Toward Developing Laboratory-Based Parent–Adolescent Conflict Discussion Tasks that Consistently Elicit Adolescent Conflict-Related Stress Responses: Support from Physiology and Observed Behavior

Parent–adolescent conflict poses risk for youth maladjustment. One potential mechanism of this risk is that stress in the form of increased arousal during conflict interactions results in adolescents’ impaired decision-making. However, eliciting consistent adolescent stress responses within laboratory-based tasks of parent–adolescent conflict (i.e., conflict discussion tasks) is hindered by task design. This limitation may stem from how conflict topics are assessed and selected for discussion. Within a sample of 47 adolescents (ages 14–17) and parents, we investigated whether a modified version of a conflict discussion task could elicit physiological (i.e., arousal) and behavioral (i.e., hostility) displays of adolescents’ conflict-related stress responses. We assessed parent–adolescent conflict via structured interview to identify topics for dyads to discuss during the task. We randomly assigned dyads to complete a 5-min task to discuss either a putatively benign topic (i.e., control condition) or a conflict topic while undergoing direct assessments of continuous arousal. Trained raters coded dyad members’ hostile behavior during the task. Adolescents in the conflict condition exhibited significantly greater levels of arousal than adolescents in the control condition. We observed an interaction between discussion condition and baseline conflict. Specifically, higher baseline conflict predicted greater hostile behavior for adolescents in the conflict condition, yet we observed the inverse relation for adolescents in the control condition. Our modified laboratory discussion task successfully elicited both physiological and behavioral displays of adolescent conflict-related stress. These findings have important implications for leveraging experimental paradigms to understand causal links between parent–adolescent conflict and adolescent psychopathology, and their underlying mechanisms.     

Using Therapeutic Riding as an Intervention for Combat Veterans: An International Classification of Functioning,Disability, and Health (ICF) Approach

The aim of the study was to examine the effects of therapeutic horseback riding on posttraumatic stress symptoms, quality of life, and functioning of combat veterans using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) as a framework. Fifty-one veterans and active duty service members participated in an 8-week therapeutic riding program. The study findings revealed clinically significant decrease in PTSD symptoms, improved social functioning, vitality, less interference of emotions on daily activities, and increased participation. Qualitative themes discovered included improved confidence, trust, acceptance of self and others, and gratitude. Qualitative and quantitative data linked to the ICF components.     

Block of glucocorticoid synthesis during re-activation inhibits extinction of an established fear memory

BackgroundThe pharmacology of traumatic memory extinction has not been fully characterized despite its potential as a therapeutic target for established, acquired anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Here we examine the role of endogenous glucocorticoids in traumatic memory extinction.MethodsMale C57BL/6J mice were injected with corticosterone (10 mg/kg, i.p.) or metyrapone (50 mg/kg, s.c.) during re-activation of a contextual fear memory, and compared to vehicle groups (N = 10–12 per group). To ensure that metyrapone was blocking corticosterone synthesis, we measured corticosterone levels following re-activation of a fear memory in metyrapone- and vehicle-treated animals.ResultsCorticosterone administration following extinction trials caused a long-lasting inhibition of the original fear memory trace. In contrast, blockade of corticosteroid synthesis with metyrapone prior to extinction trials enhanced retrieval and prevented extinction of context-dependent fear responses in mice. Further behavioral analysis suggested that the metyrapone enhancement of retrieval and prevention of extinction were not due to non-specific alterations in locomotor or anxiety-like behavior. In addition, the inhibition of extinction by metyrapone was rescued by exogenous administration of corticosterone following extinction trials. Finally, we confirmed that the rise in corticosterone during re-activation of a contextual fear memory was blocked by metyrapone.ConclusionsWe demonstrate that extinction of a classical contextual fear memory is dependent on endogenous glucocorticoid synthesis during re-activation of a fear memory. Our data suggest that decreased glucocorticoids during fear memory re-activation may contribute to the inability to extinguish a fear memory, thus contributing to one of the core symptoms of PTSD.     

