Co-Occurring Traumatic Brain Injury,PTSD Symptoms,and Alcohol Use in Veterans

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been identified as a significant health problem among veterans. Recent research demonstrates the potential interaction and magnification of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUD) in veterans with a history of TBI; however, there is very limited research on the co-occurrence of the three conditions. Veterans (N = 115) with comorbid PTSD and SUD completed a baseline assessment for enrollment into a larger treatment study. As part of that assessment, participants completed a TBI screener as well as self-report measures for pain and physical health, affective symptoms, and substance use. Almost half of the sample (48 %) endorsed a history of a previous head trauma with loss of consciousness (LOC). Participants with and without head trauma with LOC were compared across various measures of functioning. Increased severity of physical health complaints and affective symptoms were reported by the TBI group compared to controls. However, the increases in affective symptoms were relatively small. No group differences were observed for alcohol use. Together, the findings suggest that treatment-seeking veterans with a history of head trauma with LOC may present with roughly equivalent symptoms of PTSD and SUD to those without said history.     

Canaries in the Ethical Coal Mine? Case Vignettes and Empirical Findings for How Psychology Leaders Have Adopted Twitter

Twitter, an online application, allows users to post microblog statements in real time. Have psychologists in leadership positions adopted Twitter? What ethical standards are navigated in doing so? Little research has examined the adoption rate of Twitter within a sample of psychologists. This article outlines a series of case vignettes depicting ethical dilemmas encountered by psychologists who adopt Twitter. Data reviewing Twitter adoption by professional psychologists who served as president within psychology advocacy organizations reveal higher adoption rates from student group leaders than professional organization advocacy presidents. Implications for ethical standards and professional development are discussed.     

Effects of positive versus negative expressive writing exercises on adolescent academic achievement

A robust body of research has documented how expressive writing about difficult or traumatic experiences can be beneficial across a range of domains. Relatively little research, on the other hand, has documented the impact of expressive writing activities on positive events. In this randomized controlled trial, adolescents (N = 350) beginning ninth grade in three schools serving mostly low-income students of color participated in a 45-min writing workshop. They were prompted to write about either a negative or positive life event, then edit their writing to include themes thought to insulate them from the possible threats to identity that can come with the transition to high school. We find evidence that positive expressive writing activities are more academically beneficial than expressive writing about negative events. Compared with students who wrote about a failure and subsequent resilience, students who detailed how they attained an important success showed a more positive trajectory for absences (β = −.417; p = .008) and detentions (β = −.962; p = .034), and those who wrote about a generally happy life event showed a better trajectory for grade point average (β = .622; p = .043). Exploratory analyses also show that, regardless of condition, including themes of the “self as competent” and “savoring” good experiences was associated with improved academic outcomes. Including themes of “resilience” was not, across conditions, associated with improved outcomes unless students at the same time included “self as competent” themes.     

Neuropsychological profile following suicide attempt by hanging: two adolescent case reports

Hippocampal damage and amnesia following hypoxia and ischemia are described in the few published adult cases of suicide attempt by hanging. However, a recent review (Caine &; Watson, 2000 Caine, D. and Watson, J. D. 2000. Neuropsychological and neuropathological sequelae of cerebral anoxia: A critical review. Journal of the International Neuropsychology Society, 6: 86–99. [CROSSREF][Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) suggests a variable pattern of brain involvement and neuropsychological impairments following hypoxic-ischemic injury that may or may not involve amnesia. To help clarify the impact of hanging on the developing brain, we examined neuropsychological functioning in two adolescents who survived suicide attempt by hanging. Despite differences in Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), coma duration, and structural imaging findings, both patients had similar IQ (VIQ > PIQ) and presented with various combinations of deficits in expressive/receptive language, visual-constructional and perceptual ability, processing speed, attention, working memory, and/or executive functioning shortly after injury. In spite of their similarities, only one of the patients presented with classic amnesia symptoms in his early recovery. This patient was evaluated 1 year postinjury, and persistent deficits in processing speed and memory encoding were noted. Several hanging-related variables, including longer estimated hanging duration, greater weight, and severe airway edema, were thought to place this patient at increased risk for cognitive deficits. Clinical MRI scans of this patient obtained 6 weeks postinjury revealed mild volume loss as well as abnormalities in bilateral superior cortex. However, CT and MRI scans obtained throughout early recovery did not reveal overt evidence of injury to specific memory-related structures. Comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation of all adolescent survivors of suicide attempt by hanging is recommended, as a variety of postacute cognitive deficits were observed in these patients despite relatively short (≤ 15 minutes) estimated hanging durations.     

