National identifications and attitudes to national ingroups and outgroups amongst children living in the Basque country

This study investigated the development of national identification in children growing up in the Basque Country. The sample consisted of 246 children aged 6, 9, 12 and 15 years old who belonged to three linguistic subgroups: children who spoke only Basque with their parents in their home, children who spoke only Spanish in their home, and children who spoke both Basque and Spanish in their home. It was found that national identifications differed in the three linguistic subgroups. Furthermore, the three subgroups exhibited different evaluations of, and feelings towards, the national ingroup and a number of national outgroups. The positive and affective distinctiveness ascribed to the Basque and Spanish national groups was correlated with the strength of identification with the Basque and Spanish groups, respectively. The attitudes towards national outgroups which were exhibited by these children did not show any changes as a function of age. It is argued that the cognitive‐developmental account of the development of national attitudes is unable to explain the patterns of findings which were obtained, but that social identity theory can explain the correlation between the strength of national identification and the positive and affective distinctiveness which was ascribed to the ingroup. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Inverse reference in subtraction performance: an analysis from arithmetic word problems

Studies of elementary calculation have shown that adults solve basic subtraction problems faster with problems presented in addition format (e.g., 6 ± =?13) than in standard subtraction format (e.g., 13 - 6?=?). Therefore, it is considered that adults solve subtraction problems by reference to the inverse operation (e.g., for 13 - 6?=?7, "I know that 13 is 6?+?7") because presenting the subtraction problem in addition format does not require the mental rearrangement of the problem elements into the addition format. In two experiments, we examine whether adults' use of addition to solve subtractions is modulated by the arrangement of minuend and subtrahend, regardless of format. To this end, we used arithmetic word problems since single-digit problems in subtraction format would not allow the subtrahend to appear before the minuend. In Experiment 1, subtractions were presented by arranging minuend and subtrahend according to previous research. In Experiment 2, operands were reversed. The overall results showed that participants benefited from word problems where the subtrahend appears before the minuend, including subtractions in standard subtraction format. These findings add to a growing body of literature that emphasizes the role of inverse reference in adults' performance on subtractions.     

Quality of Life in Mexico: A Formative Measurement Approach

Improving quality of life for community members has become increasingly important for policy makers and society in general. This article presents the results from a representative sample of citizens from south-western Mexico. Because it is argued that quality of life indexes are formative rather than reflective, an advanced statistical method (partial least square) is used to analyze the data. The quality of life index used in the study includes the domains of health, income, work, education, safety, public services, non-governmental community services, social contact, and happiness. The results suggest that monetary-oriented indicators such as income and work are less important for respondents than domains such as happiness, social contact, or community services. However, for some of the domains, age and gender inequalities are observed.     

Bidirectional plasticity in striatonigral synapses: a switch to balance direct and indirect basal ganglia pathways

There is no hypothesis to explain how direct and indirect basal ganglia (BG) pathways interact to reach a balance during the learning of motor procedures. Both pathways converge in the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr) carrying the result of striatal processing. Unfortunately, the mechanisms that regulate synaptic plasticity in striatonigral (direct pathway) synapses are not known. Here, we used electrophysiological techniques to describe dopamine D(1)-receptor-mediated facilitation in striatonigral synapses in the context of its interaction with glutamatergic inputs, probably coming from the subthalamic nucleus (STN) (indirect pathway) and describe a striatonigral cannabinoid-dependent long-term synaptic depression (LTD). It is shown that striatonigral afferents exhibit D(1)-receptor-mediated facilitation of synaptic transmission when NMDA receptors are inactive, a phenomenon that changes to cannabinoid-dependent LTD when NMDA receptors are active. This interaction makes SNr neurons become coincidence-detector switching ports: When inactive, NMDA receptors lead to a dopamine-dependent enhancement of direct pathway output, theoretically facilitating movement. When active, NMDA receptors result in LTD of the same synapses, thus decreasing movement. We propose that SNr neurons, working as logical gates, tune the motor system to establish a balance between both BG pathways, enabling the system to choose appropriate synergies for movement learning and postural support.     

Culturally adapted versus standard exposure treatment for phobic Asian Americans: Treatment efficacy, moderators, and predictors

This study is a 6-month follow-up of a randomized pilot evaluation of standard one-session treatment (OST-S) versus culturally adapted OST (OST-CA) with phobic Asian Americans. OST-CA included seven cultural adaptations drawn from prior research with East Asians and Asian Americans. Results from 1-week and 6-month follow-up show that both OST-S and OST-CA were effective at reducing phobic symptoms compared with self-help control. Moreover, OST-CA was superior to OST-S for several outcomes. For catastrophic thinking and general fear, moderator analyses indicated that low-acculturation Asian Americans benefitted more from OST-CA than OST-S, whereas both treatments were equally effective for high-acculturation participants. Although cultural process factors (e.g., facilitating emotional control, exploiting the vertical therapist-client relationship) and working alliance were predictive of positive outcomes, they did not mediate treatment effects. This study offers a potential model for evaluating cultural adaptation effects, as well as the mechanisms that account for such effects.     

