Asian Parents’ Perception of Child Weight Status: A Systematic Review

Parental perception of a child’s weight is important in determining parenting and feeding styles, which relate to childhood obesity. Evidence suggests this perception can vary by ethnicity. The purpose of this review was to explore Asian parents’ child weight perception and examine factors related to Asian parents’ child weight misperception. A systematic literature review was conducted on eight studies between 2000 and 2016 through the databases of CINAHL, Cochrane Reviews, PsycINFO, Medline, and PubMed. Searching key words were Asians, Asian-Americans, weight perception, and parents. The review revealed that all eight studies identified child weight misperception, but with highly varying results (ranging from 29.7 to 89.2%). Factors that influenced the accuracy of a parent’s child weight perception included maternal BMI, parental gender and age, child’s BMI, child’s own weight perception, child’s gender and age, and child’s birth order and birth weight. Misperception about their children’s weight is prevalent among Asian parents. Anthropometric measurement of a child, rather than a parent’s reporting of a child’s weight, should be used to educate Asian parents regarding childhood obesity. Health care professionals should be aware of misperceptions when developing and providing a culturally appropriate intervention to address overweight/obesity among Asian children, which might include improving weight perception.     

Anxious-Irritable Children: A Distinct Subtype of Childhood Anxiety?

Children with anxiety disorders often present with other co-occurring symptom clusters, of which irritability is among the most highly co-occurring. Despite compelling clinical and pathophysiological evidence linking anxiety and irritability, little is known regarding the clinical presentation and associated impairment of children with both anxiety and irritability. In this study, our aims were to confirm the preponderance of irritability in clinically anxious children and compare clinically anxious children with irritability to those without irritability across sociodemographic, clinical, psychosocial, and family domains. Participants were 230 children with anxiety disorders (ages 6–14 years) and their mothers, and 91 healthy controls (ages 6–17 years) and their mothers. Of the clinically anxious children, 121 were anxious and irritable; 109 were anxious but not irritable. Irritability levels were significantly higher in the clinically anxious children compared with the healthy controls. Children with anxiety disorders and irritability presented with greater severity and impairment across clinical phenomenology, psychosocial, and family domains relative to anxious children without irritability. Regression analysis findings were convergent in that greater severity and impairment across these same domains predicted higher irritability levels in the children with anxiety disorders. Results support the meaningful distinction between anxious children with and without irritability. Implications of the findings are discussed particularly in regard to assessment and treatment and future research directions are delineated.     

Preventing and Treating Women’s Postpartum Depression: A Qualitative Systematic Review on Partner-Inclusive Interventions

Partner-related factors associated with the occurrence of Postpartum Depression (PPD) may justify the partner’s inclusion in preventive and treatment approaches. The aim of this qualitative systematic review was to synthesize the literature on partner-inclusive interventions designed to prevent or treat postpartum depression (PPD) in women. In accordance with the PRISMA guidelines, the systematic search of studies published between 1967 and May 2015 in PsycINFO and PubMed identified 26 studies that met the inclusion criteria, which reported on 24 interventions. The following partner parameters were analyzed: participation type, session content, mental health assessment, attendance assessment, and the effects of partner’s participation on the women’s response to the interventions. Total participation by the partner was mostly reported in the prevention studies, whereas partial participation was reported in the treatment studies. The session content was mostly based on psychoeducation about PPD and parenthood, coping strategies to facilitate the transition to parenthood such as the partner’s emotional and instrumental support, and problem-solving and communication skills. Some benefits perceived by the couples underscore the relevance of the partner’s inclusion in PPD interventions. However, the scarce information about the partner’s attendance and the associated effects on the women’s intervention outcomes, along with methodological limitations of the studies, made it difficult to determine if the partner’s participation was associated with the intervention’s efficacy. Conclusions about the clinical value of including partners in PPD interventions are still limited. More research is warranted to better inform health policy strategies.     

