The Near-Death Experience: Knowledge and Attitudes of College Students

There is a considerable literature documenting the effects of a near-death experience (NDE) on persons who actually undergo the experience, in terms of their attitudes and opinions about NDEs. However, investigations of how much nonexperiencers know about NDEs and their attitudes towards them are in short supply. This study examined the relationship in people who have not had an NDE between attitudes toward and knowledge of near-death experiences. Subjects were undergraduate students, with a mean age of 32 years. The Near-Death Phenomena Knowledge and Attitudes Questionnaire was employed to assess attitudes toward and knowledge of NDEs. Results indicated that both knowledge and attitudes were relatively normally distributed, and that level of knowledge significantly predicted attitudes towards NDEs, accounting for 34 percent of the common variance.     

Complex messages regarding a thin ideal appearing in teenage girls’ magazines from 1956 to 2005

Seventeen and YM were assessed from 1956 through 2005 (n = 312) to examine changes in the messages about thinness sent to teenage women. Trends were analyzed through an investigation of written, internal content focused on dieting, exercise, or both, while cover models were examined to explore fluctuations in body size. Pearson's Product correlations and weighted-least squares linear regression models were used to demonstrate changes over time. The frequency of written content related to exercise and combined plans increased in Seventeen, while a curvilinear relationship between time and content relating to dieting appeared. YM showed a linear increase in content related to dieting, exercise, and combined plans. Average cover model body size increased over time in YM while demonstrating no significant changes in Seventeen. Overall, more written messages about dieting and exercise appeared in teen's magazines in 2005 than before while the average cover model body size increased.     

Systemic-Oriented Psychological Counselling for Caregivers of People with Severe Brain Injury: Reflections on a Clinical Case

Severe brain injuries can have dramatic consequences on family life, often changing rules and routines and fostering intense and prolonged caregiving duties. People affected by the injuries have to face relevant restrictions in their activities and a loss of independence. Thus, primary caregivers are often involved in their assistance, which can entail the help for self-care, movements and many activities of daily living. Furthermore, cognitive and behavioural symptoms can complicate communication, disrupt previous relationships and put an additional strain on all family members. Indeed, caregiving relationships take place in wider familial and societal contexts and are obviously influenced by previous characteristic of such relationships, as they were before the onset of the pathological condition. Therefore, a thorough examination of typical emotions, feelings and thoughts that can emerge during caregiving must be paralleled by an ecological and developmental perspective, in order to appraise the complexity of these cases and provide effective interventions. The present work aims to address such topics taking inspiration from a clinical case.     

Feelings Matter: Depression Severity and Emotion Regulation in HIV/STI Risk-Related Sexual Behaviors

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention models may not address psychological complexities among adolescents with mental illnesses. This study examined contextual factors related to HIV/STI risk among heterosexually active Black adolescents with mental illnesses to inform the development of targeted HIV/STI prevention strategies. Black adolescent males and females (aged 14–17) were recruited from outpatient mental health programs in Philadelphia, PA to complete a computer-assisted personalized interview on sociodemographics, sexual behaviors, and emotion regulation (N?=?53). Two sample t-tests, Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests and regression modeling were used to examine differences in the study measures by gender and relationship status. Reports of sexual partner concurrency were high—both while already in a sexual relationship (67.3%) and multiple sexual partners in the same day (42.3%). Boys reported significantly more risk behaviors than girls. Sadness dysregulation predicted currently being in a relationship, older age at first oral sex, fewer vaginal sexual partners and fewer unprotected oral sexual encounters. Coping difficulties predicted a greater number of vaginal and oral sexual partners, and a lower age at first vaginal sex. Increasing depression severity was related to older age at first vaginal sex, fewer vaginal sexual partners and fewer unprotected oral sexual encounters in the past 3 months. This formative work suggests that coping mechanisms should be addressed in HIV/STI prevention research through the inclusion of activities targeted toward emotion regulation and decreasing sexual risk behaviors. Psycho-education and skills building may mitigate the psychopathology that contributes to HIV/STI risk in the target demographic.     

