Telescoped trajectories from alcohol initiation to disorder in children of alcoholic parents

The current study tested whether and why children of alcoholics (COAs) showed telescoped (adolescent) drinking initiation-to-disorder trajectories as compared with non-COAs. Using longitudinal data from a community-based sample, the authors confirmed through survival analyses that COAs progressed more quickly from initial adolescent alcohol use to the onset of disorder than do matched controls. Similar risks for telescoping were evident in COAs whose parents were actively symptomatic versus those whose parents had been previously diagnosed. Stronger telescoping effects were observed for COAs whose parents showed comorbidity for either depression or antisocial personality disorder. Both greater externalizing symptoms and more frequent, heavier drinking patterns at initiation failed to explain COAs' risk for telescoping, although externalizing symptoms were a unique predictor of telescoping. This risk for telescoping was also evident for drug disorders. These findings characterize a risky course of drinking in COAs and raise important questions concerning the underlying mechanisms and consequences of telescoping in COAs.     

Impairments in the perception of odor-induced tastes and their relationship to impairments in taste perception

Certain odors have tastelike qualities when sniffed. To the extent that these qualities are akin to real taste experiences, impairment in perception of odor-induced tastes should be accompanied by taste impairment, and vice versa. Twelve patients were selected with possible odor-induced taste impairments or general taste impairments via a screening test, along with a further 6 patients with a probable taste impairment (insular lesion). These 18 patients, along with 19 normal controls, completed a battery of odor, taste, visual control, and neuropsychological tests to assess impairments in odor-induced taste perception and general taste perception. Four patients had an odor-induced taste impairment and were also impaired on taste perception. A further analysis, using regression on the whole sample, indicated that taste impairments were associated with odor-induced taste abnormalities independent of other predictors. This pattern also held for the patient group alone. The insular patients also exhibited both taste and odor-induced taste impairments. This study is the first to demonstrate a relationship between impaired taste perception and the perception of odor-induced tastes and suggests that both may rely on certain common neural substrates.     

List context fosters semantic processing: parallels between semantic and morphological facilitation when primes are forward masked

The authors examined patterns of facilitation under forward-masked priming conditions across 3 list contexts (Experiments 1-3) that varied with respect to properties of filler trials -- (a) mixed (morphological, orthographic, semantic), (b) identity, and (c) semantic -- but held the relatedness proportion constant (75%). Facilitation for targets that were related morphologically to their prime occurred regardless of filler context, but facilitation for semantically related pairs occurred only in the context of identity and semantic fillers. Facilitation was absent for orthographically similar prime-target pairs in all 3 filler contexts when matching numbers of orthographically similar word-word and word-nonword prime-target pairs rendered orthographic similarity uninformative with respect to lexicality of the target. Enhanced semantic and morphological facilitation in the context of identity and semantic relative to mixed fillers support a semantically attuned, as contrasted with a purely form-based, account of early morphological processing.     

Waiting to be born: the ethical implications of the generation of "NUBorn" and "NUAge" mice from pre-pubertal ovarian tissue

Oncofertility is one of the 9 NIH Roadmap Initiatives, federal grants intended to explore previously intractable questions, and it describes a new field that exists in the liminal space between cancer treatment and its sequelae, IVF clinics and their yearning, and basic research in cell growth, biomaterials, and reproductive science and its tempting promises. Cancer diagnoses, which were once thought universally fatal, now often entail management of a chronic disease. Yet the therapies are rigorous, must start immediately, and in many cases result in premature failure of the body's reproductive ability. In women, this loss is especially poignant; unlike the routine storage of sperm, which is done in men and boys facing similar treatment decisions, freezing oocytes in anticipation of fertility loss is not possible in most cases, and creating an embryo within days of diagnosis raises significant moral, social and medical challenges. Oncofertility is the study of how to harvest ovarian tissue in women facing cancer to preserve their gametes for future use with IVF, thus allowing the decisions about childbearing to be deferred and reproductive choices to be preserved. The research endeavor uses the capacity of the ovarian follicle to produce eggs in vitro. Developing the human follicle to ovulate successfully outside the body is scientifically difficult and ethically challenging. Infertility is linked to long-standing religious and moral traditions, and is intertwined with deeply contentious social narratives about women, families, illness and birth. Is the research morally permissible? Perhaps imperative if understood as a repair from iatrogenic harms? How are considerations of justice central to the work? How will vulnerable subjects be protected? What are the moral implications of the work for women, children and families? What are the implications for society if women could store ovarian tissue as a way of stopping the biological clock? What are the moral possibilities and challenges if eggs can be produced in large quantities from a stored ovarian tissue?     

