Psychosocial Profile of Juvenile and Adult Offenders Who Acknowledge Having Committed Child-to-Parent Violence.

The main objective of this study was to establish the psychosocial profile of adolescents and adults who have admitted to committing child-to-parent violence (CPV) and were serving a judicial sanction or prison sentence, respectively. Two groups of participants took part in this study. The first group was made up of 89 male youths who were serving judicial sanctions, and the second group was made up of 70 men serving a prison sentence. A cross-sectional retrospective design with concurrent measurements was used in this study. Group differences in the exposure-to-violence variables were conducted. Automatic regression models were used to estimate a self-reported CPV. In relation to the variables of indirect exposure to violence, statistically significant differences between those who admitted having committed CPV and those who did not, irrespective of being adults or adolescents, were found for seeing violence in class and at home but not for seeing violence on the street or on television. Regarding the variables related to experiencing violence, the results showed statistically significant differences in experiencing violence at home but not in class or on the street. The best predictive model of CPV includes some of the dimensions of self-concept, specifically academic and family self-concept, as well as the avoidant and rational problem-solving styles and the negative orientation toward problems. The results have shown the existence of a CPV offender profile that is common to minors and adults.

Protective and therapeutic benefits of environmental enrichment on binge-like sucrose intake in C57BL/6J mice.

Binge eating disorder (BED) is characterized, in part, by recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food in a short period of time. Repetitive binge episodes are a common pattern of consumption during the early stages of substance abuse, and it has been proposed that binge patterns of consumption might favor the transition to BED and "food addiction". Therefore, it is of paramount importance to provide new behavioral strategies that protect vulnerable binge-prone individuals from transitioning to BED and food addiction. Recently, we showed protective and therapeutic benefits of environmental enrichment (EE) on binge-like intake of ethanol in C57BL/6J mice, in agreement with previous evidence showing EE modulation of drug intake, drug relapse and drug reward. In the present study, adolescent mice reared under EE conditions were evaluated for binge-like consumption of sucrose during adulthood in a long-term drinking in the dark (DID) procedure that effectively models binge consumption in humans. Additionally, we tested binge-like intake in adults reared under standard conditions (SE) with long-term exposure to sucrose DID and the effects on sucrose DID of switching from SE to EE conditions. We report here, for the first time, that early EE exposure protects mice from binge-like excessive sucrose intake during adulthood. Ongoing binge-like high sucrose intake in SE-reared mice was also significantly reduced when switched to EE conditions. The present observations suggest that EE exposure might be a promising tool for preventing repetitive binge-like sucrose consumption from transitioning to BED and food addiction.

Environmental Enrichment During Adulthood Reduces Sucrose Binge-Like Intake in a High Drinking in the Dark Phenotype (HD) in C57BL/6J Mice.

Repetitive binge episodes favor transition to binge-eating disorders. Experimental evidence points to positive influence of environmental enrichment (EE) on drug/food addiction, although far less is known regarding EE effects over binge-like consumption. Here, we evaluate the following: (1) whether switching from nonenriched standard environment (SE) to EE housing conditions during adulthood alters a stable pattern of voluntary sucrose (10% w/v) binge-like intake in high (HD) vs. low (LD) drinking phenotypes under a drinking in the dark (DID) schedule; and (2) sucrose binge-like intake in a DID task in response to a pharmacological challenge with an OXr1 antagonist in HD/LD subpopulations after long-term exposure to SE or EE conditions. Adolescent (postnatal day 21; PND21) mice were housed in SE conditions. At PND65, all animals were long-term exposed to sucrose DID. On the first episode of DID (PND65), animals were divided into HD vs. LD subpopulations according to their sucrose intake. On PND85, an OXr1 antagonist test was conducted on HD and LD mice with SB-334867 (SB) administration. On PND95, HD and LD subpopulations were again randomly allocated into two subgroups, resulting in the following experimental conditions: HD-SE, HD-EE, LD-SE and LD-EE. Sucrose binge-like intake continued until PND116, when a second SB test was conducted. The main findings are: (1) a single 2 h episode of sucrose binge drinking in a DID procedure consistently segregates two behavioral subpopulations, HD and LD; (2) when adult mice in standard conditions and long-term exposed to sucrose DID were switched to EE conditions, an immediate reduction in sucrose binge-like intake was observed in HD mice, pointing to a therapeutic role of EE exposure; and (3) administration of the OXr1 antagonist caused an acute reduction in sucrose binge-like intake in HD and LD mice exposed to SE conditions. Importantly, exposure to EE conditions blunted the inhibitory effect of SB on sucrose binge consumption in both behavioral phenotypes, indirectly suggesting a potential EE/OXr1 signaling interaction. We propose the hypothesis that EE might regulate OX-dependent anxiety/compulsivity brain systems, which might secondarily modulate sucrose binge-like intake.

