Hands Support and Postural Oscillation During Sit-to-Stand Movement in Children With Cerebral Palsy and Typical Children

The authors aimed to compare the weight bearing on hands during sit-to-stand (STS) movement in children with cerebral palsy (CP) and typical children (TC), verify its effect on postural oscillation, and analyze the relationship between weight bearing on hands and postural oscillation. Twenty children with CP (Gross Motor Function Classification System levels I and II) and 35 TC performed STS with and without anterior hands support. Mann-Whitney test compared weight bearing between groups. Wilcoxon test investigated differences in postural oscillation between the conditions with and without anterior hand support for both groups. The Spearman correlation tested the relationship between weight-bearing and postural oscillation during the hand support condition. Children with CP bore more weight on hands than TC to perform STS. The hand support reduced postural oscillation during the second phase of STS in both groups. In the CP group, greater weight bearing was related with lower postural oscillation in the beginning of STS. Although children with CP were able to perform STS without support, they bore more weight on their hands to perform the task than TC. Moreover, children with CP and TC use mechanical and somatosensory information to modulate their postural control during STS in different ways.     

Rorschach Comprehensive System data for a sample of 249 adult nonpatients from Italy

This project provides information on how Italian adult nonpatients perform on the Rorschach test administered and scored following Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS) guidelines (Exner, 1995). Lis, Zennaro, Calvo, and Salcuni (2001) reported previously initial data for 101 of the nonpatients who were administered this instrument between July 1998 and February 2001 by graduate and postgraduate students in a 2-year research course at the Psychotherapy School of the University of Padua. The current study extends that previous work and includes information on an additional 148 participants gathered between April 2001 and March 2004, for a total of 249 individuals. Exclusion criteria are described and interrater reliability statistics at the response level for scoring segments are reported using both percent of agreement and iota. Comprehensive System findings are presented.     

The impact of administration and inquiry on Rorschach Comprehensive System protocols in a national reference sample

We investigated the impact of administration and inquiry skills on Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 1974, 1991, 1993) protocols collected for the Italian adult nonpatient reference sample. The same research team collected CS protocols on two occasions. The initial reference sample (N = 212; Lis, Rossi, & Priha, 1998) was collected under the supervision of experienced psychologists who carefully studied CS administration and scoring procedures (Exner, 1986, 1990, 1993). The second sample (N = 101; Lis, Zennaro, Calvo, & Salcuni, 2001) was collected after the team obtained additional and sustained CS training from Rorschach workshops certified instructors. Both samples were scored, reliably but they showed large differences on many codes, with protocols from the second sample being richer and more complex than the first. The results indicate that administration skills can have a dramatic impact on CS protocols and may contribute to variations in samples collected by different investigators. Training standards should be devised to insure uniform administration procedures are followed when collecting CS protocols.     

Autobiographical memory functions and posttraumatic stress symptoms across adulthood

Previous research has documented robust individual differences in the functions served by autobiographical memories, and shown that different autobiographical memory functions are related to both positive and negative indicators of psychological well-being, and that their frequency varies with age. In this study, we examined the unique relationship between autobiographical memory functions and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and whether such relationships varied with age across adulthood. A representative sample of 1040 adult Danes (20–70 years old) reported the frequency with which they recall autobiographical memories for different purposes as well as their level of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Higher reflective and ruminative functions, as well as lower social function, predicted higher levels of PTSS. There were no moderating effects of age. The results suggest that although the frequency of various autobiographical functions varies throughout the adult years, their association with PTSS is similar across adulthood.