Is expressive suppression always associated with poorer psychological functioning? A cross-cultural comparison between European Americans and Hong Kong Chinese

The habitual use of expressive suppression as an emotion regulation strategy has been consistently linked to adverse outcomes in a number of domains, including psychological functioning. The present study aimed to uncover whether the suppression-health relationship is dependent on cultural context, given differing cultural norms surrounding the value of suppressing emotional displays. We hypothesized that the negative associations between suppression and psychological functioning seen in European Americans would not be seen among members of East Asian cultures, in which emotional restraint is relatively encouraged over emotional expression. To test this hypothesis, we asked 71 European American students and 100 Chinese students from Hong Kong to report on their use of expressive suppression, life satisfaction, and depressed mood. A moderation analysis revealed that expressive suppression was associated with adverse psychological functioning for European Americans, but not for Chinese participants. These findings highlight the importance of context in understanding the suppression-health relationship.     

Neuropsychological Evaluation of Everyday Memory

The evaluation of everyday memory (EM) was reviewed and reconceptualized. EM has established new objectives of study and the development of new methods to reach these objectives . At the basic level, this approach has already produced important discoveries and the development of new principles about memory and functioning. At the clinical level, this new area of investigation has resulted in evaluating deficits of EM, which is defined as what daily life functions remain impaired after a deficit pathology has occurred. A type of evaluation has evolved that is oriented toward treatment and extremely useful in designing rehabilitation programs for individuals with alterations in memory.     

Girls Not Boys Show Gender-Connotation Encoding from Print

The present study examines gender differences in children's encoding of gender-connotation from words. The release from proactive interference method was used to measure gender-connotation encoding. Forty-eight third-grade children attending a public elementary school serving a predominantly White middle-socioeconomic-status community participated and were presented with stimulus words in print. The design of the study can be characterized as a two (gender) by two (condition: control vs. experimental) by four (trials) factorial. Results revealed reliable proactive interference buildup and release for gender-connotation for girls, but not for boys. This new finding, taken together with extant research, demonstrates that while both boys and girls have the ability to encode gender-connotation from aurally presented words, the spontaneous activation of gender-connotation attributes with print is not guaranteed for boys.     

An extension of commonly used toilet-training procedures to children with autism spectrum disorder

The current study evaluated a toilet-training treatment package described by Greer et al. (2016) with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Most of the current research on toilet-training interventions for children with ASD are replications and modifications of Azrin and Foxx (1971) or (more recently) LeBlanc et al. (2005). However, these procedures are composed of components that are not included in studies with typically developing (TD) children. For example, Greer et al. evaluated the effectiveness of three typical components within a toilet-training package, mostly with TD participants: a 30-min sit schedule, placing participants in underwear, and differential reinforcement. The primary purpose of the current study was to replicate and extend the treatment package described by Greer et al. to children with ASD. A secondary purpose was to evaluate modifications necessary for individualized toilet training when the commonly used components were ineffective. The results of Greer et al. were replicated for 11 participants with ASD in the current study, suggesting that intensive toileting interventions (e.g., interventions requiring overcorrection, reprimands, and dense sit schedules) may only be necessary for a subset of individuals with ASD.     

Anxiety sensitivity as a specific and unique marker of anxious symptoms in youth psychiatric inpatients

We addressed several questions regarding the relation of anxiety sensitivity to anxious symptoms among 47 youth psychiatric inpatients (18 boys, 29 girls), ages 9–17 (M = 14.23, SD = 1.89). Participants completed measures of anxiety sensitivity, anxious and depressive symptoms, trait anxiety, and positive and negative affect; chart diagnoses were available. Consistent with hypotheses, we found that (a) anxiety sensitivity was associated with anxious symptoms, even controlling for trait anxiety and depressive symptoms; and (b) anxiety sensitivity displayed symptom specificity to anxious versus depressive symptoms (i.e., was associated with anxiety controlling for depression but not with depression controlling for anxiety). Furthermore, regarding factors of anxiety sensitivity, we obtained mixed support for our prediction that phrenophobia would be associated with both depression and anxiety, whereas fear of physical arousal would be associated with anxiety but not depression. Implications for the construct validity of anxiety sensitivity were discussed.     

