Opportunities in public policy to support infant and early childhood mental health: the role of psychologists and policymakers

Infant and early childhood mental health practices can be supported by policies and professional standards of care that foster the healthy development of young children. Policies that support infants and toddlers include those that strengthen their families to provide a family environment that promotes mental wellness. Policy issues for infants, toddlers, and young children have come to the forefront of thinking as children need a "voice" to advocate for their support and care. This article (a) highlights several important policy areas that support the social-emotional development of very young children and (b) gives examples of current policy accomplishments and challenges. The article offers a policy agenda to promote the mental health of infants and young children and suggests ways that psychologists can engage with policymakers to promote policies that foster infant mental health, including contributing to the knowledge base that informs policy decisions, educating the public and policymakers about early childhood development and mental wellness, forming community partnerships to identify and address infant mental health risks, and participating in the development of policy recommendations that improve access to evidence-based practices in infant mental health.     

Perceived organizational support and employees’ well-being: the mediating role of organizational dehumanization

Perceived organizational support (POS) has been found to predict important organizational outcomes such as increasing employees’ well-being. In this research, we examine a new underlying mechanism of the relationship between POS and employees’ well-being, that is, employees’ perceptions that their organization dehumanizes them. This proposition was tested across two studies. Using an experimental design manipulating POS in a laboratory setting, Study 1 indicated that in the high POS condition, the subsequent feelings of being dehumanized by the organization were lower than in the low POS condition. More importantly, organizational dehumanization perceptions were found to mediate the POS condition and satisfaction link. Furthermore, using a sample of 1209 employees, results of Study 2 indicated that organizational dehumanization mediates the relationship between POS and three indicators of employees’ well-being (i.e., job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion, and psychosomatic strains). Implications for research on both organizational support theory and dehumanization theory are discussed.     

Pre‐frontal‐insular‐cerebellar modifications correlate with disgust feeling blunting after subthalamic stimulation: A positron emission tomography study in Parkinson's disease

Subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) has recently advanced our understanding of the major role played by this basal ganglion in human emotion. Research indicates that STN DBS can induce modifications in all components of emotion, and neuroimaging studies have shown that the metabolic modifications correlated with these emotional disturbances following surgery are both task‐ and sensory input‐dependent. Nevertheless, to date, these modifications have not been confirmed for all emotional components, notably subjective emotional experience, or feelings. To identify the neural network underlying the modification of feelings following STN DBS, we assessed 16 patients with Parkinson's disease before and after surgery, using both subjective assessments of emotional experience and ¹⁸[F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (¹⁸FDG‐PET). The patients viewed six film excerpts intended to elicit happy, angry, fearful, sad, disgusted, and neutral feelings, and they self‐rated the intensity of these feelings. After DBS, there was a significant reduction in the intensity of the disgust feeling. Correlations were observed between decreased disgust experience and cerebral glucose metabolism (FDG uptake) in the bilateral pre‐frontal cortices (orbitofrontal, dorsolateral, and inferior frontal gyri), bilateral insula, and right cerebellum. We suggest that the STN contributes to the synchronization process underlying the emergence of feelings.     

Imaging the Impact of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure on the Structure of the Developing Human Brain

Prenatal alcohol exposure has numerous effects on the developing brain, including damage to selective brain structure. We review structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of brain abnormalities in subjects prenatally exposed to alcohol. The most common findings include reduced brain volume and malformations of the corpus callosum. Advanced methods have been able to detect shape, thickness and displacement changes throughout multiple brain regions. The teratogenic effects of alcohol appear to be widespread, affecting almost the entire brain. The only region that appears to be relatively spared is the occipital lobe. More recent studies have linked cognition to the underlying brain structure in alcohol-exposed subjects, and several report patterns in the severity of brain damage as it relates to facial dysmorphology or to extent of alcohol exposure. Future studies exploring relationships between brain structure, cognitive measures, dysmorphology, age, and other variables will be valuable for further comprehending the vast effects of prenatal alcohol exposure and for evaluating possible interventions.     

Using movies in pastoral counseling

This article uses a case study of a bereaved woman to illustrate the potential benefits of using movies as an adjunctive therapy in pastoral counseling. The article also references the literature on bibliotherapy and cinematherapy while summarizing relevant findings from studies for the use of movies in clinical practice. This article offers both suggestions and cautions for practitioners. At this time, research suggests that a considered therapeutic use of movies can be beneficial for personal growth.     

Complementary variable- and person-centred approaches to the dimensionality of work engagement: a longitudinal investigation

This study illustrates complementary variable- and person-centred approaches to the investigation of the underlying dimensionality of the work engagement construct. A sample of 730 participants completed a questionnaire twice across a four-month period. The results showed that employees’ ratings of their work engagement simultaneously reflected a global overarching work engagement construct, which co-existed with three specific dimensions (vigour, dedication, and absorption). Relying on factor scores from this initial measurement model, the present study examined latent profiles of employees defined based on their global (work engagement) and specific (vigour, dedication, and absorption) levels of work engagement. The results revealed five distinct work engagement profiles, which proved to be fully identical, and highly stable, across the two time points. These profiles characterized disengaged-vigorous, normative, totally disengaged, vigorously absorbed, and engaged yet distanced employees. These profiles were also showed to be meaningfully related to employees’ levels of stress, intentions to leave the organization, health, and job satisfaction.     

Manipulating social cues in baboon gesture learning: what does it tell us about the evolution of communication?

Animal Cognition - Reading the attentional state of an audience is crucial for effective intentional communication. This study investigates how individual learning experience affects subsequent...     

The body-image questionnaire: an extension

The 19-item Body-Image Questionnaire, developed by our team and first published in this journal in 1987 by Bruchon-Schweitzer, was administered to 1,222 male and female French subjects. A principal component analysis of their responses yielded an axis we interpreted as a general Body Satisfaction dimension. The four-factor structure observed in 1987 was not replicated. Body Satisfaction was associated with sex, health, and with current and future emotional adjustment.