Quality of life in breast cancer patients: Associations with optimism and social supportCalidad de vida en pacientes con cáncer de mama: asociación con optimismo y apoyo social

Background/Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine quality of life (QoL) in breast cancer patients from Colombia and to explore the relationship between QoL, habitual optimism, and social support. Method: A sample of 95 breast cancer patients treated in a hospital in Bogotá were administered the QoL instrument EORTC QLQ-C30 and the Life Orientation Test LOT-R. Additionally, they were asked to indicate from whom (physicians, friends, nurses, etc.) they wished and received social support. Reference data for the EORTC QLQ-C30 and the LOT-R were taken from a representative sample of the general Colombian population. Results: The breast cancer patients showed detriments to their QoL on most functioning scales and symptom scales of the EORTC QLQ-C30, while their general assessments of health and QoL were not worse than those of the controls. Optimism was positively correlated with QoL. Most patients wanted and received social support from their physicians and friends/family. Conclusions: The results suggest that optimism helps patients better cope with disease. A general assessment of global QoL cannot replace the more specific assessments of the functioning domains and symptoms.     

Visual rapid naming and phonological abilities: different subtypes in dyslexic children

One implication of the double-deficit hypothesis for dyslexia is that there should be subtypes of dyslexic readers that exhibit rapid naming deficits with or without concomitant phonological processing problems. In the current study, we investigated the validity of this hypothesis for Portuguese orthography, which is more consistent than English orthography, by exploring different cognitive profiles in a sample of dyslexic children. In particular, we were interested in identifying readers characterized by a pure rapid automatized naming deficit. We also examined whether rapid naming and phonological awareness independently account for individual differences in reading performance. We characterized the performance of dyslexic readers and a control group of normal readers matched for age on reading, visual rapid naming and phonological processing tasks. Our results suggest that there is a subgroup of dyslexic readers with intact phonological processing capacity (in terms of both accuracy and speed measures) but poor rapid naming skills. We also provide evidence for an independent association between rapid naming and reading competence in the dyslexic sample, when the effect of phonological skills was controlled. Altogether, the results are more consistent with the view that rapid naming problems in dyslexia represent a second core deficit rather than an exclusive phonological explanation for the rapid naming deficits. Furthermore, additional non-phonological processes, which subserve rapid naming performance, contribute independently to reading development.     

Transitioning from recruit to officer: An investigation of how stress appraisal and coping influence work engagement

This study investigated stress, coping, and work engagement among Portuguese police officers while undergoing academy training and then 1 year later, when on duty. It was hypothesized that stress appraisal and coping preferences predicted engagement. Additionally, in order to test a full cross‐lagged prediction model, it was hypothesized that stress, coping, and engagement in recruits predicted these variables later when working as police officers. Structural equation modeling was used to test the research hypotheses. Results suggest that coping and stress appraisals do not seem to be strong predictors of work engagement among recruits and police officers on duty. With the exception of self‐blame, that seems to be a strong predictor of work engagement among police officers on duty. These results highlight the need to investigate other potential variables such as working conditions that may better explain work engagement. Considering the positive influence of engagement on health, wellbeing, and performance of police recruits and officers future applied and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Influences on Vietnamese Men: Examining Traditional Gender Roles,the Refugee Experience,Acculturation, and Racism in the United States

The authors have attempted to increase counselors' understanding of Vietnamese men in the U.S. by discussing masculine gender role socialization influences from Vietnamese culture, including the ritual of nhâu (a ritual of male bonding through binge drinking). The authors also provided a gendered context to the refugee experience, acculturation issues, and experiences of racism in the U.S. Los autores tratan de aumentar el entendimiento de consejeros de los hombres vietnamitas en Estados Unidos. Hacen esto por medio de una discusión de las influencias de la cultura vietnamita sobre la socialización de los roles de genero masculino, incluyendo el ritual de nhâu (un ritual de crear vinculos entre hombres por medio de emborrachamiento). Los autores también proveen un ámbito del genero para la experiencia de los refugiados, la cuestión de la aculturación, y las experiencias de racismo en Estados Unidos.     

