Effects of motor action on affective preferences in autism spectrum disorders: different influences of embodiment

In the embodied cognition framework, sensory, motor and emotional experiences are encoded along with sensorimotor cues from the context in which information was acquired. As such, representations retain an initial imprint of the manner in which information was acquired. The current study reports results indicating a lack of embodiment effects in ASD and, further, an association between embodiment differences and ASD symptomatology. The current results are consistent with an embodied account of ASD that goes beyond social experiences and could be driven by subtle deficits in sensorimotor coordination.     

Assessing Attachment to Parents and Peers in Middle Childhood: Psychometric Studies of the Portuguese Version of the People in My Life Questionnaire

The People in My Life questionnaire (PIML) is one of the few available self-report measures for assessing children’s representations of the relationship with attachment figures (parents and peers) in middle childhood. The current study presents validation studies of the PIML in a sample of Portuguese children aged between 8 and 12 years (N?=?314) and adolescents aged between 13 and 18 years (N?=?281). The original factor structure, composed of a second-order factor of attachment and three first-order factors (Trust, Communication, and Alienation), was confirmed for both scales (Parents Attachment and Peers Attachment) in the sample of children and replicated in the sample of adolescents using confirmatory factor analyses. The Portuguese version of the PIML showed adequate internal consistency and correlated as expected with measures of intrapersonal and interpersonal functioning (internalizing and externalizing problems, prosocial behavior, quality of life, self-compassion, and emotion regulation strategies). The PIML proved to be a psychometrically robust measure of children’s representations of their relationships with parents and peers, representing an important advance in the measurement of attachment in middle childhood.     

Preventing and Treating Women’s Postpartum Depression: A Qualitative Systematic Review on Partner-Inclusive Interventions

Partner-related factors associated with the occurrence of Postpartum Depression (PPD) may justify the partner’s inclusion in preventive and treatment approaches. The aim of this qualitative systematic review was to synthesize the literature on partner-inclusive interventions designed to prevent or treat postpartum depression (PPD) in women. In accordance with the PRISMA guidelines, the systematic search of studies published between 1967 and May 2015 in PsycINFO and PubMed identified 26 studies that met the inclusion criteria, which reported on 24 interventions. The following partner parameters were analyzed: participation type, session content, mental health assessment, attendance assessment, and the effects of partner’s participation on the women’s response to the interventions. Total participation by the partner was mostly reported in the prevention studies, whereas partial participation was reported in the treatment studies. The session content was mostly based on psychoeducation about PPD and parenthood, coping strategies to facilitate the transition to parenthood such as the partner’s emotional and instrumental support, and problem-solving and communication skills. Some benefits perceived by the couples underscore the relevance of the partner’s inclusion in PPD interventions. However, the scarce information about the partner’s attendance and the associated effects on the women’s intervention outcomes, along with methodological limitations of the studies, made it difficult to determine if the partner’s participation was associated with the intervention’s efficacy. Conclusions about the clinical value of including partners in PPD interventions are still limited. More research is warranted to better inform health policy strategies.     

Autopoietic enactivism: action and representation re-examined under Peirce’s light

The purpose of this article is to start a dialogue between the so-called autopoietic enactivism and the semiotic pragmatism of C. S. Peirce, in order to re-examine both action and representation under a Peircean light. The focus lays on autopoietic enactivism because this approach offers a wider theoretical scope to cognition based on the continuity of life and mind, embodiment, dynamic and non-linear interaction between a system and its environment which are compatible ideas with Peirce’s semiotic pragmatism. The term ‘pragmatic’ has been introduced in cognitive science to reinforce the idea that cognition is a form of practice and to help action-oriented viewpoints to escape representationalism. In this paper, I shall try to demonstrate that Peirce’s semiotic pragmatism can be a meaningful methodological path to guide a reconciliation between not only anti-Cartesianism and representation but also representation and action. In order to accomplish this purpose, Peirce’s account to action, habit, thought and mind will be addressed through some of the guiding principles of his semiotic—sign and sign action. What follows is the re-examining of the problem of representation—as refuted by autopoietic enactivism—under the light of Peirce’s semiotic pragmatism.

     

The autistic dialogic style: a case of Asperger's syndrome

This paper explores the idea of possible proto-experiences of the prenatal child in the context of Bion's model of container/contained. The physical configuration of the embryo/foetus contained in the maternal uterus represents the starting point for an enquiry into the unborn child's possible experiences of its state of being contained in a container. The paper takes into consideration the sensory dimensions of auditory, tactile and kinaesthetic levels of awareness of the prenatal child in relation, respectively, to the maternal voice and the uterine environment. The author's hypothesis is that concrete prenatal experiences of containment may have their mental counterpart in the development of a proto-mental container and memory, the existence of which can be observed in the newborn infant. It is also suggested that prenatal proto-experiences of containment may prepare the child for further postnatal realisations of the pre-conception of containment and represent the experiential basis for the encounter with the breast. Observations of newborn babies in an obstetric ward, as well as the observation of a prematurely born child, seem to confirm the idea that the intrauterine experience of container/contained plays a role in the child's prenatal development. The meaning of prenatal thumb-sucking is explored in terms of the model of container/contained at a part-object level. An observation of the play of a three-year-old child offers material for further thought about the meaning and function of the introjected configuration of container/contained for the development of a sense of identity and symbolic thinking. The clinical case of an autistic child who survived a threatened miscarriage shows how the emotional containment in psychotherapy allowed the formerly inaccessible nameless dread to re-emerge and be represented and shared.     