Relationship quality of persons with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome

In the field of sleep disorders, the quality of couple relationship is arousing increasing attention, given its implications for quality of life and treatment adherence. The aim of the present study was to evaluate relationship quality in a sample of treated or untreated patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Syndrome. Eighty-seven patients were recruited in a hospital-based Centre for Sleep Medicine. Subjects were administered the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) to evaluate relationship quality, and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Apnoea-hypopnoea indexes (AHI) were collected through nocturnal polysomnography or home testing with a portable monitoring device. Although the DAS average scores were similar to local normative values, relationship quality was significantly lower in the untreated patients when compared with the ones treated. The ESS scores showed a negative correlation with many DAS scores, whereas no significant correlation emerged for AHI. Such data suggest a significant impact of perceived sleep apnoea symptoms on marital satisfaction, even though in the absence of striking differences between the whole sample and the general population.     

Further refinement of video‐based brief multiple‐stimulus without replacement preference assessments

We compared the results of a brief video‐based multiple‐stimulus without replacement preference assessment with no access to chosen activities (MSWO‐NO) to the results of the same assessment with access (MSWO‐WA) with four children with autism. We also compared instructor rankings of activities to MSWO‐WA results. Strong to moderate correlations between MSWO‐NO and MSWO‐WA assessment results were found across all participants. The correlation between MSWO‐WA and instructor rankings ranged from strong to low across all participants. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

ADHD and Depression Symptoms in Parent Couples Predict Response to Child ADHD and ODD Behavior

Parents of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) often have elevated ADHD and depressive symptoms, both of which increase the risk of ineffective parenting and interparental discord. However, little is known about whether child ADHD/ODD behavior and parent ADHD or depressive symptoms uniquely or synergistically predict the quality of parenting and interparental communication during triadic (mother-father-child) interactions. Ninety parent couples, including 51 who have children diagnosed with ADHD, were randomly assigned to interact with a 9–12 year-old confederate child (84 % male) exhibiting either ADHD/ODD-like behavior or typical behavior. Parents reported their own ADHD and depressive symptoms, and parents and observers rated the quality of parenting and interparental communication during the interaction. Actor-partner interdependence modeling indicated that child ADHD/ODD behavior predicted less positive and more negative parenting and communication, independent of adult ADHD and depressive symptoms. Parent couples including two parents with elevated ADHD communicated more positively while managing children exhibiting ADHD/ODD behavior than couples managing children behaving typically or couples with only one parent with elevated ADHD symptoms. Couples including one parent with, and one parent without, elevated ADHD or depressive symptoms parented less positively and more negatively, and communicated more negatively, when managing children exhibiting ADHD/ODD behavior than when managing children behaving typically. Taken together, depending on the similarity of ADHD and depressive symptom levels in parent couples, adults managing children exhibiting ADHD/ODD behavior may parent or communicate positively or negatively. Findings highlight the need to consider the psychopathology of both parents when treating children with ADHD in two-parent homes.     

Public awareness and knowledge of stuttering in Rio de Janeiro

This study reports the results of an investigation of public awareness and knowledge of stuttering in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A total number of 606 street recruited respondents answered questions on various aspects of stuttering, including prevalence, onset, gender distribution, occurrence in different cultures, cause, treatment, intelligence, and hereditariness. The questionnaire used was a Portuguese version of the one by [Van Borsel, J., Verniers, I. & Bouvry, S. (1999). Public awareness of stuttering. Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica, 51, 124–132]. Although, stuttering is a disorder which is known to a majority of the participants, knowledge appears to be limited for certain aspects. Knowledge also differs among subgroups of participants according to gender, age and educational level. Comparison of the results of the current study with similar studies conducted in Belgium and in Shanghai, China shows several similarities but also some differences.

Educational objectives: The reader will be able to: (1) discuss public awareness and knowledge of stuttering in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; (2) discuss the differences in knowledge according to gender, age and educational level and; (3) discuss similarities and differences with comparable studies run in Belgium and Shanghai, China.