Effects on an adult of incest in childhood: a case report

Recognition of the widespread incidence of overt incest in childhood has significantly increased in recent years. The described long-term effects range from severe psychopathology and behavioral disorder to mild and subtle manifestations. The interplay of the child's sexual developmental processes and intrapsychic fantasies with the overtly incestuous behaviors adds complexity to the understanding of longterm effects. In this case presentation successful analysis revealed previously repressed extensive father-daughter incest resulting in typically autoplastic neurotic symptomatology and character formation. Effects on ego development and function were traced, and an attempt was made to develop recognition of cues suggestive of past overt incest. The case suggests that many additional factors contribute to the final long-term effects of overt incest in childhood.     

Psychological assessment of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse within a naturalistic clinical sample

This study investigates the long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). Differences between abused and nonabused individuals in psychiatric symptomatology, interpersonal functioning, social and occupational functioning, personality dynamics, and therapeutic alliance were examined. The relationship between abuse severity and long-term effects was also analyzed. Data were gathered from 51 patients seeking individual psychotherapy at a community outpatient clinic. Findings suggested that CSA survivors tend to experience greater psychiatric distress and poorer interpersonal functioning than nonabused clinical controls. No significant differences were found in social and occupational functioning or in alliance developed by the end of the therapeutic assessment process. Abuse severity was significantly related to increased symptomatology and poorer interpersonal functioning. Findings support and extend existing literature and are especially useful for clinicians working with abuse survivors.     

Imaginary companions in childhood and adult creativity.

Case material is presented to illustrate the thesis that the ability to create an imaginary companion during childhood is an early expression of the special ego aptitudes found in creative individuals in adult life. Such "companions" allow these children to attempt to master creatively a variety of narcissistic mortifications suffered in reality and to displace unacceptable affects. In creative adults who had imaginary companions in childhood, the early fantasies serve as an organizing schema in memory for the childhood traumata. Stimuli in adult life which evoke the earlier traumata may revive the original imaginary companion fantasies. These then serve as nodal bases for the creation of specific adult works of art.     

儿童期遭受心理虐待个体的自我加工特点

儿童期心理虐待会导致个体形成消极自我,这种消极自我还会影响个体行为。与以往研究采用自我报告方法不同,本研究采用知觉匹配范式,用客观量化方法,以自我加工优势（自我关联会自动增强刺激的加工,表现为人们总是对自己相关信息加工又快又好）来评估儿童期遭受心理虐待个体的自我加工能力。结果发现,儿童期遭受心理虐待个体依然存在自我加工优势,且朋友加工优势得到增强;在消极情绪条件下遭受心理虐待个体自我优势稳定存在,在积极情绪条件其自我优势消失。结论：儿童期遭受心理虐待个体自我整合功能并不稳定,消极情绪维持其自我加工能力,积极情绪则降低其自我加工能力。     

Prediction of adolescent and adult delinquency from childhood Rorschach ratings

Relatively few studies have predicted adolescent or adult delinquency from childhood Rorschach data. Incremental validity of Rorschach measures over other known consistent and more easily obtained predictors has typically not been investigated. We addressed Rorschach data's incremental validity over mother's reports of externalizing behavior and mother-child relations for predicting officially registered adolescent and adult delinquency in a longitudinal study of 122 Swedish men. The Rorschach measures we used were aggregates of blind, prospectively performed, global expert ratings based on a holistic evaluation of protocols. An aggregate of Rorschach-based ratings of ego strength significantly improved the prediction of delinquency in adolescence and adulthood over and above earlier identified best predictors (mother's ratings of mother-child relations and externalizing problem behavior).     

The relationship between childhood abuse and adult personality disorder symptoms

This study assessed personality disorder symptomatology in a community sample of healthy adults without diagnosable DSM-IV-TR Axis I psychiatric disorders who reported a history of childhood abuse. Twenty-eight subjects with a history of moderate to severe physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse according to the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire were compared to 33 subjects without an abuse history on symptoms of personality disorders. Subjects in the Abuse group were more likely to report subclinical symptoms of paranoid, narcissistic, borderline, antisocial, obsessive compulsive, passive-aggressive, and depressive personality disorders. These findings link reports of childhood abuse with symptoms of personality disorders in the absence of Axis I psychiatric disorders in a community sample of healthy adults.     

Neurodevelopmental model of long-term outcomes of adult survivors of childhood brain tumors

Childhood brain tumors and related treatments disrupt the developing brain and have a cascading impact on core cognitive skills and intellectual (intelligence quotient [IQ]) and academic achievement outcomes. Theoretical models for this cascade have been developed based on the literature, but no studies thus far have empirically evaluated the models. The current study aimed to empirically test the two extant models and generate a new data-driven model of the relationships among neurodevelopmental risk factors, core cognitive skills (i.e., processing speed, attention span, working memory), and IQ and achievement outcomes. Fifty-seven adult survivors of childhood brain tumors and fifty-seven demographically matched neurotypical individuals were included in the current study. The average age at brain tumor diagnosis was 8 years, and the average time since diagnosis was 17 years. Three a priori path models tested the hypothesized relationships among variables. Results of the path analyses revealed that the hybrid model best fit the data for both survivors and controls based on all statistical criteria. For survivors, processing speed was the core cognitive skill most widely associated with neurodevelopmental risk factors and outcomes. However, working memory and attention span also had unique contributions to IQ and academic achievement. Processing speed appears to be the central cognitive skill that disrupts the other core cognitive skills of attention span and working memory, and all three make a unique contribution to IQ and academic achievement. This is best demonstrated by a novel neurodevelopmental model that combines components of two earlier untested theoretical models.     