Recording online processes in task-oriented reading with Read&;Answer

We present an application to study task-oriented reading processes called Read&Answer. The application mimics paper-and-pencil situations in which a reader interacts with one or more documents to perform a specific task, such as answering questions, writing an essay, or similar activities. Read&Answer presents documents and questions with a mask. The reader unmasks documents and questions so that only a piece of information is available at a time. This way the entire interaction between the reader and the documents on the task is recorded and can be analyzed. We describe Read&Answer and present its applications for research and assessment. Finally, we explain two studies that compare readers’ performance on Read&Answer with students’ reading times and comprehension levels on a paper-and-pencil task, and on a computer task recorded with eye-tracking. The use of Read&Answer produced similar comprehension scores, although it changed the pattern of reading times.     

Unspoken Ethics: A Multi-Religion Group and Building a Public Identity

Dealing with the differences among its participants has been one of the most difficult aspects which the Council for Religious Studies (CONER/SC) has faced. Formed by different religions, the Council was founded in 1998 to assist the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil, in the implementation of Religous Studies in state run schools. As a public identity was necessary to legitimize its purpose to the state and to religious studies teachers, the group had to deal with tensions provoked by the differences among Christians of various denominations and representatives from Catholic and Protestant (among them only one Pentecostal), Hindu, Muslim and Afro-Brazilian religions. The strategies used to avoid conflict and produce an agreed discourse include resort to silence when hot topics were broached and discussion of issues which were considered to be possible to discuss. The article focuses on the ethical values expressed, but not spoken of in this process, and on some challenges to the group's unity.     

Sex differences in motor performance of young children: Fact or fiction?

Prepubescent boys and girls who had participated for one or more years in a coeducational physical education program were classified by grade (3, 4, and 5) and year (1977, 1978, and 1979). Scores from the AAHPER Youth Fitness Test were analyzed for differences. Results indicated that females at prepubescent ages may be expected to perform at similar levels to boys of the same age on most test items. While differences were not significant, girls in 1979 were actually better than boys of the same age from the two previous years.     

Success estimations and performance in children as influenced by age,gender, and task

This study examined the effects of a manipulated sex association cue on the estimation of success as well as actual performance on a novel motor task. Boys and girls in the third and seventh grade (N=80) were randomly assigned by gender and grade to either a football-related or a dance-related group. The task was a simple reaction time test that was presented with instructions to indicate a sex association. Findings indicated that performance expectancies obtained prior to engaging in a novel motor task can be affected by the way a task is presented.     

Active Coping and Perceived Social Support Mediate the Relationship Between Physical Health and Resilience in Liver Transplant Candidates

Without a transplant, end-stage liver disease is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Transplant candidates endure physical and psychological stress while awaiting surgery, yet little is known about the relationship between physical health and psychological resilience during the wait-list period. This study examined predictors of psychological resilience and mediators of the relationship between physical health and psychological resilience in liver transplant candidates. Wait-listed candidates (N?=?120) from a single Northeast transplant center completed assessments of physical functioning, coping, perceived social support, and resilience. Findings revealed that physical functioning, active coping, and perceived social support were positively associated with resilience; maladaptive coping was negatively associated with resilience. Perceived social support and active coping partially mediated the relationship between physical functioning and resilience. Transplant center care providers should promote active coping skills and reinforce the importance of effective social support networks. These interventions could increase psychological resilience among liver transplant candidates.     

The role of attention in eye-movement awareness

People are unable to accurately report on their own eye movements most of the time. Can this be explained as a lack of attention to the objects we fixate? Here, we elicited eye-movement errors using the classic oculomotor capture paradigm, in which people tend to look at sudden onsets even when they are irrelevant. In the first experiment, participants were able to report their own errors on about a quarter of the trials on which they occurred. The aim of the second experiment was to assess what differentiates errors that are detected from those that are not. Specifically, we estimated the relative influence of two possible factors: how long the onset distractor was fixated (dwell time), and a measure of how much attention was allocated to the onset distractor. Longer dwell times were associated with awareness of the error, but the measure of attention was not. The effect of the distractor identity on target discrimination reaction time was similar whether or not the participant was aware they had fixated the distractor. The results suggest that both attentional and oculomotor capture can occur in the absence of awareness, and have important implications for our understanding of the relationship between attention, eye movements, and awareness.