Becoming Generative: Socializing Influences Recalled in Life Stories in Late Midlife

Through content analysis of adult autobiographies, this study explored possible developmental antecedents of generativity—an adult’s commitment to caring for and contributing to the well-being of future generations. A sample of 158 African-American and Euro-American adults in their late 50s completed self-report measures of generativity and various forms of societal engagement, and then each participant was interviewed in depth to tell the story of his or her life. Replicating past studies, generativity was positively associated with current political and civic engagement and with involvement in religious institutions. For the entire sample, high levels of generativity were predicted by narrative accounts of positive socializing influences coming from the family, teachers and mentors, the education system, and other valued societal institutions. Among the African-American subsample, however, socioeconomic status trumped these positive socializing influences as a strong statistical predictor of generativity, even as African-Americans scored higher than Euro-Americans on both generativity and positive socializing influences. Gender differences also emerged. The results suggest that both social class and positive socializing influences from individuals and institutions may shape generativity for midlife American adults and that these developmental relationships may differ as a function of race/ethnicity and gender.     

The Role of Self-Compassion in Physical and Psychological Well-Being

The relation of self-compassion to physical and psychological well-being was investigated among 182 college students. The self-compassion scale was delineated into three composites, following the proposition by Neff that self-compassion consists of three main components: self-judgment versus self-kindness (SJ–SK), a sense of isolation versus common humanity (I–CH), and over-identification versus mindfulness (OI–M). Findings support the association between self-compassion and psychological and physical well-being, but the composites demonstrate different influences. SJ–SK and I–CH were predictive of both depressive symptomatology and physical well-being, and SJ–SK and OI–M were predictive of managing life stressors. The results of this study support and expand prior research on self-compassion.     

Relationship between food habituation and reinforcing efficacy of food

Reinforcing value and habituation are two processes that have been used to study eating behaviors, but no research has examined their relationship, how they relate to energy intake, and whether they respond in a similar manner to food deprivation. Twenty-two female subjects were randomized to food deprived or non-deprived conditions, and assessed for food reinforcement, habituation to food and ad libitum eating. Results showed food reinforcement and habituation are correlated (r = 0.62, p = 0.002) and both independently predict energy intake. Hierarchical regression showed that the rate of habituation accounted for 30 percent of the variance in eating (p = 0.008), and adding food reinforcement increased the amount of variance accounted for up to 57.5 percent (p < 0.05). This suggests that both processes may influence energy intake in a meal.     

A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of the Effects of Police Body-Worn Cameras (BWCs) on Response-to-Resistance in a Large Metropolitan Police Department

The current study provides a statistically rigorous program evaluation of the impact of police body-worn cameras (BWCs) on police response-to-resistance (e.g., use of force). Results indicate that BWC officers’ mean frequency of response-to-resistance decreased by 8.4% from the 12 months pre-BWC implementation to the 12 months post-BWC implementation compared with a 3.4% increase observed for the matched sample of non-BWC officers. Police departments should consider adopting BWCs alongside other strategies to reduce police response-to-resistance, and to improve transparency and accountability. Study limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.     

Free Semantics

Free Semantics is based on normalized natural deduction for the weak relevant logic DW and its near neighbours. This is motivated by the fact that in the determination of validity in truth-functional semantics, natural deduction is normally used. Due to normalization, the logic is decidable and hence the semantics can also be used to construct counter-models for invalid formulae. The logic DW is motivated as an entailment logic just weaker than the logic MC of meaning containment. DW is the logic focussed upon, but the results extend to MC. The semantics is called ‘free semantics’ since it is disjunctively and existentially free in that no disjunctive or existential witnesses are produced, unlike in truth-functional semantics. Such ‘witnesses’ are only assumed in generality and are not necessarily actual. The paper sets up the free semantics in a truth-functional style and gives a natural deduction interpetation of the meta-logical connectives. We then set out a familiar tableau-style system, but based on natural deduction proof rather than truth-functional semantics. A proof of soundness and completeness is given for a reductio system, which is a transform of the tableau system. The reductio system has positive and negative rules in place of the elimination and introduction rules of Brady’s normalized natural deduction system for DW. The elimination-introduction turning points become closures of threads of proof, which are at the points of contradiction for the reductio system.     

My face or yours? Event-related potential correlates of self-face processing

The neural basis of self-recognition is mainly studied using brain-imaging techniques which reveal much about the localization of self-processing in the brain. There are comparatively few studies using EEG which allow us to study the time course of self-recognition. In this study, participants monitored a sequence of images, including 20 distinct images of their own face, a friend’s face and a stranger’s face articulating different speech sounds, while EEG was recorded from 64 scalp electrodes. Differences in the ERP waveforms were observed very early on, with increased N170 and VPP amplitude to self relative to both friend and stranger measured over posterior and fronto-central sites, respectively. This ‘self effect’ was also marked at ∼250 ms where P2/N2 amplitude was significantly reduced for self-faces. By comparison, differences between friend and stranger faces did not emerge until 250 ms and beyond, where a more conventional ‘familiarity effect’ was observed. The data also point to a ‘less lateralized’ representation of self over posterior sites. These findings are consistent with both behavioral and fMRI studies which suggest that self-face processing is ‘special’ and are discussed with reference to EEG studies of face processing.