Addressing Relationship Health Needs in Primary Care: Adapting the Marriage Checkup for Use in Medical Settings with Military Couples

The overall objective of this study was to pilot the Marriage Checkup (MC), a brief intervention for enhancing marital resiliency tailored to a military population, for use by internal behavioral health consultants (IBHCs) working in an integrated primary care clinic. The MC was revised to fit into the fast-paced environment of primary care (e.g., streamlined to fit within three 30-min appointments), and military-relevant material was added to the content. IBHCs working in primary care were then trained to offer the intervention. Thirty participants were enrolled in the study and completed a relationship checkup and one-month follow-up questionnaires. Analysis of post-test and one-month follow-up data showed statistically significant improvements in participants' marital health compared to pre-treatment. The MC intervention appeared to be well received by both couples and IBHCs.

Environmental enrichment: effects on spatial memory and hippocampal CREB immunoreactivity

Environmental enrichment has been shown to improve performance in tests of spatial memory, induce neurogenesis in the hippocampus, enhance survival of newly formed granule cells, and inhibit spontaneous apoptosis. Although neuroplasticity of the mammalian brain declines with age, recent evidence suggests that the adult brain exhibits significant plasticity in response to environmental stimulation. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of environmental enrichment on spatial memory and on immunoreactivity to cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) from the hippocampus. C57/BL/6 mice were trained in a Morris water maze after exposure to an enriched environment, either from 35 to 94 days or from 100 to 159 days of age. Hippocampal tissue from representative animals was later analyzed by Western blot for CREB immunoreactivity. Results indicate that environmental enrichment (particularly during the earlier period) improved performance on the Morris water maze and tended to increase immunoreactivity to CREB in the hippocampus. Social interaction by itself did not result in significant differences in navigational performance. Results with regard to social interaction and CREB immunoreactivity were mixed. Results are discussed in terms of evaluating the construct of enrichment, the correlation of CREB transcription and behavior change, and the importance of the developmental period for enrichment.