Associations between Maternal Physical Discipline and Peer Victimization among Hong Kong Chinese Children: The Moderating Role of Child Aggression

This study examines the relation between maternal physical discipline and victimization by peers, as moderated by child aggression. The sample consisted of 211 Hong Kong Chinese children (98 boys, 113 girls; average age of 11.9). Physical discipline was assessed with a questionnaire completed by mothers, and victimization by peers and aggression were measured using a peer nomination inventory. Latent variable models revealed a moderately strong link between children’s experiences with maternal physical discipline and peer victimization, but this effect held only for children who were also high on aggression. These results highlight the interplay between harsh home environments and child aggression and their contributions to the child’s adjustment in the peer group.     

Specificity of cognitive and behavioral variables to Positive and Negative Affect

The Tripartite Model proposes that a combination of greater Negative Affect (NA) and reduced Positive Affect (PA) contributes to depressive symptoms. The purpose of this study was to test a model of affective experience in which cognitive variables (i.e., negative cognitions and appraisals) are uniquely related to NA but not PA, and in which behavioral variables (i.e., activity participation) are uniquely associated with PA but not NA. Participants included 88 spousal Alzheimer caregivers (mean age = 74 years). Multiple regression models, in which negative cognitions (i.e., helplessness, blames self, and negative appraisals) and activity participation (i.e., frequency of engaging in social and recreational activities) were used to predict depressive symptoms, PA and NA. Results indicated that while helplessness, blaming oneself, negative appraisals, and activity participation all significantly predicted depressive symptoms, only negative cognitive variables significantly predicted NA, and only activity participation significantly predicted PA. These data confirm that depressive experience consists of two relatively independent components - increased Negative Affect and reduced Positive Affect - which have unique correlates in negative cognitions and activity participation. If confirmed, the findings suggest the utility of focusing interventions on each of these components in the management of depressive symptoms.     

Adrenocortical Functioning in Boys with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Examining Subtypes of ADHD and Associated Comorbid Conditions

Disruptions to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function have been associated with varying forms of psychopathology in children. Studies suggesting children with ADHD have blunted HPA function have been complicated by the prevalence of comorbid diagnoses and heterogeneity of ADHD. The goals of this research were to assess the relations between waking and stress–response salivary cortisol levels and comorbid disruptive behavior (DBD) and anxiety (AnxD) disorders and problems in boys with ADHD, and to examine whether cortisol levels varied across ADHD subtypes. One hundred seventy elementary school-age boys with ADHD provided salivary cortisol at waking and in reaction to venipuncture. Parent reports were used to assess boys’ psychiatric diagnoses and severity of behavioral problems. Boys’ comorbid AnxD and anxiety problems were associated with greater cortisol reactivity, whereas boys’ comorbid DBD and oppositional problems predicted diminished adrenocortical activity. Reactive cortisol increases were greatest in boys with ADHD and comorbid AnxD, but without DBD. ADHD subtypes were not differentially associated with waking, pre-stress baseline, or reactive cortisol levels. However, comorbid DBD predicted decreased cortisol reactivity in boys with inattentive and hyperactive subtypes of ADHD, but not in boys with combined subtype of ADHD. The results clarify previous patterns of distinct and divergent dysregulations of HPA function associated with boys’ varying kinds of psychopathology.

Interference with reelin signaling in the lateral entorhinal cortex impairs spatial memory

Entorhinal neurons receive extensive intracortical projections, and form the primary input to the hippocampus via the perforant pathway. The glutamatergic cells of origin for the perforant pathway are distinguished by their expression of reelin, a glycoprotein involved in learning and synaptic plasticity. The functional significance of reelin signaling within the entorhinal cortex, however, remains unexplored. To determine whether interrupting entorhinal reelin signaling might have consequences for learning and memory, we administered recombinant receptor-associated protein (RAP) into the lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC) of young Long-Evans rats. RAP prevents reelin from binding to its receptors, and we verified the knockdown of reelin signaling by quantifying the phosphorylation state of reelin’s intracellular signaling target, disabled-1 (DAB1). Effective knockdown of reelin signaling was associated with impaired performance in the hippocampus-dependent version of the water maze. Moreover, inhibition of reelin signaling induced a localized loss of synaptic marker expression in the LEC. These observations support a role for entorhinal reelin signaling in spatial learning, and suggest that an intact reelin signaling pathway is essential for synaptic integrity in the adult entorhinal cortex.     

