Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: The Process of Parental Adaptation and Implications for Genetic Counseling

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has primarily pediatric onset and well-documented unique impacts on family functioning. Limited research has assessed the understanding that parents of children with OCD have of the etiology of the condition, and there are no data regarding potential applications of genetic counseling for this population. We recruited 13 parents of 13 children diagnosed with OCD from the OCD Registry at British Columbia Children’s Hospital, and conducted qualitative semi-structured telephone interviews to explore participants’ experiences with their child’s OCD, causal attributions of OCD, and perceptions of two genetic counseling vignettes. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using elements of grounded theory qualitative methodology. Analysis revealed key components and contextual elements of the process through which parents adapt to their child’s OCD. This adaptation process involved conceptualizing the meaning of OCD, navigating its impact on family dynamics, and developing effective illness management strategies. Adaptation took place against a backdrop of stigmatization and was shaped by participants’ family history of mental illness and their child’s specific manifestations of OCD. Parents perceived genetic counseling, as described in the vignettes, as being empowering, alleviating guilt and blame, and positively impacting treatment orientation. These data provide insight into the process of parental adaptation to pediatric OCD, and suggest that genetic counseling services for families affected by OCD may help facilitate adaptation to this illness.     

The next trial will be conflicting! Effects of explicit congruency pre-cues on cognitive control

The dual mechanisms of control account proposed a role for proactive and reactive mechanisms in minimizing or resolving interference in conflict tasks. Proactive mechanisms are activated in advance of stimulus onset and lead to preparatory biasing of attention in a goal-directed fashion. Reactive mechanisms are triggered post-stimulus onset. Using an explicit, trial-by-trial pre-cueing procedure in a 4-choice color-word Stroop task, we investigated effects of congruency pre-cues on cognitive control. Under conditions of stimulus uncertainty (i.e., each word was associated with multiple, equally probable responses), pre-cue benefits were observed on incongruent trials when cues were 100 % valid but not when they were 75 % valid. These benefits were selectively found at the longest cue-to-stimulus interval (2,000 ms), consistent with a preparation-dependent proactive control mechanism. By contrast, when a reactive strategy of switching attention to the irrelevant dimension to predict the single correlated response was viable, pre-cue benefits were observed on incongruent trials for all cue-to-stimulus intervals including the shortest that afforded only 500 ms to prepare. The findings (a) suggest a restricted role for the preparation-dependent biasing of attention via proactive control in response to explicit, trial-by-trial pre-cues while (b) highlighting strategies that lead to pre-cue benefits but which appear to reflect primarily reactive use of the information afforded by the pre-cues. We conclude that pre-cues, though available in advance of stimulus onset, may stimulate proactive or reactive minimization of interference.     

Early gender differences in the functional usage of language

Early male and female differences in the functional use of language were investigated by coding the verbal interactions of 32 preschool children during a 10-minute play session with same-sex peer. The speech of each child was classified into functional-motivational categories using the FIS-P scoring instrument. The findings were consistent with the literature on adult conversational styles, showing that males talk more and are more assertive in their social interactions than are females. The results of this study demonstrate the existence of early gender differences in the functional use of language and emphasize the importance of a developmental approach to the study of communication styles.     

The personal inventory as a psychotherapeutic technique in treating a person with AIDS

The use of a personal inventory, an adaptation of the moral inventory used in Twelve Step programs, is discussed as a psychotherapeutic tool in providing treatment to persons with AIDS. Clinical application of this technique can facilitate progress toward achieving a sense of integrity prior to death by addressing a client's feelings of guilt and shame. The authors describe the use of this technique in working with a young adult African-American female diagnosed with AIDS and discuss appropriate and inappropriate applications of this approach.     

Changes in Fear of AIDS and Homophobia in a University Population

A survey measuring attitudes toward fear of AIDS and homophobia, taken in the fall of 1985, was repeated in the fall of 1989 on the same university population. The results indicated that whereas fear of AIDS decreased, the degree of homophobia remained essentially unchanged. In addition, although respondents were much more knowledgeable about AIDS in 1989 than in 1985, there was no evidence of any change in the relatively high correlation between the fear of AIDS and homophobia.     

The impact of contextual information and a secondary task on anticipation performance: An interpretation using cognitive load theory

When performing under severe time constraints, sports performers use kinematic and contextual information to facilitate anticipation. We examined the relative importance of these two information sources and their impact on cognitive load and anticipation performance. Cognitive load theory predicts that adding more information sources to a task will increase cognitive load in less‐skilled but not skilled performers. Skilled and less‐skilled cricket batters anticipated deliveries from bowlers on a life‐size screen under 4 conditions that manipulated access to contextual information and included a secondary task. The presence of context enhanced anticipation accuracy for both skilled and less‐skilled groups, without affecting cognitive load. Skilled performers used sequencing and game‐related contextual information in addition to kinematic information to facilitate anticipation, whereas both groups reported using information pertaining to opponent positioning. Findings highlight the importance of context in anticipation and suggest that the addition of context may not necessarily negatively impact cognitive load.     

Culture, cross-role consistency, and adjustment: testing trait and cultural psychology perspectives

Trait and cultural psychology perspectives on cross-role consistency and its relation to adjustment were examined in 2 individualistic cultures, the United States (N=231) and Australia (N=195), and 4 collectivistic cultures, Mexico (N=199), the Philippines (N=195), Malaysia (N=217), and Japan (N=180). Cross-role consistency in trait ratings was evident in all cultures, supporting trait perspectives. Cultural comparisons of mean consistency provided support for cultural psychology perspectives as applied to East Asian cultures (i.e., Japan) but not collectivistic cultures more generally. Some but not all of the hypothesized predictors of consistency were supported across cultures. Cross-role consistency predicted aspects of adjustment in all cultures, but prediction was most reliable in the U.S. sample and weakest in the Japanese sample. Alternative constructs proposed by cultural psychologists--personality coherence, social appraisal, and relationship harmony--predicted adjustment in all cultures but were not, as hypothesized, better predictors of adjustment in collectivistic cultures than in individualistic cultures.