Drug Use Control Perception and Strategies in General and Clinical Population in a Spanish City.

BACKGROUND: This article evaluates the perception of drug use control and strategies in Valencia City (Spain) in a general and clinical population, in two independent studies. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 1071 people participated. In Study 1 (n = 924) the entire sample came from the general population (GP), and in Study 2 (n = 147), 68 were drug users being treated in an Addictive Behavior Unit (ABU), and 79 people of the GP. The drug use control perception and strategies in both subgroups were compared. The participants filled in the Drug Use Strategies Scale and a Drug Use Survey. RESULTS: A high level of perception of drug control in the GP was obtained (72.7% in Study 1 and 67.5% in Study 2), and 32.5% in the ABU subgroup. People in the GP and drug users in treatment differ in some control strategies. A predictive profile of the perception of control was obtained for Study 2. CONCLUSION: The high degree of perception of controlling drug use in the GP, and partially in drug users being treated, and the specific control strategies reported suggests that moderate use and drug control strategies are a great value alternative to bear in mind compared to abstinence.

Evaluation of the Effects of a Bullying at Work Intervention for Middle Managers.

The aim of the study is to evaluate the effects of a workplace bullying intervention based on the training of middle managers regarding bullying awareness, the consequences of bullying, strategies in conflict resolution and mediation/negotiation abilities. Overall, 142 randomly selected middle managers participated in the study. First, participants completed an information record and two scales assessing bullying strategies, role conflict and role ambiguity. The last two scales were completed again in a second phase three months after the intervention had finished. The intervention produced a decrease in the following bullying strategies: effects on self-expression and communication, effects on personal reputation and effects on occupational situation and quality of life, with all of the mentioned bullying strategies being suffered by part of the sample. In addition, the conflict role decreased in the group which received the intervention. Moreover, the decrease in the effects of the bullying strategy effects on occupational situation and quality of life was especially important in managers with higher responsibilities within the workplace. Results are discussed in the framework that (1) leadership practices and, more specifically, conflict resolution skills are strongly responsible for bullying at work; and (2) the importance of intervening in the early stages of the bullying process as a key element in the correction, but also as a potential prevention element, of bullying in the workplace.

The Role of Age and Gender in Perceived Vulnerability to Infectious Diseases.

Background: The study of the immune system has been approached using two separate paths, the biological immune system and the behavioral immune system. Recently, Gangestad and Grebe proposed a unique integrated compensatory immune system, where both systems work together and one of them could compensate for the other when necessary. However, few studies have confirmed the existence of this integrated compensatory immune system. Our study represents an attempt to explore the existence of this unique immune system, investigating if the behavioral immune system variables increase when the biological immune system weakens with age. Material andMethods. The cross-sectional design study was made up of a final sample of 1108 participants (45.2% men and 54.2 women) aged 18-64 years. The younger group (18-21 years) was made up of students, whilst the older groups (22 to 64 years) were composed by their relatives and acquaintances, following the snow ball process. The participants completed the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Questionnaire that assesses perceived infectability and germ aversion. Correlations, analyses of variance (ANOVAs), and independent group comparisons were performed. These analyses showed the relationships between the variables studied, the effects of age and gender in perceived infectability and germ aversion, and the differences that perceived infectability and germ aversion presented in different age-groups separated by gender. Results: A pattern emerged where germ aversion increases as both men and women get older, but perceived infectability decreases up to the age of 50, and then it increases in women from that age onward. Gender differences are only significant in younger participants, with women having higher scores than men in both variables. Conclusion: The results partially support the existence of a unique integrated compensatory biological/behavioral immune system.

Optimism as a key to improving mental health in family caregivers of people living with Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: The aim of the present work was to study the serial multiple mediating role of optimism, perceived social support and subjective burden in the relationship between objective burden and psychological distress in caregivers of people with Alzheimer´s Disease (AD).Method: One hundred and forty family caregivers of people living with AD were recruited from randomly selected Alzheimer Association Centres. They answered the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R), the Functional Social Support Questionnaire (DUKE.UNC), the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) and questions relating to gender, age and the amount of time spent on daily caregiving.Results: Results indicated that objective burden and subjective burden were both high in these caregivers. Optimism mediated on psychological distress through social support and through subjective burden with a full mediation role. When comparisons between indirect effects were performed, optimism was the mediator with the greatest effect between objective burden and psychological distress.Conclusion: This study highlights the indirect role of optimism and the advantages that interventions in optimism training in the early stages of the person with AD could produce. Thus, alleviating subjective burden and increasing perceived social support, which would lead to an improvement in the mental health of family caregivers of people with AD.

Ex post-facto study of long term stress in a sample of adoptees / Estudio ex post-facto del estrés a largo plazo en una muestra de personas adoptadas

In this work we study the impact of relinquishment and the adoption process in posttraumatic symptoms in a group of 55 adults that were adopted as children before 1970. The effects of institutionalization, maltreatment, traumatic revelation of the adopted status and stressful life events have also been studied. No significant differences were found between institutionalized and non-institutionalized adoptees in posttraumatic symptomatology. However, adoptees who suffered maltreatment, traumatic revelation and high level of stressful life events scored significantly higher in intrusion and arousal than those adoptees non-maltreated, without traumatic revelation and with low level of stressful life events respectively. Traumatic revelation, alone or in association with maltreatment, seems to play an important role in posttraumatic symptoms in the sample studied

En este trabajo estudiamos el impacto que el proceso de abandono y adopción tuvieron en sintomatología postraumática en una muestra de 55 adultos que fueron adoptados con anterioridad a 1970. También se ha estudiado el efecto de la institucionalización, el maltrato, la revelación traumática del estatus de adoptado y los acontecimientos vitales estresantes. No se han encontrado diferencias significativas entre adoptados que fueron institucionalizados y aquellos que no lo fueron en sintomatología postraumática. Sin embargo, los adoptados que sufrieron maltrato, revelación traumática y altos niveles de sucesos vitales estresantes puntuaron más alto de un modo significativo en intrusión y arousal que aquellos adoptados que respectivamente no sufrieron maltrato, ni revelación traumática y que sus niveles de acontecimientos vitales estresantes eran bajos. Revelación traumática, sola o en asociación con maltrato, parece jugar un importante papel en la sintomatología postraumática encontrada en la muestra estudiada