Surviving roots of trauma: prevalence of silent signs of sex abuse in patients who recover memories of childhood sex abuse as adults

Recent research suggests that victimization imagery is chronically accessible in sex-abused populations, which is helpful in distinguishing them from nonabused populations. Eight categories of victimization imagery were selectively activated by Rorschach stimuli. These 8 sex-abuse signs were replicated in a new sample of 36 patients with continuous memory of sex abuse. Classification accuracy was 83%. By contrast, these signs were present in only 4% (5 of 115) of the protocols of nonabused patients. Taken together, the 2 studies confirm reasonably high sensitivity of the 8 signs for sex-abused populations and high specificity for nonabused populations. The 8 signs were also differentially salient for patients who recovered memory of childhood sexual trauma as adults. The Rorschach protocols of 59 of 114 patients with delayed recall of sexual abuse possessed signs of sex abuse. There was no linkage between therapy and recovered-memory cases with and without sex-abuse signs. Emergence of trauma memories was not uniquely traceable to treatment. Memories arose outside of the context of therapy in over 56% of the cases. Implications for the false-memory debate are discussed.     

Children’s autobiographical memories across the years: Forensic implications of childhood amnesia and eyewitness memory for stressful events

This is a review of two bodies of research conducted by myself and my colleagues that is relevant to child witness issues, namely childhood amnesia and children’s eyewitness memory for stressful events. Although considerable research over the years has investigated the phenomenon of childhood amnesia in adults, only recently has it begun to be investigated in children. For them, the age of earliest memory is a moving target over their early years. However, there is nonetheless both variation between children in how early their first memories are as well as variation between memories in terms of likelihood of being retained, and some factors influencing both are explored. In terms of eyewitness memory for stressful events, 2–13-year-old children who had been injured seriously enough to require emergency room medical treatment were interviewed. Long-term memory for these stressful events was traced, and factors influencing that retention were investigated. The findings from both areas of research have implications for developmental forensic psychology.     

Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: implications for substance abuse prevention.

The authors suggest that the most promising route to effective strategies for the prevention of adolescent alcohol and other drug problems is through a risk-focused approach. This approach requires the identification of risk factors for drug abuse, identification of methods by which risk factors have been effectively addressed, and application of these methods to appropriate high-risk and general population samples in controlled studies. The authors review risk and protective factors for drug abuse, assess a number of approaches for drug abuse prevention potential with high-risk groups, and make recommendations for research and practice.     

Performance-based measures in autism: implications for diagnosis, early detection, and identification of cognitive profiles

Provides a critical review of performance-based assessment measures in autism. Currently, performance-based measures of autism are being explored in two domains: structured play sessions and cognitive-neuropsychological assessments. Structured play sessions are designed to elicit the behavioral symptoms associated with autism to provide a consistent and valid means of early detection and diagnosis of autism across different evaluators and settings. These structured play sessions provide a supplement to diagnostic instruments based on parental report. Cognitive-neuropsychological tasks have been used to identify possible underlying cognitive impairments in autism including executive function, theory of mind, selective attention, and abstraction. Currently, cognitive tasks are useful in treatment planning but are inappropriate for diagnostic purposes. Important goals for the future will be to integrate parent-report diagnostic interviews and structured play observations and to identify a profile of cognitive impairments that are specific to pervasive developmental disorders that can be incorporated into diagnostic protocols.     

