Sex-specific clinical correlates of hoarding in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Little is known about whether the clinical correlates of hoarding behavior are different in men and women with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In the current study, we evaluated the association of hoarding with categories of obsessions and compulsions, psychiatric disorders, personality dimensions, and other clinical characteristics separately in 151 men and 358 women with OCD who were examined during the OCD Collaborative Genetics Study. We found that, among men but not women, hoarding was associated with aggressive, sexual, and religious obsessions and checking compulsions. In men, hoarding was associated with generalized anxiety disorder and tics whereas, among women, hoarding was associated with social phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, nail biting, and skin picking. In women but not men, hoarding was associated with schizotypal and dependent personality disorder dimensions, and with low conscientiousness. These findings indicate that specific clinical correlates of hoarding in OCD are different in men and women and may reflect sex-specific differences in the course, expression, and/or etiology of hoarding behavior in OCD.     

Role of motion signals in recognizing subtle facial expressions of emotion

Three studies investigated the importance of movement for the recognition of subtle and intense expressions of emotion. In the first experiment, 36 facial emotion displays were duplicated in three conditions either upright or inverted in orientation. A dynamic condition addressed the perception of motion by using four still frames run together to encapsulate a moving sequence to show the expression emerging from neutral to the subtle emotion. The multi‐static condition contained the same four stills presented in succession, but with a visual noise mask (200 ms) between each frame to disrupt the apparent motion, whilst in the single‐static condition, only the last still image (subtle expression) was presented. Results showed a significant advantage for the dynamic condition, over the single‐ and multi‐static conditions, suggesting that motion signals provide a more accurate and robust mental representation of the expression. A second experiment demonstrated that the advantage of movement was reduced with expressions of a higher intensity, and the results of the third experiment showed that the advantage for the dynamic condition for recognizing subtle emotions was due to the motion signal rather than additional static information contained in the sequence. It is concluded that motion signals associated with the emergence of facial expressions can be a useful cue in the recognition process, especially when the expressions are subtle.     

Patterns of psychosocial risk and long-term outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis

This study examined the extent to which patterns of psychosocial risk were uniquely associated with long-term outcomes of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), after demographic factors and self-reported symptom severity over time were accounted for. Data were collected over an 8-year period from 561 individuals with RA who were participants in the ongoing UCSF RA Panel Study in 1995. Panel members were interviewed annually, using a comprehensive structured telephone interview. Psychosocial factors assessed included mastery, perceptions about adequacy of social support, the impact of RA and self-assessed ability to cope with RA and satisfaction with health and function. Cluster analysis of psychosocial factors identified three distinctive patterns/levels of psychosocial risk (high, medium and low risk). The unique effects of psychosocial risk status on changes in depressive symptoms, basic functional limitations, global pain ratings and average annual doctor visits over an 8-year period were estimated, using growth curve analyses. Analyses controlled for demographic factors (gender, marital/partner status, education, age and ethnicity), disease duration and year in the panel and time-varying self-reported symptom severity (morning stiffness, swollen joint counts, co-morbid medical conditions, extra-articular RA symptoms and changes in joint appearance), as well as self-reported medications taken over time (disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs [DMARDS], and prednisone). Overall, 32.4% of total variance in depressive symptoms was accounted for by the fully-estimated model, with 12.9% uniquely associated with psychosocial risk status. Half of the total variance (50.0%) in basic functional limitations was explained, with 12.1% of variance uniquely predicted by psychosocial risk status. Psychosocial risk status accounted for comparatively little total explained variance in global pain ratings (total = 38.6%, incremental = 3.2%), and average annual total doctor visits (total = 10.9%, incremental = 1.5%). Thus, psychosocial risk factors are more closely linked to depressive symptoms and function over time. Global pain and utilization appear to be more closely related to disease factors.     

Attracting Immigrants to Smaller Urban and Rural Communities: Lessons Learned from the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program

Low birth rates and population ageing have slowed population growth rates in Canada, and immigration has become the primary driver of population and labour force growth in the nation. The distribution of new arrivals to Canada, however, has been concentrated in a few major cities. Until recently, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver have been the destination of approximately 75% of all immigrants. All orders of government have introduced policies and programs to influence the regional distribution of immigrants across the country, ostensibly so that the benefits of immigration will be more evenly shared on a national basis. An assessment of the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program helps identify policy and program initiatives and best practices effective in changing the regional distribution of immigrants and attracting more new arrivals to smaller urban and rural communities.     

Intermanual transfer of prism adaptation

The authors measured intermanual transfer in participants (N = 48) whose exposed or unexposed right or left hand was tested 1st after participants experienced prismatic displacement. Test order did not affect either participants' performance during prismatic exposure or the usual aftereffects, but transfer occurred only when the authors tested the exposed right hand 1st. Transfer did not occur, and proprioceptive shift for the exposed left limb decreased when the authors tested the unexposed right limb 1st. The present results suggest that transfer occurs during testing for aftereffects of prism exposure, but not during prism exposure itself, as researchers have previously assumed. Results are consistent with those of previous research that has shown that limb control is lateralized in opposite hemispheres and that the left hemisphere contains a spatial map only for the right limb.     

From statistical associations to causation: what developmentalists can learn from instrumental variables techniques coupled with experimental data

In this article, the authors aim to make accessible the careful application of a method called instrumental variables (IV). Under the right analytic conditions, IV is one promising strategy for answering questions about the causal nature of associations and, in so doing, can advance developmental theory. The authors build on prior work combining the analytic approach of IV with the strengths of random assignment design, whether the experiment is conducted in the lab setting or in the "real world." The approach is detailed through an empirical example about the effects of maternal education on children's cognitive and school outcomes. With IV techniques, the authors address whether maternal education is causally related to children's cognitive development or whether the observed associations reflect some other characteristic related to parenting, income, or personality. The IV estimates show that maternal education has a positive effect on the cognitive test scores of children entering school. The authors conclude by discussing opportunities for applying these same techniques to address other questions of critical relevance to developmental science.     

Negotiators who give too much: unmitigated communion, relational anxieties, and economic costs in distributive and integrative bargaining

A series of studies found that the personality dimension of unmitigated communion (H. L. Fritz & V. S. Helgeson, 1998) leads negotiators to make concessions to avoid straining relationships. Results indicate that even within the population of successful business executives, this dimension of relational anxiety can be identified distinctly from more general relational orientations, such as agreeableness, and that it distinctly predicts accommodating tendencies in everyday conflicts. In economic games, unmitigated communion predicts giving in contexts in which the relational norm of reciprocity applies, but not in contexts tapping instrumental or altruistic motives for cooperation. In distributive negotiations, the effect of unmitigated communion in lowering a negotiator's outcome is mediated by prenegotiation anxieties about relational strain and plans to make large concessions if needed to avoid impasse (lower reservation points). In integrative negotiations, high unmitigated communion on both sides of the negotiation dyad results in relational accommodation, evidenced by decreased success in maximizing economic joint gain but increased subjective satisfaction with the relationship.