Relations Between Parents’ Anxiety Symptoms,Marital Quality,and Preschoolers’ Externalizing and Internalizing Behaviors

Our objective was to expand understanding of the associations between fathers’ and mothers’ anxiety symptoms, their perceptions of marital quality, and their children’s maladjustment behaviors. Sixty Israeli families with a child aged 3–5 participated. Mothers and fathers completed self-report questionnaires assessing parents’ anxiety symptoms, marital dissatisfaction, and marital overt conflict, and child internalizing and externalizing behaviors. The actor–partner interdependence mediation model (APIMeM) design with distinguishable dyads within a path analysis framework was used. Findings showed that marital dissatisfaction of both mothers and fathers partially mediated the links between mothers’ anxiety and child behaviors. For externalizing behaviors, actor and partner effects were found, so that mothers’ anxiety symptoms predicted mothers’ own marital dissatisfaction (actor effect) and fathers’ marital dissatisfaction (partner effect), which, in turn were linked with children’s externalizing behaviors. As for internalizing behaviors, only actor effect was found, so that mothers’ anxiety symptoms were linked with maternal dissatisfaction, which, in turn, was linked with child internalizing behaviors. For fathers’ anxiety symptoms, the APIMeM indicated only direct effects on both internalizing and externalizing behaviors. These findings highlight the risk associated with parental anxiety and the contribution of the marital relations to children’s adjustment and are discussed in light of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model and Emotional Security Theory.     

Self-esteem Interventions in Adults – A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Many types of intervention are used to boost adults’ self-esteem but their relative efficacy and the characteristics that moderate this efficacy remain unclear. We addressed these questions via a meta-analysis of 119 studies. Results obtained using a random-effects model showed a significant effect of interventions on adults’ global self-esteem, d = 0.38, 95% CI [0.33, 0.43]. This efficacy is moderated by some types of intervention, session format, experimenter contact, population type, and type of control group. We discuss these findings by addressing the limitations of our analyses and some issues related to this field of research (e.g., lack of power, heterogeneity of the studies included, publication bias, confounding effects) and by providing recommendations for future research and clinical practice.     

Cancer Genetic Counseling: Communication and Counselees’ Post-Visit Satisfaction,Cognitions, Anxiety,and Needs Fulfillment

Little is known about the relation between communication during cancer genetic counseling and outcome. We assessed associations between counselor-counselee communication and counselee satisfaction, cognitions, anxiety, and fulfillment of major needs, corrected for pre-visit levels as appropriate. In total 171 consecutive new counselees, mainly referred for breast or colon cancer, received pre- and post-visit questionnaires assessing needs/fulfillment, knowledge, perceived control (PPC), anxiety (STAI), and satisfaction. Initial visits were videotaped and counselor eye gaze was recorded. Verbal communication was rated by Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS). Asking more medical questions was associated with lower satisfaction levels. Receiving more medical information was related to higher correct knowledge scores, higher reported fulfillment of some needs, and unrelated to perceptions of control. Receiving more psychosocial information and longer counselor eye gaze were related to higher anxiety scores. Longer visits were related to higher correct knowledge scores. Providing medical information appears the most powerful communication aspect to increase counselee satisfaction and address needs. More research is needed on how to address adequately (emotional) needs and increase feelings of control.     

