Is the association between childhood maltreatment and aggressive behavior mediated by hostile attribution bias in women? A discordant twin and sibling study

Understanding the mechanisms behind aggressive behavior (AGG) is vital so that effective prevention and intervention strategies can be developed. Maltreated children are hypothesized to be prone to social information processing biases, such as hostile attribution bias (HAB), which, in turn, may increase the likelihood of behaving aggressively. The first aim of the present study was to replicate findings regarding associations between childhood maltreatment (CM), HAB, and aggression in a population‐based sample of Finnish female twins and their sisters (N = 2,167). However, these associations might not be causal but instead confounded by familial factors, shared between the variables. The second aim was, thus, to test the associations when potential confounding by familial (genetic or common environmental) effects were controlled for using a multilevel discordant twin and sibling design within (a) 379 pairs of twins (n_pairs = 239) or siblings (n_pairs = 140), and (b) within the 131 monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs. Consistent with previous studies, HAB mediated the association between CM and AGG when familial confounding was uncontrolled. No support was found for the mediation when controlling for familial confounding. Between‐pair associations were found between CM and AGG, and between CM and HAB. In addition, within‐pair associations were found between HAB and AGG, and between CM and AGG, however, these were nonsignificant in the discordant MZ analysis, offering the most stringent control of familial confounding. The results indicate the necessity of taking familial confounding into account when investigating the development of AGG.     

Combating Contagion and Injustice: The Shared Work for Public Health and Faith Communities During COVID-19

Journal of Religion and Health - Faith communities are uniquely positioned for essential public health work to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and address the chronic pre-existing health disparities...     

Syntax for calculation of discounting indices from the monetary choice questionnaire and probability discounting questionnaire

The 27‐item Monetary Choice Questionnaire (MCQ; Kirby, Petry, & Bickel, 1999) and 30‐item Probability Discounting Questionnaire (PDQ; Madden, Petry, & Johnson, 2009) are widely used, validated measures of preferences for immediate versus delayed rewards and guaranteed versus risky rewards, respectively. The MCQ measures delayed discounting by asking individuals to choose between rewards available immediately and larger rewards available after a delay. The PDQ measures probability discounting by asking individuals to choose between guaranteed rewards and a chance at winning larger rewards. Numerous studies have implicated these measures in addiction and other health behaviors. Unlike typical self‐report measures, the MCQ and PDQ generate inferred hyperbolic temporal and probability discounting functions by comparing choice preferences to arrays of functions to which the individual items are preconfigured. This article provides R and SPSS syntax for processing the MCQ and PDQ. Specifically, for the MCQ, the syntax generates k values, consistency of the inferred k, and immediate choice ratios; for the PDQ, the syntax generates h indices, consistency of the inferred h, and risky choice ratios. The syntax is intended to increase the accessibility of these measures, expedite the data processing, and reduce risk for error.     

“I am the Author and Must Take Full Responsibility”: Abraham Verghese,Physicians as the Storytellers of the Body,and the Renewal of Medicine

Abraham Verghese proposes to renew medicine by training physicians to read the right texts—literary fiction and patients' bodies—with skilled attention. Analyzing Verghese's proposal with reference to Foucault's idea of the "clinical gaze," I find that Verghese conceives of patients as texts that only physicians can read, meaning that physicians become the storytellers of the bodies, lives, and deaths of the people they meet as patients. I conclude that Verghese's project is unsustainable and alternatively propose thinking analogically of physicians as ship captains who maintain therapeutic distance to reopen interpretative spaces for communities outside of medicine.     

Social representations of history in Malaysia and Singapore: On the relationship between national and ethnic identity

Social representations of history were investigated using surveys among university populations of ethnic Malays, Chinese, and Indians in Singapore and Malaysia. Representations of history and historical leaders tended to be hegemonic or consensual, showing low levels of conflict across ethnicity and nationality, even regarding the separation of these two nations. Tendencies towards in-group favoritism and ontogeny were slight, but statistically significant on some measures. National and ethnic identity were positively correlated, with ethnic identity stronger than national identity in Malaysia, and strongest among Malays in Malaysia. National identity was strongest among Chinese in Malaysia, followed by Chinese in Singapore. Results of regression analyses on national identity suggest that ethnicity is more sensitive in Malaysia than in Singapore. Results are interpreted through the frameworks provided by social representations theory and social identity theory. It is argued that hegemonic representations of history are associated with positive correlations between national and ethnic identity.     

Neuropsychological impairments in schizophrenia: Integration of performance-based and brain imaging findings

Until recently, the dominant view was that schizophrenia patients have limited, if any, neuropsychological impairments, and those that are observed are only secondary to the florid symptoms of the disorder. This view has dramatically changed. This review integrates recent evidence demonstrating the severity and profile of neuropsychological impairments in schizophrenia. We present quantitative evaluation of the literature demonstrating that the most severe impairments are apparent in episodic memory and executive control processes, evident on a background of a generalized cognitive deficit. The neuropsychological impairments potentially represent genetic liability to the disorder, as similar, yet milder, impairments are evident in schizophrenia patients even before the onset of psychotic symptoms, as well as in the nonpsychotic relatives of schizophrenia patients. Corresponding cognitive neuroimaging literature on executive functions, episodic memory, and working memory in schizophrenia documenting abnormalities in frontal and medial temporal lobes is summarized, and current models integrating neuropsychological and neuroimaging data are discussed.     

Conscientiousness and achievement motivation predict performance

A prospective survey was conducted to identify predictors of university students' grade point average (GPA) using separate samples of female (N = 472) and male (N = 142) students over 9 months. Big five personality traits and achievement motivation were measured. Correlations show that conscientiousness (C) and achievement motivation explained variation in GPA. Latent variable structural equation modelling showed that the effect of C on GPA is fully mediated by achievement motivation for both female and male students. Invariant factor and structural mediation models across the female and male groups are also reported. Finally, the mediation model is shown to remain significant after scholastic achievement is controlled. The findings are interpreted within the framework of Neo‐Socioanalytic theory. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A loss of status and a sense of defeat: an evolutionary perspective on professional burnout

This longitudinal study among Spanish teachers (N = 558) examined burnout from an evolutionary social rank perspective. The types of stress differed among various school levels, and a sense of defeat was highest among teachers in primary schools. A low status, a loss of status and a sense of defeat were independent cross‐sectional predictors of burnout. Longitudinally a sense of defeat predicted an increase in burnout over time, especially among males and teachers in high schools. The status related variables were in general more important predictors of burnout than stressors that are usually associated with burnout. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.