Environmental Enrichment During Adolescence Acts as a Protective and Therapeutic Tool for Ethanol Binge-Drinking, Anxiety-Like, Novelty Seeking and Compulsive-Like Behaviors in C57BL/6J Mice During Adulthood.

Repetitive drug/ethanol (EtOH) binge-like consumption during pre-addictive stages favors a transition to addiction in vulnerable organisms. Experimental evidence points to the therapeutic and preventive effects of environmental enrichment (EE) on drug and EtOH addiction; however, little is known regarding EE modulation of binge-like consumption in non-dependent organisms. Here, we explore the impact of early EE on binge-like EtOH consumption: (1) we test whether early EE exposure prevents binge-like EtOH intake (20% v/v) in adult mice under an intermittent drinking in the dark (iDID) schedule; (2) we evaluate the therapeutic effects of EE housing conditions on binge-like EtOH consumption in adult animals; and (3) we compare novelty-seeking and compulsive-like behaviors, and anxiety-like behavior, as measured by the Hole Board (HB) and Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) tests, respectively, in adult EE/standard environment (SE) animals. Adolescent (postnatal day 28; PND28) mice were randomly allocated to two housing conditions (4 animals/cage): EE or SE. At PND67 all the animals were exposed to a schedule of EtOH binge-like iDID. On PND92 half of the animals in each environmental condition (EE and SE) were randomly allocated to two subgroups in a crossover design, where environmental conditions were kept similar to those previously experienced or switched, finally leading to four experimental conditions: EE-EE, EE-SE, SE-SE, and SE-EE. EtOH binge-like consumption continued until PND140, when EPM and HB tests were finally conducted. The main observations were: (1) EE-reared mice showed lower EtOH binge-like intake than SE-reared mice during adulthood, which supports a protective role for EE. (2) when adult EtOH drinking SE-reared mice were switched to EE conditions, a reduction in EtOH binge-like consumption was observed, suggesting a therapeutic role for EE; however, losing EE during adulthood triggered a progressive increase in EtOH binge-like intake. Moreover, (3) EE-housed adult animals with long-term exposure to EtOH binge-drinking showed lower anxiety-like, compulsive-like, and novelty-seeking behaviors than SE-housed mice, irrespective of the specific housing conditions during adolescence. We discuss the primary impact of EE on anxiety-like neurobehavioral brain systems through which it secondarily modulates EtOH binge-like drinking.

Different Molecular/Behavioral Endophenotypes in C57BL/6J Mice Predict the Impact of OX1 Receptor Blockade on Binge-Like Ethanol Intake.