Do Self-Incentives and Self-Rewards Change Behavior? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Encouraging people to self-incentivize (i.e., to reward themselves in the future if they are successful in changing their behavior) or self-reward (i.e., prompt people to reward themselves once they have successfully changed their behavior) are techniques that are frequently embedded within complex behavior change interventions. However, it is not clear whether self-incentives or self-rewards per se are effective at bringing about behavior change. Nine databases were searched alongside manual searching of systematic reviews and online research registers. One thousand four hundred papers were retrieved, spanning a range of behaviors, though the majority of included papers were in the domain of “health psychology”. Ten studies matched the inclusion criteria for self-incentive but no studies were retrieved for self-reward. The present systematic review and meta-analysis is therefore the first to evaluate the unique effect of self-incentives on behavior change. Effect sizes were retrieved from 7 of the 10 studies. Analysis of the 7 studies produced a very small pooled effect size for self-incentives (k = 7, N = 1,161), which was statistically significant, d₊ = 0.17, CI [0.06, 0.29]. The weak effect size and dearth of studies raises the question of why self-incentivizing is such a widely employed component of behavior change interventions. The present research opens up a new field of inquiry to establish: (a) whether or not self-incentivizing and self-rewarding are effective behavior change techniques, (b) whether self-incentives and self-rewards need to be deployed alongside other behavior change techniques, and, (c) when and for whom self-incentives and self-rewards could support effective behavior change.     

Parents’ Grief in the Context of Adult Child Mental Illness: A Qualitative Review

Research indicates that parents and other family members often grieve their child or relative’s mental illness. This grief appears resultant from a profound sense of loss, which has been described as complicated and nonfinite (e.g., Atkinson in Am J Psychiatry 151(8):1137–1139, 1994; Davis and Schultz in Soc Sci Med 46(3):369–379, 1998; Jones in Br J Soc Work 34:961–979, 2004; MacGregor in Soc Work 39(2):160–166, 1994; Osborne and Coyle in Couns Psychol Q 15(4):307–323, 2002; Ozgul in Aust N Z J Fam Ther 25(4):183–187, 2004; Tuck et al. in Arch Psychiatric Nurs 11(3):118–125, 1997). This paper reviews existent research in this emerging field, with a focus on parents’ grief experience in relation to their adult child’s mental disorder. Studies that explore parents’ and family members’ grief, using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, are considered. Research evidence for the association between parents’ and family members’ grief and other outcomes are discussed. Findings concerning the prediction of grief in parents and family members who have a child or relative with a mental disorder will be reviewed. Finally, this paper considers methodological and theoretical issues associated with existent research and presents options for further study.     

Victimized Children’s Adjustment Difficulties: The Role of Parenting Styles and Parents’ Childhood Peer Victimization Status

The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of parents’ childhood victimization status in the associations among parenting styles and victimized children’s depression and anxiety. Participants were 203 parents (86% mothers; M age = 43.75, SD = .76) and their children in the fourth or fifth grade (n = 203; 56% female; M age = 9.74, SD = .34). Children completed measures on peer victimization, their perceptions of their parents’ parenting styles, depression, and anxiety, while parents completed a measure on their childhood peer victimization while in elementary school. Parents’ childhood peer victimization status moderated relationships among authoritarian and permissive parenting styles and victimized children’s adjustment difficulties. These findings highlight the importance of considering parents’ experience of childhood peer victimization and its impact on their parenting styles and their children’s adjustment difficulties.     

Parents’ experiences of starting and maintaining exercise: A qualitative systematic review

We conducted a systematic review of qualitative studies investigating the experiences of parents in relation to their uptake and maintenance of exercise, focusing on aerobic endurance-type exercise (e.g., running, cycling, swimming). The review aimed to synthesize qualitative findings relating to the motives, barriers, facilitators, emotions, and support of parents, and to suggest applied implications. Electronic bibliographic databases (Web of Knowledge, Google Scholar, Scopus, Academic Search Complete, and PsychArticles) were searched with relevant keywords to identify published peer-reviewed journal articles. Articles were included if they used a qualitative methodology to collect and analyse the data, and if they involved parents (of at least one child up to age 18) engaging in one or more type of aerobic endurance-type exercise from a position of limited fitness and parenthood. Ten studies were included in the final review, which used a narrative synthesis of data. Findings unique to the parent population were identified: parents were motivated to exercise as they believed it made them a better parent; mothers found it difficult overcoming the ‘ethic of care’; both mothers and fathers experienced the emotion of guilt, although its impact differed between parent roles; parenthood was associated with low confidence; and parents reported a lack of social support and self-regulatory capacity. These findings also reflect wider social determinants of health, in their racialized, gendered, and classed nature. To support parents in maintaining exercise uptake, the findings suggest that practitioners should promote reasons for exercise that align with parents’ core values to facilitate autonomous motivation.     

