Crisis Support and Coping as Mediators of Well-Being in Persons with Spinal Cord Lesion

This study aims to investigate whether crisis support and coping mediate symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in individuals with spinal cord lesions (SCL). PTSD, crisis support, and coping were assessed an average of 83 days after the injury (T1), at discharge from the rehabilitation center (T2), and an average of 121 days following discharge (T3). Sixty-nine newly injured paraplegics and tetraplegics completed the questionnaire at T1, 40 (58%) at T2, and 38 (55%) at T3. Individuals with PTSD experienced significantly lower levels of social support, and used more emotional coping than did those without PTSD. On the basis of logistic regression analyses, emotional coping and the interaction between negative response and emotional coping predicted PTSD. Emotional coping is a strong predictor of PTSD in persons with new SCL.     

Adolescent Ego-Development Trajectories and Young Adult Relationship Outcomes

Adolescent ego-development trajectories were related to close-relationship outcomes in young adulthood. An adolescent sample completed annual measures of ego development from ages 14 through 17. The authors theoretically determined and empirically traced five ego-development trajectories reflecting stability or change. At age 25, the sample completed a close-relationship interview and consented for two peers to rate the participants'ego resiliency and hostility. Participants who followed the profound-arrest trajectory in adolescence reported more mundane sharing of experiences, more impulsive or egocentric conflict-resolution tactics, and less mature interpersonal understanding in their young adult relationships, and their young adult peers described these participants as more hostile. Participants who attained or maintained higher levels of ego development in adolescence reported more complex sharing of experiences, more collaborative conflict-resolution strategies, and greater interpersonal understanding, and their young adult peers rated them as less hostile and as more flexible.     

Age-associated memory impairment—pathological memory decline or normal aging?

The aim of the study was to determine whether the memory capacity of individuals with age-associated memory impairment (AAMI) over a period of approximately 3½ years declines more, if at all, than the memory capacity of persons without AAMI. Four computerized and three non-computerized memory tests, a naming test, and a test of visuo-motor speed were administered twice. Two estimates of intellectual capacity were made, one at the first examination and the other 3½ years later. One person in the AAMI group (n=44) developed vascular dementia. The group of AAMI subjects did less well on two of the seven memory tests after 3½ years than they did initially; the control group (n=18) had lower scores on one memory test at follow-up than they had previously. The data suggest that the memory capacity of subjects with AAMI is not pathologically impaired. The general intellectual level significantly influences whether an individual with memory complaints will be classified AAMI or not. People with high intelligence are less likely than people with lower intellectual capacity to fulfill the AAMI criteria. This suggests that AAMI lacks in construct validity.     

Recalling more childhood events leads to judgments of poorer memory: Implications for the recovered/false memory debate

Dissociative disorders that are believed to develop from childhood sexual abuse are often considered to include amnesia for childhood events, particularly the events that involve the abuse itself. One unresolved issue is the extent to which memory recovery attempts can contribute to claims of having amnestic symptoms. Experiments with undergraduate subjects reveal that requiring more reports of childhood events will increase judgments of having poorer memory of one’s childhood. The results are consistent with the use of heuristics when one is reasoning under conditions of uncertainty, as experienced difficulty in remembering more experiences is attributed to the incompleteness of childhood memory. The findings challenge the validity of reports of childhood amnesia that follow memory recovery attempts.     

Personality characteristics of women with alcohol addiction: A Rorschach study of women in an early treatment programme

This study identifies personality characteristics in a group of Swedish women (N=60) attending their first treatment for alcohol problems.The treatment programme specifically addressed women in an early phase of their drinking career, and was called "Early Treatment of Women with Alcohol Addiction" (EWA). Rorschach personality profiles of the 60 women differed significantly in almost all investigated aspects in a psychopathological direction from norms reported by Exner for a reference group of female non-patients. The findings are consistent with the assumption that, although the EWA women were socially well-functioning and fairly early in their drinking career, they nevertheless reveal serious underlying psychopathology. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed.     

A positive effect of iron supplementation on the IQS of iron deficient children

To examine possible effects of iron supplementation on the intelligence of young adolescents, iron supplements and placebos were given daily for 16 weeks to two matched groups of 208 and 205 12–15-year-olds. Iron status before the trial began was assessed by the measurement of serum ferritin and haemoglobin levels. In the sample considered as a whole, the iron supplementation had a small but nonsignificant effect on IQ, but those who were iron deficient, with serum ferritin levels of 12 ng/ml and below, showed a statistically significant IQ gain of 5.8 IQ points, as compared with a matched control group given placebos.