Ethanol (EtOH) research has focused on stages of dependence. It is of paramount importance to more deeply understand the neurobehavioral factors promoting increased risk for EtOH binge drinking during the early stages of the addiction cycle. The first objective of this study was to evaluate whether C57BL/6J mice showing high drinking in the dark (DID) exhibit neurobehavioral traits known to contribute to EtOH binge-drinking disorders. Comparing high vs. low drinkers (HD/LD), we evaluated different types of basal anxiety-like responses, EtOH preference and sensitivity to the reinforcing properties of EtOH, and basal mRNA expression of the OX1/OX2 receptors (OX1r/OX2r) within the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the nucleus accumbens (NAcc). Additionally, we tested binge drinking by LD/HD in response to a selective OX1r antagonist following intermittent episodes of DID (iDID). We report that DID consistently segregates two neurobehavioral endophenotypes, HD vs. LD, showing differences in neophobia and/or impulsivity/compulsivity traits. Additionally, HD mice show decreased basal OX1r and OX2r mRNA expression within the NAcc and elevated OX1r within the PFC. Exposure to several intermittent episodes of EtOH DID triggered a rapid increase in EtOH intake over time in LD mice matching that observed in HD mice. Despite HD/LD endophenotypes did not show differences in EtOH intake, they still predicted the response to a pharmacological challenge with a selective OX1r antagonist. The present data underscore the relevance of HD/LD endophenotypes stemming from DID procedures for exploring neurobehavioral processes underlying the early stages of the addiction cycle and EtOH binge-drinking disorders.

Orexin receptor 1 signaling contributes to ethanol binge-like drinking: Pharmacological and molecular evidence.

Orexins (OX) have been recently implicated in ethanol seeking and self-administration. A few recent studies have provided additional evidence that OX receptor antagonists effectively reduce voluntary ethanol consumption in subjects spontaneously showing high levels of ethanol intake. The present study further evaluates the contribution of OXR1 to excessive binge-like drinking of ethanol in ad libitum-fed C57BL/6J mice from a pharmacological and molecular approach. The main findings in the study are: (1) Icv administration of SB-334867 (3 µg/µl) blunted ethanol (20% v/v), but not saccharin (0.15% w/v) binge-like drinking in a drinking in the dark procedure, without any alteration of chow consumption or total calories ingested; (2) Icv administration of SB-334867 (3 µg/µl) increased the latency to recover the righting reflex after a sedative dose of ethanol without any significant alteration in ethanol peripheral metabolism; (3) four repetitive, 2-h daily episodes of saccharin, but not ethanol binge-like drinking blunted OXR1 mRNA expression in the lateral hypothalamus. Present findings extend the current knowledge pointing to a role for OX signaling in ethanol sedation, which might partially explain the inhibitory effect of OXR1 antagonists on ethanol consumption. Combined pharmacological and molecular data suggesting the contribution of OXR1 in ethanol binge-drinking leading us to propose the idea that targeting OXR1 could represent a novel pharmacological approach to control binge-consumption episodes of ethanol in vulnerable organisms failing to spontaneously reduce OX activity.

Psychometric properties and scales of the Granada Burnout Questionnaire applied to nurses.

Nurses are an occupational group with extremely high levels of burnout. The most accepted definition of the burnout syndrome was proposed by Maslach and Jackson, who characterized it in terms of three dimensions: (i) Emotional Exhaustion; (ii) Depersonalization; (iii) Personal Accomplishment. This definition was the basis for the Granada Burnout Questionnaire (GBQ). The objective of this research was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the GBQ and to elaborate an evaluation scale to measure burnout in nursing professionals in Spain. A total of 1,177 nurses participated in this study and successfully completed the GBQ. Evidence of construct validity was verified by cross-validation and convergent validity, and evidence of criteria validity was checked by concurrent validity. Cronbach's alpha was used to measure internal consistency. The results obtained in our study show satisfactory fit values in the confirmatory factor analysis and in the evidence of convergent and concurrent validity. All of the Cronbach alpha values were greater than .83. This signifies that the GBQ has good psychometric properties that are applicable to nurses. For this purpose a scale of T-scores and centiles was created that permitted the evaluation of burnout in Spanish nursing professionals.

Los enfermeros son uno de los colectivos profesionales que presentan mayores niveles de burnout. La definición más aceptada de este trastorno fue propuesta por Maslach y Jackson, y se caracteriza por Cansancio Emocional, Despersonalización y Realización Personal. Esta definición operativa fue usada en la elaboración del Cuestionario de Burnout Granada (CBG). El objetivo de la presente investigación fue evaluar las propiedades psicométricas del CBG y elaborar un baremo para profesionales de enfermería españoles. El CBG era cumplimentado por 1177 enfermeros. Las evidencias de validez de constructo fueron examinadas usando estrategias de validez cruzada y validez convergente, y las evidencias de validez de criterio mediante la validez concurrente. El coeficiente alfa de Cronbach se utilizó para medir la consistencia interna. Los resultados indican índices de ajuste satisfactorio en el análisis factorial confirmatorio, y en las evidencias de validez convergente y concurrente. Todos los valores de alfa de Cronbach fueron superiores a 0,83. Los resultados muestran que el CBG tiene buenas propiedades psicométricas para ser usado en enfermeros. Se elaboró un baremo en puntuaciones T y centiles que permite evaluar burnout en enfermeros españoles.

