Implicit Attitudes Toward Psychotherapy and Explicit Barriers to Accessing Psychotherapy in Youths and Parent-Youth Dyads.

Background: Few studies have investigated implicit and explicit attitudes toward psychotherapy in youths (Study 1), although information about attitudes would improve interventions that aim to decrease barriers to accessing psychotherapy including parents (Study 2), who facilitate the help-seeking process of youths. Method: The Study 1 sample comprised 96 youths (14-21 years) and the Study 2 sample 38 parent-youth dyads. Differences in implicit attitudes regarding psychotherapy and a medical treatment were measured with the Implicit Association Test, and psychotherapy knowledge and self-reported barriers to psychotherapy were assessed with questionnaires. The actor-partner interdependence model was used to test the dyadic effects of implicit attitudes on explicit attitudes in parents and youths. Results: We did not find evidence for an implicit bias toward psychotherapy compared to a medical treatment, neither in youths, nor in parents. Self-reported barriers were a predictor for lower help-seeking intentions. Deficits in psychotherapy knowledge were more relevant in younger participants. Having a prior or current experience with psychotherapy and having a friend or family member with a prior or current experience with psychotherapy were predictors for better psychotherapy knowledge, but was not for lower barriers to accessing psychotherapy. Partner effects (degree to which the individual's implicit attitudes are associated with explicit attitudes of the other dyad's member) were not found. Conclusion: Specific deficits in psychotherapy knowledge should be addressed in interventions to lower barriers accessing psychotherapy. Parents should be included in interventions as a valuable resource to support youths in seeking psychotherapy for mental disorders.

A comparison of expressed emotion between mothers and their adolescent daughters with and without a history of nonsuicidal self-injury.

BACKGROUND: Expressed Emotion refers to the extent to which close relatives express critical/hostile and/or emotionally overinvolved attitudes and feelings when speaking about a family member. High Expressed Emotion is a valuable predictor of clinical outcomes and is related to the presence of various mental disorders, including nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). Interpersonal factors have been shown to be relevant in initiating and in maintaining with NSSI, as interpersonal difficulties are often reported as triggers for emotional dysregulation. The parental role in the etiology and treatment of NSSI needs to be further investigated. This study assesses Expressed Emotion in adolescents who engage in NSSI and their mothers. METHOD: We examined Expressed Emotion levels of mother-daughter dyads among adolescents who engage in NSSI, clinical controls (CCs), and nonclinical controls (NCs). The sample consisted of 70 female adolescents aged 12-20 years (M = 15.28 years, SD = 1.81; NSSI: n = 21, CC: n = 17, NC: n = 32) and 24 mothers aged 38-56 years (M = 46.47 years, SD = 4.61) using The Five-Minute Speech Sample (FMSS). RESULTS: Adolescents who engage in NSSI exhibited significantly more covert criticism and critical tone toward their mothers than CCs (d = 0.65, d = 1.10) and NCs (d = 1.30, d = 1.10). CONCLUSION: The findings highlight the importance of family-based interventions for the treatment of NSSI in order to enhance a positive relationship quality between parents and adolescents.

Avaliação da geração de resíduos sólidos urbanos no estado de Goiás, Brasil: análise estatística de dados / Municipal solid waste generation assessment in the state of Goiás, Brazil: statistical data analysis

RESUMO A definição do sistema de gestão de resíduos sólidos urbanos (RSU) mais adequado para um município passa, obrigatoriamente, pelo quantitativo de RSU gerados. O estado de Goiás enfrentava esse problema, pois alguns de seus municípios possuíam a informação do quantitativo de RSU produzidos, mas o estado não tinha um valor da geração total. Diante dessa questão, foi encaminhado um questionário aos municípios goianos em que se buscou obter informações acerca dos resíduos sólidos, dentre as quais a geração de RSU. O objetivo deste estudo foi realizar uma análise estatística dos quantitativos de RSU que os municípios goianos, via questionário, disseram gerar e compará-los com quantitativos obtidos em estudos realizados em municípios do estado. Os resultados da produção fornecida pelos municípios apontaram que quanto menores os municípios, maior a geração per capita de RSU, o que vai de encontro às pesquisas científicas, que mostram que quanto maior a população, maior a produção por pessoa. Para municípios de até 50 mil habitantes, há diferenças significativas entre a geração dos questionários e a geração teórica; já para municípios com mais de 50 mil habitantes, os valores não são significativamente diferentes. Os dados dos questionários relevaram, ainda, que não há correspondência entre a geração per capita de RSU e o número de habitantes, outro dado contrário ao que define a teoria. De qualquer modo, foi possível mensurar os quantitativos de RSU gerados pelos municípios goianos, o que auxiliará na decisão sobre as tecnologias mais adequadas para gerir os RSU de Goiás.

