Psychopathic traits and preattentive threat processing in children: a novel test of the fearlessness hypothesis

We tested the fearlessness hypothesis of psychopathy in an at-risk sample of 88 preadolescent children. Psychopathy was measured using combined child- and parent-reported scores on the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD). Using a continuous-flash-suppression paradigm, we evaluated threat processing at the preattentive level for the first time in a study of psychopathy. Scores for the APSD Callous/Unemotional factor, which assesses the core affective deficits of psychopathy, predicted preattentive face-recognition deficits for fearful faces and, to a lesser extent, for disgusted faces. This finding contradicts recent suggestions that the fearlessness associated with psychopathy is solely a consequence of overt attentional artifacts. Future research should focus on preattentive processing of fear in individuals with callous-unemotional traits, and on the implications of preattentive-processing deficits for treatment and theory development.     

Approach and avoidance coping responses among older problem and nonproblem drinkers

The Coping Responses Inventory (CRI) was used to study coping among older problem and nonproblem drinkers. The CRI organizes coping efforts according to their focus (approach or avoidance) and method (cognitive or behavioral). Compared with nonproblem drinkers, older problem drinkers were more likely to use cognitive and behavioral avoidance responses to manage life stressors. Problem drinkers who experienced more negative life events and more severe stressors used both more approach and more avoidance coping. Those who had more financial and social resources relied more on approach and less on avoidance coping. Problem drinkers who relied more on avoidance coping tended to have more drinking problems and to report more depression and physical symptoms and less self-confidence. Positive reappraisal was associated with less depression and more self-confidence.     

Psychopathology of Adolescent Social Phobia

Sixty-three adolescents with social phobia and 43 with no psychiatric disorders were compared across a number of clinical variables. In addition to clinically impairing social fear, adolescents with social phobia had significantly higher levels of loneliness, dysphoria, general emotional over-responsiveness and more internalizing behaviors than normal controls and 57.1% of socially phobic adolescents had a second, concurrent diagnosis, 75% of which were other anxiety disorders. In addition, adolescents with social phobia were significantly less socially skilled. Though similar in some respects to childhood social phobia, adolescent social phobia has a unique clinical presentation. The importance of developmental differences on the development of age-appropriate interventions is discussed.     

Saccade preparation inhibits reorienting to recently attended locations

We measured manual reaction time in normal human subjects to confirm that an eccentric visual signal has a biphasic effect on covert attention and eye movements. First, it summons attention and biases a saccade toward the signal; a subsequent inhibition of return then slows responses to signals at that location. A temporal hemifield dominance for inhibition of return was shown; this finding converges with observations in neurologic patients to suggest that it is mediated by midbrain pathways. Endogenous orienting of attention, from a central arrow cue, did not activate inhibition of return, whereas endogenous saccade preparation did so as effectively as an exogenous signal, even when no saccade was made. Inhibition of return is activated by midbrain oculomotor pathways and may function as a location "tagging" mechanism to optimize efficiency of visual search.     

GENDER AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MARITAL-ROLE QUALITY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS

In this paper, we estimate the association between marital-role quality and psychological distress in a sample of 300 full-time employed women and men in dual-earner couples. We control for such individual-level variables as age, education, occupational prestige, and job-role quality, and for such couple-level variables as length of marriage, parental status, and household income. We then compare the magnitude of this effect for men and for women and for parents and nonparents. Results indicate that in dual-earner couples marital-role quality is signifycantly negatively associated with psychological distress for women as well as men and that the magnitude of the effect depends little, if at all, on gender or on parental status. These findings challenge the view that marital experiences more significantly influence women's mental health states than men's. The results are discussed in the context of identity theory.     

Four Butterflies: End of Life Stories of Transition and Transformation

In this article, the author discusses her experiences as an Artist In Residence in the Department of Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Emphasis is placed on the ways in which end of life images and narratives often unfold in the fragile yet powerful space where conceptions of aesthetics and spirituality intersect with critical issues in the medical humanities. Drawing on four vivid case studies, the author examines the ways in which end of life narratives shed valuable light on conceptions of the subtlety of human embodiment; issues of violation, sorrow, and forgiveness; the mystical dimensions of traditional cultural beliefs; and the capacity for perceiving the natural world as a living symbol of grace. In so doing, she explores how the themes of transition and transformation become invested with meaningful existential and symbolic dimensions in artworks that give voice and presence to some of the most vulnerable, and often invisible, members of our society—people at the end of life.     

Parenting Behaviors and Childhood Anxiety: A Psychometric Investigation of the EMBU-C

Parent rearing behaviors, including both behavioral modeling and parent–child interactions, are associated with anxiety in children. Patterns of overprotection or rejecting behavior from parents may lead children to develop behavioral avoidance, lower self-confidence, and higher symptoms of anxiety. Additional research is needed to further elucidate the role that parenting behavior plays in the development of childhood anxiety. Unfortunately, few measures of parenting behavior exist. The EMBU-C is a 40-item child-report measure of these behaviors, but empirical data supporting the psychometric properties of the EMBU-C are limited. The current investigation examined the psychometric properties of the EMBU-C in the context of childhood anxiety. Participants were 213 children with an anxiety disorder and 150 recruited from the community (all aged 8–13 years). Overall, the EMBU-C demonstrated promising psychometrics. In terms of convergent validity, parent rearing behaviors described on the EMBU-C were significantly related to children’s anxiety symptoms, anxiety-related disability, parenting stress, family functioning and children’s externalizing behaviors. Further, the overprotection and anxious-rearing subscales discriminated between clinical and community participants. Finally, parental overprotection significantly predicted increases in child anxiety and anxiety-related disability 1 year later. Thus, the EMBU-C appears to have value as a clinical tool for assessing parental factors that may contribute to anxiety in children. Recommendations for further item development and measure improvement are offered.     

Spirituality and Psychosocial Development in Middle-Age and Older Adults with Vision Loss

The purpose of this study was to examine the buffering effects of spirituality on stress resulting from vision status, health status, and from other significant life events as related to psychosocial development according to Erikson's 8-stage theory. Participants were middle-aged and older adults with recent vision loss who had applied for vision rehabilitation services (n = 195). The regression model included independent factors of sociodemographic variables, life stress measures (i.e., vision status, health status, and life experience ratings), mediating variables (i.e., spirituality, religiousness, and social support), and the outcome of psychosocial development. Spirituality was found to play a buffering role on the effects of negative life experience impact and control ratings. Vision impairment status did not appear to either promote or hinder psychosocial development.