Neural correlates of autobiographical memory retrieval in children and adults

Autobiographical memory (AM) is a critically important form of memory for life events that undergoes substantial developmental changes from childhood to adulthood. Relatively little is known regarding the functional neural correlates of AM retrieval in children as assessed with fMRI, and how they may differ from adults. We investigated this question with 14 children ages 8–11 years and 14 adults ages 19–30 years, contrasting AM retrieval with semantic memory (SM) retrieval. During scanning, participants were cued by verbal prompts to retrieve previously selected recent AMs or to verify semantic properties of words. As predicted, both groups showed AM retrieval-related increased activation in regions implicated in prior studies, including bilateral hippocampus, and prefrontal, posterior cingulate, and parietal cortices. Adults showed greater activation in the hippocampal/parahippocampal region as well as prefrontal and parietal cortex, relative to children; age-related differences were most prominent in the first 8?sec versus the second 8?sec of AM retrieval and when AM retrieval was contrasted with semantic retrieval. This study is the first to characterise similarities and differences during AM retrieval in children and adults using fMRI.     

Tolerance and Perception of Abuse in Youth Dating Relationships

A cross-sectional study of pre-university and university students of both genders was carried out in Spain (N = 4,919) to determine the levels of tolerance of partner violence per gender and the perception of abuse. Of the students, 26.3% were in a situation of unperceived abuse, especially the males (29.6%), but the level of tolerance of abusive behavior was significantly lower in females. The group of youths who did not perceive themselves as abused had higher levels of tolerance. In contrast, non-abused students presented low tolerance of violent behavior. Tolerance of dating violence is more strongly determined by gender than by the perception of abuse in young people.     

Piecing Together Ideas on Sociocultural Psychology and Methodological Approaches

In this commentary, I will piece together some transversal ideas throughout the articles that compose the thematic issue Self-identity on the move: methodological elaborations focusing on two main aspects: (i) the relation between the individual and the society and how self-identity is constructed in context; and (ii) data generalization in qualitative studies. I will base my commentary on the reflections brought forth by the articles on these two topics. My aim is to trace a line on which the authors, in their contributions to this issue, dialogue among each other with respect to the key elements of the individual, the social context, the (self)identity, and data generalization in qualitative research.     

Relations Among Perceived Control Over Anxiety-Related Events,Worry, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder in a Sample of Adolescents

This study examined the associations among perceived control over anxiety-related events, worry, and both symptoms and diagnoses of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The sample was comprised of 140 adolescents (60 girls) between the ages of 10 and 17 years (M _age  = 14.6 years; SD = 2.25) recruited from the general community. Findings were consistent with hypotheses. Self-reported perceived control over anxiety-related events related negatively to worry as well as symptoms and diagnoses of GAD even after accounting for variance associated with age, gender, and negative affectivity. Results are discussed in terms of the theoretical implications that perceived control over anxiety-related events may have for understanding GAD symptomatology among youth.     

Pre-counseling Education for Low Literacy Women at Risk of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC): Patient Experiences Using the Cancer Risk Education Intervention Tool (CREdIT)

The Cancer Risk Education Intervention Tool (CREdIT) is a computer-based (non-interactive) slide presentation designed to educate low-literacy, and ethnically and racially diverse public hospital patients at risk of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) about genetics. To qualitatively evaluate participants’ experience with and perceptions of a genetic education program as an adjunct to genetic counseling, we conducted direct observations of the intervention, semi-structured in person interviews with 11 women who viewed CREdIT, and post-counseling questionnaires with the two participating genetic counselors. Five themes emerged from the analysis of interviews: (1) genetic counseling and testing for breast/ovarian cancer was a new concept; (2) CREdIT’s story format was particularly appealing; (3) changes in participants’ perceived risk for breast cancer varied; (4) some misunderstandings about individual risk and heredity persisted after CREdIT and counseling; (5) the context for viewing CREdIT shaped responses to the presentation. Observations demonstrated ways to make the information provided in CREdIT and by genetic counselors more consistent. In a post-session counselor questionnaire, counselors’ rating of the patient’s preparedness before the session was significantly higher for patients who viewed CREdIT prior to their appointments than for other patients. This novel educational tool fills a gap in HBOC education by tailoring information to women of lower literacy and diverse ethnic/racial backgrounds. The tool was well received by interview participants and counselors alike. Further study is needed to examine the varied effects of CREdIT on risk perception. In addition, the implementation of CREdIT in diverse clinical settings and the cultural adaptation of CREdIT to specific populations reflect important areas for future work.     

