Cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of biogenic amines and corticotropin-releasing factor in adolescent non-human primates as a function of the timing of adverse early rearing

Adolescent bonnet macaques nursed as infants by mothers facing unpredictable requirements for food procurement (variable foraging demand, VFD) display persistent neurobiological disturbances. This study examined the long-term neurochemical and behavioral effects of adverse rearing initiated later in infancy than in previous cohorts of subjects to test the hypothesis that the timing of an early adverse experience would influence patterns of biobehavioral outcome. Cisternal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) monoamine and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) concentrations were obtained from 20 bonnet macaques (11 VFD-reared and 9 normally reared controls) approximately 2 years after the end of differential rearing. VFD-reared primates displayed on multiple samplings significantly lower CSF CRF concentrations and higher CSF 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) concentration compared to controls. In the VFD-reared, significant inverse correlations between CRF and all three monoamines were found (5-HIAA, 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenethyleneglycol and homovanillic acid), most prominently for 5-HIAA. In controls, but not VFD-reared subjects, CSF CRF was positively correlated with changes in "gregariousness" upon presentation of a fear stimulus. VFD-reared subjects displayed greater baseline hierarchical engagement than controls. In contrast to prior findings, in which rearing under VFD conditions at an earlier age led to increased CSF CRF compared with controls, CSF CRF was lower after later exposure to VFD rearing than in controls. Thus, the timing of exposure to VFD conditions early in life evidently determines whether CSF CRF was found to be elevated or decreased, within the context of increased serotonin metabolism, during the course of primate maturation.     

Construct Validity of ADHD/ODD Rating Scales: Recommendations for the Evaluation of Forthcoming DSM-V ADHD/ODD Scales

Exploratory structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to a multiple indicator (26 individual symptom ratings) by multitrait (ADHD-IN, ADHD-HI and ODD factors) by multiple source (mothers, fathers and teachers) model to test the invariance, convergent and discriminant validity of the Child and Adolescent Disruptive Behavior Inventory with 872 Thai adolescents and the ADHD Rating Scale-IV and ODD scale of the Disruptive Behavior Inventory with 1,749 Spanish children. Most of the individual ADHD/ODD symptoms showed convergent and discriminant validity with the loadings and thresholds being invariant over mothers, fathers and teachers in both samples (the three latent factor means were higher for parents than teachers). The ADHD-IN, ADHD-HI and ODD latent factors demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity between mothers and fathers within the two samples. Convergent and discriminant validity between parents and teachers for the three factors was either absent (Thai sample) or only partial (Spanish sample). The application of exploratory SEM to a multiple indicator by multitrait by multisource model should prove useful for the evaluation of the construct validity of the forthcoming DSM-V ADHD/ODD rating scales.     

Jewish Studies at the Crossroads of Anthropology and History: authority,diaspora, tradition

In recent years, critical thought and theological discourse have been challenging each other, as they share mutual themes alongside contesting motivations. Against this broad background, this outline presents a possible formula for “critical theology,” which negotiates between the critical and the theological fields of inquiry. Stemming from the contemporary Israeli framework of religion, society and political imagination, the formula points to the difference between the call to critically navigate in the theological field of meanings, and the call to faithfully adopt its message; between the call “to the call” of theology, and the call “by means of” theology. By doing so, the outline aims to present theology as the original realm of non-religious, perhaps even un-religious, critique, and not as its adversary, while nonetheless maintaining “the religious” as such. Critical theology, we suggest, from our Israeli/Jewish perspective, is a social and political challenge of our time in which religion and religiosity have returned to the forefront of the social, political and cultural world.     

Procrastination out of Habit? The Role of Impulsive Versus Reflective Media Selection in Procrastinatory Media Use

ABSTRACT

The pervasive access to media options seriously challenges users’ self-regulatory abilities. One example of deficient self-regulation in the context of media use is procrastination—impulsively ‘giving in’ to available media options despite goal conflicts with more important tasks. This study investigaes procrastinatory media use across 3 types of media (TV, computer, smartphone) from a dual-systems perspective, taking both person-level and situation-level predictors into account. Results from a 14-day long diary study (N = 347) suggest that procrastinatory media use is driven by automatic media selection, which is facilitated by strong media habits (person level) and low motivation for behavioral control (situation level). The results underline the value of a dual-systems perspective on media choices in our media-saturated environment.     

“Am I Going Crazy,Doc?”: A Self Psychology Approach to Therapeutic Assessment

In this case study, we explore the effectiveness of Therapeutic Assessment with a severely disturbed 25-year-old man, referred by his therapist, following Finn's (2007; Finn & Tonsager, 1992, 1997) model. This patient–therapist pair had been working together for approximately 2 months, but the therapy had ceased to progress. The therapist requested a clearer picture of his patient's affective functioning, interpersonal functioning, and self-functioning that might facilitate more effective treatment. Through a collaborative assessment process informed by the principles of Kohutian self psychology, the evaluator and patient slowly formed a working alliance that proved useful for the eventual communication to the patient of his psychologically tenuous reality. This case illustrates the utility of a collaborative, multimethod Therapeutic Assessment with a severely ill patient and the use of Therapeutic Assessment by a less experienced clinician.     

The Development of Perceptual Motor Sequencing Ability

The purposes of this study were (a) to investigate the possibility that short-term memory may be a limiting factor in the development of perceptual-motor sequencing ability, (b) to determine whether sex differences exist in sequencing ability, (c) to determine whether organized information facilitates serial recall, and (d) to ascertain whether the recall of serial perceptual-motor responses results in a bow-shaped serial-position curve. A 2 × 2 × 3 factorial design was used to analyze the independent variables of age, sex, and pattern organization. Further, an age × serial position ANOVA was performed to investigate the serial-position curve. Serial recall improved with age; however young children experienced difficulty in recalling a complex task. The poor recall performance of 5-yr.-old children was discussed in terms of the possibility that young children fail to use labeling strategies to facilitate recall. No sex differences were found. A primacy effect was obtained on the complex task.     

Testing the Effectiveness of Family Therapeutic Assessment: A Case Study Using a Time-Series Design

This study reports normative data for the Peebles Rorschach content scoring system. Group Rorschach protocols from undergraduates were scored and reliably classified by quadrant. Frequencies were obtained by sex and by quadrant. Social desirability was demonstrated to vary across quadrants. The validity of quadrant classification was suggested by self-reports and MMPI scales. MMPI profile code predictions were made by experts for each quadrant and compared with obtained mean profile codes. The scoring system was evaluated and theoretical origins were discussed.     

Perceived Work Competency and Sex Role Conflict: An Empirical Study

The present study examined sex role conflict, perceived work competency, and motivational needs among a broad sample of 298 working women and men (135 men, 163 women) at different hierarchical levels to see what possible gender differences existed in relationships among the variables. Correlation analysis and analysis of variance indicated that the female subjects had significantly higher levels of sex role conflict than the men, but a similar sense of work competency. Sex role conflict and perceived work competency were found to be negatively linked for the women but not for the men. Significant relationships were found between certain motivational needs and both sex role conflict and sense of work competency.