The relationship of the distribution of acceptance of male registered nurses found in this study to the perceptions of acceptance by male registered nurses is unclear and requires further investigation.

Background. While social anxiety has been reported among essential tremor (ET) patients, very little is known about the relation between self-report measures of social anxiety, tremor severity and disability, and cognition. Methods. Sixty-three individuals diagnosed with ET took part in a comprehensive study examining neurocognition and behavioral functioning. A psychiatric diagnostic interview, three social anxiety questionnaires, and an idiographic-based behavioral assessment to pinpoint anxiety provoking situations and related distress were completed. Results. Thirty percent of the participants met diagnostic criteria for social anxiety disorder (SAD). Social anxiety questionnaires were negligibly related to tremor severity and disability. Idiographic behavioral assessment of subjective distress was moderately related to resting tremor severity and disability and strongly related to social anxiety questionnaires scores. Only one cognitive variable was related to tremor severity. Conclusions. These findings suggest that (a) self-report measures of social anxiety with ET patients may underestimate distress; (b) emphasis on tremor severity may be misleading; (c) tremor disability may be a more sensitive and functional measure related to cognition and effect; (d) SAD is wide spread and does not appear to be related to dysregulated executive function; and (e) development of an ET-specific measure of social anxiety is called for.

Effect of abbreviated upright Behavioral Relaxation Training (BRT) on two self-report measures of test anxiety was examined using a quasi-experimental pre-post between groups (N = 20) research design with selfreferred college students. At time 1 (T1) assessment, all participants completed the Abbreviated Test Anxiety Scale (ATAS) and were trained in the use of the Subjective Unit of Discomfort (SUD) rating scale. Participants recorded SUD ratings in vivo over a one-week period. Experimental group participants received two group sessions of upright BRT with instructions to practice BRT in vivo. Control group participants simply recorded SUD ratings during the intervention period. At time 2 (T2) assessment, all participants provided SUD rating data and completed the ATAS. Correlated t-tests indicated statistically significant differences in ATAS and SUD ratings in favor of abbreviated BRT. Robust effect, despite small sample size, provides further evidence for the effectiveness of BRT as an easy to learn, rapid relaxation training procedure for anxiety disorders. Application of abbreviated BRT in a group setting is a significant advance. Replication using a larger sample size with measurement of relaxed behavior and effect on academic performance is needed.

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Previous studies have demonstrated that significant changes in action or behaviour (function) and morphology occur in the deafferentated and the adjacent somatosensory cortex after amputation or experimental spinal cord injury, These studies have shown changes in somatotopic mappings and somatosensory perception as well as altered evoked responses, The purpose of the present study was to examine the potential effect of these changes on cognitive processes using the tactile P300 event-related potential (ERP) in a spinal cord injured (SCI) population. The P300 ERP has been associated with more complex cognitive functioning such as selective attention, memory, and stimulus evaluation rather than earlier sensory processing of stimuli. Three groups consisting of healthy control, paraplegic, and tetraplegic subjects participated in a transcutaneous electrical stimulation 'oddball' task. Results indicate that all groups were successful in maintaining target counts and produced significantly larger P300 amplitudes with longer latencies to target trials compared to non-target trials. The SCI groups, however, produced P300 ERPs for both targets and non-targets that were significantly reduced in amplitude compared to the control group. In the case of the tetraplegia patients, the P300 was almost abolished. No differences in latency of the P300 was observed between any of the groups.