Apraxia in corticobasal degeneration.

Corticobasal degeneration (CBD) is a degenerative disease that often presents with an asymmetric progressive ideomotor limb apraxia. Some apraxic subjects may fail to perform skilled purposive movements on command because they have lost the memories or representations that specify how these movements should be performed (representational deficit). In contrast, other apraxic subjects may have the movement representations but are unable to utilize the information contained in them to execute skilled purposive movements (production-execution deficit). To learn if the apraxic deficit in CBD is induced by a representational or a production-execution deficit, we tested three nondemented subjects with CBD on tasks requiring production of meaningful or meaningless gestures to command, gesture imitation, gesture discrimination, and novel gesture learning. A fourth subject with incomplete data also is presented. The results suggest that the apraxia associated with CBD is initially induced by a production-execution defect with relative sparing of the movement representations.     

Validation of the 'How I Think Questionnaire' in a population of French-speaking adolescents with externalizing behaviors

'How I Think Questionnaire' (HIT) is used to measure self-serving cognitive distortions among delinquents. Previously validated on Americans, this instrument was translated, adapted and validated for French-speaking teens. To assess convergent and discriminant validity, 336 adolescents with externalizing behaviors in Québec (Canada) completed the HIT, the Self-Reported Delinquency Scale (SRD), and the Auto-aggression Questionnaire. There were 165 boys and 171 girls with M(age) = 16.4 years (SD = 0.5) who received services under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (n = 145) or the Youth Protection Act (n = 191). HIT and SRD total scores were correlated (0.51, p < 0.01). On the HIT, past suicidal attempting delinquents were not significantly different than non-suicide attempting delinquents; also delinquents living in closed detention facilities had more self-serving cognitive distortions than delinquents living in open facilities or under probation in the community. This French-language version of the HIT is a reliable and valid measure.     

Association of solitary binge drinking and suicidal behavior among emerging adult college students

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 26(3) of Psychology of Addictive Behaviors (see record 2012-13892-001). In the article, there is an error in the introductory paragraph. The number of students who had seriously considered attempting suicide in the Barrios, Everett, Simon, & Brener (2000) study should have been reported as 11.4%, not 1.4%. Additionally, in the Participants section, data for the study were collected from March 2009 to September 2010, not March 2009 to January 2010 as reported.] Emerging adult college students who binge drink in solitary contexts (i.e., while alone) experience greater depression and suicidal ideation than do students who only binge drink in social contexts, suggesting that they may be at greater risk for suicidal behavior. This study examined the association of a previous suicide attempt, one of the best predictors of future suicide attempts and suicide, and severity of recent suicidal ideation with drinking in solitary and social contexts. Participants were binge drinking, emerging adult (18- to 25-year-old) college students (N = 182) drawn from two studies of college drinkers. A logistic regression analysis revealed that both suicide attempt history and severity of suicidal ideation were significantly associated with a greater likelihood of being a solitary binge drinker as opposed to only a social binge drinker. Students with a previous suicide attempt were nearly four times more likely to be solitary binge drinkers. Multiple regression analyses revealed that suicide attempt history was significantly associated with greater frequency and quantity of drinking in solitary, but not social contexts. Suicidal ideation was significantly associated with drinks per solitary drinking day, but not frequency of solitary drinking once suicide attempt history was accounted for. Given the associations found between solitary binge drinking and a history of suicide attempts, as well as greater severity of recent suicidal ideation, it appears that these students are in need of suicide prevention efforts, including treatment efforts aimed at reducing binge drinking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Proportionate responses to life events influence clinicians' judgments of psychological abnormality

Psychological abnormality is a fundamental concept in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) and in all clinical evaluations. How do practicing clinical psychologists use the context of life events to judge the abnormality of a person's current behaviors? The appropriate role of life-event context in assessment has long been the subject of intense debate and scrutiny among clinical theorists, yet relatively little is known about clinicians' own judgments in practice. The authors propose a proportionate-response hypothesis, such that judgments of abnormality are influenced by whether the behaviors are a disproportionate response to past events, rendering them difficult to understand or explain. Licensed, practicing clinical psychologists (N = 77) were presented with vignettes describing hypothetical people's behaviors (disordered, mildly distressed, or unaffected) that had been preceded by either traumatic or mildly distressing events. Experts' judgments of abnormality were strongly and systematically influenced by the degree of mismatch between the past event and current behaviors in strength and valence, such that the greater the mismatch, the more abnormal the person seemed. A separate, additional group of clinical psychologists (N = 20) further confirmed that the greater the degree of mismatch, the greater the perceived difficulty in understanding the patient. These findings held true across clinicians of different theoretical orientations and in disorders for which these patterns of judgments ran contrary to formal recommendations in the DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The rationality of these effects and implications for clinical decision science are discussed.     

Early detection of drug use and bullying in secondary school children by using a three-dimensional simulation program

The current study analyzes the psychometric properties of an innovative three-dimensional (3D) simulation program, entitled Mii-School (MS), designed for the early detection of drug use and bullying in Secondary School children. This computer program showed adequate reliability and construct validity. The factorial structure, as well as the explanatory weight of the different factors, is presented. In addition, the results of a parallel version in paper and pencil format are also presented and compared with those of the computerized version (i.e., MS). There was a statistically significant difference between the two formats in the total (i.e., combined) sore of risk. When drug use and bullying were separately analyzed, differences were found only with regard to drug use. The relevance of these results as well as the suitability of this type of 3D instrument for the early detection of risky behaviors in young people are discussed.     

Testing a longitudinal social cognitive model of intended persistence with engineering students across gender and race/ethnicity

We examined the temporal relations within Lent et al.'s (2013) integrative SCCT model of academic satisfaction and intended persistence in a sample of 551 engineering undergraduates from a Hispanic serving institution. They completed measures of instrumentality, support, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interests, academic satisfaction, and intended persistence at two time points approximately 12 months apart. Using longitudinal cross-panel design, the findings supported a model where: (a) instrumentality predicted self-efficacy, (b) self-efficacy was a temporal precursor for both interests and academic satisfaction, (c) support was a temporal precursor for outcome expectations, while also predicting academic satisfaction, (d) academic satisfaction and intended persistence had a reciprocal relation with one another, and (e) relations in the model did not differ by gender or race/ethnicity. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Re-examining Religiosity as a Protective Factor: Comparing Alcohol Use by Self-Identified Religious,Spiritual, and Secular College Students

Religiosity has been found to be associated with lower alcohol use by college students. The majority of studies on this topic, however, fail to differentiate religiosity and spirituality. This is potentially problematic due to the changing face of religion in America today. A study was conducted to explore similarities and differences between self-identified religious and spiritual college students. A modified version of the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey was administered online with a sample of 2,312 students. As hypothesized, self-identified religious and spiritual students differed significantly on key variables related to religious practices, alcohol consumption, and postmodern social values.