Behandlung von Epilepsie bei Menschen mit Intelligenzminderung

People with intellectual disability frequently suffer from epilepsy. Management of epilepsy in this population is particularly challenging because of the different ways of communicating, cognitive impairment, changes in behavior which can be disruptive, the severity of the epilepsy syndrome, the seizure types, and the seizure frequency. Treatment of epilepsy is complicated due to the interaction of the intellectual disability and the behavior as well as behavioral changes caused by the antiepileptic drugs or the change of seizure types or frequency. This article provides the reader with a guidance for managing epilepsy in this particular population and raises important open questions.     

Effects and mechanisms of working memory training: a review

Can cognitive abilities such as reasoning be improved through working memory training? This question is still highly controversial, with prior studies providing contradictory findings. The lack of theory-driven, systematic approaches and (occasionally serious) methodological shortcomings complicates this debate even more. This review suggests two general mechanisms mediating transfer effects that are (or are not) observed after working memory training: enhanced working memory capacity, enabling people to hold more items in working memory than before training, or enhanced efficiency using the working memory capacity available (e.g., using chunking strategies to remember more items correctly). We then highlight multiple factors that could influence these mechanisms of transfer and thus the success of training interventions. These factors include (1) the nature of the training regime (i.e., intensity, duration, and adaptivity of the training tasks) and, with it, the magnitude of improvements during training, and (2) individual differences in age, cognitive abilities, biological factors, and motivational and personality factors. Finally, we summarize the findings revealed by existing training studies for each of these factors, and thereby present a roadmap for accumulating further empirical evidence regarding the efficacy of working memory training in a systematic way.     

Effects of Music Training on Attention,Processing Speed and Cognitive Music Abilities—Findings from a Longitudinal Study

The present study addresses visual attention and processing speed in primary school children (N = 345; 7–8 years of age) who received either music (MC) or natural science training (NC) over a period of 18 months. Dependent variables were collected three times (T1–T3) and included measures for processing speed, visual attention and cognitive music abilities. They were submitted to latent or manifest change models including socioeconomic status and basic cognitive functions as covariates. Groups performed similarly in all dependent tasks at baseline (T1). MC showed significant increases in processing speed as well as in music abilities from T2 to T3 and increases in rhythmic abilities from T1 to T2. Although MC also showed increases in both processing speed and visual attention over time, they were at a small advantage with respect to the former and at a clear disadvantage with respect to the latter measure as compared to NC. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Psychotherapeuten und ihre psychischen Probleme

A cliché about psychotherapists, psychologists and psychiatrists is that they themselves apparently all have mental problems. This review article analyzes the state of research on the topic based on a databank search in PubMed using the terms “(mental disorders OR suicide) AND (psychologists OR psychiatrists OR therapists OR psychoanalysts)” and an analysis of relevant review articles. In the databank search only ten publications were identified which related to any mental problems of therapists. These partially confirmed an increased risk of suicide, increased mental problems, such as depression, increased burnout risk and increased problems in childhood (e.g. sexual abuse and parentification) and showed that research deficits clearly exist. With respect to coping with such risks, the topics training therapy, personal therapy, self-care, and additional opportunities are discussed. In conclusion the implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Beliefs about intimate partner violence: A survey of the Swedish general public

Public interventions are considered to be an important means of preventing intimate partner violence (IPV). What people believe about the nature of IPV is likely to determine their propensity to intervene, but little is known at present about IPV beliefs among the general public. In a survey of 650 Swedish citizens, beliefs about the prevalence and causes of IPV, and viable means of intervention were assessed. Respondents estimated, on average, that IPV occurs in almost one quarter of all intimate relationships in Sweden, and that IPV is particularly prevalent in low‐income groups, among non‐European immigrants, in suburban areas, and in couples under the age of 50 years. Physical violence was believed to be the most frequent form of abuse in male offender–female victim cases, whereas psychological violence was considered most frequent in other combinations of offender and victim gender. Female respondents estimated a higher prevalence of IPV, attributed less blame to IPV victims, and suggested more means of intervention, than did male respondents. The findings are discussed in relation to empirical prevalence estimates, and implications are proposed.     

Impairment of Cognitive Function in Different Domains Early After Lung Transplantation

Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings - In this prospective observational pilot study patients with the diagnosis of end-stage lung disease and listed for lung transplantation...     

Effects of Parental Soothing Behavior on Stress Levels of 2–8 Year Old Children During Voiding Cystourethrograms by Phase of Procedure

Using the example of a voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG), a painful radiological procedure, this study investigated whether parental soothing behavior (reassuring comments like “it’s almost over” or “You’re O.K.” and soothing by “sh, sh”) in one phase of the procedure influenced the child’s distress in the following phase. The sample was comprised of 68 2–8 year-old children and the accompanying parent(s). Child and parental behavior during the VCUG was coded using a standardized rating scale (CAMPIS-R). Parental reassurance during the anticipatory phase significantly increased the child’s distress of the following phase, while parental “sh, sh” significantly reduced it. Both parental behaviors showed no significant effect on the child’s distress of the following phase when applied during the procedure itself. Results underline the importance of differentiating between anticipatory and procedural phases of the VCUG. Counselling methods for parents on more appropriate strategies to assist their children during procedural phases of the VCUG are necessary.     

Body evaluation and coital onset: a population-based longitudinal study

This study examined the temporal relationship between body evaluation and coital onset. In a population-based longitudinal study, 1449 Norwegian girls and boys between 12 and 15 years of age were followed at 4 waves over a span of 13 years. Body evaluation was used in order to predict coital onset besides romantic appeal and psychological problems. For girls early in adolescence, body evaluation did not influence the probability of coital onset during the first 2-year period. In the subsequent 5-year period, body dissatisfaction increased the probability for coital onset when romantic appeal was held constant. Body evaluation did not influence the odds of coital onset among boys. The findings imply that the pattern of association between body evaluation and coital onset differs according to the timing of coital onset for girls. Future research needs to distinguish body image from romantic appeal in relation to first time sexual experiences.     

Two (or three) is one too many: testing the flexibility of contextual cueing with multiple target locations

Visual search for a target object is facilitated when the object is repeatedly presented within an invariant context of surrounding items ("contextual cueing"; Chun & Jiang, Cognitive Psychology, 36, 28-71, 1998). The present study investigated whether such invariant contexts can cue more than one target location. In a series of three experiments, we showed that contextual cueing is significantly reduced when invariant contexts are paired with two rather than one possible target location, whereas no contextual cueing occurs with three distinct target locations. Closer data inspection revealed that one "dominant" target always exhibited substantially more contextual cueing than did the other, "minor" target(s), which caused negative contextual-cueing effects. However, minor targets could benefit from the invariant context when they were spatially close to the dominant target. In sum, our experiments suggest that contextual cueing can guide visual attention to a spatially limited region of the display, only enhancing the detection of targets presented inside that region.     

Cross-sectional age variance extraction: what's change got to do with it?

In cross-sectional age variance extraction (CAVE), age, the indicator of a hypothesized developmental mechanism, and a developmental outcome are specified as independent, mediator, and target variables, respectively, to test hypotheses about behavioral development. We show that: (a) longitudinal change in a mediator variable accounting for substantial cross-sectional age-related variance in the target variable need not correlate with the target variable's longitudinal change; and, conversely, (b) longitudinal change in a mediator not sharing cross-sectional age-related variance with the target variable may nevertheless correlate highly with that variable's longitudinal change. We discourage use of CAVE for testing multivariate hypotheses about behavioral development.