Young adult female fragile X premutation carriers show age- and genetically-modulated cognitive impairments

The high frequency of the fragile X premutation in the general population and its emerging neurocognitive implications highlight the need to investigate the effects of the premutation on lifespan cognitive development. Until recently, cognitive function in fragile X premutation carriers (fXPCs) was presumed to be unaffected by the mutation. Here we show that young adult female fXPCs show subtle, yet significant, age- and FMR1 gene mutation-modulated cognitive impairments as tested by a quantitative magnitude comparison task. Our results begin to define the neurocognitive endophenotype associated with the premutation in adults, who are at risk for developing a neurodegenerative disorder associated with the fragile X premutation. Results from the present study may potentially be applied toward the design of early interventions wherein we might be able to target premutation carriers most at risk for degeneration for preventive treatment.     

"Broken covenant": healthcare aides' "experience of the ethical" in caring for dying seniors in a personal care home

Canada's population is aging, and seniors constitute the fastest growing demographic in the nation. The chronic health conditions, limited social support, functional decline, and cognitive impairment experienced by seniors may necessitate admission to a personal care home (PCH) setting up until the time of their death. The ethical problems that arise in the care of dying patients are numerous and complicated. The care of dying seniors in PCHs, however, is largely provided by frontline workers such as healthcare aides (HCAs), who usually have little training in palliative care or ethics. Research examining the identification and resolution of ethical problems in care of the dying has been conducted from the perspectives of nurses and physicians in various clinical settings, but the voice of HCAs in PCHs is virtually absent from clinical ethics. Given that the inability to satisfactorily resolve ethical issues in clinical practice is associated with feelings of guilt, powerlessness, avoiding contact with patients, failing to provide good physical care, and increased staff turnover, an empirical examination of HCAs' experiences of ethically challenging situations is warranted. We conducted a phenomenological study to access the lived experience of HCAs (N = 12) working in proprietary and nonproprietary care homes as they encountered situations they deemed ethically challenging in providing end-of-life care to dying seniors. The findings reported here explicate: (1) the types of situations that are ethically problematic for HCAs; (2) the meanings they assign to these situations, and (3) the impact such situations have on the provision of end-of-life care.     

Social rank, interpersonal trust and recall of parental rearing in relation to homesickness

This study set out to explore the relationship between recall of parental rearing, social rank, interpersonal trust and homesickness. Eighty-nine first year undergraduates (59 women and 30 men) living away from home and attending the University of Derby completed a set of questionnaires in their sixth week in the first semester at university. Results indicate that recall of supportive parenting is associated with lower homesickness, favourable social rank and greater interpersonal trust. Conversely, recall of parental rejection correlated with great homesickness, feeling inferior to others, and lower interpersonal trust. Two separate multiple regression analyses revealed that both the parental rearing variables, and the social rank and interpersonal trust variables, produced significant models in the prediction of homesickness scores. Mediation analysis suggests that whilst recalling one’s parents as rejecting is directly associated with increased homesickness, it may also generate feelings of inferiority that may lead to distress when moving into new environments.     

ANIMALS,ANIMISTS, AND ACADEMICS

Abstract. Animism is the label given to worldviews in which the world is understood to be a community of living persons, only some of whom are human. (An older use of the term to label a putative “belief in spirits” is less useful.) Animists inculcate locally meaningful means of communicating with other‐than‐human persons, especially in order to express respect. Ethnographic accounts of particular animist ways of engaging with animal persons are noted. I argue that ethologists interested in engaging respectfully with animals while researching cognition, behavior, and other critical issues may find their research methods and results enhanced by learning from animists about tested methods of communicating with animals. The mediation of animists in this communicative engagement between animals and those who research among them is proposed not as a romantic gloss on modernist culture but in full recognition that the challenge offered by dialogue with marginalized and excluded “others” may result in a reconfiguration of academic protocols. Nonetheless, this entry into full relationality is seriously posed as an improved means of achieving established goals of understanding animals, humans, and the world we coinhabit.     

An Intensive Outpatient Program for Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury

Post-9/11 service members may return from military service with a complicated set of symptoms and conditions, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, substance misuse, and traumatic brain injury (TBI), that interfere with reintegration and impair functioning. Although evidence-based treatments that facilitate recovery exist, their successful delivery at a sufficient dose is limited. Barriers to accessing treatment combined with challenges compiling a comprehensive treatment team further delay delivery of effective evidence-based care for PTSD, TBI, and co-occurring mental health conditions. This paper describes the development of a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, 2-week intensive day program for post-9/11 veterans with complex mental health concerns. The treatment program combines skill building groups, family education, and integrative health approaches with evidence-based individual PTSD or TBI care. Initial results from the first 132 participants were notable for a 97% completion rate, as well as statistically significant and clinically meaningful reductions in PTSD, neurobehavioral, and depression symptom severity for the 107 veterans who completed the PTSD track and the 21 who completed the TBI track. These data suggest the intensive program approach is an effective, well-tolerated model of treatment for post-9/11 veterans with PTSD and/or TBI. Future controlled studies should examine the effectiveness of this intensive model compared to standard evidence-based therapy delivery, as well as longitudinal outcomes.     

"Elicitation hooks": a discourse analysis of chaplain-patient interaction in pastoral and spiritual care

The article considers the communicative role of the hospital chaplain and maps some of the language strategies deployed to facilitate disclosure of the patients' concerns and achieve enhanced spiritual care. These include: i) involvement, ii) politeness and iii) encouraging disclosure or exploring emotion.     

Self-Evaluation Bias of Social Comparisons in Ethical Decision Making: The Impact of Accountability

The purpose of this paper is to examine how accountability and judgment biases that occur in social comparisons may be related to ethical decision making. Using Jones' (1991 ) model as the theoretical framework to investigate this phenomenon, we found that self-enhancing individuals (i.e., those who thought they were more ethical in comparison to their peers) demonstrated higher responsiveness to increases in accountability than did self-effacing individuals (i.e., those who thought they were less ethical in comparison to their peers). We discuss these findings and outline the implications for future ethics research. Further, we provide practical guidance to those who administer ethics compliance programs on effective ways of facilitating ethical behavior in organizations.