Über die Treffsicherheit der standardisierten Risikoeinschätzungsverfahren Static-99 und Stable-2007 bei aus einer Sicherungsmaßnahme entlassenen Sexualstraftätern

The accuracy of the recidivism risk assessment instruments Static-99 and Stable-2007 for sexual offenders was examined in a population of released male forensic sexual offenders hospitalized under mandatory treatment in Austria (N?=?96). The Static-99 with an area under the curve (AUC) ?value of 0.86 and the Stable-2007 (AUC?=?0.71) were significantly related to sexual reoffending after nearly 7 years time at risk, thus revealing a predictive power comparable with offenders released from prison (N?=?274). Also the Stable-2007 incrementally supplemented the predictive accuracy of the Static-99. Static-99/Stable-2007 risk/need categories identified a high risk group with a 50?% chance for sexual reconviction within 5 years after release despite a favorable risk assessment as the precondition for release and post-release risk management. On the other hand, there was virtually no relapse in the three lowest risk categories suggesting a specific effect of the mandatory treatment at least in these offender categories. The data suggest that the instruments are valid not only for offenders released from prison but also for forensic sexual offenders.     

Autismus oder „Psychopathy“?

According to the concept of Hare autism spectrum disorders and psychopathy are associated with a strong deficit in empathy. However, empathy deficits in patients suffering from autism spectrum disorders and empathy deficits in individuals with psychopathic personality traits appear to be different. Some authors described the comorbid occurrence of psychopathic personality traits/psychopathy in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. The following article aims to approach this differential diagnostic problem by a brief review of the literature on a casuistic basis. This article reports the case of a highly remarkable 17-year-old adolescent. The case will be discussed according to the construct of psychopathy with reference to the concept of Hare.     

Psychological response to test results in an ovarian cancer screening program: a prospective, longitudinal study.

To identify the psychological impact of receipt of an abnormal yet benign screening test result, the authors examined the response to a transvaginal ultrasound screening (TVS) test for ovarian cancer (OC) in asymptomatic women (N=540) undergoing an initial TVS screening test. Interviews were conducted prior to undergoing TVS screening and at 2 weeks and 4 months following this baseline. Women receiving an abnormal yet benign TVS test result (n=33) reported elevated OC-specific, but not general, distress at 2-week follow-up. Distress returned to baseline levels at 4-month follow-up. Consistent with the monitoring process and cognitive-social health information processing models, response to an abnormal TVS result was moderated by a monitoring coping style, low optimism, and a family history of OC.     

Narzisstische Persönlichkeitsstörung

Narcissism is a multifaceted term which encompasses traits of normal personality as well as a specific personality disorder. While much research has been concerned with narcissism as a trait there are only few empirical studies on narcissistic personality disorder (NPS). The current diagnostic system of NPS according to DSM-5 (section II) focuses on grandiose narcissism whereas vulnerable narcissism, which is emphasized by clinicians and researchers, has not yet been recognized. While treating NPD patients an increased suicide risk has to be taken into consideration. Psychotherapy of narcissistic patients mainly focuses on processes during patient-therapist interactions, the analysis and processing of grandiose and vulnerable schemas, emotion regulation techniques and a correction of narcissistic behavior in favor of prosocial interactions.     

Tests improve memory – no matter if you feel good or bad while taking them

ABSTRACT

Based on studies demonstrating that testing promotes better long-term retention than restudying (i.e., the testing effect), testing has been recommended as a powerful tool to boost knowledge acquisition in educational settings. However, a factor ubiquitous in real-life learning contexts has been ignored to date: the learner's affective state. To examine whether the learner's affective state influences the testing effect, we conducted two experiments. We employed a standard testing-effect paradigm consisting of an initial study phase and a subsequent restudy/testing phase, and induced negative, neutral, or positive affective states either before participants initially studied short expository texts (Experiment 1) or before they restudied or were tested on them (Experiment 2). After one week, memory for the texts was tested. In both experiments, previously tested material was better remembered than previously restudied material. However, in none of the experiments, did the memory advantage of testing over restudying vary as a function of affect condition. Hence, the present results suggest that testing seems to benefit long-term retention independently of the learner's affective state.     

The adaptation dynamics of chronic functional impairment: what we can learn from older adults with vision loss

This study used vision loss due to age-related macular degeneration to learn about adaptation processes related to chronic functional impairment, focusing on Horowitz and Reinhardt's (1998) concept of Adaptation to Age-related Vision Loss (AVL) as the outcome. We hypothesized that impacts of visual acuity on AVL are mediated by perceived functional vision losses and functional abilities, and tested for "adaptive" weakening of this impact with ongoing loss. Longitudinal data covering a one-year interval from samples with age-related macular degeneration gathered in New York (N = 361) and Heidelberg (Germany, N = 90) were used. We analyzed the hypothesized causal structure by modeling latent change scores, and checked if those with low, medium, and high levels of vision loss at baseline differ in the relations between one-year change scores. Results confirmed that impacts of vision loss on AVL are mediated by decline in functional ability. However, under the most severe levels of vision loss at baseline, functional decline showed only a minor impact on AVL change not explained by a lack of further decline in vision. Findings confirm the effectiveness of adaptation in terms of reduced reactivity to functional losses across increasing level of chronic impairment. Thus, adaptation, weakening the impact of chronic functional impairment on psychological outcomes over time with disease progression, deserves consideration in the study of psychological consequences of chronic physical health conditions in old age.     

