Socioeconomic status in childhood and adulthood: associations with dispositional optimism and pessimism over a 21-year follow-up

We examined whether dispositional optimism and pessimism (overall LOT-R and optimism and pessimism component scores) of 694 adults aged 24 and 27 were associated with socioeconomic status (SES) measured concurrently and in childhood at ages 3 and 6. SES measures included education, occupational status and unemployment, and income. Concurrent adulthood SES was associated with the overall LOT-R and optimism and the pessimism component scores. Childhood family SES predicted overall LOT-R and pessimism component scores, even after controlling statistically for the adulthood SES. Social mobility between SES of family of origin and current SES also influenced the scores. The current findings suggest that the foundation of dispositional optimism and pessimism is related to early SES of the family.     

Response of the pituitary-adrenal axis in terms of type a behaviour,hostility and vital exhaustion in healthy middle-aged men

Abstract

Pituitary-adrenal axis was studied in terms of Type A behaviour, hostility and vital exhaustion among 69 healthy middle-aged men. The results showed that psychological factors could explain a significant proportion of the biologically manipulated responses of HPA axis, but they worked in different ways. Type A behaviour was related to a high level of mean basal ACTH and a low level of cortisol response to ACTH stimulation after dexamethasone suppression; hostility was related to a high level of mean basal cortisol and a high cortisol in cortisol/ACTH ratio, while vital exhaustion was characterized by a low level of mean basal ACTH and a decreased ACTH in relation to cortisol. The adrenocortical patterns, i.e. a high ACTH-low cortisol; a high cortisol; and a low ACTH-low mean basal cortisol, as related to Type A behaviour, hostility and exhaustion, respectively, are in line with the traditional physiological stress model and suggest that different adrenocortical responses might be able to identify different mental stress processes. Sense of control has been suggested to be a key concept for psychological understanding of this finding.     

Childhood temperament and mother's child-rearing attitudes: stability and interaction in a three-year follow-up study

Stability and interactions between children's behavioural styles (i.e. the temperament dimensions sociability, negative emotionality, and activity) and maternal child-rearing attitudes were studied in a random sample of 507 three-year-old children over a three-year interval. Structural equation modelling indicated low to moderate stability for children's temperament dimensions and mothers’ child-rearing attitudes. In addition, gender-specific interactions were found. In boys, negative emotionality and low sociability potentiated a strict disciplinary style of the mother, whereas activity was more likely to be stimulated by a mother's low tolerance towards the child. By contrast, in girls a mother's strict disciplinary style predicted negative emotionality and low sociability, whereas the girl's activity predicted a strict disciplinary style of the mother. These findings underline the close interaction between temperament and mothering during childhood. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stressed parents: a dyadic perspective on perceived infant temperament

The study employed the actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) to test whether one parent's experiences of recent life events as more stressful (the PSS) are associated with the same parent's own (the actor effect) and the other parent's (the partner effect) perceptions of the infant temperament as more negatively and/or less positively tuned (the IBQ; n=584 parents, 292 dyads). The results indicated that the more stress one parent reported the more negatively tuned were the same parent's own, and the other parent's perceptions of the infant. Perceptions of the infant temperament were least positive for members of parent dyads who were more, relative to less, similar in the experienced stress. The associations were independent of the parent gender and the parent‐reported level of trait anxiety. The findings augment prior knowledge on the factors that steer parental perceptions, and suggest that the dyadic perspective may offer valuable insight into the dynamics of interacting within a family consisting of two biological parents and an infant. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Is Symptomatic Long QT Syndrome Associated with Depression in Women and Men?

We examined whether long QT syndrome (LQTS) mutation carrier status or symptomatic LQTS are associated with depression, and whether there are sex differences in these potential relationships. The sample comprised 782 participants (252 men). Of the 369 genetically defined LQTS mutation carriers, 169 were symptomatic and 200 were asymptomatic. The control group consisted of 413 unaffected relatives. Depression was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). No association was found for LQTS mutation carrier status with depression. The multinomial logistic regression showed that LQTS mutation carrier men with arrhythmic events scored higher on depression compared with the control group, even when adjusting for age, β-blockers, antidepressants, and social support (OR = 1.09, 95 % CI [1.02, 1.15], p = .007). The binary logistic regression comparing symptomatic and asymptomatic LQTS mutation carriers showed that symptomatic LQTS was associated with depression in men (OR = 1.10, 95 % CI [1.03, 1.19], p = .009). The results were unchanged when additionally adjusted for education. These findings suggest that symptomatic LQTS is associated with depression in men but not in women. Overall, however, depression is more frequent in women than men. Thus, regular screening for depression in LQTS mutation carriers and their unaffected family members can be important.     

