Nausea and vomiting in anticipation of chemotherapy often develop in patients undergoing cancer treatment. Previously neutral environmental stimuli that are associated with treatment acquire aversive properties and elicit nausea, gagging, and/or retching, which are not controlled by available antiemetic drugs. In this study, deep muscle relaxation hypnosis controlled these conditioned reactions in all cases. Anticipatory emesis recurred when hypnosis was not used. During subsequent sessions in which hypnosis was reinstated, anticipatory emesis was again controlled.

The magnitude of fitness improvement, as measured by run time improvement, was directly related to baseline fitness level but not related to movement mileage or high-intensity run mileage accrued during training.

Research evaluating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) behavioral interventions among U.S. military personnel has been lacking. In this study, a behavioral intervention to prevent HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) was implemented in a sample of Marine security guards. Participants were assessed before and after a three-session intervention on a measure of STDs/HIV knowledge and a number of psychosocial scales. The results indicated that STDs/HIV knowledge was significantly greater after the intervention. Significant pre-test vs. post-test differences were also found on the Social Norms, Behavioral Intentions, Attitudes toward Condoms, and Self-Efficacy/Impulse Control scales. On Social Norms and Behavioral Intentions, the differences were as expected: subjects perceived greater social norms supporting condom use and had stronger intentions to practice safe sex after the intervention than they had before. On Attitudes toward Condoms and Self-Efficacy/Impulse Control, the differences were not in the expected direction. Psychosocial factors associated with self-reported condom use were also identified.

Although a substantial number of studies have been conducted to evaluate the impact of various human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention programs, most of them have focused on civilian populations. There is a clear need to develop and evaluate sexually transmitted diseases (STD)/HIV prevention programs designed specifically for U.S. military populations. The objective of the present study was to determine whether a behavioral intervention known as the STD/HIV Intervention Program (SHIP) would have a sustained positive impact on the behavior of a sample of Marines. A 1-year follow-up telephone interview was administered to (1) Marines who participated in the SHIP course (intervention group), and (2) a quasi-control group of Marines who were not exposed to the SHIP course. The intervention and control groups differed significantly in the percentage of the time they had used condoms during the past year. The intervention participants reported using condoms a greater percentage of the time than the nonparticipants.

Little is known about the comparative effectiveness of human immunodeficiency virus prevention interventions that differ in duration but contain similar content. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of two versions (6 hours vs. 3 hours) of a behavioral intervention called the STD/HIV Intervention Program (SHIP) in a sample of Marines. Marines were exposed to either a 6-hour or a 3-hour version of SHIP. Comparisons of pre-test and post-test knowledge, attitude, and behavioral intention scores revealed similar results for both versions. For both versions of the intervention, scores on sexually transmitted diseases/human immunodeficiency virus knowledge were significantly higher after the intervention. Both the 6-hour and the 3-hour versions of SHIP also led to significant increases on scales measuring social norms and behavioral intentions. The two versions of SHIP appeared to be of comparable effectiveness for producing short-term changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions.