Can a Happy Relationship Predict a Happy Life? A Population-Based Study of Maternal Well-Being During the Life Transition of Pregnancy,Infancy, and Toddlerhood

The association between overall life satisfaction (LS) and relationship satisfaction (RS) was investigated longitudinally among mothers (N=67,355), using data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Data were collected twice during pregnancy, and at 6 and 36 months postpartum. Satisfaction increased during pregnancy, with RS decreasing immediately following birth and LS showing an initial increase followed by a decrease postpartum. The results showed that LS and RS levels were quite stable over time (.46-.75), as was their cross-sectional associations (.42-.59). Structural equation modeling using a cross-lagged longitudinal model evidenced cross-concept cross-time effects for both LS and RS. The strengths of the cross-effects were asymmetrical and life-phase specific, with RS predicting change in LS more than LS predicted changes in RS during pregnancy and infancy. Having a satisfying romantic relationship is important for retaining and increasing future life satisfaction.     

The Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory and OCD in a Norwegian nonclinical sample

The 30 item Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI) was given to 294 under graduate students. The inventory achieved an acceptable internal consistence, but somewhat low reliability. There were no sex difference in total MOCI score, or in any of the subscales. 31% of the variance seemed to be explained by item 18: "attending too much to details", and more than 65% of the variance is explained by the checking subscale. The data give some interesting indications of the prevalence of OCD in the population.     

Six year follow-up of health status changes in Danish adults with suicide tendency in 1994

The purpose of this study was to determine whether suicidal ideation and/ or suicide attempts have any long-term health effects. The relationship between suicidal thoughts and/or a previous suicide attempt in 1994 and the presence of suicidal ideation in 2000 was analyzed. We found that health status in 1994 differed significantly between the groups with and without suicidal ideation or a previous suicide attempt and that the differences persisted or even deepened (not significant) after 6 years. Further, people who had suicidal ideation or a suicide attempt in 1994 had a significantly greater risk (OR = 7.4) of having suicidal ideation in 2000 than people who had not.     

Different parameters support generalization and discrimination learning in Drosophila at the flight simulator

We have used a genetically tractable model system, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster to study the interdependence between sensory processing and associative processing on learning performance. We investigated the influence of variations in the physical and predictive properties of color stimuli in several different operant-conditioning procedures on the subsequent learning performance. These procedures included context and stimulus generalization as well as color, compound, and conditional discrimination (colors and patterns). A surprisingly complex dependence of the learning performance on the colors' physical and predictive properties emerged, which was clarified by taking into account the fly-subjective perception of the color stimuli. Based on estimates of the stimuli's color and brightness values, we propose that the different tasks are supported by different parameters of the color stimuli; generalization occurs only if the chromaticity is sufficiently similar, whereas discrimination learning relies on brightness differences.     

Older adolescents' positive attitudes toward younger adolescents as sexual partners

The prevalence of older adolescents' positive attitudes toward younger sexual partners was investigated through three measures of self-reported hypothetical likelihood of having sex with preadolescents and younger adolescents (LSA), using a school-based cluster sample of 710 Norwegian 18- to 19-year-olds attending nonvocational high schools in Oslo. Some likelihood of having sex with a preadolescent (less than 12 years of age) was reported by 5.9% of the males. The 19.1% of the males who indicated some likelihood of having sex with a 13- to 14-year old, compared to those who did not, reported more high-frequency drinking, more alcohol-related problems, earlier sexual initiation, more conduct problems, and poorer psychosocial adjustment. This subgroup also reported more high-frequency use of pornography, having more friends with an interest in child pornography and violent pornography, and greater use of coercion to obtain sexual favors.     

Temperament in adults--reliability, stability, and factor structure of the EAS Temperament Survey

We assessed the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Emotionality, Activity, and Sociability (EAS) Temperament Survey (Buss & Plomin, 1984) for adults using a longitudinal sample of adult women. The stability estimates of the EAS instrument were assessed over a period of 3 years. The results indicated an acceptable fit for the basic theoretical EAS model, implying that the scale is functioning satisfactory. However, the results also suggest that the measure could be improved. Across time, latent stability factors explained within-scale covariances. Both latent stability factors and time-specific factors accounted for cross-sectional covariances between subscales. Additional research is warranted to guide the further development of the EAS model.     

The influence of rumination and defensiveness on negative affect in response to experimental stress

Previous experiments investigating the influence of rumination on negative affect have often manipulated the timing and content of rumination, which may be problematic as rumination is phenomenologically experienced as uncontrollable. In the present experiment, rumination was not manipulated, but measured as an individual tendency before the experiment. Furthermore, it was tested whether defensiveness would reduce the higher degree of negative affect often associated with rumination. Fifty-six participants completed questionnaires measuring rumination and defensiveness and participated in a phrase completion task, rating negative affect before and after the task. Correlational analyses showed that rumination was positively associated (p < 0.05) with affect responses (r range = 0.35-0.61), whereas defensiveness was negatively associated with affect responses (r range =-0.27-0.32). Four groups of high and low rumination and defensiveness scorers were created using median splits. An ANOVA showed that scoring high on defensiveness did not reduce the negative affect experienced by high ruminating participants.     

The Meta-Contrast Technique: relationships with personality traits and cognitive abilities in healthy women

The relationship between test results from the Meta-Contrast Technique (MCT) and self-reports from Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP), or the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-T), was investigated in 100 healthy women. Additionally, it was investigated whether age and cognitive abilities influenced the reports of picture recognition thresholds in the MCT. The results showed no agreement between the different ways to assess anxiety and defensiveness. However, age consistently predicted later reports of the perceptual recognition thresholds A1 (the car), A2 (the face) and C-phase. The WAIS-R Digit Symbol Score predicted earlier reporting of the recognition thresholds A1 and A2, but did not predict the final criteria for correct recognition (C-phase). The KSP aggression factor only predicted an earlier report of recognition threshold A2. The absence of a simple relationship between the different ways to assess anxiety and defensiveness, and the observed relationships regarding perceptual threshold levels, corroborates previous findings.     

Ethnic variations in the initial phase of mental health treatment: a study of Sami and non-Sami clients and therapists in northern Norway

Several studies indicate that mental health and mental health service vary with ethnicity. Ethnically linked social differences affect these results. We examined the multiethnic population in northern Norway where social inequalities between the Sami and the non-Sami population are not prominent. Clients (N=347) and therapists (N=32) in outpatient treatments reported demographics, ethnicity and the therapeutic alliance. Clients also reported pretreatment psychosocial status, service utilization and the type of help requested. Therapist recorded clinical and diagnostic assessments and treatment plans. The Sami and non-Sami client groups were similar in demographics and pretreatment psychosocial characteristics. However, the therapists prescribed more sessions and more socially focused interventions when clients were Sami. Verbal therapy was more often used by the non-Sami therapists. Alliance ratings were positively correlated only between Sami therapists and their clients, and Sami therapists rated the largest initial clinical improvement. Clinics located in the high Sami density areas offered their clients more therapy sessions, than in clinics in the high non-Sami density areas. Ethnic similarity between client and therapist were associated with more frequent use of medication and less frequent use of verbal therapy.