Demographic,health-related and psychosocial predictors of changes in depressive symptoms and anxiety in late middle-aged and older persons with fall-related injuries

Research on anxiety and depression after fall-related injuries to the extremities and its pre-fall determinants is scarce. The present study sought to examine change between pre-fall and post-fall anxiety and depression and its (pre-fall) predictors. Data were obtained from 181 Dutch persons, aged 57 and older, who sustained fall-related injuries between 1993 and 1997. Demographic (e.g. socio-economic status), health-related (e.g. number of chronic conditions), and psychosocial (e.g. social support, neuroticism) factors were determined in 1993 (prior to the fall). Depressive symptoms and anxiety were determined prior to the fall, and two, five and twelve months after the fall. Taking into account pre-fall anxiety and depression, pre-fall neuroticism was the most consistent, independent predictor of adverse changes in anxiety and depression. Other factors, including severity of the fall and age were not related to changes in anxiety and depression. Our prospective findings may be interpreted as support for the importance of personality for mental health outcomes in persons who have sustained fall-related injuries.     

Pediatric Neuropsychological Reports: Do They Really Have To Be So Long?

This article offers a proposal to keep reports on pediatric neuropsychological assessments succinct and specific. A format is recommended that emphasizes interpretation and implications of assessment data, as opposed to detailed review of numeric test results. Practical applications and ramifications are discussed and are illustrated with case examples.     

Validity of a short form of the WISC-III in children with traumatic head injury

The concurrent, construct, and criterion validities of Donders' (in press) short form of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Third Edition (WISC-III) were evaluated in a sample of 171 children with traumatic head injury (THI). Correlations between the short-form deviation quotients and their full-length counterparts were statistically significant. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a four-factor model (composed of Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organization, Freedom from Distractibility, and Processing Speed) fit the data relatively well. The short-form deviation quotients also had statistically significant correlations with length of coma. It is concluded that this short form is an accurate and valid alternative to the full-length WISC-III in children with THI.     

A Group of Black South Africans' Experience of Telling their Untold Stories about the Apartheid Era

The aim of this research was to explore a group of black South Africans' experiences of telling their untold stories of survival about the apartheid era. The expectation was that if they did become more aware of these alternative stories, it could have a far-reaching effect on their lives. A qualitative study was conducted with a group of seven black South African survivors of the apartheid era, ranging in age from 42–62 years (males =5, females =2). These participants formed part of an earlier study investigating their perceptions regarding factors that helped them to survive the apartheid era. For the present study, unstructured interviews were conducted focusing on their subjective experiences after the initial study. Analysis of the data yielded seven prevalent themes, namely a positive experience that made a difference, gaining of a positive attitude, not all white people are bad, transgressing the past and moving on, awareness of personal strengths, forgiveness and starting to talk to family and friends. The participants became aware of their untold stories of survival and experienced a positive change within themselves, towards others, the past and the future.     

Isolement et solitude au travail : l’exemple des agents d’accueil de parcs urbains. Des effets pathogènes aux processus de régulation et de dégagement

Through action-research case study in the area of “Parks and Gardens”, this paper focused on the relations between “aloneness”, “loneliness” and “solitude” at work and their necessary distinctions. The Socio-Clinical work psychology approach used during the intervention helped to highlight some key elements. While aloneness characterizes a stretched between the subject and its external environment link, loneliness and solitude are defined as intra-subjective process mainly emotional psycho. These last notions remain in any case a test for physical and psychological occupational health. It seems that the outcomes depend largely on the ability of the subject to convert aloneness to solitude. In our case study three valences of aloneness with different level of risk for health, were underline: solitude, as creative aloneness; defensive aloneness; and loneliness. The advantages of this new approach for prevention are discussed in the positioning relative to other work on the subject.     

Cue competition effects in the planarian

The learning abilities of planarian worms (Dugesia tigrina) were assessed by using a number of Pavlovian conditioning paradigms. Experiment 1 showed that planaria were susceptible to basic conditioning in that they readily developed a conditioned response to a change in ambient luminance when it was consistently paired with an electric shock over a number of trials. In Experiment 2, the change in luminance was presented in a compound with a vibration stimulus during conditioning. Subsequent tests revealed poor conditioning of the elements compared with control groups in which the animals were conditioned in the presence of the elements alone, an instance of overshadowing. In Experiment 3, pre-training of one of the elements before compound conditioning resulted in blocking of learning about the other element. These results add to other studies that have reported cue competition effects in animal species belonging to different phyla (chordate, mollusk, arthropod), suggesting that learning in these phyla could be ruled by similar principles. The results are discussed adopting an evolutionary-comparative approach.     

Burnout and its relations with basic psychological needs and motivation among athletes: A systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectivesThe present study is a review on studies about the relationships between the three basic psychological needs/motivational regulations (i.e., amotivation, controlled regulation, extrinsic autonomous regulation, and intrinsic motivation) and burnout.DesignA systematic review and meta-analysis.MethodStudies were identified through five electronic databases and manual search using combinations of three groups of keywords. Three inclusion criteria were then used to screen the searched articles.ResultsEighteen studies met the inclusion criteria and these studies varied considerably in terms of their study characteristics (e.g., characteristics of participants, study designs, and outcome measures). The results also showed that the three basic psychological needs, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic autonomous regulation, and amotivation had small to large effects on predicting global burnout and its three dimensions. However, controlled regulation showed no or weak correlations with the burnout subscales.ConclusionsSelf-determination theory was generally supported in explaining athlete burnout.     

The Blood of Jesus in revival theology and the contemporary Church with particular reference to the East African Revival and Roy Hession

One of the most common phrases heard in testimony, preaching, and song during the East African Revival (EAR) was the phrase ‘The Blood of Jesus Christ’. Taken from a rich biblical heritage, this phrase encapsulates a wide range of ideas concerning the work of the cross and the power of forgiveness in a believer's life. Whilst, as will be noted, the use of The Blood has been common to many revivals, this article examines especially the theology behind this phrase by looking at the most prominent of the EAR authors – Roy Hession. It investigates seven different applications of The Blood in a believer's life: The Blood as a testament that sin is forgiven, The Blood as cleansing the conscience, The Blood as victory over despair, The Blood as the remover of shame, The Blood as washing away sin, The Blood as the gateway of the Holy Spirit, and finally The Blood as the source of true fellowship. The theology of The Blood has a long history of use in the Church but it also comes with difficulties. To this end the article will investigate the legitimacy of the practice often found in Africa and some Pentecostal circles of invoking The Blood as protection against the demonic. The article closes by considering the reasons why speaking of The Blood in church can be uncomfortable yet is paradoxically of vital importance to revival.     

Objective assessment of the functional role of spike train correlations using information measures

The functional role of correlations between neuronal spike trains remains strongly debated. This debate partly stems from the lack of a standardized analysis technique capable of accurately quantifying the role of correlations in stimulus encoding. We believe that information theoretic measures may represent an objective method for analysing the functional role of neuronal correlations. Here we show that information analysis of pairs of spike trains allows the information content present in the firing rate to be disambiguated from any extra information that may be present in the temporal relationships of the two spike trains. We validate and illustrate the method by applying it to simulated data with variable degrees of known synchrony, and by applying it to recordings from pairs of sites in the primary visual cortex of anaesthetized cats. We discuss the importance of information theoretic analysis in elucidating the neuronal mechanisms underlying object identification.