Learning to read facilitates the retrieval of phonological representations in rapid automatized naming: Evidence from unschooled illiterate,ex‐illiterate,and schooled literate adults

Rapid automatized naming (RAN) of visual items is a powerful predictor of reading skills. However, the direction and locus of the association between RAN and reading is still largely unclear. Here, we investigated whether literacy acquisition directly bolsters RAN efficiency for objects, adopting a strong methodological design, by testing three groups of adults matched in age and socioeconomic variables, who differed only in literacy/schooling: unschooled illiterate and ex‐illiterate, and schooled literate adults. To investigate in a fine‐grained manner whether and how literacy facilitates lexical retrieval, we orthogonally manipulated the word‐form frequency (high vs. low) and phonological neighborhood density (dense vs. spare) of the objects' names. We observed that literacy experience enhances the automaticity with which visual stimuli (e.g., objects) can be retrieved and named: relative to readers (ex‐illiterate and literate), illiterate adults performed worse on RAN. Crucially, the group difference was exacerbated and significant only for those items that were of low frequency and from sparse neighborhoods. These results thus suggest that, regardless of schooling and age at which literacy was acquired, learning to read facilitates the access to and retrieval of phonological representations, especially of difficult lexical items.     

Health disparities between binary and non binary trans people: A community-driven survey

Abstract

Background: Genderqueer and nonbinary () people have remained largely invisible in health research. Previous research shows worse outcomes on health indicators for trans people when compared with cisgender controls, but the differences between binary trans and GQNB individuals are inconclusive.

Aims: To compare overall health and well-being of GQNB people with controls of trans men and trans women, taking into account the impact of the additive effect of their socio-economic position, as well as their current need for gender affirming medical interventions.

Methods: A community-driven survey was conducted in 2016 in five countries (Georgia, Poland, Serbia, Spain, and Sweden). Self-reported health and general well-being were analysed for differences between binary trans and GQNB respondents. The effects of multiple control variables (age, economic situation, educational level, belonging to an ethnic, religious, sexual or ability minority group, sex assigned at birth) as well as the current need for gender affirming medical interventions were controlled for.

Results: The sample consisted of 853 respondents aged 16 and older, with 254 trans women (29.8%), 369 trans men (43.2%), and 230 GQNB people (26%). GQNB respondents showed significantly worse self-reported health and worse general well-being in comparison to binary trans respondents. Additional negative impacts of having a lower educational level, having more economic stress, and belonging to a disability minority group were found. Being in need of gender affirming medical interventions contributed significantly to worse self-reported health, whereas being younger contributed to worse general well-being.

Discussion: In understanding health disparities between binary trans and GQNB people, it is necessary to take into account the additive effect of multiple socio-economic positions, and the current need for gender affirming medical interventions. The high proportion of GQNB respondents who report worse health outcomes highlights the need for policy makers and health-care providers in creating nonbinary-inclusive environments.     

Sex differences in social buffering and social contagion of alarm responses in zebrafish

Animal Cognition - The alarm substance in fish is a pheromone released by injured individuals after a predator attack. When detected by other fish, it triggers fear/defensive responses, such as...     

Traumatic stress symptoms following a lower limb amputation in diabetic patients: a longitudinal study

Objective: Limited research has focussed on the development of traumatic stress symptoms following an amputation due to a chronic disease such as Diabetes. This study analysed whether coping strategies, anxiety and depression symptoms, sociodemographic and clinical variables were related to traumatic stress symptoms in a sample of patients who had undergone a lower limb amputation.

Design: A longitudinal design with three assessments, one month (T1), six (T2) and ten months after an amputation surgery (T3), included 144 patients.

Main outcome measures: IES-R, WOC and HADS.

Results: Traumatic stress symptoms were prevalent at T1 (M?=?15.65, SD?=?15.40) and probable PTSD was observed in 13.9% patients. Presence of pain, high level of anxiety symptoms and emotion-focused strategies contributed to traumatic stress symptoms, and the period between T1 and T2, was critical. Six to ten months (Λ?=?0.871, F (2,84) =6.245, p=. 003), after surgery, symptoms tended to decrease 0.122 units (SE?=?0.032, p?=?0.002) per assessment.

Conclusions: Findings raise awareness to the need of urgent identification of traumatic stress symptoms in medically ill patients who underwent a lower limb amputation, given the prevalence of traumatic stress symptoms right after surgery and in the following six months.     

The relation between social engagement and pretend play in autism

The focus of this study is the nature and concomitants of pretend play among young children with autism. Age‐ and language‐matched children with autism (n= 27), autism spectrum disorder (n= 14), and developmental disorders without autism (n= 16) were administered the Test of Pretend Play (ToPP; Lewis & Boucher, 1997 ), with an additional rating of ‘playful pretence’. As predicted, children with autism showed less playful pretend than participants with developmental disorders who did not have autism. Across the groups, playful pretence was correlated with individual differences in communication and social interaction, even when scores on the ToPP were taken into account. Limitations in creative, playful pretend among children with autism relate to their restricted interpersonal communication and engagement.