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The purpose of this research is to examine whether health-related personal traits such as hypochondriasis, health behavior and health locus of control can predict dairy avoidance.

The empirical study took place in Israel. The researchers administered questionnaires to gather self-reported data concerning the consumption dairy products in general without making a distinction among different types of dairy (fermented/nonfermented, low fat/high fat etc.). A random sample of 77 participants was recruited from among students at the University of Haifa, after culling out those who declared to have been medically diagnosed with lactose intolerance or dairy allergy.

High health behavior scores were associated with increased likelihood of avoiding milk and dairy products by a factor of 3.92 (OR = 3.92, 95% CI: 1.54–10.02, p = 0.004), whereas external health locus of control was associated with decreased likelihood of shunning milk and dairy (OR = 0.136, 95% CI: 0.032–0.580, p = 0.007). The connection between hypochondriasis and milk avoidance turned out insignificant.

The medical establishment should devise ways, means and measures to purvey well-established dietary guidelines for those who are willing to make an effort and invest in their health.

This study adds to the burgeoning body of literature seeking to relate personal traits or individual characteristics to a host of lifestyle choices. The most salient finding is that many individuals who perform an array of behaviors they deem beneficial to their health and well-being in an attempt to exercise control over their health, paradoxically run the risk of making uninformed lifestyle decisions including dietary choices – ones that might prove detrimental to their health over the long haul.

Single case experimental design (SCED) has a long, well‐respected tradition in evaluating the effectiveness of behavioural interventions for people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviours. However, shift the focus to other psychological modalities (such as psychodynamic psychotherapy) or differing presenting problems (such as interpersonal problems) and the use of SCED methodologies is severely curtailed. This paper describes the application of SCED methodologies in the evaluation of treatment of three clients: the psychodynamic psychotherapy of hypochondriasis in an A/B design, psychodynamic psychotherapy of ambulophobia in an A/B design, and cognitive‐behavioural therapy of anger and aggression in a shifting criterion design. Visual and statistical analysis of the time series data revealed that the hypochondriasis and the anger cases responded to treatment, whereas the ambulophobia case showed some deterioration during the intervention. The cases are discussed in terms of the strengths and weaknesses of the methodologies applied and the relative merits of accruing SCED evidence in the evaluation of the plethora of psychological modalities now being made available to learning disabled clients.

Recent governmental policy has emphasised the need for greater choice and inclusion for people with learning disabilities. Accordingly, learning disabilities services are increasingly offering a greater choice of psychological interventions to people with learning disabilities. A growing body of research has examined the use of psychodynamic interventions for people with learning disabilities. The purpose of the this paper is to identify, outline, and evaluate research on the efficacy of psychodynamic approaches with people with learning disabilities and to consider the implications for clinical practice.

A systematic search identified 13 relevant studies. A qualitative review of these studies was carried out.

Overall, the reviewed studies offer some preliminary support for the use of psychodynamic approaches with people with learning disabilities.

A number of methodological issues are identified (particularly concerning the influence of extraneous variables and the generalisability of findings) and further, larger scale and more robust, research is required.

Learning disabilities services should consider providing psychodynamic psychotherapy for people with a mild learning disability experiencing mental health, behavioural, and/or offending problems.

This paper provides an up-to-date, comprehensive review of the literature on the efficacy of psychodynamic psychotherapy for people with a learning disability that will be of use to services providing therapeutic support to people with a learning disability and to people commissioning those services.

With the popularity of the internet, access to health-related information has become more convenient. However, the easy acquisition of e-health information could lead to unfavorable consequences, such as health anxiety. The purpose of this paper is to explore a set of important influencing factors that lead to health anxiety.

Based on the stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) framework, we propose a theoretical model of health anxiety, with metacognitive beliefs and catastrophic misinterpretation as the mediators between stimulus factors and health anxiety. Using 218 self-reported data points, the authors empirically examine the research model and hypotheses.

The study results show that anxiety sensitivity positively affects metacognitive beliefs. The severity of physical symptoms has a significant positive impact on catastrophic misinterpretation. Metacognitive beliefs and catastrophic misinterpretation have significant positive impacts on health anxiety.

Based on the S-O-R model, this paper develops a comprehensive model to explain health anxiety and verifies the model using firsthand data.