Responses to broken promises: Does personality matter?

This paper examined the effects of personality traits on individuals' reactions to broken promises. We studied the effects of Neuroticism and Agreeableness on emotive and cognitive responses to breach and investigated whether these effects varied across different types (economic vs. social) and severity (high vs. low) of breach. We collected data from a scenario-based experiment with 119 undergraduate participants. Neuroticism was found to influence emotive and cognitive responses, whereas Agreeableness influenced emotive responses. Agreeableness also interacted with the type and severity of breach to differentially predict individuals' responses to breach.     

The Aftermath of Romantic Betrayal: What’s Love Got to Do with It?

Approaches to love were explored to determine links to psychological experiences after romantic betrayal. Results indicated that the mania (obsessive) love style predicted post-betrayal trauma reactions, depression, and psychosomatic symptoms, whereas other styles were unrelated to these post-betrayal reactions. Weaker effects also were observed in which the mania style was related to post-betrayal anxiety and embarrassment, as well as low levels of psychological resolution for the betrayal across time among those who were no longer involved with their betrayers.     

Factors Associated with Interest in Gene-Panel Testing and Risk Communication Preferences in Women from <Emphasis Type="Italic">BRCA1/2</Emphasis> Negative Families

Scientific advances have allowed the development of multiplex gene-panels to assess many genes simultaneously in women who have tested negative for BRCA1/2. We examined correlates of interest in testing for genes that confer modest and moderate breast cancer risk and risk communication preferences for women from BRCA negative families. Female first-degree relatives of breast cancer patients who tested negative for BRCA1/2 mutations (N = 149) completed a survey assessing multiplex genetic testing interest and risk communication preferences. Interest in testing was high (70 %) and even higher if results could guide risk-reducing behavior changes such as taking medications (79 %). Participants preferred to receive genomic risk communications from a variety of sources including: primary care physicians (83 %), genetic counselors (78 %), printed materials (71 %) and the web (60 %). Factors that were independently associated with testing interest were: perceived lifetime risk of developing cancer (odds ratio (OR) = 1.67: 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.06–2.65) and high cancer worry (OR = 3.12: CI 1.28–7.60). Findings suggest that women from BRCA1/2 negative families are a unique population and may be primed for behavior change. Findings also provide guidance for clinicians who can help develop genomic risk communications, promote informed decision making and customize behavioral interventions.     

Prenatal cocaine exposure and infant cognition

The present study examined the relationship of prenatal cocaine exposure to infant information processing in the first year of life.In a prospective, longitudinal study of 177 cocaine-exposed and 175 non-exposed infants, the Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence (FTII) was used to measure attention, visual recognition memory and information processing speed at 6.5 and 12 months of age. Groups were compared over time using mixed linear model analyses.Prenatal cocaine exposure predicted poorer visual recognition memory at 12 months, with exposed infants obtaining lower mean scores and a higher percentage of scores in the risk range. Across exposure groups, information processing speed increased with age, demonstrating a developmental effect. Tobacco and marijuana exposures were related to faster looking times, which did not relate to visual recognition memory.Cognitive deficits and attentional problems noted in prior studies of cocaine-exposed children at later ages may be detectable in infancy.     

One Facility's Experience Using the Community Readiness Model to Guide Services for Gay,Lesbian, Bisexual,and Transgender Older Adults

The Community Readiness Model (CRM) is a change model that measures the readiness of communities/institutions to meet the needs of diverse clientele and to guide strategy development. This article presents model implementation with one long‐term care facility interested in enhancing their ability to serve gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender older adults.