Changes in Cognitive Function During Substance Use Disorder Treatment

This study investigated the pattern of acute cognitive function of an ecologically valid sample of 58 consecutively admitted adults completing a 24 day residential/day substance use disorder treatment program at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center and its change over the 24 days of monitored abstinence. Participants were assessed at entry with the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) Form A and at treatment conclusion with the RBANS Form B and with the Similarities subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III (WAIS-III) and the Trail Making A and B tests at both time points. There were significant (p < 0.002) improvements in the RBANS Immediate Memory, Attention, and Total Index scores over the course of treatment and on the Similarities subtest and the Trail Making A and B tests with effect sizes ranging between 0.37 and 0.56. There was greater cognitive performance increase for participants in the lower versus upper quantiles at treatment entry on all cognitive measures.     

Impact of close family members on older adults' early response to depression treatment

This study of 130 depressed older adults and their spouses or adult children examined the impact of caregiver burden specific to patients' depressive symptoms on patients' response to antidepressant treatment. Primary care patients completed medical, psychiatric, and neuropsychological assessments prior to treatment, and interviews were conducted with their identified family member. As hypothesized, caregivers' depression-specific burden predicted greater depression severity for the patient at the 6th week of treatment after accounting for patients' pretreatment characteristics, caregivers' depressive symptoms, and caregivers' relationship satisfaction. Future research may identify family attitudes and behaviors that stem from burden and compromise older adults' ability to recover from depression.     

Comparison of Tetradic WAIS-III Short Forms in Predicting Full Scale IQ Scores in Neuropsychiatric Clinic Settings

Patients from two neuropsychology clinics (n = 283) were divided into model development (n = 189) and validation samples (n = 94) with proportional representation from each clinic. Three regression based models of four WAIS-III subtests were developed and cross-validated to evaluate their FSIQ estimation accuracy: (1) an optimized stepwise regression model derived from the development sample (Comprehension, Matrix Reasoning, Similarities, and Picture Arrangement), (2) an a priori WASI based model (Similarities, Matrix Reasoning, Vocabulary, and Block Design), and (3) an a priori model with relatively rapidly administered subtests from each Index Score factor of the WAIS-III (Information, Picture Completion, Arithmetic, and Digit Symbol-Coding). The models produced good (92 to 97%) FSIQ estimation accuracy within 10 points of FSIQ with none of these models performing significantly better than another. The utility of clinical use of short form FSIQ estimation is a function of accuracy needed versus administration time reduction and ease for the patient.     

The role of drug use in a conceptual model of intimate partner violence in men and women arrested for domestic violence.

In a previous study, alcohol problems in perpetrators and their partners contributed directly and indirectly to intimate partner violence (IPV), even after including other correlates of violence in the model (G. L. Stuart et al., 2006). The present study extends these findings by examining the role of illicit drug use. We recruited 271 men and 135 women arrested for IPV and used structural equation modeling to examine the data. Results showed that drug use, as reported by the perpetrators, was a stronger predictor of IPV than were alcohol problems in perpetrators and their partners. Arrested males' marijuana use and stimulant use (i.e., cocaine and amphetamines) were associated with perpetration of IPV, and their report of their female partners' stimulant use was associated with her violence perpetration. In arrested women, specific substances used did not predict violence perpetration beyond other model variables; however, female perpetrators' report of male partners' stimulant use predicted male psychological and physical aggression, after controlling for other variables. These results provide further evidence that drug problems by both partners may be important in the evolution of aggression. Implications for batterer intervention programs are discussed.     

Anger style, psychopathology, and regional brain activity

Depression and anxiety often involve high levels of trait anger and disturbances in anger expression. Reported anger experience and outward anger expression have recently been associated with left-biased asymmetry of frontal cortical activity, assumed to reflect approach motivation. However, different styles of anger expression could presumably involve different brain mechanisms and/or interact with psychopathology to produce various patterns of brain asymmetry. The present study explored these issues by comparing resting regional electroencephalographic activity in participants high in trait anger who differed in anger expression style (high anger-in, high anger-out, both) and participants low in trait anger, with depression and anxiety systematically assessed. Trait anger, not anger-in or anger-out, predicted left-biased asymmetry at medial frontal EEG sites. The anger-in group reported higher levels of anxious apprehension than did the anger-out group. Furthermore, anxious apprehension moderated the relationship between trait anger, anger-in, and asymmetry in favor of the left hemisphere. Results suggest that motivational direction is not always the driving force behind the relationship of anger and left frontal asymmetry. Findings also support a distinction between anxious apprehension and anxious arousal.     

Another quasi-30 years of slow progress

Meehl (1978) discussed a variety of characteristics of the culture of scholarly psychology that critically affect its progress toward a stronger science. These characteristics include assumptions about the nature of theory, approaches to the testing of theories, and the reliance on significance tests that is pervasive in many subfields of psychology research. Several of these characteristics and Meehl’s perspective on them are examined years later in this brief commentary. Meehl’s criticisms, though sometimes misrepresented, remain compelling and strikingly current. Yet it should be remembered that Meehl emphasized that “soft” psychology at its best is a profound and worthy challenge and will necessarily progress slowly. It can be improved, but not replaced, by hardnosed scholarship.