Sex differences in parking are affected by biological and social factors

The stereotype of women’s limited parking skills is deeply anchored in modern culture. Although laboratory tests prove men’s average superiority in visuospatial tasks and parking requires complex, spatial skills, underlying mechanisms remain unexplored. Here, we investigated performance of beginners (nine women, eight men) and more experienced drivers (21 women, 27 men) at different parking manoeuvres. Furthermore, subjects conducted the mental rotation test and self-assessed their parking skills. We show that men park more accurately and especially faster than women. Performance is related to mental rotation skills and self-assessment in beginners, but only to self-assessment in more experienced drivers. We assume that, due to differential feedback, self-assessment incrementally replaces the controlling influence of mental rotation, as parking is trained with increasing experience. Results suggest that sex differences in spatial cognition persist in real-life situations, but that socio-psychological factors modulate the biological causes of sex differences.     

Comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in borderline patients defines an impulsive subtype of borderline personality disorder

In order to examine the impulsive profile of a BPD sample with comorbid ADHD, adult patients who met criteria for BPD were assessed for ADHD with the CAADID and the WURS. A high rate of ADHD in the BPD sample was found, with sixty-nine (38.1%) BPD patients diagnosed as having comorbid adult ADHD. BPD-ADHD group had higher rates of general substance use disorder (59.4% vs. 38.4%), antisocial personality disorder (7.2% vs. 0.9%) and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (21.7% vs. 6.3%). The BPD group without comorbid adult ADHD showed a higher rate of mood disorders (62.5% vs. 37.7%), panic disorders (54.5% vs. 23.1%) and benzodiazepine abuse (18.8% vs. 5.8%). Only in BPD patients without ADHD was comorbid avoidant personality disorder found. BPD patients could be distinguished in two clear subgroups related to the adult ADHD comorbidity. BPD-ADHD patients showed a more homogeneous and impulsive profile while BPD without ADHD comorbidity had more anxiety and depressive disorders.     

Predicting occupational interests and choice aspirations in Portuguese high school students: A test of social cognitive career theory

The predictive utility of social cognitive career theory’s (SCCT) interest and choice models was examined in a sample of 600 Portuguese high school students. Participants completed measures of occupational self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interests, social supports and barriers, and choice consideration across the six Holland (1997) RIASEC types. The integrated interest-choice model fit the data well across Holland types and generally supported the hypotheses that self-efficacy and outcome expectations jointly predict interests, and that interests mediate the relations of self-efficacy and outcome expectations to choice consideration. Contrary to SCCT, however, social supports and barriers related to choice consideration indirectly, through self-efficacy, rather than directly. The implications of these findings for further research on the cross-cultural validity of SCCT are considered.     

Adult attachment styles and cognitive vulnerability to depression in a sample of undergraduate students: the mediational roles of sociotropy and autonomy

We analysed the mediational role of the personality dimensions of sociotropy and autonomy in the relationship between certain styles of attachment and depressive symptoms. In order for us to do so, a group of university students filled out the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Revised Personal Style Inventory (PSI-II) and the Relationship Questionnaire (RQ). Individuals having attachment styles with a negative model of self (preoccupied and fearful) obtained significantly higher scores in the BDI than those having attachment styles with a positive model of self (secure and dismissing), which coincides with previous research. We followed the standard procedure of Baron and Kenny of linear regression in order to perform the mediational analyses. The preoccupied attachment style-depressive symptoms relationship was mediated by sociotropy. It was also found that autonomy exerted a significant mediational effect on the relationship between the fearful attachment style and depressive symptoms. These results are consistent with the notion that insecure attachment predisposes individuals to the development of depressogenic personality styles. Thus, the findings of the present study contribute to improving the understanding of the factors involved in the development of vulnerability to depression. Furthermore, the results point out the importance of evaluating both attachment style and sociotropy/autonomy personality dimensions for the treatment of depressive patients.     

Exploring urban students' constructions about school, work, race, and ethnicity

This qualitative study is an exploration of 32 urban high school students' narratives about the connection between school, work, and societal expectations of their future success related to their racial and ethnic background. The sample varied along 2 contextual dimensions: participation in a psychoeducational intervention (Tools for Tomorrow) and developmental status (i.e., half the sample were 9th-grade students and the other half were 12th-grade students). Using consensual qualitative research, the narratives revealed 3 major domains: future orientation; students' perceptions of society's expectations based on race and ethnicity; and students' perception of the role of their race and ethnicity in future success. Results reveal that the majority of students endorse a connection between school and work, believe that society holds low expectations for them based on their racial and ethnic background, and cannot predict their future success based on their background.     

