For now, as I’m primarily doing this for an assignment, I have only loosely sorted these articles. I hope to better organize this page as I have time & patience.
Depression
Krishnan, V., & Nestler, E. J. (2008). The molecular neurobiology of depression. Nature, 455(7215), 894-902. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/204528083?accountid=458
This was a highly technical article which discussed the pathophysiology of depression. The study points the comparative weakness of our understanding of depression, especially when compared with a well understood illness like diabetes. The reasons given for this discrepancy are a lack of quality tools and methods for examining the brain and second, the idiopathic nature of depression. The author reviews what is known about the neural circuitry of a depressed brain, noting that much of what we know is shaky at best, though in many more words. The authors continue their review by touching on the monoamine hypothesis of depressions, linking depression to reduced monoamine production in the brain, and further discuss other cellular-level differences in the depressed brain. Additional theories under review find evidence in the field of epigenetics which serves to explain the high discordance rates in depression diagnosis between monozygotic twins. In conclusion, the authors call on researchers to look beyond the fields early theories, such as monoamine production, and investigate deeper into the newer territory reviewed in the article.
Szpitalak, M., & Prochwicz, K. (2013). [Psychological gender in clinical depression. Preliminary study]. Psychiatria Polska, 47(1), 53-64.
This article described a polish study that examined the weight of psychological gender in the prevalence of depression. They considered modern gender schema theory, which suggests that psychological sex and physiological sex are not identical, and the theory that it is, at least in part, women’s gender roles which increase her risk of depression. By combining these two theories, the researchers hypothesized that any patient who identified more strongly with the female gender role would tend towards increased likelihood of depression. Their test results indicated a significant connection between psychological gender identification and the level of depression. The highest levels of depression were found in undifferentiated patients, followed by feminine identifying patient, and masculine identifying patients exhibited the least depression.
Marriages
Russell, V. M., Baker, L. R., & McNulty, J. K. (2013). Attachment insecurity and infidelity in marriage: Do studies of dating relationships really inform us about marriage? Journal of Family Psychology, 27(2), 242-251. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0032118
This study explores the attachment theory of attachment anxiety as a measure of fidelity and predictor of infidelity among newlyweds. The researchers found that in relationships where either one or both partners felt a high degree of attachment anxiety infidelity was much more likely to occur. They also found the inverse of this to be true, meaning infidelity was much less likely to occur if there existed in one or both spouses a high degree of attachment avoidance. This held true across two studies with all other factors held constant. The researchers pointed out that these findings are especially interesting when compared against similar research done with unmarried couples. Unmarried couples demonstrate no correlation between attachment anxiety or avoidance in rates of infidelity. Suggesting a clear difference between the dynamics of a marriage-bound verses a non-marriage bound relationship.
Barry, R. A., & Lawrence, E. (2013). “Don’t stand so close to me”: An attachment perspective of disengagement and avoidance in marriage. Journal of Family Psychology, 27(3), 484-494. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0032867
This study was enacted with a dual purpose of first, replicating research which found a link between higher conflict avoidance in a marriage and avoidant behaviors when in fights. Second, they tried to clarify the nature of this link. To do this the researchers videotaped the couples during both conflictual and supportive discussions and also asked subjects to take a self-report survey about their feelings and actions. The researchers found that that, while husbands tended to be more avoidant in relation to their level of attachment, their wives tended not to vary. This meant that men tended to see their conflictual interactions as more destructives than did their wives.
Anxiety
Ginsburg, G. S. (2009). The child anxiety prevention study: Intervention model and primary outcomes. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77(3), 580-587. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0014486
This study is was designed to test out a method of preemptively treating children who are at a high risk for anxiety. Specifically, in this case, children who’s parents have been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. The researchers used a couple of different methods (CBT and CAPS) as their intervention, as well as a wait list group as a control. The researchers then followed up at 6 and 12 months to see what was the result. During the 12 month period, those who had received an intervention decreased on scales of anxiety while of those on the wait list group 30% had progressed towards an anxiety diagnosis. The take away from this study was that in children with a high likelihood of developing an anxiety disorder preemptive treatment, ideally on a family level, is highly productive and beneficial.