The effect of early childhood experiences on neurotic disorders in the adult

"Empiricists" and "clinicians", in especial those in the field of psychoanalysis, have reached divergent views on the significance of early childhood experiences for neurotic affections in the adult. The present paper discusses the need to resolve such "apparent" differences. To be effective, models of psychological development should, besides taking into account biological hereditary influences and the psychosocial conditions of childhood, also consider the ongoing perpetualisation of neurotic behavior through social feedback.     

Cognitive mediation of childhood maltreatment and adult depression in recent crime victims

Childhood maltreatment has been linked to adult depressive disorders. However, few studies have examined mechanisms through which childhood maltreatment may contribute to adult depression. Thus, we examined the role of one potential mechanism of this relationship, maladaptive cognitions, in a recently traumatized sample. Participants were adult women who had been recently raped (n = 133) or physically assaulted (n = 73). We examined whether maladaptive self-and other-cognitions mediated relationships between childhood sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and current depression. Relationships between childhood sexual abuse and both current depression symptoms and diagnosis were mediated by maladaptive cognitions about self. Relationships between both childhood sexual abuse and childhood physical abuse and adult depressive symptoms were mediated by maladaptive cognitions about others.     

Factors to consider in assessing adult litigants' complaints of childhood sexual abuse

Based on limited research, clinical and forensic experience and observations, factors hypothesized to be potentially useful in forensic evaluation of claims of decades-delayed discovery of childhood sexual abuse are delineated. Factors considered include: (1) alleged victim factors, (2) memory factors, (3) therapist/examiner factors, (4) external influences on the abuse account, (5) evidential patterns. Differences among a limited sample of cases seen by the author are described. Present knowledge does not provide a basis for reliable determination of whether a specific recollection is true or false, based only upon the claimant's account. At this time, there is no empirically validated method for discriminating valid from invalid cases. Experts testifying for either side must exercise caution and restraint as it may be premature and even unethical in many cases to propound opinions about the validity or invalidity of the memories.     

The relationship between adult happiness and self-appraised childhood happiness and events

The primary purpose of the present research was to relate questionnaire-assessed self-reported childhood happiness and events to adulthood happiness in 387 non-clinical participants. Although childhood happiness and adult happiness were found to be significantly correlated (r = .28, p < .001), there was little relationship between reported adult happiness and reported specific childhood events and circumstances. Childhood events and circumstances, however, were much more highly correlated with childhood happiness (R = .64). Thirty-four percent of the persons who said they were unhappy or very unhappy as a child, but only 9% who said they were happy or very happy as a child, reported that they were unhappy or very unhappy as adults.     

The nature of skilled adult reading varies with type of instruction in childhood

Does the type of reading instruction experienced during the initial years at school have any continuing effect on the ways in which adults read words? The question has arisen in current discussions about computational models of mature word-reading processes. We tested predicted continuing effects by comparing matched samples of skilled adult readers of English who had received explicit phonics instruction in childhood and those who had not. In responding to nonwords that can receive alternative legitimate pronunciations, those adults having childhood phonics instruction used more regular grapheme-phoneme correspondences that were context free and used fewer vocabulary-based contextually dependent correspondences than did adults who had no phonics instruction. These differences in regularization of naming responses also extended to some low-frequency words. This apparent cognitive footprint of childhood phonics instruction is a phenomenon requiring consideration when researchers attempt to model adult word reading and when they select participants to test the models.     

Sensory-processing sensitivity moderates the association between childhood experiences and adult life satisfaction

There are few studies testing the differential susceptibility hypothesis (DSH: hypothesizing that some individuals are more responsive to both positive and negative experiences) with adult personality traits. The current study examined the DSH by investigating the moderating effect of sensory-processing sensitivity (SPS) on childhood experiences and life satisfaction. A total of 185 adults completed measures of SPS, positive/negative childhood experiences and life satisfaction. SPS did moderate the association between childhood experiences and life satisfaction. Simple slopes analysis compared those reporting high and low SPS (+/− 1 SD) and revealed that the difference was observed only for those who reported negative childhood experiences; with the high SPS group reporting lower life satisfaction. There was no difference observed in those reporting positive childhood experiences, which supported a diathesis-stress model rather than the DSH.     

Parental caring and loss during childhood and adult cortisol responses to stress

Abstract

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that the impact of early parental loss on adult physiological responses to stress is moderated by the level of perceived caring from the surviving parent. University students who lost a parent during childhood were compared to students raised by both biological parents. Salivary Cortisol samples were collected immediately before and at 5 and 20 minutes following a stressful speech task. Perceptions of parental caring (Care) during childhood were measured using the Parental Bonding Instrument. Repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance revealed a significant (p = .01) three-way interaction of Loss by Care by Period (baseline, task, recovery) such that participants who lost a parent and perceived low parental caring showed higher Cortisol levels following stress relative to other participants. These findings indicate that childhood loss of a parent is associated with long-term neurohormonal consequences only if the quality of the bond with the surviving parent is poor.     

The social structure of violence in childhood and approval of violence as an adult

Data from a national sample survey conducted for the Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence are used to investigate the relationship of three aspects of exposure to violence in childhood (observing violence, being a victim of violence, and committing violence) with approval of violence as an adult. Those who experienced violence as a child tended to favor the use of violence to achieve personal and political ends. However, there was no correlation between childhood violence experience and approval of the use of violence to settle conflicts between nations. It is concluded that the amount of violence experienced in childhood by members of a society is one of the factors contributing to the development and maintenance of cultural norms supporting the use of violence in face-to-face situations.