treatment challenges; crack-cocaine use stigma; and, loss of control experienced by users. These complex issues expressed by research subjects set great challenges to health professional teams treating crack-cocaine users and draw attention to the need of permanent reflection of their practices / Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo geral cartografar a experiência de usuários de crack no município de Recife. Este estudo foi desenvolvid o nos CAPSad e Instituto RAID. Os entrevistados foram usuários de crack do sexo masculino e feminino, com idade a partir dos 18 anos, que estavam em tratamento em decorrência desta substância nas instituições acima citadas durante a coleta de dados. Em cada CAPSad, foi entrevistado um usuário de crack indicado pela equipe técnica que tivesse uma boa organização nas ideias para descrever a sua experiência com o crack, e que se disponibilizou a contribuir com a pesquisa através de entrevista semi-estruturadas. No Instituto RAID foram entrevistados seis usuários escolhidos pelos mesmos critérios. A pesquisa desenvolvida foi qualitativa de inspiração fenomenológica pautada no pensamento de Husserl e no método proposto por A. Giorgi. Este método inclui, basicamente, os seguintes passos: O sentido do todo, a partir da leitura do depoimento do sujeito; Discriminação do depoimento em Unidades de Significados; Compreensão psicológica de cada Unidade de Significado; Síntese de cada depoimento expressa como estrutura da experiência; e a Composição de uma síntese geral que apresenta a essência do fenômeno para todos os sujeitos investigados. A identificação dessas Unidades de Significado nas experiências dos usuários apontou aspectos diversos sobre o tema tais como: A experiência de ser dependente do crack; o que levou os usuários a consumirem essa substância; qual o significado do crack na vida desses usuários; quais as sensações vividas no consumo desta droga; o prazer da morte pela pedra; a culpa sentida por ceder à compulsão; as perdas diante da pedra; a família como fator importante na busca por um tratamento; o crack e a violência; as dificuldades e sucessos no tratamento; o estigma do usuário de crack e o descontrole vivenciado por alguns usuários. Diante da complexidade das questões trazidas nas experiências dos usuários entrevistados, grandes desafios estão postos para as equipes que trabalham no tratamento dos usuários de crack. Torna-se fundamental uma reflexão contínua sobre essa prática

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Purpose: Script concordance tests (SCTs) are assessments purported to measure clinical data interpretation. The aims of this research were to (1) test the psychometric properties of SCT items, (2) directly examine the construct validity of SCTs, and (3) explore the concurrent validity of six SCT scoring methods while also considering validity at the item difficulty and item type levels. Methods: SCT scores from a problem solving SCT (SCT-PS; n=522) and emergency medicine SCT (SCT-EM; n=1040) were used to investigate the aims of this research. An item analysis was conducted to optimize the SCT datasets, to categorize items into levels of difficulty and type, and to test for gender biases. A confirmatory factor analysis tested whether SCT scores conformed to a theorized unidimensional factor structure. Exploratory factor analyses examined the effects of six SCT scoring methods on construct validity. The concurrent validity of each scoring method was also tested via a one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and Pearson’s product moment correlations. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and one-way ANOVA tested the discriminatory power of the SCTs according to item difficulty and type. Results: Item analysis identified no gender biases. A combination of moderate model-fit indices and poor factor loadings from the confirmatory factor analysis suggested that the SCTs under investigation did not conform to a unidimensional factor structure. Exploratory factor analyses of six different scoring methods repeatedly revealed weak factor loadings, and extracted factors consistently explained only a small portion of the total variance. Results of the concurrent validity study showed that all six scoring methods discriminated between medical training levels in spite of lower reliability coefficients on 3-point scoring methods. In addition, examinees as MS4s significantly (p<0.001) outperformed their MS2 SCT scores in all difficulty categories. Cross-sectional analysis of SCT-EM data reported significant differences (p<0.001) between experienced EM physicians, EM residents, and MS4s at each level of difficulty. When considering item type, diagnostic and therapeutic items differentiated between all three training levels, while investigational items could not readily distinguish between MS4s and EM residents. Conclusions: The results of this research contest the assertion that SCTs measure a single common construct. These findings raise questions about the latent constructs measured by SCTs and challenge the overall utility of SCT scores. The outcomes of the concurrent validity study provide evidence that multiple scoring methods reasonably differentiate between medical training levels. Concurrent validity was also observed when considering item difficulty and item type.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Despite warnings about the dangers of drinking during pregnancy, little progress has been made in reducing alcohol drinking among women of childbearing age. Even after the recognition of pregnancy, 15% of women continue to drink, 3% of which admit to binge drinking. Because we cannot stop women from drinking during pregnancy, and many children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are adopted, there is a significant need to develop postnatal interventions that can improve the long-term outcome of children adversely affected by prenatal alcohol exposure. This thesis aims to evaluate one promising new treatment in the rehabilitation or rescue of specific learning deficits long after the damage has occurred. The treatment evaluated herein (40µg D-NAP + 40µg D-SAL) has long been used in the prevention of the detrimental effects of long-term and binge-like alcohol exposures in rodent models of fetal alcohol syndrome and FASD. Until recently this peptide treatment had only been shown to be effective in preventing some of the consequences of alcohol exposure when administered concurrently with the prenatal alcohol exposure. A recent report by Incerti and colleagues (2010c), however, reported that these peptides could completely reverse a profound spatial learning deficit induced by one episode of a heavy binge-like alcohol exposure (5.9g.kg in a single intraperitoneal injection) on gestational day 8 (G8) in C57BL/6 mice. In that report, the peptide treatment was administered starting in late