Cognitive and psycholinguistic skills of adults who are functionally illiterate: Current state of research and implications for adult education

The purpose of this article is to review empirical studies that have investigated the cognitive and language skills of adults who are functionally illiterate (A‐IL), that is, individuals whose literacy skills are too low to meet the literacy demands of society, even though they have attended school and are not illiterate in the strictest sense of the term. Three questions are addressed: (1) What are the types of reading and spelling difficulties that characterize adults who are A‐IL? (2) Are their written language difficulties related to cognitive or language impairments which could explain their failure to learn? (3) What are the implications of these psychological findings for adult education? Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Single-trial learning of "what" and "who" information in a gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla): implications for episodic memory

Single-trial learning and long-term memory of "what" and "who" information were examined in an adult gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). We presented the gorilla with a to-be-remembered food item at the time of study. In Experiment 1, following a retention interval of either approximately 7 min or 24 h, the gorilla responded with one of five cards, each corresponding to a particular food. The gorilla was accurate on 70% of the short retention-interval trials and on 82% of the long retention-interval trials. In Experiment 2, the food stimulus was provided by one of two experimenters, each of whom was represented by a card. The gorilla identified the food (55% of the time) and the experimenter (82% of the time) on the short retention-interval trials. On the long retention-interval trials, the gorilla was accurate for the food (73%) and for the person (87%). The results are interpreted in light of theories of episodic memory. Electronic Publication     

Longitudinal stability of pre‐reading skill profiles of kindergarten children: implications for early screening and theories of reading

Research suggests that early identification of developmental dyslexia is important for mitigating the negative effects of dyslexia, including reduced educational attainment and increased socioemotional difficulties. The strongest pre‐literacy predictors of dyslexia are rapid automatized naming (RAN), phonological awareness (PA), letter knowledge, and verbal short‐term memory. The relationship among these constructs has been debated, and several theories have emerged to explain the unique role of each in reading ability/disability. Furthermore, the stability of identification of risk based on these measures varies widely across studies, due in part to the different cut‐offs employed to designate risk. We applied a latent profile analysis technique with a diverse sample of 1215 kindergarten and pre‐kindergarten students from 20 schools, to investigate whether PA, RAN, letter knowledge, and verbal short‐term memory measures differentiated between homogenous profiles of performance on these measures. Six profiles of performance emerged from the data: average performers, below average performers, high performers, PA risk, RAN risk, and double‐deficit risk (both PA and RAN). A latent class regression model was employed to investigate the longitudinal stability of these groups in a representative subset of children (n = 95) nearly two years later, at the end of 1st grade. Profile membership in the spring semester of pre‐kindergarten or fall semester of kindergarten was significantly predictive of later reading performance, with the specific patterns of performance on the different constructs remaining stable across the years. There was a higher frequency of PA and RAN deficits in children from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. There was no evidence for the IQ–achievement discrepancy criterion traditionally used to diagnose dyslexia. Our results support the feasibility of early identification of dyslexia risk and point to the heterogeneity of risk profiles. These findings carry important implications for improving outcomes for children with dyslexia, based on more targeted interventions.     

Review of the contemporary literature on how children report sexual abuse to others: findings, methodological issues, and implications for forensic interviewers

Methods used during forensic interviews with children are driven by beliefs about how children recall and report child sexual abuse (CSA) to others. Summit (1983) proposed a theory (Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome) contending that, due to the specific traumatic characteristics of CSA, children will often delay disclosing abuse or altogether fail to disclose during childhood, deny abuse when asked, and often recant abuse allegations. His theory has had a tremendous impact on the field of CSA forensic evaluations, despite its dearth of empirical support. In this paper, we review and critique the contemporary literature from two main sources: retrospective accounts from adults reporting CSA experiences and studies of children undergoing forensic evaluation for CSA. We conclude that data support the notion that children often delay abuse disclosure, but that among valid abuse cases undergoing forensic evaluation, denial and recantation are not common. Methodological issues and implications for forensic interviewers are discussed.     

Exercise therapy for depression in middle-aged and older adults: predictors of early dropout and treatment failure.

Psychosocial factors predicting treatment dropout or failure to benefit from treatment were identified in a randomized trial of exercise therapy and pharmacotherapy for major depression. One hundred fifty-six men and women over age 50 diagnosed with major depressive disorder were assigned to a 16-week program of aerobic exercise, medication (sertraline), or a combination of exercise and medication. Thirty-two patients (21%) failed to complete the program and were considered treatment "dropouts." At the end of 16 weeks, 83 patients (53%) were in remission; the remaining patients not in remission were considered treatment "failures." Baseline levels of self-reported anxiety and lift satisfaction were the best predictors of both patient dropout and treatment success or failure across all treatment conditions.     