Repeated binge-like ethanol administration during adolescence cause decreased C-Fos immunoreactivity in amygdala and arcuate nucleus in adult Sprague-Dawley rats / La administración repetida de etanol, tipo atracón, durante la adolescencia provoca descenso en la expresión de C-Fos en la amígdala y núcleo arqueado de ratas Sprague-Dawley adultas

Binge alcohol drinking during adolescence has been associated with neurotoxicity and increased risk for the development of alcohol use disorders. There is evidence that acute and chronic ethanol administration alters c-fos expression, an indirect index of cellular activity, in different brain regions in adult rats. We evaluate here if a binge-like pattern of ethanol exposure during adolescence has a relevant impact on basal and/or ethanol-stimulated regional c-fos activity during adulthood. For that aim, Sprague-Dawley rats PND 25 were saline pre-treated, (SP group) or binge-ethanol pre-treated (BEP group) for two­consecutive days, at 48-h intervals, over a 14-day period (PND 25 to PND 38). At adult stage (PND 63) and following 25 ethanol-free days, we evaluated c-fos immunoreactivity in response to saline or acute ethanol (1.5 or 3.0 g/kg) in the hypothalamus and amygdala. We found that acute ethanol administration dose-dependently increased c-fos activity in the the Paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN). Interestingly, binge-ethanol exposure during adolescence significantly reduced basal c-fos activity during adulthood in the Central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) and the Arcuate nucleus of hypothalamus (Arc). We conclude that binge-like ethanol administration during adolescence causes long-term disturbances in basal neural activity in brain areas critically involved with ethanol consumption.

El consumo en atracón durante la adolescencia está asociado con neurotoxicidad y con el riesgo de desarrollar un trastorno en el uso de alcohol. Diversos estudios muestran que la administración aguda y crónica de alcohol en ratas adultas altera la expresión de c-fos, un marcador indirecto de actividad celular, en diferentes áreas cerebrales. Nosotros evaluamos si el patrón de consumo de alcohol en atracón durante la adolescencia tiene un impacto en la actividad basal de c-fos en esas regiones activadas por el alcohol. Utilizamos ratas Sprague-Dawley en su día post-natal 25 (PND25) tratadas con suero salino (grupo SP) o con etanol tipo atracón (grupo BEP) durante dos días consecutivos, en intervalos de 48 h, durante 14 días (PND25- PND38). En la edad adulta (PND63) y después de 25 días sin etanol, evaluamos la inmunorreactividad para c-fos en respuesta a una administración aguda de suero salino o etanol (1,5 ó 3,0 g/kg) en diferentes regiones cerebrales. La administración de alcohol incrementó de manera dosis-dependiente la actividad de c-fos en el núcleo paraventricular del hipotálamo. Además la exposición a etanol tipo atracón durante la adolescencia disminuyó la actividad basal de c-fos en la adultez en el núcleo central de la amígdala y en el núcleo arqueado del hipotálamo. Concluimos que el consumo de alcohol en atracón durante la adolescencia causa problemas a largo plazo en la actividad basal de regiones cerebrales implicadas en el consumo de alcohol.

Adolescent binge-like ethanol exposure reduces basal α-MSH expression in the hypothalamus and the amygdala of adult rats.

