Family-of-origin maltreatment, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, social information processing deficits, and relationship abuse perpetration

In this study, the authors examined the interrelations among family-of-origin maltreatment variables, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, social information processing deficits, and male-to-female psychological and physical intimate relationship abuse perpetration in adulthood among a community sample of 164 men and their partners. In bivariate analyses, higher family-of-origin childhood parental rejection was associated with the perpetration of psychological and physical abuse in adulthood, and childhood exposure to interparental violence was also associated with adult psychological abuse perpetration. Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that when childhood variables and other study variables were considered together, only childhood parental rejection was associated with the abuse perpetration outcomes, and these effects were indirect through PTSD symptoms and social information processing deficits. Results indicate a need for further investigation into the mechanisms accounting for the impact of early maltreatment on the development of abusive intimate relationship behavior.     

Intimate partner aggression reporting concordance and correlates of agreement among men with alcohol use disorders and their female partners

This study examined relationship aggression reporting concordance among 303 men with alcohol use disorders and their female partners enrolled in couples-based alcohol abuse treatment. Agreement for physical and psychological aggression was generally consistent with, or higher than, concordance rates reported among other populations. Men's antisocial personality disorder characteristics were the strongest predictor of higher concordance for male- and female-perpetrated aggression. Higher alcohol problem severity, poorer relationship adjustment, and higher psychopathic personality features were associated with better concordance in some analyses. Women reported experiencing more physical aggression than men reported perpetrating, and women reported perpetrating more psychological aggression than men reported experiencing. Findings highlight the importance of obtaining aggression reports from both partners and the need for research investigating methods for improving concordance.     

THE EFFECTS OF MATCHED STIMULATION AND RESPONSE INTERRUPTION AND REDIRECTION ON VOCAL STEREOTYPY

Stereotypy has been classified as repetitive behavior that does not serve any apparent function. Two procedures that have been found to reduce rates of vocal stereotypy effectively are response interruption and redirection (RIRD) and noncontingent access to matched stimulation (MS). The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of RIRD alone, MS alone, and MS combined with RIRD. One participant's results suggested similar suppressive effects on vocal stereotypy across treatment conditions. For the second participant, a slightly greater suppression of stereotypy was associated with MS + RIRD. In addition, both participants emitted a greater frequency of appropriate vocalizations in conditions with RIRD. Data suggest that the addition of MS might facilitate the implementation of RIRD in applied settings.     

Motivated social memory: Belonging needs moderate the own-group bias in face recognition

The current research examines why people have superior recognition memory for own-group members compared to other-group members. In two studies, we provide evidence for one motivational mechanism underlying own-group bias—social belonging needs. In Study 1, participants assigned to a minimal group had superior memory for own-group compared to other-group faces, replicating previous research on the own-group bias. This pattern was moderated by participants' need to belong: participants who reported a higher (versus lower) need to belong showed greater own-group memory bias. In Study 2, participants who were socially excluded had superior memory for own-university compared to other-university faces than participants who were selected to work alone by a computer. Together, these studies suggest that chronic belonging needs and social exclusion motivate own-group bias. (124 words)     

The neural underpinnings of prosody in autism

This study examines the processing of prosodic cues to linguistic structure and to affect, drawing on fMRI and behavioral data from 16 high-functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and 11 typically developing controls. Stimuli were carefully matched on pitch, intensity, and duration, while varying systematically in conditions of affective prosody (angry versus neutral speech) and grammatical prosody (questions versus statement). To avoid conscious attention to prosody, which normalizes responses in young people with ASD, the implicit comprehension task directed attention to semantic aspects of the stimuli. Results showed that when perceiving prosodic cues, both affective and grammatical, activation of neural regions was more generalized in ASD than in typical development, and areas recruited reflect heightened reliance on cognitive control, reading of intentions, attentional management, and visualization. This broader recruitment of executive and "mind-reading" brain areas for a relative simple language-processing task may be interpreted to suggest that speakers with high-functioning autism (HFA) have developed less automaticity in language processing and may also suggest that "mind-reading" or theory of mind deficits are intricately bound up in language processing. Data provide support for both a right-lateralized as well as a bilateral model of prosodic processing in typical individuals, depending upon the function of the prosodic information.     

Attributions for ambiguity in a treatment-decision context can create ambiguity aversion or seeking

The phenomenon of ambiguity aversion suggests that people prefer options that offer precisely rather than imprecisely known chances of success. However, past work on people's responses to ambiguity in health treatment contexts found ambiguity seeking rather than aversion. The present work addressed whether such findings reflected a broad tendency for ambiguity seeking in health treatment contexts or whether specific attributions for ambiguity play a substantial role. In three studies, people choose between two treatment options that involved similar underlying probabilities, except that the probabilities for one option involved ambiguity. The attributions offered for the ambiguity played an important role in the results. For example, when the range of probabilities associated with an ambiguous treatment was attributed to the fact that different studies yield different results, participants tended to show ambiguity aversion or indifference. However, when the range was attributed to something that participants could control (e.g., regular application of a cream) or something about which they were overoptimistic (e.g., their immune system function), participants tended to show ambiguity seeking. Health professionals should be mindful of how people will interpret and use information about ambiguity when choosing among treatments.     

The effect of hypnosis therapy on the symptoms and disease activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Abstract

The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of clinical hypnosis on the symptoms and disease activity of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). Sixty six RA patients participated in a controlled group design. Twenty six patients learnt the hypnosis intervention, 20 patients were in a relaxation control group and 20 patients were in a waiting-list control group. During hypnosis, patients developed individual visual imagery aimed at reducing the autoimmune activity underlying the RA and at reducing the symptoms of joint pain, swelling and stiffness. Subjective assessments of symptom severity and body and joint function, using standardised questionnaires and visual analogue scales, were obtained. Objective measures of disease activity via multiple blood samples during the therapy period and at the two follow-ups were also taken. These measurements were of erythrocyte sedimentation rate. C-reactive protein, haemoglobin and leukocyte total numbers. Results indicate that the hypnosis therapy produced more significant improvements in both the subjective and objective measurements. above relaxation and medication. Improvements were also found to be of clinical significance and became even more significant when patients practised the hypnosis regularly during the follow-up periods.     

Adaptation of a behavioral parent‐training curriculum for Hispanic caregivers: HOT DOCS Español

This article presents the process utilized to adapt a behavioral parent‐training curriculum for Hispanic caregivers from a program currently available in English. Throughout this process, a number of cultural and language elements were identified as needing to be modified to meet the needs of the Hispanic population served. Fidelity and fit were balanced to develop a curriculum acceptable to diverse Hispanic caregivers while also incorporating all the essential elements of a theory‐based approach to training caregivers. The lessons learned from this adaptation may assist others in their attempts to meet the needs of Hispanic families.