Marco Tulio De Mello, Valdir de Aquino Lemos, Hanna Karen Moreira Antunes, Lia Bittencourt, Rogerio Santos-Silva, Sergio Tufik, Relationship between physical activity and depression and anxiety symptoms: A population study, Journal of Affective Disorders, Volume 149, Issues 1–3, July 2013, Pages 241-246, ISSN 0165-0327, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2013.01.035.
This is a 2007 study conducted in Sao Paulo, Brazil in which it was found that individuals who did not engage in physical activity were about twice as likely to exhibit symptoms of depression and anxiety than those who exercised regularly. Interestingly, there was no correlation between BMI and anxiety symptoms, which shows that it’s not just being in shape that makes you feel better. Overweight people who exercise regularly will feel better as well. However, physical activity aside, socioeconomic status proved to be the single strongest indicator, with those in the lower SES being about 10 times more likely to exhibit symptoms of depression and anxiety than those in the highest SES.
Brief Solution-Focused Approach
Davoodi, Z., Etemadi, O., Bahrami, F., Jafari, A. S. A., & Hosnije, A. S. (2012). The effect of the brief solution-focused approach (BSFA) on the tendency to divorce in divorce susceptible men and women. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 4(4), 865-879. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1101245132?accountid=458
This article was of particular interest to me as it is exactly what I want to do: treat broken marriages with a solution focused approach. This study followed couples who were considering divorce but who decided to try therapy before going through with it. The study successfully proved the efficacy of SFBT in treating marital discord, reducing the chance for divorce by 45% according to their findings. SFBT was also shown to increase harmony in married couples and the approach was shown to be an effective means whereby the educated couples can traverse future conflicts. Yay SFBT!
Grant, A. M. (2012). Making positive change: A randomized study comparing solution-focused vs. problem-focused coaching questions. Journal of Systemic Therapies, 31(2), 21-35. doi:http://dx.doi.org/101521jsyt201231221
This study compares the efficacy of solution-focused coaching versus problem focused coaching. Subjects were divided into one of two coaching groups (solution-focused or problem-focused) and each described a real-life problem that they wanted to solve. They were then asked to set a goal that would help them solve their problem. After they had outlined their goal the subjects took a set of tests to assess postive/negative affect, self-efficacy, and confidence. The study found that both groups, reguardless of their coaching method were good at finding and setting goals. However, those subjects who underwent solution-focused coaching experienced a significant boost to positive affect, feeligns of self-efficacy and their ability to meet their goal. The conclusion drawn from this is that while problem-focused coaching may be effective, it is much more effective to coach with a solution-focused approach.
Alcoholism
Kendler, Kenneth S. & Myers, John (2012) Clinical indicies of familial alchohol use disorder. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Vol. 36 (12). December 2012, pp 2126–2131
In this study researchers investigated which were the biggest predictors of alcohol use disorder (AUD). The researcher’s assumption was that the biggest indicator would be that the subject started drinking earlier or had high or low tolerances for alcohol. Instead they found that the biggest indicators of AUD were signs of behaving badly while drinking, things like failing at obligations, driving under the influence, and so forth. Through this they showed that symptoms of alcohol abuse rather than alcohol disorder are better indicators of AUD.
Jawaid W. Rasul, Robert G. Rommel, Geoffrey M. Jacquez, Ben G. Fitzpatrick, Azmy S. Ackleh, Neal Simonsen, Richard A. Scribner. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Jan 2011 v72 i1 p15(9).
This study was prompted by a call from college presidents to lower the minimum drinking age in order to combat the irresponsible binge drinking that has increased so drastically among college students over the years. The theory behind this push is that, since underage drinkers have no role models for responsible drinking that they instead model their drinking on what they see in the party scene on campuses. Therefore, when they come home from the party, they don’t drink like a person should at home; they drink like they’re always at a party. To investigate whether lowering the drinking age would be an effective deterrent to this behavior; these researchers gathered data from 8 college campuses and then completed complex calculations to determine the effectiveness. They found, contrary to what they expected, that lowering the drinking age would only be effective on those campuses which have a TON of alcohol and very little enforcement of the MDLA. It is instead better therefore, to implement stricter drinking age guidelines than it would be to lower the minimum drinking age.
Tim's Resource Notebook 