Executive disorders and perceived socio‐emotional changes after traumatic brain injury

Although socio‐emotional changes are very frequently encountered after traumatic brain injury (TBI), the psychological mechanisms underlying these disorders are still poorly understood. This study aimed to explore the relationships between dysexecutive syndrome (assessed with the Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome [BADS]) and socio‐emotional changes assessed by the Iowa scales of personality change (ISPC) in patients with TBI. The BADS was thus administered to 25 patients with TBI and to 25 healthy controls. Simultaneously, a close relative of each patient was given the ISPC in order to assess socio‐emotional changes. Results indicated that patients displayed significantly lower executive performances than controls and experimented significant socio‐emotional changes. The Modified Six Elements Test was the only subtask of the BADS to be significantly related to behavioural changes, and more specifically to externalizing disorders. It is concluded that executive functions, and especially multitasking, encompass processes whereby one can consciously control one's emotional reactions and behaviours.     

Lack of strategy holding: A new pattern of learning deficit in cortical dementias

The aim of this study was to demonstrate, by means of systematic research and qualitative data analysis, the presence, among a group of patients with fronto‐temporal lobar degeneration of a subgroup that, at variance with the standard pattern, is able to devise and implement learning strategies, but appear impaired at carrying them on from a trial to the next. In order to provide evidence of the existence of a group of patients showing this type of learning disability, that we refer to as lack of strategy holding, we performed a stepwise hierarchical cluster analysis of a set of variables whose scores were selected from the subject's performance at the Test de Aprendizaje Verbal España‐Complutense. Results substantiate the segregation of three groups of subjects characterized by the following patterns of performance: normal elderly individuals, who show a quite preserved ability to discover a semantic strategy along the learning trials and to carry it from a trial to the next, patients presenting with a deficit in implementing semantic learning strategies and possibly use of serial and/or phonological strategies to perform the task, and to patients who, although able to generate and implement appropriate learning strategies, appear unable to carry them over the learning trials. The presence of this new pattern raises a few questions that seem worth trying to address.     

Violent offenses associated with co‐occurring substance use and mental health problems: Evidence from CJDATS

The present study examines the relationship between substance use, mental health problems, and violence in a sample of offenders released from prison and referred to substance abuse treatment programs. Data from 34 sites (n = 1,349) in a federally funded cooperative, the Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (CJDATS), were analyzed. Among parolees referred to substance abuse treatment, self‐reports for the six‐month period before the arrest resulting in their incarceration revealed frequent problems with both substance use and mental health. For most offenders with substance use problems, the quantity of alcohol consumed and the frequency of drug use were associated with a greater probability of self‐reported violence. Mental health problems were not indicative of increases in violent behavior, with the exception of antisocial personality problems, which were associated with violence. The paper emphasizes the importance of providing substance abuse treatment in relation to violent behavior among offenders with mental health problems being discharged to the community. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Relationships Between Mexican American Acculturation,Cultural Values,Gender, and Help‐Seeking Intentions

This study examined the relationships between Mexican acculturation, cultural values, gender, and help‐seeking intentions among Mexican American community college students. Findings suggest that as Mexican Americans lose their culture of origin and increase their generational status, their attitudes toward help seeking become less favorable. This contradicts cultural barrier theory as an explanation for underuse of mental health services by Mexican Americans. Furthermore, adherence to traditional Mexican culture and cultural values may actually encourage help seeking.     

Identifying Substance Abuse Issues in High Schools: A National Survey of High School Counselors

High school students consistently report the use of substances such as alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana. One of the people they would talk to about a substance use problem is their school counselor. A survey study was conducted with a national sample of 289 high school counselors. Results indicated that participants were clearly able to identify their practice limitations and future training needs in this area. Implications for training and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Book Review of Counseling Children and Adolescents Through Grief and Loss

Book reviewed in this article: Counseling Children and Adolescents Through Grief and Loss by Jody J. Fiorini & Jodi Ann Mullen, 2006     

Age differences in learning from text: Evidence for functionally distinct text processing systems

We investigated the influence of sentence elaboration on self‐regulated learning in order to examine age differences in resource allocation to the construction of textbase‐ and discourse‐level representations. Older and younger adults learned about a topic by reading a series of sentences varying in elaboration (from simple factoids to highly elaborated text) and manner of presentation (progressive change in elaboration vs. random change in elaboration). Younger readers were more likely to recall information from factoids; older adults, from highly elaborated text. Relative to young, older readers showed an advantage in the progressive presentation condition, which minimised frequent changes between textbase‐ and discourse‐level processing. Older adults showed poorer memory monitoring for factoids and less elaborated discourse relative to young, but when passages were highly elaborated or presented progressively, age differences were eliminated. Results support the idea that textbase‐ and discourse‐level encoding arise from functionally distinct systems whose regulation depends on text properties and reader age. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Criteria‐based content analysis of true and suggested accounts of events

Worldwide, the criteria‐based content analysis (CBCA) is probably the most widely used veracity assessment technique for discriminating between accounts of true and fabricated events. In this study, two experiments examined the effectiveness of the CBCA for discriminating between accounts of true events and suggested events believed to be true. In Experiment 1, CBCA‐trained judges evaluated participants' accounts of true and suggestively planted childhood events. In Experiment 2, judges analysed accounts of recent events that were experimentally manipulated to be a (a) true experience, (b) false experience believed to be true and (c) deliberately fabricated experience. In both experiments CBCA scores were significantly higher for accounts of true events than suggested events. However, this difference was not significant for participants classified as experiencing ‘full’ memories for the suggested event. Self‐report memory measures supported the findings of the CBCA analyses. Taken together these results suggest that the CBCA discriminative power is greatly constrained. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.