Sources of History for “A Psychology of Verbal Communication”

There is a standard version of the history of modern mainstream psycholinguistics that emphasizes an extraordinary explosion of research in mid twentieth century under the guidance and leadership of George A. Miller and Noam Chomsky. The narrative is cast as a dramatic shift away from behavioristic principles and toward mentalistic principles based largely on transformational linguistics. A closer view of the literature diminishes the historical importance of behaviorism, shows a prevailing “written language bias” (Linell in The written language bias in linguistics: Its nature, origins and transformations, Routledge, London, 2005, p. 4) in psycholinguistic research, and elevates some theoretical and empirical thinking of the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries on language and language use to a far more important role than has heretofore been acknowledged. In keeping with the theoretical and methodological perspective of the present article, it is particularly appropriate that the German philologist Philipp Wegener be “given his due in the annals of linguistic sciences” (Koerner 1991, p. VI*). In his (1885/1991) Untersuchungen über die Grundfragen des Sprachlebens (Investigations regarding the fundamental questions of the life of language; our translation), he began his philological research with the investigation of actual speaking in everyday settings rather than with analyses of purely formal structure. Moreover, he emphasized understanding language and localized this function in the listener. Compatible with Wegener’s own investigations is another aspect of speaking that has been most seriously neglected throughout the history of research on the psychology of verbal communication. For him, as well as for Esper (In C. Murchison [Ed.], A handbook of social psychology, Clark University Press, Worchester, MA, 1935), the basic and primary genre of dialogical discourse was not ongoing conversation, but the occasional use of speech in association with other activities. Both Bühler (Sprachtheorie, Fischer, Stuttgart, 1934/1982) and Wittgenstein (Philosophische Untersuchungen/Philosophical investigations, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1958) have also emphasized the importance of the genre of occasional speaking. The article concludes with a discussion of historical shifts in the relationship between psychology and linguistics.     

Experiential Avoidance and Anxiety Sensitivity: Independent and Specific Associations with Children’s Depression,Anxiety, and Social Anxiety Symptoms

Experiential avoidance (EA) is a key component in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) theory and research. EA is associated with a wide range of psychopathology in adults including anxiety, in particular social anxiety, and depression, yet little research exists on EA in youth. Anxiety sensitivity (AS), like EA, has been viewed as a form of distress tolerance or emotion regulation. In a sample of 124 children (age 10 to 12), this study examined the independent and specific relations of EA and AS to children’s depression, anxiety, and social anxiety symptoms, both before and after controlling for comorbid symptoms. EA and AS had independent associations with each of children’s depression, anxiety, and social anxiety; and EA had significantly stronger relations than AS with each of children’s social anxiety and anxiety. After controlling for depression, only EA (and not AS) was uniquely related to both children’s anxiety and social anxiety. After controlling for anxiety and social anxiety, only AS (and not EA) was uniquely related to depression. After controlling for depression and social anxiety, neither EA nor AS was significantly related to anxiety. In contrast, after controlling for depression and anxiety, EA (and not AS) showed a significant and unique relation to children’s social anxiety. These findings indicate: 1) there are distinctions between EA and AS; 2) EA and AS are overlapping yet independent correlates for each of depression, anxiety and social and anxiety; and 3) EA and AS show some differential relations with children’s depression, anxiety, and social anxiety when comorbid symptoms are considered. Theoretical and treatment implications are highlighted.     

A Systematic Review of Neurocognitive Functioning in Behçet’s Disease

Neuropsychology Review - Behçet’s disease (BD) is a vascular, inflammatory multisystem disorder with neuro-Behçet’s (NBD) diagnosed in a subset of patients with neurological...