Variations in internet-related problems and psychosocial functioning in online sexual activities: implications for social and sexual development of young adults.

This survey of 760 university students examined differences in Internet-related problems and psychosocial functioning between four patterns of participation in online sexual information and entertainment activities. Students who did not participate in either online sexual activity were more satisfied with their offline life and more connected to friends and family. Those who engaged in both online sexual activities were more dependent on the Internet and reported lower offline functioning. Students who only sought sexual information maintained strong offline affiliations. Those who only sought entertainment did not report lower offline functioning. Respondents most deficient in offline social support did not report compensatory online support. Despite students' common participation in online sexual activities (OSA) as a venue for social and sexual development, those relying on the Internet and the affiliations it provides appear at risk of decreased social integration. The authors discussed the finding's implications for social and sexual development.     

Further evidence for Coren and Hakstian's "Methodological implications of interaural correlation: count heads not ears" and an alternative correction formula.

Coren and Hakstian (1990) identified a serious methodological problem that arises in auditory research because of interaural correlation. When measures from both ears of the subjects are pooled together in an experimental design that assumes independence of measures, there can be spuriously high apparent statistical significance. The present paper provides further evidence in support of Coren and Hakstian's argument and also derives a formula that effectively corrects inflated test statistics resulting from interaural correlation. This formula is a special case of a more general one that applies in many other experimental contexts in which nonindependence of measures is a problem. We found that statistical tests based on our formula have somewhat greater power to detect differences than the kind of correction method advocated by Coren and Hakstian.     

Continuity of aggression from childhood to early adulthood as a predictor of life outcomes: implications for the adolescent‐limited and life‐course‐persistent models

Using data from the Columbia County Longitudinal Study, a 40‐year longitudinal study following an entire county's population of third‐grade students from age 8 to 48, we examine questions about the long‐term consequences of aggressive and antisocial behavior in childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. We found moderate levels of continuity of aggression from age 8 to 48 both for males and for females. Contrary to what some have proposed, we found that continuity of aggressiveness is owing to not only the high‐aggressive participants staying high but also owing to the low‐aggressive participants staying low. Compared with life‐course‐persistent low aggressives, we found that life‐course‐persistent high aggressives had consistently poorer outcomes across domains of life success, criminal behavior, and psychosocial functioning at age 48 (e.g., arrests, traffic violations, aggression toward spouse and divorces, depression, health, occupational and educational attainment). In contrast, adolescent‐limited and child‐limited aggressives did not differ from life‐course‐persistent low aggressives on the age 48 outcomes. Finally, the outcomes for late‐onset (early adulthood) aggressives were also problematic in some domains though not as problematic as those for life‐course‐persistent aggressives. Aggr. Behav. 35:136–149, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Geophysical variables and behavior: XCVI. "Experiences" attributed to Christ and Mary at Marmora, Ontario, Canada may have been consequences of environmental electromagnetic stimulation: implications for religious movements.

Since the year 1992 individuals and groups of people have reported religious experiences near Marmora, Ontario, Canada. The experiences, attributed to Christ or Mary, have occurred near the top of a hill adjacent to an open pit magnetite mine that has been accumulating about 15 million gallons of water per month for more than a decade. During the period between 1992 and 1997 epicentres for local seismic events moved significantly closer to this site. Most of the messages attributed to spiritual beings by "sensitive" individuals occurred one or two days after increased global geomagnetic activity. We suggest that conditions produced by local geophysical and geological properties created the odd lights and induced physiological changes within the thousands of people who visited the area. Direct measurements indicated that weak (0.1 microTesla to 1 microTesla) complex magnetic fields, the temporal patterns of which were similar to the experimental fields we have employed to evoke the sensed presence and altered states within the laboratory, may have been generated within the area.