adolescence, beginning three days prior to and throughout water maze training, and the profound deficits in their alcohol-placebo group were completely eliminated in the alcohol-peptide group. There are currently no FDA-approved treatments for FASD. An effective treatment for the cognitive and behavioral dysfunctions suffered by the 1% of people born today could potentially improve the lives of millions of children and adults. The first aim of this thesis was to determine whether the peptide treatment could reverse the significant spatial learning deficits we have demonstrated in adult C57BL/6 mice given high-dose binge-like alcohol exposure (2.5 g/kg in each of two intraperitoneal injections separated by two hours) on postnatal day (P)7. When administered three days prior to and throughout water maze testing (P67-76), the peptide treatment had no effect on spatial learning. The second aim sought to determine whether the same peptide treatment could reverse water maze spatial learning deficits in G8 binge-like exposure models, as reported by Incerti et al. (2010c). For this analysis, the first study used a different binge-like alcohol exposure model that is more commonly used than that employed by the Incerti et al. (2010c) study, namely administration of 2.8g/kg in each of two intraperitoneal injections separated by four hours (Sulik et al., 1981). This model has been shown to produce high peak blood alcohol concentrations and neuroanatomical aberrations in the hippocampal formation and septal regions (Parnell et al., 2009), which have been implicated in learning and memory. Surprisingly, this G8 binge-like alcohol exposure failed to produce a spatial learning deficit, undermining the usefulness of this model in evaluating the peptide effects. In direct contrast to the outcomes of Incerti et al. (2010c), the G8 Webster alcohol exposure was also unable to produce any deficits in acquisition of spatial learning in the Morris water maze. Surprisingly, neither of the heavy binge-like alcohol exposures on G8 were able to produce spatial learning deficits in the Morris water maze. The binge-like alcohol exposure on P7 did yield the expected spatial learning deficit, but the peptide treatment was unsuccessful in recovering water maze learning. These findings fail to support oral administration of 40µg D-NAP and 40 µg D-SAL as a potential therapy for postnatal alcohol-induced spatial learning deficits in adult mice.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / It has traditionally been posited that women show a "telescoped" development of alcohol use disorders (Kuhn, 2011). In particular, a number of clinical studies support striking sex differences in the progression from initial use of alcohol to dependence on the compound; with women showing a faster progression through landmark events associated with the development of alcohol addiction (Randall et al., 1999). However, recent studies have challenged this tenet (Keyes et al., 2010). The work presented herein was designed to determine whether females are indeed more vulnerable to the development of behavioral maladaptations following binge drinking and whether sex differences in GABA(A) receptor regulation might underlie this vulnerability. Using a mouse model of binge drinking this dissertation established that, compared to males, females escalate their binge drinking at a faster rate and maintain altered responsivity to the locomotor effects of alcohol after extended abstinence from binge drinking. Female mice also displayed significant increases in ethanol preference and intake in a continuous, two-bottle choice protocol following a shorter history of binge drinking than males. The final goal was to determine if binge drinking results in unique patterns of anxiety- or depressive-like symptoms in males and females and whether these behaviors would be associated with the dimorphic regulation of GABAA receptor subunits across the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Male binge drinkers displayed anxiety-like behavior during early withdrawal that dissipated after 2 weeks of abstinence. There were no significant changes in the expression of delta or gamma2 GABAA receptor subunit mRNA at this time point in the regions analyzed. Females also showed temporary anxiety-like behavior during early withdrawal from binge drinking. Additionally, females displayed significant depressive-like behavior after 2 weeks of abstinence from binge drinking. In particular, diestrus-phase females displayed significantly greater immobility in the forced-swim test after ethanol exposure and no longer maintained the reduced swim-time behavior associated with this phase of the cycle at baseline (when compared to the estrus-phase). qPCR analysis of hippocampal tissues from diestrus females supported a significant reduction in expression of gamma2 GABA(A) subunit mRNA after binge drinking. This effect was not noted for RNA isolated from hippocampal tissues taken during the estrus phase of bingers. These final data suggest possible interaction of estrous-cycle and binge drinking history that may result in the unique expression of deficits following binge drinking for females. Taken together, this work supports sex and estrous dependent effects of binge drinking on behavior and gene regulation.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Losing a job or a significant other are examples of incentive shifts that result in negative emotional reactions. The occurrence of negative life events is associated with increased drinking, and alleviation of negative emotions has been cited as a drinking motive for individuals with problematic drinking patterns (Keyes et al., 2011; Adams et al., 2012). Further, there is evidence that certain genotypes drink alcohol in response to stressful negative life events (Blomeyer et al., 2008; Covault et al., 2007). It is possible that shared genetic factors contribute to both alcohol drinking and emotional reactivity, but there is a critical need for this relationship to be understood. The first aim of this proposal will use an incentive downshift paradigm to address whether emotional reactivity is elevated in mice predisposed to drink alcohol. The second aim of this proposal will address if reactivity to an incentive shift can result in rash action using a differential reinforcement of low rates of responding task, and whether this response is also associated with a predisposition for high drinking. The third aim of this proposal will investigate if experimenter administered ethanol reduces contrast effects, and if an incentive shift increases ethanol consumption in a high drinking line. The overall goal of this proposal is to investigate whether reactivity to incentive shift is an important mechanism underlying alcohol drinking in these mice, and the role an incentive shift may play in producing rash action and influencing ethanol consumption.