Relationship Between Posturography,Clinical Balance and Executive Function in Parkinson´s Disease

This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between posturography, clinical balance, and executive function tests in Parkinson´s disease (PD). Seventy-one people participated in the study. Static posturography evaluated the center of pressure fluctuations in quiet standing and dynamic posturography assessed sit-to-stand, tandem walk, and step over an obstacle. Functional balance was evaluated by Berg Balance Scale, MiniBESTest, and Timed Up and Go test. Executive function was assessed by Trail Making Test (TMT) and semantic verbal fluency test. Step over obstacle measures (percentage of body weight transfer and movement time) were moderately correlated to Timed Up and Go, part B of TMT and semantic verbal fluency (r > 0.40; p < 0.05 in all relationships). Stepping over an obstacle assesses the responses to internal perturbations. Participants with shorter movement times and higher percentage of body weight transfer (higher lift up index) on this task were also faster in Timed Up and Go, part B of TMT, and semantic verbal fluency. All these tasks require executive function (problem solving, sequencing, shifting attention), which is affected by PD and contribute to postural assessment.     

The association of affiliation and achievement personality styles with DSM-IV personality disorders

Investigators from theoretically diverse backgrounds have long described two personality styles associated with depression. The affiliation style describes individuals with interpersonal concerns; the achievement style describes individuals who have concerns with personal failure. Although primarily related to risk for depression, there has also been recognition that extreme forms of these styles are related to personality disorders (PDs). The current study examines the relation between the DSM-IV PDs and the two personality styles, assessing the latter using two approaches: (a) dependency/self-criticism (Blatt, 1974) and (b) sociotropy/autonomy (Beck, 1983). Results show that whereas the achievement style is associated with most PDs (except for the histrionic and dependent PDs), the affiliation style is associated only with histrionic, dependent, and depressive PDs. Controlling for shared PD variance leaves only two associations, affiliation with dependent PD and achievement with narcissistic PD. Results are discussed in the context of current efforts to capture personality psychopathology within a comprehensive dimensional framework.     

Latina breast cancer survivors' lived experiences: diagnosis, treatment, and beyond

Latina breast cancer survivors are not benefiting from advances in psychosocial interventions. Despite their greater breast cancer burden, there is a dearth of information about this population. This qualitative study examined the experiences of 18 immigrant Latina breast cancer survivors along the survivorship continuum, from diagnosis to long-term survivorship. The authors conducted separate focus groups with women in the acute, reentry, and long-term survivorship stages. Through grounded theory analysis, the authors uncovered 5 themes of experience: perceptions of psychological well-being, impact of diagnosis, impact of treatment, need for social support, and development of new attitudes. Some themes were applicable across all survivorship stages, whereas others were more salient at a particular stage. Within themes, the authors identified experiences reported in the general literature (i.e., the debilitating effect of chemotherapy) and distinct cultural experiences (i.e., fear that a cancer diagnosis leads to certain death). Results suggest that treatments tailored for each survivorship stage are more likely to be effective than generic interventions. These findings have the potential to lessen health disparities in utilization of psychosocial treatments by Latina breast cancer survivors.     

Developmental changes in the weighting of prosodic cues

Previous research has shown that the weighting of, or attention to, acoustic cues at the level of the segment changes over the course of development (Nittrouer & Miller, 1997; Nittrouer, Manning & Meyer, 1993). In this paper we examined changes over the course of development in weighting of acoustic cues at the suprasegmental level. Specifically, we tested English-learning 4-month-olds' performance on a clause segmentation task when each of three acoustic cues to clausal units was neutralized and contrasted it with performance on a Baseline condition where no cues were manipulated. Comparison with the reported performance of 6-month-olds on the same task (Seidl, 2007) reveals that 4-month-olds weight prosodic cues to clausal boundaries differently than 6-month-olds, relying more heavily on all three correlates of clausal boundaries (pause, pitch and vowel duration) than 6-month-olds do, who rely primarily on pitch. We interpret this as evidence that 4-month-olds use a holistic processing strategy, while 6-month-olds may already be able to attend separately to isolated cues in the input stream and may, furthermore, be able to exploit a language-specific cue weighting. Thus, in a way similar to that in other cognitive domains, infants begin as holistic auditory scene processors and are only later able to process individual auditory cues.