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Studied the similarity of behaviors among group members and the effects of a risk-reduction intervention aimed at AIDS/HIV prevention with 76 groups of African-American urban adolescents (n=382 youth) studied over 18 months. Data support the usefulness of HIV prevention through groups of friends. (SLD)

Addiction is characterized by compulsive engagement despite adverse consequences. Psychobehavioral interventions targeting compulsivity in addictions are relatively rare, particularly for behavioral addictions like internet gaming disorder (IGD). Free from confounding drug-on-brain effects, IGD provides a promising model for understanding neuropsychological processes of addictions. IGD is a global concern in the setting of increasing internet use worldwide. Thus, developing interventions and understanding their mechanisms of action are important. Positive emotional association biases (EABs) towards addiction cues based on reward conditioning may underlie addiction-associated compulsivity. Here, we developed an EAB modification (EABM) protocol and examined whether modifying EABs via cognitive training would alter neurocognitive aspects of addiction-associated compulsivity in IGD. We recruited 90 IGD participants who were randomly assigned to receive EABM or sham training in a 1:1 ratio. The EABM intervention involved six consecutive days of exposure to negative emotional terms linked to gaming stimuli and positive terms linked to non-gaming healthy-alternative stimuli. The sham training involved similar stimuli linked to neutral words. Participants underwent event-related fMRI while performing a regulation-of-craving task and received several behavioral assessments pre-training and post-training. Primary efficacy measures were changes in gaming-related positive EABs, and compulsive gaming thoughts and behaviors. Behaviorally, EABM (vs. sham) training decreased gaming-related positive EABs and compulsive gaming thoughts and behaviors. Neurally, EABM training involved decreased activation in the bilateral dorsal striatum (DS) in the regulation-of-craving task, and altered left DS-centric functional connectivity with ventral prefrontal cortical regions, which correlated with decreases in gaming-related EABs or compulsive gaming thoughts and behaviors. EABM training also implicated activation changes in the right medial frontal gyrus and posterior insula. EABM may reduce compulsive gaming thoughts and behaviors via reshaping functional organization of fronto-striatal pathways and insular activity in IGD. The therapeutic potential of EABM should be examined in larger, longer-term studies, as should its application to other addictive disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing number of AIDS orphans in China, the government has been building AIDS orphanages since 2004 to accommodate some of those children who have lost both parents to AIDS. However, no data are available regarding the quality of this model of institutional care of AIDS orphans in China. This study, based on qualitative data from children and workers in AIDS orphanages, examines the daily lives, needs, and feelings of orphans and explores the advantages and disadvantages of institutionalized care of AIDS orphans in China. The current study was conducted in 2006-2007 in two rural counties of central China. Data in the current study included individual in-depth interviews with 23 children who lost both of their parents to HIV/AIDS (ages 8 to 17 years) living in AIDS orphanages and 5 AIDS orphanage workers. Findings in this study reveal that children living in orphanages mostly felt that the living conditions were better than the families they lived with after the death of their parents. However, according to the children and orphanage workers, the institutional care has some disadvantages, such as administrative restraints, limited psychological guidance, stigma, lack of education on AIDS, and financial burdens of the operation. Implications for intervention programs include continuing support from the government and nongovernmental organizations, improvements in administrative styles, and the need of incorporating psychological support within the institutions.

Drawing from the stress resistance process within the conservation of resources theory, this study examined how resources at multiple ecological levels—personal (self-esteem), relational (spousal support), and social network (relationships with parents and parents-in-law)—moderate the spillover and crossover effects from external stressors to trajectories of marital quality. We used three-annual-wave, dyadic data from 268 heterosexual Chinese couples who were at the beginning stages of marriage. Consistent with theory, personal, relational, and social network resources all buffered the detrimental effects of external stressors for marital quality. Further, nuanced findings emerged, likely given the social cultural context in contemporary China. Specifically, gender differences emerged in whether a specific resource attenuated the detrimental effects of external stressors (e.g., husbands' vs. wives' self-esteem attenuated detrimental effects of external stressors). Moreover, opposite patterns existed for the short-term versus long-term results for husbands' relational resources. In sum, our findings highlight that when helping couples cope with stressors, it is necessary to (a) include available resources at multiple ecological levels (personal, relational, social network) and (b) consider whether social cultural backgrounds may have influenced the effectiveness of a specific resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]