Teaching,Reason and Risk

In his writings on teaching, Isreal Scheffler has argued for the close connection between teaching and reason, an argument which can be summarized by, Teaching is. . an initiation into open rational discussion. This essay examines Schefflier's thesis in the light of criticisms drawn from feminist writings on teaching. It is argued that Scheffler's thesis is consistent with a view of teaching in which it can be achieved through kindness, good example and the efficacy of unconscious imitation, characteristics of the private, reproductive processes typical of women. It is then argued that Scheffler's concept of teaching is compatible with views of education that try to do justice to both reason and emotion, mind and feeling.     

Chicks Injected with Antisera to either S-100α or S-100β Protein Develop Amnesia for a Passive Avoidance Task

The cellular expression of S-100β protein is upregulated in Alzheimer's disease and in Down's syndrome, and this protein has been implicated in memory-related processes in laboratory animals. However, the possibility that the α subunit of S-100 is also involved in memory has not yet been examined. In the present study, day-old black Australorp white Leghorn cockerel chicks (Gallus domesticus) received injections of monoclonal antisera to S-100α (1:50) or S-100β (1:500) into each hemisphere immediately after training on a one-trial passive avoidance task. The chicks displayed significantly lower retention levels than control birds that had been injected with antisera to carbonic anhydrase, or with saline (p< .01). S-100α antisera had an amnestic effect when injected between 0 and 20 min after training, with memory deficits occurring from 30 min postlearning, at the point of transition between the A and the B phases of the Gibbs-Ng intermediate memory stage. By contrast, the S-100β antisera needed to be injected either 5 min before or immediately after training and produced amnesia 10 min earlier, at the start of the A phase of the intermediate memory stage. We conclude that the two subunits of the S-100 protein are required at different points in the sequence of events leading to the consolidation of passive avoidance memory.     

The Dopamine Receptor D4 Gene (<Emphasis Type="Italic">DRD4</Emphasis>) Moderates Family Environmental Effects on ADHD

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a prime candidate for exploration of gene-by-environment interaction (i.e., G x E), particularly in relation to dopamine system genes, due to strong evidence that dopamine systems are dysregulated in the disorder. Using a G x E design, we examined whether the DRD4 promoter 120-bp tandem repeat polymorphism, previously associated with ADHD, moderated the effects of inconsistent parenting and marital conflict on ADHD or Oppositional-Defiant Disorder (ODD). Participants were 548 children with ADHD and non-ADHD comparison children and their parents. Homozygosity for the DRD4 promoter 120-bp tandem repeat insertion allele increased vulnerability for ADHD and ODD only in the presence of inconsistent parenting and appeared to increase susceptibility to the influence of increased child self-blame for marital conflict on ADHD inattention. DRD4 genotypes may interact with these proximal family environmental risk factors by increasing the individual’s responsivity to environmental contingencies.     

Depression is not an inevitable outcome of disclosure avoidance: HIV stigma and mental health in a cohort of HIV-infected individuals from Southern India

Previous research has shown that HIV stigma in India can be characterized by a framework dividing manifestations into enacted (discrimination), vicarious (hearing stories of discrimination), felt normative (perceptions of stigma's prevalence), and internalized stigma (personal endorsement of stigma beliefs). We examined whether this framework could explain associations among stigma, efforts to avoid HIV serostatus disclosure, and depression symptoms in a cohort of 198 HIV-infected individuals from Southern India who were followed up for one year as part of a study of antiretroviral adherence. Prior studies had suggested that disclosure avoidance was a primary outcome of stigma and that impaired well-being was a primary outcome of disclosure avoidance. Analyses from our longitudinal research revealed that the pattern of associations among stigma, disclosure avoidance, and depression symptoms remained consistent over time. Enacted and vicarious stigmas were correlated with felt normative stigma beliefs. In turn, felt normative stigma was correlated with disclosure avoidance. And, enacted stigma, internalized stigma, and disclosure avoidance were all associated with depression symptoms. However, even though the overall framework held together, internalized stigma and depression symptoms dropped significantly over time while other components remained unchanged. These findings suggest that, although HIV stigma may limit disclosure, it does not invariably lead to psychological maladjustment. Amidst ongoing perceptions and experiences of stigma, HIV-positive individuals can achieve significant improvements in their acceptance of the disease and in mental well-being.