Natural sequence of recovery from child post-traumatic amnesia: A retrospective cohort study

The aim of this study was to determine the sequence of skills recovery during post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) in children with moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Setting: Fifty children aged 8 to 15 years consecutively admitted to a children’s hospital with TBI and PTA>24 were tested in a retrospective cohort study where the main measure was the Westmead PTA Scale (WPTAS). The group analyses show that orientation to time took longer to recover than orientation to person and place, but not memory, while the individual analyses revealed that when orientation to time was grouped with memory, 94% of children recovered orientation to person and place before orientation to time and memory (examiner and pictures). Correlation coefficients between age and the number of days taken to recover skills were not found to be significant. It was established that, in terms of the natural sequence of skills recovery in children aged 8 to 15 years following moderate to severe TBI, recovery of orientation to time is more closely aligned to memory than to orientation to person and place. It was also established that WPTAS items are developmentally appropriate for children aged 8 to 15 years who have sustained TBI. These findings are clinically important because monitoring recovery from PTA both impacts the rehabilitation offered to individuals during acute care and aids discharge planning.     

Perceptions of Familial Risk in those Seeking a Genetic Risk Assessment for Alzheimer’s Disease

Perceived risk is a complex concept that influences the genetic counseling process and can affect client coping and behavior. Although the association between family history and risk perception is well recognized in the literature, no studies have explored this relationship specifically in those seeking genetic susceptibility testing for a common chronic condition. REVEAL is a randomized trial assessing the impact of APOE disclosure and genetic risk assessment for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Using baseline REVEAL data, we hypothesized that there would be a significant association between the degree of AD family history and risk perception of AD, and that this relationship would be stronger in those who believed that genetics is a very important AD risk factor. In our sample of 293 participants, we found that a higher self-perceived risk of AD was associated with strength of family history of AD (p < 0.001), belief in genetics as an important AD risk factor (p < 0.001), being female (p < 0.001) and being Caucasian (p = 0.02). These results are the first to demonstrate the association between family history and risk perception in persons volunteering for genetic susceptibility testing for a common complex disease.     

Sedative effects of intergroup contact on support for ethnic activism among Kosovo Albanians in Switzerland: The interplay of ethnic,national, and dual identification

A large body of research has demonstrated that intergroup contact is a powerful tool for reducing prejudice among majority group members. Yet, research among minority group members has revealed a more complex picture. The present contribution advances recent research on sedative effects of intergroup contact on support for ethnic activism, by investigating how identity dynamics undermine ethnic minorities' claims for better conditions and equal rights. More precisely, we disentangled the mediating roles played by reduced ethnic and increased national identification as a consequence of intergroup contact, while considering the moderating role of dual identification. Results from a cross-sectional study among an understudied immigrant minority, Kosovo Albanians in Switzerland, indicate that dual identification moderated the sedative effect of intergroup contact on support for ethnic activism via decreased ethnic identification, while no support for conditional processes of intergroup contact via increased national identification were found. Intergroup contact was linked to reduced ethnic identification, which in turn related to increased support for ethnic activism, but only when dual identification was low. Conversely, when dual identification was high, ethnic identification was unrelated to support for ethnic activism, and intergroup contact reduced ethnic activism directly. To conclude, we discuss the mobilizing role of dual identification, and reflect on how ethnic and national components of dual identities affect the politicization of stigmatized minorities.     

Aspects of Young Children's Perceptions of Gender-Typed Occupations

Perceived competencies of men and women in gender-typed occupations, perceptions about how much money men and women earn in gender-typed occupations, and affective reactions regarding growing up to have gender-typed occupations were examined in 55 primarily White middle-class preschoolers and primary school children. Children (particularly boys) viewed men as more competent than women in masculine occupations, and rated women as more competent than men in feminine occupations. Children believed men earned more than women across occupations, but that men earned more money than women in masculine occupations, and women earned more money than men in feminine occupations. Children's affective reactions to growing up to have gender-role-consistent occupations were more positive than their reactions to having gender-role-inconsistent occupations. Results suggest children perceive differential competencies of men and women regarding gender-typed occupations, and differences in pay for men and women within gender-typed occupations, at ages younger than previously determined.     

Role of fault attributions and desire, effort, and outcome expectations in children's anticipated responses to hypothetical peers with various undesirable characteristics

A total of 137 third- through eighth-grade students were asked to respond to a series of statements concerning 6 male peers described as having various undesirable characteristics (i.e., poor student, poor athlete, extremely overweight, extremely aggressive, extremely shy, or having the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). The aggressive peer and the overweight peer consistently elicited the least favorable reactions from the children. For all 6 peers included in the study, the more strongly the children agreed that a peer was at fault for his undesirable characteristic, the less favorably they anticipated responding to that peer. In contrast, the children's expectations concerning a peer's desire to change, effort to change, and success in changing an undesirable characteristic were generally unrelated to their anticipated responses to that peer. The children demonstrated the general belief that desire backed by effort leads to success in overcoming an undesirable characteristic, but lack of effort leads to failure regardless of the peer's desire or lack of desire to change the characteristic.     

A theory of meaning

A theory of word meaning developed jointly by Adrienne and Keith Lehrer is summarized, which accommodates the empirical facts of natural languages, especially the diversity of types of words. Reference characterizes the application of words to things, events, properties, etc. and sense the relationship among words and linguistic expressions. Although reference and sense are closely connected, neither can be reduced to the other. We use the metaphor of vectors to show how different, sometimes competing forces interact to provide an understanding of what a word in context means. Topics discussed include vagueness, indeterminacy, the role of experts, possible worlds, pragmatic influences, semantic change, semantic networks, fields, and entailments. A formal theory for understanding the relationship of idiolects, dialects, and communal languages is proposed to account for the dynamic interaction of individuals and communities which occurs continuously.     

A Model of Sexually and Physically Victimized Women’s Process of Attaining Effective Formal Help over Time: The Role of Social Location, Context, and Intervention

As empirical evidence has demonstrated the pervasiveness of sexual assault and intimate partner violence in the lives of women, and the links to poor mental health outcomes, attention has turned to examining how women seek and access formal help. We present a conceptual model that addresses prior limitations and makes three key contributions: It foregrounds the influence of social location and multiple contextual factors; emphasizes the importance of the attainment of effective formal help that meets women's needs and leads to positive mental health outcomes; and highlights the role of interventions in facilitating help attainment. We conclude with research and practice implications.