Many of the human communities that comprise the South have cosmologies that place human and nonhuman animals on a continuum. Culturism, with its foreign logic and dynamics, has broken this continuum, thereby fuelling speciesist practices. In this chapter, I portray the deep relation that some rural Southern communities have with nonhuman animals, and analyse some of the imposed logics that lead the South to abuse nonhuman animals while denying that what they are doing is mistreatment.

Patient satisfaction surveys are increasingly used to assess the quality of health care delivery. Unfortunately, survey non‐response may compromise generalizability (and inferential value). Although prior studies demonstrate an association between patient socio‐demographic variables and response rate, relatively little information is available linking personality factors to non‐response. This paper's purpose is to define outpatient satisfaction survey non‐responder personality characteristics.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory profiles of patients who completed an outpatient satisfaction survey were compared with non‐responder profiles. Multivariate analysis was used to adjust for demographic and personality covariates. The study sample included 1,862 medical outpatients who were sent a satisfaction survey and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory results on record at this institution. Of these, 1,255 were survey responders and 607 were non‐responders.

Scores on three Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory scales were significantly correlated with non‐response: higher scores on scales 4 – Psychopathic deviate (Pd) and 8 – Schizophrenia (Sc) predicted an increased likelihood of non‐response (odds ratio [OR], 1.02; p≤0.05 for both), and higher scores on 7 – Psychasthenia (Pt) were associated with a decreased likelihood of non‐response (OR, 0.98; p≤0.01).

Prior investigations demonstrate an association between patient socio‐demographic factors and survey non‐response. This paper uniquely highlights patient personality characteristics' contribution to non‐response. This information is an important consideration for patient satisfaction survey design, administration and interpretation.

Discusses four occupational characteristics of salespeople that should be measured: ego drive; empathy; appearance; and manner and speech, suggesting that technical knowledge of a product is also important. Uses a case history to demonstrate the correct use of tests in selecting salespersonnel, showing some limitations of the tests in question and revealing their effectiveness.

I dedicate half of the book to establishing the theoretical basis of a Southern green criminology as a science that contests ecological discrimination. My political premise for such a theoretical design is that a Southern green criminology must seek to scientifically uncover the harmful practices that make the South victim to ecological discrimination. I use another five chapters to analyse the culturist and speciesist practices that create ecological discrimination against the diverse components of the earth system. In this concluding chapter, inspired by the interactions I have had with members of more than 20 Colombian Indigenous communities and my students, I formulate an everyday Southern green criminology practice for countering ecological discrimination – a critical pedagogy through Southern green criminology seedbeds.

The sequence of stress, distress and somatization has occupied much of the late twentieth-century psychological research. The anatomy of stress can be viewed from interactional and hybrid theories that suggest that the individual relates with the surroundings by buffering the harmful effects of stressors. These acts or reactions are called coping strategies and are designed as protection from the stressors and adaptation to them. Failure to successfully adapt to stressors results in psychological distress. In some individuals, elevated levels of distress and failed coping are expressed in physical symptoms, rather than through feelings, words, or actions. Such “somatization” defends against the awareness of the psychological distress, as demonstrated in the psychosocial literature. The progression of behavior resulting from somatic distress moves from a private domain into the public arena, involving an elaborate medicalization process, is however less clear in sociological discourse. The invocation of a medical diagnosis to communicate physical discomfort by way of repeated use of health care services poses a major medical, social and economic problem. The goal of this paper is to clarify this connection by investigating the relevant literature in the area of women with breast cancer. This manuscript focuses on the relationship of psychological stress, the stress response of distress, and the preoccupation with one’s body, and proposes a new theoretical construct.

The purpose of this paper is to describe how an adult liaison psychiatry service was established at a hospital introducing the special interest service provision model, which is a cost‐effective method of developing new services.

The paper describes a step‐by‐step process of setting up a new service. Nearly, 20 months after its introduction, the new service was evaluated using a retrospective survey design that involved reviewing the patient referral forms. The authors looked at the demographical data, reasons for referral and the outcome of assessment for patient assessed by this service.

Results revealed that the majority of the referrals (51 per cent, n=136) were from the medical ward, 56 per cent of the psychiatric assessments were done within 24 hours of the referral, 37 per cent of the assessed patients were provisionally diagnosed with a depressive episode and 24 per cent with substance misuse.

The paper describes a new model of service provision. From the above findings it can be extrapolated that this model of service provision is generalisable and can be replicated anywhere in the UK. This paper would interest clinicians and individuals interested in service development and improving patient care.