Exploring Correlates and Predictors of Stress in Parents of Children Who are Deaf: Implications of Perceived Social Support and Mode of Communication

Parenting stress has been linked to negative outcomes for both parents and children, including poor attachment, behavior problems, less positive parent–child interactions, and marital dissatisfaction. Given that parents of special needs children often experience excess stress, they may be susceptible to negative outcomes, thus investigations of protective factors are needed. We explored relationships among parenting stress, social support, mode of communication, and child cochlear implant status in parents rearing a deaf child or child with hearing loss. Findings of our exploratory study indicated that parents of children who use sign language only reported more support, while parents of children who use total communication exhibited less self-reported stress. Also, parents with children who use implants did not differ on any of the measures compared to parents of children without implants. Additional findings suggested that higher levels of perceived social support corresponded with lower stress among parents, however, receipt of supportive behaviors did not correlate significantly with parenting stress. In an overall model, perceived social support and mode of communication were significant predictors of parenting stress. Finally, enacted support predicted significantly life satisfaction in parents. Implications and limitations, as well as suggestions for future research, will also be offered.     

Higher levels of estradiol replacement correlate with better spatial memory in surgically menopausal young and middle-aged rats

The current study investigated whether, for spatial reference memory, age impacts (1) sensitivity to surgical ovarian hormone loss (Ovx), (2) response to estradiol therapy (ET), and (3) the relation between circulating estradiol levels and memory scores in ovary-intact sham and Ovx plus ET rats. Young, middle-aged and aged Fischer-344 rats received sham, Ovx or Ovx plus ET treatments, and were then tested on the Morris maze. After the last test trial, a probe trial was given whereby the platform was removed. Circulating estradiol levels were then determined and correlated with performance. In Study 1, Ovx facilitated learning on day one, but impaired performance after day one, in young rats. Ovx did not influence performance in middle-aged rats. In young and middle-aged Ovx rats, ET enhanced performance with higher exogenous estradiol levels correlating with better performance during testing and the probe trial. There was no relationship between endogenous estradiol levels and performance in sham young or middle-aged rats. Study 2 showed that, like middle-aged rats, aged rats were not impacted by Ovx. Further, for aged Ovx rats, the ET regimen that was beneficial at earlier ages was no longer effective during test trials, and had only minor benefits for platform localization as assessed by the probe trial. Collectively, the findings suggest that the effects of Ovx as well as responsivity to the currently utilized ET regimen changes with age. Further, there appears to be a distinction between sensitivity to Ovx and responsiveness to ET after Ovx for spatial reference memory performance.     

Effects of cocaine on simple reaction times and sensory thresholds in baboons.

The effects of chronic, daily administration of cocaine on auditory and visual reaction times and thresholds were studied in baboons. Single intramuscular injections of cocaine hydrochloride (0.1 to 5.6 mg/kg) were given once daily for periods of 10 to 25 days, and were followed immediately by psychophysical tests designed to assess cocaine's effects on simple reaction times as on auditory and visual threshold functions. Consistent reductions in reaction times were frequently observed over the cocaine dose range of 0.32 to 1.0 mg/kg; at higher doses, either decreases or increases in reaction times were observed, depending upon the animal. Lowered reaction times generally occurred immediately following the 1st day's cocaine injection, and continued through all subsequent days during the dose administration period, suggesting little development of tolerance or sensitivity to these reaction-time effects. Reaction-time decreases showed a U-shaped dose-effect function. The greatest decreases in reaction times occurred from 0.32 to 1.0 mg/kg, and produced an average reaction-time decrease of 10 to 12%. Concurrently measured auditory and visual thresholds showed no systematic changes as a function of cocaine dose. Pausing was observed during performance of the psychophysical tasks, with the length of total session pause times being directly related to cocaine dose.     

Racial Self-Identification: The Effects of Social History and Gender1

Dark and Clark's pioneering study in 1947 demonstrated that Black children were ambivalent about racial self-identification. Subsequent research indicates that during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, Black children were increasingly likely to demonstrate a commitment to identifying with a Black stimulus. The present study investigates the extent to which this trend persists in the 1980s and how gender of the child affects her/his racial identification. The results indicate that the 1980s may be a time in history when Black children are growing more ambivalent about racial self-identification, and that Black boys are significantly more likely than Black girls to identify with the white doll. The findings suggest that the current political climate which places Blacks at a significant social and economic disadvantage may reduce children's willingness to identify with a Black stimulus. The gender differences are explored in terms of Black boys' greater likelihood psychologically to try to identify away from Blackness.     

A comparison of clinical features in trichotillomania and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Trichotillomania (TM) recently has been conceptualized as a variant of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, no systematic data have compared the clinical features of these two disorders. Here we report data from 8 TM and 13 OCD patients which suggest important clinical differences between groups. First, TM patients reported a significantly greater degree of pleasure during hair-pulling than OCD patients reported during performance of ritualistic behaviors. Second, TM was accompanied by significantly fewer associated obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Third, the groups differed with regard to other clinical features including anxiety, depression, and personality characteristics. We conclude that TM is not conceptualized best as a variant of OCD.     

Impaired acquisition of temporal information in retrosplenial amnesia

In this paper we describe the performance of an amnesic with a left retrosplenial lesion on three memory tasks assessing his ability to judge when a previously learned event had occurred. This patient was dramatically impaired in acquiring temporal information about new stimuli, and this defect could not be attributed to recognition failures or to frontal lobe dysfunction. In contrast to his impaired acquisition of temporal information, he had no difficulty judging the temporal order of remote historical events. The pattern of performance displayed by this patient suggests a specific defect in "time-tagging" of new incoming information.     

Deduction,inference and illation

From the standpoint of the theory of medicine, a formulation is given of three types of reasoning used by physicians. The first is deduction from probability models (as in prognosis or genetic counseling for Mendelian disorders). It is a branch of mathematics that leads to predictive statements about outcomes of individual events in terms of known formal assumptions and parameters. The second type is inference (as in interpreting clinical trials). In it the arguments from replications of the same process (‘data’) lead to conclusions about the parameters of a system, without calling into question either the probabilistic model or the criteria of evidence. The third is illation (as in the elucidation of symptoms in a patient). It is a process whereby, in the light of the total evidence and the conclusions from the other types of reasoning, one may modify, expand, simplify or demolish a conceptual framework proposed for deductions, and modify the nature of the evidence sought, the criteriology, the axioms, and the surmised complexity of the scientific theory. (The process of diagnosis as applied to a patient may in extreme cases lead to the discovery of an entirely new disease with its own, quite new, set of diagnostic criteria. This course cannot be accommodated inside either of the other two types of reasoning.) Illation has something of the character of Kuhn's ‘scientific revolution’ in physics; but it differs in that it is the nature, not the degree or frequency of change that distinguishes it from Kuhn's ‘normal science.’