Non-invasive estimation of local field potentials for neuroprosthesis control

Recent experiments have shown the possibility of using the brain electrical activity to directly control the movement of robots or prosthetic devices in real time. Such neuroprostheses can be invasive or non-invasive, depending on how the brain signals are recorded. In principle, invasive approaches will provide a more natural and flexible control of neuroprostheses, but their use in humans is debatable given the inherent medical risks. Non-invasive approaches mainly use scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) signals and their main disadvantage is that these signals represent the noisy spatiotemporal overlapping of activity arising from very diverse brain regions, i.e., a single scalp electrode picks up and mixes the temporal activity of myriads of neurons at very different brain areas. In order to combine the benefits of both approaches, we propose to rely on the non-invasive estimation of local field potentials (LFP) in the whole human brain from the scalp measured EEG data using a recently developed inverse solution (ELECTRA) to the EEG inverse problem. The goal of a linear inverse procedure is to de-convolve or un-mix the scalp signals attributing to each brain area its own temporal activity. To illustrate the advantage of this approach we compare, using an identical set of spectral features, classification of rapid voluntary finger self-tapping with left and right hands based on scalp EEG and non-invasively estimated LFP on two subjects using a different number of electrodes.

Is obsessive-compulsive disorder caused by a second-messenger imbalance?

Although the precise etiologic nature of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), one of the most common psychiatric conditions, is unknown, several findings indicate involvement of the serotonin (5-HT) transporter. Apart from the specific effects of selective 5-HT reuptake inhibitors, other studies show decreased functionality of the platelet 5-HT transporter in OCD. In this report, the authors combine data from two independent studies of patients with OCD, showing both an increased activity of protein kinase type C (PKC) and a decreased activity of protein kinase type A (PKA). The authors propose a unifying hypothesis that OCD might be determined by an imbalance between PKC and PKA, with a prevalence of the former and, more generally, of the phosphoinositide over the cyclic adenosine monophosophate (cAMP) pathway. Should this hypothesis prove correct, the path would be open for new therapeutic interventions in the treatment of OCD.     

Implications of the cAMP signaling pathway in psychiatric disorders: a systematic review of the evidence

The last decade has seen a shift in the theoretical framework addressing the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. During this period, research endeavors have been directed toward investigating the biochemical mechanisms involved in the transduction of information from the cell surface to the cell interior. The emerging picture, supported by growing evidence, is that in addition to neurotransmitters and their receptors, various signal transduction pathways may be linked to the pathophysiology of major psychiatric disorders. In this review, the role of one such pathway--the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) signaling pathway--will be highlighted. We review data suggesting the involvement of the upstream and downstream components of this system in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders.     

The Relationship of Antifat Attitudes to Other Prejudicial and Gender‐Related Attitudes1

Overweight people in society face a number of obstacles. Negative attitudes toward overweight people contribute to this experience. This study examined the relationship of antifat attitudes to other prejudicial attitudes (e.g., racism, sexism, homophobia) and gender‐related attitudes. A total of 179 undergraduate participants completed measures of prejudicial attitudes, including antifat attitudes. Multiple regression analyses revealed that a combination of demographic and attitudinal variables predicted antifat attitudes. Antifat attitudes are stronger for men, Caucasians, and gender‐typed individuals; compared to women, African Americans, and androgynous individuals, respectively. After controlling for demographics, weight‐related variables, and social desirability, gender‐role egalitarianism, racism, and homophobia significantly correlated with antifat attitudes. The implications and limitations of this study are discussed regarding the importance of research in antifat and other prejudical attitudes.     

Gathering Diverse Perspectives to Tackle “Wicked Problems”: Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Educational Placement

Among students receiving behavioral health and special education services, racial/ethnic minority students are consistently overrepresented in settings separate from general classrooms. Once separated, many young people struggle to improve academically and face significant difficulty upon trying to return to a general education setting. Given the complex, ongoing, and multifaceted nature of this challenge, racial/ethnic disproportionality can be identified as a “wicked problem,” for which solutions are not easily identified. Here, we describe our community-engaged research efforts, eliciting perspectives from relevant partners in an ongoing dialogue, to better integrate diverse stakeholders’ perspectives when attempting to address such disparities. We conducted focus groups and qualitative interviews with members of three stakeholder groups: community-serving organizations, individuals with lived experience of behavioral health conditions, and state-level policymakers, with a shared interest in addressing racial and ethnic disparities. Participant responses illustrated the “wickedness” of this problem and highlighted the need for additional supports for students, families, and school personnel, increased collaboration across relevant systems and agencies, and reduced barriers related to funding. Overall, this methodology bridged differing perspectives to develop, in concert with our partners, a shared language of the problem and a core set of issues to consider when seeking to effect change.