The use of religion in coping with grief among bereaved Malay Muslim parents

The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of religion on bereaved parents after the death of a child. Literature had attempted to understand how religiosity may influence parental grief both in positive and negative ways. However, this area is scarcely explored in the Malaysian context. This qualitative study involved 11 bereaved parents who lost their children due to accidents (n?=?9) and homicide (n?=?2). Open-ended questions that focused on the importance, activities, and role of religion in the grieving process among Malay parents were asked. According to the thematic analysis, some of the main themes found were that the bereaved parents described religion as a beneficial mechanism in helping them to adapt with their losses through various responses that indicated the perception that religion as a guidance. However, other than the positive impact, religiosity can also lead the bereaved parents to experience negative effects of using religion as a coping strategy. The influence of culture is prevalent in the current study as the theme of mystical belief and paranormal experiences were also reported. This study provides some professional implication from the possible use of religion in intervention.     

Working alliance as a predictor of change in depression during blended cognitive behaviour therapy

Blended Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (bCBT) is a new form of treatment, mixing internet-based modules and face-to-face therapist sessions. How participants rate the therapeutic alliance in bCBT has not yet been thoroughly explored, and neither is it clear whether therapist- and patient-rated alliances are predictors of change in depression during treatment. Depression and alliance ratings from 73 participants in a treatment study on bCBT (part of the E-COMPARED project) were analysed using growth curve models. Alliance, as rated by both patients and therapists, was high. The therapist-rated working alliance was predictive of subsequent changes in depression scores during treatment, whereas the patient-rated alliance was not. A therapeutic alliance can be established in bCBT. The role of the therapist-rated alliance seems to be of particular importance and should be carefully considered when collecting data in future studies on bCBT.     

The impact of salient advertisements on reading and attention on web pages

Human vision is sensitive to salient features such as motion. Therefore, animation and onset of advertisements on Websites may attract visual attention and disrupt reading. We conducted three eye tracking experiments with authentic Web pages to assess whether (a) ads are efficiently ignored, (b) ads attract overt visual attention and disrupt reading, or (c) ads are covertly attended with distraction showing up indirectly in the reading performance. The Web pages contained an ad above a central text and another ad to the right of the text. In Experiments 1, 2, and 3A the task was to read for comprehension. Experiment 1 examined whether the degree of animation affects attention toward the ads. The results showed that ads were overtly attended during reading and that the dwell times on ads were the longest when the ad above was static and the other ad was animated. In Experiments 2 and 3, the ads appeared abruptly after a random time interval. The results showed that attention (i.e., the time when the eyes first entered an ad) was related to the ad onset time. This happened especially for the ad to the right, indicating that ads appearing close to the text region capture overt attention. In Experiment 3B the participants browsed the Web pages according to their own interest. The study demonstrated that salient ads attract overt visual attention and disrupt reading, but during free browsing, ads were viewed more frequently and for longer time than during reading.     

Avoidance motivation,risk perception and emotional processing

The present studies examined the moderating role of state motivation on the associations between trait avoidance motivation, risk perception and emotional processing. In Studies 1 and 2, avoidance or approach states were evoked in participants who then completed a risk perception task and a trait avoidance motivation measure. Both studies showed that trait avoidance only correlated with risk perceptions among individuals in approach state. In Study 3, emotional interpretation was measured. State and trait avoidance motivation did not interact in predicting emotional interpretation. The results showed that the effect of state motivation can explain the low correlations found between trait avoidance and risk perceptions, and suggested that the avoidance system may operate on an on–off principle rather than synergistically. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Attachment representations in mothers of preterm infants

The aim of the study was to assess attachment representations in mothers of preterm infants using the Working Model of Child Interview (WMCI) at the 12 months of the infant's corrected age. In addition, the relation between WMCI representation categories and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale score at 6 months of the infant's corrected age was studied. There were 38 mothers of preterm infants (<1500 g or <32 gestational weeks) and 45 mothers of full-term infants. The results showed no differences between the study groups in the distribution of the three main representation categories (balanced, disengaged and distorted). However, there were qualitative differences in representations between the groups. Furthermore, maternal depression symptoms were associated with distorted representation category. We suggest that despite the qualitative differences in the mothers’ representations, mothers of preterm infants are as likely to form balanced attachments with their infants as mothers of full-term infants.