ABSTRACT The most suitable definition of a city's municipal solid waste (MSW) management system is mandatorily related to the amount of MSW generated. The state of Goiás faced such problem, since some of its municipalities had their MSW production data, but the state did not have an overall generation number. Considering this scenario, a questionnaire was sent to the municipalities of Goiás requesting information on their solid waste, among which was the MSW generation. The aim of this study was to conduct a statistical analysis of the MSW amount the state's municipalities have affirmed to generate, according to the questionnaires, and compare it with the quantitative data obtained in studies carried out in municipalities of the state. The results of the production provided by the municipalities have shown that the smaller the cities, the higher the generation of MSW per capita, a finding that goes against scientific research, which has proven that the larger the population, the higher the production per person. For municipalities with up to 50 thousand inhabitants, there are significant differences between the numbers presented in the questionnaires and those in the theoretical generation. On the other hand, municipalities with more than 50 thousand inhabitants don't have numbers so significantly different. The questionnaire data also revealed that there's no correspondence between the MSW generated per capita and the number of inhabitants, information contrary to what the theory states. However, it was still possible to measure the amount of MSW generated by Goiás cities, something that should be of great value to help decide the best technologies to the state's MSW management.

Environmental factors affect Acidobacterial communities below the subgroup level in grassland and forest soils.

In soil, Acidobacteria constitute on average 20% of all bacteria, are highly diverse, and are physiologically active in situ. However, their individual functions and interactions with higher taxa in soil are still unknown. Here, potential effects of land use, soil properties, plant diversity, and soil nanofauna on acidobacterial community composition were studied by cultivation-independent methods in grassland and forest soils from three different regions in Germany. The analysis of 16S rRNA gene clone libraries representing all studied soils revealed that grassland soils were dominated by subgroup Gp6 and forest soils by subgroup Gp1 Acidobacteria. The analysis of a large number of sites (n = 57) by 16S rRNA gene fingerprinting methods (terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism [T-RFLP] and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis [DGGE]) showed that Acidobacteria diversities differed between grassland and forest soils but also among the three different regions. Edaphic properties, such as pH, organic carbon, total nitrogen, C/N ratio, phosphorus, nitrate, ammonium, soil moisture, soil temperature, and soil respiration, had an impact on community composition as assessed by fingerprinting. However, interrelations with environmental parameters among subgroup terminal restriction fragments (T-RFs) differed significantly, e.g., different Gp1 T-RFs correlated positively or negatively with nitrogen content. Novel significant correlations of Acidobacteria subpopulations (i.e., individual populations within subgroups) with soil nanofauna and vascular plant diversity were revealed only by analysis of clone sequences. Thus, for detecting novel interrelations of environmental parameters with Acidobacteria, individual populations within subgroups have to be considered.

Changes in fisheries discard rates and seabird communities.

It is clear that discards from commercial fisheries are a key food resource for many seabird species around the world. But predicting the response of seabird communities to changes in discard rates is problematic and requires historical data to elucidate the confounding effects of other, more 'natural' ecological processes. In the North Sea, declining stocks, changes in technical measures, changes in population structure and the establishment of a recovery programme for cod (Gadus morhua) will alter the amount of fish discarded. This region also supports internationally important populations of seabirds, some of which feed extensively, but facultatively, on discards, in particular on undersized haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) and whiting (Merlangius merlangus). Here we use long-term data sets from the northern North Sea to show that there is a direct link between discard availability and discard use by a generalist predator and scavenger--the great skua (Stercorarius skua). Reduced rates of discarding, particularly when coupled with reduced availability of small shoaling pelagic fish such as sandeel (Ammodytes marinus), result in an increase in predation by great skuas on other birds. This switching of prey by a facultative scavenger presents a potentially serious threat to some seabird communities.