Melanocortins (MC) are central peptides that have been implicated in the modulation of ethanol consumption. There is experimental evidence that chronic ethanol exposure reduces α-MSH expression in the limbic and hypothalamic brain regions and alters central pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) mRNA activity in adult rats. Adolescence is a critical developmental period of high vulnerability in which ethanol exposure alters corticotropin releasing factor, neuropeptide Y, substance P and neurokinin neuropeptide activities, all of which have key roles in ethanol consumption. Given the involvement of MC and the endogenous inverse agonist AgRP in ethanol drinking, here we evaluate whether a binge-like pattern of ethanol treatment during adolescence has a relevant impact on basal and/or ethanol-stimulated α-MSH and AgRP activities during adulthood. To this end, adolescent Sprague-Dawley rats (beginning at PND25) were pre-treated with either saline (SP group) or binge-like ethanol exposure (BEP group; 3.0 g/kg given in intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections) of one injection per day over two consecutive days, followed by 2 days without injections, repeated for a total of 8 injections. Following 25 ethanol-free days, we evaluated α-MSH and AgRP immunoreactivity (IR) in the limbic and hypothalamic nuclei of adult rats (PND63) in response to ethanol (1.5 or 3.0 g/kgi.p.) and saline. We found that binge-like ethanol exposure during adolescence significantly reduced basal α-MSH IR in the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA), the arcuate nucleus (Arc) and the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) during adulthood. Additionally, acute ethanol elicited AgRP IR in the Arc. Rats given the adolescent ethanol treatment required higher doses of ethanol than saline-treated rats to express AgRP. In light of previous evidence that endogenous MC and AgRP regulate ethanol intake through MC-receptor signaling, we speculate that the α-MSH and AgRP disturbances induced by binge-like ethanol exposure during adolescence may contribute to excessive ethanol consumption during adulthood.

Control of food intake by MC4-R signaling in the lateral hypothalamus, nucleus accumbens shell and ventral tegmental area: interactions with ethanol.

The melanocortin system is involved in animal models of obesity and anorexia-cachexia and MC4 receptors (MC4-R) are currently a target system for the development of drugs aimed to treat obesity and eating disorders in humans. Previous evidence suggest that feeding peptides might lack their orexigenic activity while stimulate ethanol intake. The present study comparatively evaluated food intake (4-h interval) in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats drinking ethanol (6% w/v, 2 bottle choice paradigm) (EE group) and ethanol-naïve (EN) rats in response to bilateral infusion of the selective MC4-R antagonist HS014 (0, 0.02 or 0.05 µg/0.5 µl/site) or the selective MC4-R agonist cyclo(NH-CH(2)-CH(2)-CO-His-d-Phe-Arg-Trp-Glu)-NH(2) (0, 0.75 or 1.5 µg/0.5 µl/site), into the lateral hypothalamus (LH), the nucleus accumbens (NAc), or the ventral tegmental area (VTA). The main findings in the study are: (1) LH-infusions of the MC4-R antagonist increased and the agonist reduced feeding and total calories consumed, while ethanol intake remained unaltered. (2) NAc- and VTA-infusions of the selective agonist reduced food, ethanol and total calories intake. (3) NAc- and VTA-infusions of the MC4-R antagonist increased feeding in EN rats, but not in EE animals which showed a mild increase in ethanol intake, while total calories consumed remained unaltered. Present data show that having ethanol available reduces feeding elicited by NAc and VTA-MC4-R blockade. Additionally, while MC4-R signaling in the LH appears to modulate homeostatic aspects of feeding, it may contribute to non-homeostatic aspects of ingestive behaviors in the VTA and the NAc.

[The influence of decision task and deliberation style on the verdict of the juries]. / Influencia de la tarea de decisión y del estilo de deliberación en el veredicto de los jurados.

The influence of decision task and deliberation style on the verdict of the juries. In the Kameda's Deliberation Style Model the emission of verdicts of responsibility when the deliberation style of the juries (elemental/compound) and the type of decision task (disjunctive/conjunctive) are jointly manipulated, is favoured in certain conditions. Given the consequences that these approaches could have in real judicial processes, this model is analyzed using a manslaughter crime under the Spanish judicial context conditions (nine members juries and seven or five members majorities emitting a verdict of guilty or not guilty, respectively). The obtained results indicated a better operation of the model when a conjunctive decision task was demanded.