It's not my fault,it's theirs: Explanatory style of bullying targets with unipolar depression and its susceptibility to short‐term therapeutical modification

Depression is one of the most frequent psychic impairments prevalent among bullying targets. It is typically characterized by an internal, global, and stable explanatory style. However, whether bullying targets with depression would apply this style to explain their social conflicts at work was unclear. Therefore, individuals who had been bullied and developed depression were compared to individuals with depression who had not been bullied. Both groups differed significantly regarding their explanatory style, as individuals with bullying experience made more external attributions to explain social conflicts they had experienced both at work and in their private lives. This preference did not change over the course of a 6‐week in‐patient psychotherapy programme.     

Das Asperger-Syndrom bei Erwachsenen

Herr F., 35 Jahre alt, wendet sich per E-Mail an die Kinderklinik mit der Frage, ob eine diagnostische Abkl?rung bei uns m?glich sei, da er im Erwachsenenbereich keine Ansprechperson gefunden habe. Durch eine Internetrecherche sei er auf das Asperger-Syndrom gesto?en. Seit seiner Kindheit habe er sich bereits gefragt, was bei ihm nicht stimme, warum er ,,anders“ sei und warum es seinen Mitschülern immer so leicht gefallen sei auf andere zuzugehen, ,,Small Talk“ zu führen oder Kontakte aufrecht zu erhalten. Er hingegen habe damit immer massive Schwierigkeiten gehabt, habe soziale Zusammenh?nge oft nicht begriffen beziehungsweise die Gedanken, Absichten oder Gefühle anderer nicht entschlüsseln k?nnen. Obwohl er dies erkennt, konnte er es bisher nicht bewusst ?ndern, was in weiterer Folge zu einer depressiven Verstimmung mit Rückzug geführt hat. In der weiteren Exploration stellt sich heraus, dass Herr F. alleine wohnt, aber immer noch finanziell beziehungsweise im Alltag von seinen Eltern unterstützt wird. Derzeit hat er keine Beziehung, die vorangegangene Partnerschaft ging wegen Kommunikationsproblemen in die Brüche, worunter er sehr leidet. Aufgrund seiner speziellen Interessen studierte Herr F. Astrophysik und technische Mathematik und schloss beide Studien mit Auszeichnung ab. Seither hat er in etwa 20 verschiedenen Jobs gearbeitet, die meist nicht seiner Qualifikation entsprachen. Das Arbeitsverh?ltnis wurde jeweils beendet, da Herr F. von den sozialen Anforderungen massiv überfordert war. Seine Freizeit verbringt Herr F. alleine, bet?tigt sich im Internet in Chatrooms, liest Fachliteratur und hat eine vollst?ndige Sammlung an Sportfachzeitschriften seit dem Jahr 1995, die er in einer bestimmten Ordnung aufbewahrt und deren Inhalte er so gut wie auswendig kennt.     

Differences in Individual and Dyadic Coping Among Low and High Depressed, Partially Remitted, and Nondepressed Persons

Investigations of the individual and interpersonal coping resources of depressed persons are underrepresented in the field of research on depression. Whereas some studies have been conducted on depressed couples evaluating individual coping or social support from others, only a few studies have addressed the topic of dyadic coping, or the way both partners cope together. In the present effort, male and female participants with a current or past diagnosis of depression, all of whom were married or cohabiting in a close relationship, reported on their individual and dyadic coping and were compared on these variables with a matched group of control participants. Results corroborate previous findings on deficits in individual coping, and to a lesser degree in dyadic coping.     

Developmental changes of sleep spindles and their impact on sleep‐dependent memory consolidation and general cognitive abilities: A longitudinal approach

Sleep spindles are related to sleep‐dependent memory consolidation and general cognitive abilities. However, they undergo drastic maturational changes during adolescence. Here we used a longitudinal approach (across 7 years) to explore whether developmental changes in sleep spindle density can explain individual differences in sleep‐dependent memory consolidation and general cognitive abilities. Ambulatory polysomnography was recorded during four nights in 34 healthy subjects (24 female) with two nights (baseline and experimental) at initial recording (age range 8–11 years) and two nights at follow‐up recording (age range 14–18 years). For declarative learning, participants encoded word pairs with a subsequent recall before and after sleep. General cognitive abilities were measured by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale. Higher slow (11–13 Hz) than fast (13–15 Hz) spindle density at frontal, central, and parietal sites during initial recordings, followed by a shift to higher fast than slow spindle density at central and parietal sites during follow‐up recordings, suggest that mature spindle topography develops throughout adolescence. Fast spindle density increases from baseline to experimental night were positively related to sleep‐dependent memory consolidation. In addition, we found that the development of fast spindles predicted the improvement in memory consolidation across the two longitudinal measurements, a finding that underlines a crucial role for mature fast spindles for sleep‐dependent memory consolidation. Furthermore, slow spindle changes across adolescence were related to general cognitive abilities, a relationship that could indicate the maturation of frontal networks relevant for efficient cognitive processing. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NXJzm8HbIw and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuMQY1OIJ0s