Analysis of stress levels among medical students, residents, and graduate students at four Canadian schools of medicine.

PURPOSE: To assess stress in medical students, residents, and graduate science students at four Canadian schools of medicine. METHOD: Four schools with different curricula in three different parts of Canada participated in the study: the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine, the University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine, the Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine, and the McMaster University Faculty of Health Sciences. All the medical students, residents, and graduate science students at each school were surveyed in 1994-95. The three instruments used were the University of Calgary Stress Questionnaire, the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS), and the Symptom Checklist-90. Demographic data were compared across all four schools. Analysis of variance was calculated for all test-item scores, utilizing a four (school) by three (program) by two (gender) design, which were all between subject factors. Significant main effects were followed up by using planned comparisons (Newman-Keuls, with a probability level of p < .05). Significant interaction effects were followed up by using an analysis of simple effects. RESULTS: A total of 1,681 questionnaires were returned as follows: 621 of 1,304 (48%) from the medical students, 645 of 1,495 (43%) from the residents, and 415 of 829 (50%) from the graduate science students. There were significant differences between the three groups in the natures and degrees of stress, with the graduate students reporting higher levels of stress. There were significant gender differences as well, with the women reporting higher levels of stress. Overall, stress levels were found to be mild, based on the University of Calgary Stress Questionnaire and the SRRS. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that medical students and residents experience stress at levels that appear acceptable, but ongoing monitoring and the provision of appropriate support systems will continue to be important.

Porphyrin-modified electrodes as biomimetic sensors for the determination of organohalide pollutants in aqueous samples.

A preliminary examination of a simple and rapid screening method for quantifying a range of toxic organohalides directly in aqueous solution based on their electrocatalytic reduction with a metalloporphyrin catalyst is described. Homogenous catalysis is described as well as heterogeneous catalysis using precipitated cobalt(II) tetraphenylporphine ((TPP)Co) at a graphite foil electrode which permitted the sensitive detection of a wide range of different organohalides, including a number of chemically diverse industrial pollutants such as 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexachlorocyclohexane (lindane) and carbon tetrachloride, representative of haloalkane compounds, haloalkenes such as perchloroethylene, and aromatics, such as 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, pentachlorophenol, and the insecticide DDT. The coordinating effect of solvent on the thermodynamics of the Co(II)/(I) electrode reaction is used to practical advantage to build an amperometric detector that is insensitive to interference from oxygen, a parameter that varies considerably in environmental samples. Devices also appear relatively insensitive to the ionic composition of the analyte sample. The work provides the basis for developing a prototype sensor for screening toxic organohalogen pollutants for use in environmental monitoring situations.

Effects of social skills training and social milieu treatment on symptoms of schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: The study compared the effects of social skills training and social milieu treatment on symptoms of schizophrenia, particularly on negative symptoms. METHODS: Thirty-three patients aged 18 to 55 years with a diagnosis of schizophrenia were randomly assigned to a nine-week program of social skills training or social milieu treatment. Patients were assessed at three-, six-, and nine-week intervals during treatment and at follow-up using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), which measured both positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia and general psychopathology. RESULTS: Fifteen patients completed social skills training, and 13 completed social milieu treatment. Comparison of PANSS scores at different assessment times showed that both treatments were effective in reducing symptoms, but social skills training appeared to be more effective in reducing negative symptoms. No differences were found between treatment groups in relapse rates or in symptom measures at three-month follow-up. However, six-month follow-up data available only for the social skills training group showed that improvement in negative symptoms had begun to decline. CONCLUSIONS: Psychosocial approaches are a necessary component in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia, and social skills training appears to be particularly helpful. The gradual decline in improvement in negative symptoms at six-month follow-up suggests the need for more extended treatment.

Span of apprehension among remitted schizophrenics using small visual angles.

Evidence concerning span of apprehension (SOA) performance as a potential marker of vulnerability to schizophrenia has been the subject of several recent investigations. There is agreement that earlier findings of performance deficits among offspring of schizophrenics and among schizophrenics in remission may not extend to more foveal, as opposed to peripheral, presentations of visual arrays of the SOA task. Using the former format of presentation, the current study found that performance of episodic patients was distinguishable from that of nonpatient controls but performance of remitted patients was not. Readings of psychophysiological activity (heart rate) obtained during SOA task performance were higher among episodic patients than among others, suggesting that such measures may be promising markers of episodes of schizophrenia.

Paranoid-nonparanoid schizophrenic distinctions in implementing external conceptual constraints.

Using procedures originated by Bruner et al. (Bruner, J. S., Goodnow, J. J., and Austin, G. A Study of Thinking. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1956), paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenics and nonpatients were compared on performance in identifying rules for organizing multidimensional items. Successive item selections were accompanied by feedback as to whether or not each corresponded to the rule currently in effect (either conjunctive, inclusive-disjunctive, or biconditional). The most pronounced aspects of deficit associated with paranoid status were related to performance latency. Examination of results in the light of component operations underlying the present task indicated that paranoids' lower performance stemmed from difficulties in initially translating stimulus properties into a task-facilitative format. Findings were related to earlier paranoid distinctives in (choice) reaction time latencies, as well as to earlier findings on rule definition learning involving procedures closely related to the present ones. As well, inferences were drawn as to conditions of rule acquisition where differential latency aspects of performance are likely to be most pronounced among paranoids.