HIV and depression--a systematic review of interventions

HIV-positive individuals are more likely to be diagnosed with major depressive disorder than HIV-negative individuals. Depression can precede diagnosis and be associated with risk factors for infection. The experience of illness can also exacerbate depressive episodes and depression can be a side effect to treatment. A systematic understanding of which interventions have been tested in and are effective with HIV-seropositive individuals is needed. This review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of evaluated interventions related to HIV and depression and provide some insight on questions of prevalence and measurement. Standard systematic research methods were used to gather quality published papers on HIV and depression. From the search, 1015 articles were generated and hand searched resulting in 90 studies meeting adequacy inclusion criteria for analysis. Of these, 67 (74.4%) were implemented in North America (the US and Canada) and 14 (15.5%) in Europe, with little representation from Africa, Asia and South America. Sixty-five (65.5%) studies recruited only men or mostly men, of which 31 (35%) recruited gay or bisexual men. Prevalence rates of depression ranged from 0 to 80%; measures were diverse and rarely adopted the same cut-off points. Twenty-one standardized instruments were used to measure depression. Ninety-nine interventions were investigated. The interventions were diverse and could broadly be categorized into psychological, psychotropic, psychosocial, physical, HIV-specific health psychology interventions and HIV treatment-related interventions. Psychological interventions were particularly effective and in particular interventions that incorporated a cognitive-behavioural component. Psychotropic and HIV-specific health psychology interventions were generally effective. Evidence is not clear-cut regarding the effectiveness of physical therapies and psychosocial interventions were generally ineffective. Interventions that investigated the effects of treatments for HIV and HIV-associated conditions on depression generally found that these treatments did not increase but often decreased depression. Interventions are both effective and available, although further research into enhancing efficacy would be valuable. Depression needs to be routinely logged in those with HIV infection during the course of their disease. Specific data on women, young people, heterosexual men, drug users and those indiverse geographic areas are needed. Measurement of depression needs to be harmonized and management into care protocols incorporated.     

Trait Meta-Mood and Subjective Happiness: A 7-week Prospective Study

The primary aim of the current study was to replicate and extend previous findings by examining the relationship between trait meta-mood and levels of subjective happiness in a 7-week follow-up study. Participants were 192 undergraduate students (155 females) who completed self-report measures of trait meta-mood and subjective happiness. After 7 weeks, 155 students completed the subjective happiness scale again. Focusing first on cross-sectional analysis, meta-mood dimensions were found to be moderately related to levels of subjective happiness. Next, along with initial levels of subjective happiness, we found that meta-mood dimensions independently predicted prospective levels of subjective happiness over a 7-week follow-up. These findings provide some preliminary evidence on the prospective value of meta-mood dimensions as relevant individual differences involved in the maintenance of emotional well-being indicators.     

Correlates of intellectual ability with morphology of the hippocampus and amygdala in healthy adults

Several prior imaging studies of healthy adults have correlated volumes of the hippocampus and amygdala with measures of general intelligence (IQ), with variable results. In this study, we assessed correlations between volumes of the hippocampus and amygdala and full-scale IQ scores (FSIQ) using a method of image analysis that permits detailed regional mapping of this correlation throughout the surface contour of these brain structures. We delineated the hippocampus and amygdala in high-resolution magnetic resonance images of the brain from 34 healthy individuals. We then correlated FSIQ with overall volumes and with the surface morphologies of each of these structures. Hippocampus volumes correlated significantly and inversely with FSIQ independently of gender, age, socioeconomic status, and whole brain volume. Left and right hippocampus volumes correlated respectively with verbal and performance IQ subscales. Higher IQs were significantly associated with large inward deformations of the surface of the anterior hippocampus bilaterally. These findings suggest that a smaller anterior hippocampus contributes to an increased efficiency of neural processing that subserves overall intelligence.     

Crime prevention: more evidence-based analysis

This paper introduces a new section of Psicothema dedicated to the evidence-based approach to crime prevention. Along with an original sexual-offender-treatment programme implemented in Spain, this section presents four systematic reviews of important subjects in the criminological arena, such as sexual offender treatment, the well-known programme, the effectiveness of custodial versus non-custodial sanctions in reoffending and the fight against terrorism. We also highlight some of the focal points that scientists, practitioners and governments should take into account in order to support this evidence-based viewpoint of crime prevention.