The structure and correlates of kanashibari.

The present research is an examination of the parameters and correlates of kanashibari, operationally defined as being unable to move upon awakening or before falling asleep. Nonclinical Japanese individuals (N = 720), 34% of whom reported an experience of kanashibari at least once, were administered D. I. Templer's (1970) Death Anxiety Scale, R. Brown's (1990) Locus of Control Scale, and a questionnaire devised by the authors to collect information about kanashibari. The results showed that the kanashibari experience was positively correlated with death anxiety, with being a woman, and with external-other locus of control; this last measure assessed the extent to which these individuals felt that their lives were determined by fate, good luck, or chance.     

Neurodevelopmental influences in the genesis and epigenesis of schizophrenia: An overview

The classical view of schizophrenia as a dementing disorder has recently been challenged by several findings pointing to a prenatal/perinatal origin of at least some of the brain abnormalities seen in these patients. This article reviews evidence from a number of different fields, including postmortem neuropathology, in vivo neuroimaging, developmental neuropsychology, and obstetric epidemiology in assessing the viability of a neurodevelopmental perspective of schizophrenia. Although the case for viewing schizophrenia as a neurodevelopmental condition is still circumstantial, and several gaps in this model remain, evidence from these diverse lines of inquiry converge to indicate at least a partial role of disturbances of brain development in the disorder's genesis and epigenesis.     

Gaze cuing and affective judgments of objects: I like what you look at

When we see another person look somewhere, we automatically attend to the same location in space. Thisjoint attention emerges early in life and has a great impact on social interactions in development and in everyday adult life. The direction of another’s gaze indicates what object is of current interest, which may be the target for a subsequent action. In this study, we found that objects that are looked at by other people are liked more than objects that do not receive the attention of other people (Experiment 1). This suggests that observing averted gaze can have an impact on the affective appraisals of objects in the environment. This liking effect was absent when an arrow was used to cue attention (Experiment 2). This underlines the importance of other people’s interactions with objects for generating our own impressions of such stimuli in the world.     

Rediscovering Nagy: What happened to contextual therapy?

Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy, originator and leading proponent of contextual family therapy, has been addressing relational ethics for more than 40 years. During the 1980s there was a proliferation of contextual publications. Great interest in the approach seemed to peak and then ebb silently. What happened to contextual therapy? Why has contextual therapy not taken its place among the other widely used and recognized therapeutic models? This article addresses these questions through a review of family therapy literature.     

A Systematic Review of the Relationship Between Rumination and Suicidality

Rumination has been persistently implicated in the etiology of hopelessness and depression, which are proximal predictors of suicidality. As a result, researchers have started to examine the role of rumination in suicidality. This systematic review provides a concise synopsis of the current progress in examining the relationship between rumination and suicidality, and highlights areas for future research. A search of the international literature was conducted using the three main psychological and medical databases. Eleven studies were identified providing evidence, with one exception, of a relationship between rumination and suicidality. This review also highlights the considerable dearth of studies on this area of concern, specifically of case‐control and prospective, clinical studies, in the worldwide literature.     

Early puzzle play: a predictor of preschoolers' spatial transformation skill

Individual differences in spatial skill emerge prior to kindergarten entry. However, little is known about the early experiences that may contribute to these differences. The current study examined the relation between children's early puzzle play and their spatial skill. Children and parents (n = 53) were observed at home for 90 min every 4 months (6 times) between 2 and 4 years of age (26 to 46 months). When children were 4 years 6 months old, they completed a spatial task involving mental transformations of 2-dimensional shapes. Children who were observed playing with puzzles performed better on this task than those who did not, controlling for parent education, income, and overall parent word types. Moreover, among those children who played with puzzles, frequency of puzzle play predicted performance on the spatial transformation task. Although the frequency of puzzle play did not differ for boys and girls, the quality of puzzle play (a composite of puzzle difficulty, parent engagement, and parent spatial language) was higher for boys than for girls. In addition, variation in puzzle play quality predicted performance on the spatial transformation task for girls but not for boys. Implications of these findings as well as future directions for research on the role of puzzle play in the development of spatial skill are discussed.     

尼可地尔与前列地尔预处理对大鼠心肌缺血再灌注的影响

研究尼可地尔、前列地尔及两药物联合应用预处理对心肌缺血再灌注中的影响,探究其作用机制.采用Tunel法检测心肌组织的凋亡情况,免疫组化法检测Bax、Bcl-2和caspase-3的蛋白表达情况.结果显示尼可地尔和前列地尔半剂量联合组细胞凋亡数、Bax和caspase-3的表达量均明显低于其他给药组(P＜0.05),Bcl-2的表达量明显高于其他给药组(P＜0.05);尼可地尔和前列地尔单给药组细胞凋亡、Bax、caspase-3表达均有降低,Bcl-2表达升高,但效果不及联合用药半剂量组.以此得出结论尼可地尔和前列地尔的联合用药效果较好,可加强对心肌的保护作用.     

Assessing Parenting Behaviors in Euro–Canadian and East Asian Immigrant Mothers: Limitations to Observations of Responsiveness

The use of parenting measures that are developed for use with Western families without testing their validity among families from non-Western cultural backgrounds may not be appropriate. Similar parenting behaviors may affect child outcomes in different ways across different cultures. This study examined the cross-cultural validity of an observational Maternal Responsiveness coding system and of self-reports of lax/inconsistent parenting in Euro–Canadian (n = 23) and East Asian immigrant mothers (n = 23) of 4- to 7-year-old sons. In Euro–Canadian mothers, observed parenting responsiveness was associated with less lax/inconsistent parenting and fewer child behavior problems. In East Asian immigrant mothers, however, observations of greater responsiveness were not related to reports of lax/inconsistent parenting, and were associated with greater child behavior problems. Implications for the use of these parenting measures across culture groups are discussed.     

Using the Theory of Gender and Power to Examine Experiences of Partner Violence,Sexual Negotiation,and Risk of HIV/AIDS Among Economically Disadvantaged Women in Southern India

This article uses the Theory of Gender and Power to examine women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS in order to: understand the vulnerability of female sex workers/poor women due to poverty and lack of educational resources; explore women's vulnerability in the context of client/partner violence, alcohol use, male partner's high-risk behaviors, and women's lack of control in their intimate relationships; and explore the role of traditional heterosexual gender norms in the outcomes of sexual negotiation. Ethnographic data were collected from 32 women and 38 men in India as part of an ongoing National Institute of Mental Health study. Results highlighted women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS stemming from partner violence, alcohol use, poverty, dangers of sex work environments, and tacit acceptance of cultural/gender norms.