Development of infant reaching behaviors: Kinematic changes in touching and hitting

This longitudinal study investigated the development of reaching in typical infants, from age 4 to 8 months, and described the pattern of hand kinematics underlying changes in the characteristics of infants’ actions while reaching for a target. Thirteen infants were followed biweekly. Two reaching behaviors emerged during the infants’ free interactions with the target, touching and hitting. Changes over time were documented for the number of movement units, straightness index, distance, peak velocity and time to peak velocity of the hand for touches and hits. We observed increases in the numbers of touches and hits and changes in hand kinematics over time; the distance traveled by the hand was greater for hitting compared to touching. These kinematic changes were specific to the movement patterns that infants adopted to reach to the target.     

Attachment Representations and Maternal Confidence: The Mediating Role of Postnatal Depressive Symptoms and Negative Thoughts

Attachment security can act as an inner resource to promote women’s adjustment to motherhood. However, the mechanisms explaining the relationship between attachment representations and maternal adaptation outcomes are not well understood. This study aimed to examine the direct and indirect effects of attachment representations on maternal confidence, through postpartum negative automatic thoughts and depressive symptoms. The sample consisted of 387 postpartum women who completed a cross-sectional online survey including measures of attachment representations, depressive symptoms, postpartum negative automatic thoughts and maternal confidence. Our results showed a significant relationship between more insecure attachment representations and higher depressive symptoms (p?<?.001), but also with more frequent postpartum negative automatic thoughts (p?<?.001); depressive symptoms and postpartum negative automatic thoughts were also inversely associated with women’s maternal confidence (p?<?.001). Moreover, indirect effects of attachment representations on maternal confidence were found, but only through postpartum negative thoughts [attachment-related anxiety: 95% CI?=??0.03/?0.01; attachment-related avoidance: 95% CI?=??0.05/?0.01]. The results of the present study emphasize the important role of the cognitive component of depressive symptomatology (postpartum negative automatic thoughts) in the relationship between attachment representations and maternal confidence, allowing to draw specific implications. We highlight the implications for clinical practice during the perinatal period to address both negative thoughts and women’s maternal confidence.     

A Woman Is Being Beaten - Issues on Violence and Femininity

What kind of contributions can psychoanalysis make toward issues that concern violence and femininity, specifically the violence that women establish in the relations with the significant other and themselves? In this paper, the authors attempt to answer this question by dealing with concepts such as instinct, masochism and enjoyment. Additionally, they recognize the act of psychoanalytic listening as a genuine and valid manner of getting the unconscious to speak. This act of listening can be practiced either in the traditional psychoanalytic setting of private offices or in psychoanalysis applied to public institutions, for the principal tool is language as it permeates human relationships and proportions the structure of the unconscious mind.     

Entrevista con Julián de Ajuriaguerra

RESUMEN

En esta entrevista Julián de Ajuriaguerra describe su historia científica desde que era interno en hospitales psiquiátricos y alumno de Thomas y Lhermitte, comentando los trabajos que realizó con adultos, ancianos y dementes aunque su interés estuviese desde un principio en los niños. Responde, entre otras, a cuestiones tales como si lo biológico se complementa con lo social en el desarrollo, cómo son los vínculos de los padres con el niño, cuál es su posición respecto al psicoanálisis, si es necesaria la interdisciplinariedad para hacer psicología o qué opina del problema de los estadios. También realiza un balance del estado actual de la psicomotricidad, ejemplifica qué entiende por “diálogo tónico” y explica las diferencias entre los juegos de niños y niñas de siete, ocho y nueve años, admitiendo la distinta organización tónica de los sexos. Por último el autor se centra en el trabajo clínico, ofreciendo sugerencias para aquéllos que empiezan a llevarlo a cabo en España. Los comentarios que Ana María Pardo y Ángel Rivière realizan del autor y su obra introducen esta entrevista.     

Romantic attachment,dyadic coping,and parental adjustment across the transition to parenthood

This study explored the mediating role of common dyadic coping (common DC) on the longitudinal associations between attachment‐related anxiety and avoidance and parental adjustment to the first year postpartum. A total of 92 Portuguese couples completed self‐report questionnaires of romantic attachment, common DC, parenting stress, and parental confidence. Results showed that more avoidant parents (at mid‐pregnancy) engaged less in common DC (at 6 weeks postpartum), which consequently increased their partner's parenting stress (only in mothers) and decreased their partner's parental confidence (in both parents) at 6–9 months postpartum. Anxious attachment did not predict parents' adjustment directly or indirectly. Interventions aimed at preventing adjustment difficulties to early parenthood in more avoidant parents should focus on enhancing their common DC strategies soon after childbirth.