Right frontal EEG asymmetry and behavioral inhibition in infants of depressed mothers

Recent studies have shown associations between maternal psychopathology and inhibited behaviors in infants. Moreover, physiological factors have been identified as affecting the continuity of behavioral inhibition across childhood. The purpose of the present study was to examine electroencephalogram (EEG) activity and inhibited behavior in 12-month-old infants of depressed versus non-depressed and mothers. Repeated measures MANOVAs indicated that the infants of mothers with stable psychopathology had greater relative right frontal EEG asymmetry, a pattern that typically accompanies greater negative affect and greater withdrawal behaviors. Infants of affectively ill mothers also showed more proximal behaviors toward a stranger and a novel toy than infants of well mothers, but fewer non-proximal behaviors toward their mothers. These results are discussed within a framework of behavioral inhibition for infants exposed to early psychopathologies in their mothers.     

Gay Stereotypes: The Use of Sexual Orientation as a Cue for Gender-Related Attributes

This study investigated whether gay men and lesbians are assumed to have attributes stereotypically associated with the other gender. Participants were 110 male and female undergraduates from a private, Midwestern, U.S. university. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions (i.e., gay male, lesbian, heterosexual female, heterosexual male) and rated their given target on possession of traditionally masculine and feminine occupational interests, activities, and traits. Results revealed that, despite some changes in the status of gay men and lesbians in society, stereotypes regarding sexual orientation were similar to those seen in studies conducted 20 years ago. Specifically, gay males were viewed as less masculine/more feminine than heterosexual males, and lesbians were viewed as more masculine/less feminine than heterosexual females.     

ITALO SVEVO AND THE FIRST PSYCHOANALYTIC NOVEL

The first fictional work that used psychoanalysis as a central plot device was La Coscienza di Zeno (Confessions of Zeno) , published in 1923 by Ettore Schmitz, a Triestino Jewish businessman who wrote under the pseudonym of 'Italo Svevo'. This paper describes Svevo's background, his relations with such important literary figures as James Joyce and with such central figures in Italian psychoanalysis as Dr Edoardo Weiss. It seeks to demonstrate to the Anglophone reader the particular psychoanalytic elements in the novel and to relate them to Svevo's personal experience (including his indirect contacts with Freud) and to the intellectual currents of the period in a city which had, until the aftermath of the First World War, been a crossroads of European culture.     

Family,gender, and attitudes toward retirement

The relationships between marital status, proximity of children, and attitudes toward retirement of 432 men and 373 women on the verge of retirement were studied. Three dimensions of attitudes were examined: attitudes toward losses associated with retirement, toward gains in entering retirement, and toward gains in leaving work. Women hold significantly more positive attitudes toward both types of gains; there are no gender differences concerning attitudes toward losses. The married of both sexes perceive more gains in entering retirement. Proximity of children is curvilinearly related to gain in entering retirement, especially among women. Attitudes toward losses and gains in leaving work are not associated with familial state. The meaning of work and the myth of the primacy of family for women are discussed.This paper draws on research supported by Grant Number 1 R01 AG 05206-01 from the National Institute on Aging.     

Initial examination of a multidimensional model of trauma-related guilt: Applications to combat veterans and battered women

Guilt is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct consisting of negative affect and a set of interrelated cognitions. Guilt magnitude is thought to be a function of the magnitudes of six variables posited as primary components of guilt: a negative event, distress, perceptions of responsibility, lack of justification, wrongdoing, and false beliefs about preoutcome knowledge. The model was tested with samples of Vietnam veterans and battered women. Participants rated their reactions to and perceived roles in trauma-related events. Among Vietnam veterans, distress ratings were highly correlated with guilt severity. Cognitive guilt-component variables were significantly correlated with guilt in both groups. In multiple regression, guilt components accounted for 61% of variance in veterans' guilt and 44% of variance in women's guilt. Among veterans, distress ratings were highly correlated with measures of PTSD and depression. In both groups, cognitive guilt-component variables were positively correlated with psychopathology. Results support the view that beliefs about one's role in trauma are important factors in posttrauma adjustment.     

Borderline and schizophrenic patients: A comparison using the MCMI-II

In the present study we examined the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II scores of psychiatric patients with a diagnosis of either borderline personality disorder (BPD;n=13) or schizophrenia (n=13). The analyses revealed that the BPD patients were significantly elevated on a number of scales in addition to the Borderline scale. The second goal of this study was to assess the discriminative validity of the Borderline and Thought Disorder Scales with both base rate (BR) cutoffs and the number of endorsed prototypic items. The Borderline scale demonstrated the most diagnostic power when using BR cutoffs, whereas the Thought Disorder scale performed poorly, no better than chance levels, with all cutoffs.This research was supported by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Grant 410-89-0335 and by a grant from the Department of Research and Programme Evaluation, Brockville Psychiatric Hospital. The authors thank Renate Simmons for her assistance.