Psychopathological Symptom Dimensions in Patients with Gastrointestinal Disorders

The current study aims to investigate the factorial validity of a widely used psychopathological rating scale, the Symptom Check List-90-R (SCL-90-R), in a group of patients suffering from gastrointestinal disorders, and to determine the specific psychopathological profiles that characterize the individual patient subgroups. Patients suffering from either irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, non-erosive reflux disease or erosive reflux disease completed the SCL-90-R at a tertiary care gastroenterology department. Seven factors were identified, with one major distress factor and six minor factors. Comparison of the gastrointestinal disorder subgroups indicated that irritable bowel syndrome patients exhibited significantly more psychological distress compared to the other groups, and that gastrointestinal patients as a group, compared to healthy controls, were characterized by high levels of irritable depression and somatization. In planning further studies we encourage the use of factors identified in our study. The treatment of substantial irritable depression can be an important factor in improving quality of life in patients suffering from gastrointestinal disorders.     

Perceptions of motivational climate and teachers' strategies to sustain discipline as predictors of intrinsic motivation in physical education

This study examined the relationship among pupils' perceptions of the motivational climate, pupils' perceptions of teachers' strategies to maintain discipline and pupils' intrinsic motivation in physical education. A sample of 2189 Spanish adolescents, ages 13 to 17 years, completed Spanish versions of the EPCM, SSDS, and IMI. Confirmatory factor analyses were carried out to confirm the factorial validity of the scales. Then, the relationship among the variables was explored through Structural Equation Modelling. The most important predictors of pupils' intrinsic motivation were the perceived mastery climate, and perceived teachers' emphasis on intrinsic reasons to maintain discipline. Perceived performance climate and perceived teachers' strategies to maintain discipline based on introjected reasons and indifference, predicted pupils' tension-pressure. Results are discussed in the context of theoretical propositions of self-determination theory and practical issues of enhancing adolescents' motivation in physical education.     

Psychometric properties of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children in a Spanish sample

The objectives of the present study were to adapt and analyze the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C; Beidel, Turner, & Morris, 1995) in a Spanish population. The SPAI-C was applied to a sample of 1588 children and adolescents with ages ranging from 10 to 17 years. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed a four-factor structure: Public performance, Assertiveness, Fear and avoidance/escape in social encounters, and Cognitive and psychophysiological interferences. Internal consistency was high (.90) and test-retest reliability was moderate (.56). Significant differences were found in the variables sex and age, although the effect size was small in both variables and their interaction. Overall, the increase of the age value was inversely proportional to that of social anxiety measured with the SPAI-C; in participants of the same age, values were higher for girls than for boys. Results suggest that the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory For Children is a valid and reliable instrument to assess social anxiety in Spanish children and adolescents.     

Discrimination of human and dog faces and inversion responses in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris)

Although domestic dogs can respond to many facial cues displayed by other dogs and humans, it remains unclear whether they can differentiate individual dogs or humans based on facial cues alone and, if so, whether they would demonstrate the face inversion effect, a behavioural hallmark commonly used in primates to differentiate face processing from object processing. In this study, we first established the applicability of the visual paired comparison (VPC or preferential looking) procedure for dogs using a simple object discrimination task with 2D pictures. The animals demonstrated a clear looking preference for novel objects when simultaneously presented with prior-exposed familiar objects. We then adopted this VPC procedure to assess their face discrimination and inversion responses. Dogs showed a deviation from random behaviour, indicating discrimination capability when inspecting upright dog faces, human faces and object images; but the pattern of viewing preference was dependent upon image category. They directed longer viewing time at novel (vs. familiar) human faces and objects, but not at dog faces, instead, a longer viewing time at familiar (vs. novel) dog faces was observed. No significant looking preference was detected for inverted images regardless of image category. Our results indicate that domestic dogs can use facial cues alone to differentiate individual dogs and humans and that they exhibit a non-specific inversion response. In addition, the discrimination response by dogs of human and dog faces appears to differ with the type of face involved.