The Association Between Childhood Gender Atypical Behavior and Adult Psychiatric Symptoms is Moderated by Parenting Style

The association between childhood gender atypical behavior (GAB) i.e. behavior traditionally considered more typical for children of the opposite sex, and adult psychiatric symptoms as well as cold or over-controlling parenting style as a moderator of the association were studied in a sample of 1767 Finnish participants aged 33 to 43 years (M?=?37.5). Participants completed the Gender Identity/Gender Role Questionnaire, the Brief Symptom Inventory 18, and the Measure of Parenting Style. Regression analyses showed that women recalled more GAB than men did, and that participants who recalled more GAB reported significantly more psychiatric symptoms. Negative parenting style was associated with psychiatric symptoms. Structural equation modeling showed that parenting style significantly moderated the association between childhood GAB and adult psychiatric symptoms with positive parenting reducing the association and negative parenting sustaining it.     

Circulating fibrinogen but not D-dimer level is associated with vital exhaustion in school teachers

Meta-analyses have established elevated fibrinogen and D-dimer levels in the circulation as biological risk factors for the development and progression of coronary artery disease (CAD). Here, we investigated whether vital exhaustion (VE), a known psychosocial risk factor for CAD, is associated with fibrinogen and D-dimer levels in a sample of apparently healthy school teachers. The teaching profession has been proposed as a potentially high stressful occupation due to enhanced psychosocial stress at the workplace. Plasma fibrinogen and D-dimer levels were measured in 150 middle-aged male and female teachers derived from the first year of the Trier-Teacher-Stress-Study. Log-transformed levels were analyzed using linear regression. Results yielded a significant association between VE and fibrinogen (p = 0.02) but not D-dimer controlling for relevant covariates. Further investigation of possible interaction effects resulted in a significant association between fibrinogen and the interaction term "VE x gender" (p = 0.05). In a secondary analysis, we reran linear regression models for males and females separately. Gender-specific results revealed that the association between fibrinogen and VE remained significant in males but not females. In sum, the present data support the notion that fibrinogen levels are positively related to VE. Elevated fibrinogen might be one biological pathway by which chronic work stress may impact on teachers' cardiovascular health in the long run.     

Activation of CB1 specifically located on GABAergic interneurons inhibits LTD in the lateral amygdala

Previously, we found that in the lateral amygdala (LA) of the mouse, WIN55,212-2 decreases both glutamatergic and GABAergic synaptic transmission via activation of the cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1), yet produces an overall reduction of neuronal excitability. This suggests that the effects on excitatory transmission override those on inhibitory transmission. Here we show that CB1 activation by WIN55,212-2 and Delta(9)-THC inhibits long-term depression (LTD) of basal synaptic transmission in the LA, induced by low-frequency stimulation (LFS; 900 pulses/1 Hz). The CB1 agonist WIN55,212-2 blocked LTD via G(i/o) proteins, activation of inwardly rectifying K+ channels (K(ir)s), inhibition of the adenylate cyclase-protein kinase A (PKA) pathway, and PKA-dependent inhibition of voltage-gated N-type Ca2+ channels (N-type VGCCs). Interestingly, WIN55,212-2 effects on LTD were abolished in CB1 knock-out mice (CB1-KO), and in conditional mutants lacking CB1 expression only in GABAergic interneurons, but were still present in mutants lacking CB1 in principal forebrain neurons. LTD induction per se was unaffected by the CB1 antagonist SR141716A and was normally expressed in CB1-KO as well as in both conditional CB1 mutants. Our data demonstrate that activation of CB1 specifically located on GABAergic interneurons inhibits LTD in the LA. These findings suggest that CB1 expressed on either glutamatergic or GABAergic neurons play a differential role in the control of synaptic transmission and plasticity.     

A comparison of the kinematics of the dolphin kick in humans and cetaceans

Prerecorded video footage of 9 female and 13 male Olympic level athletes swimming underwater by using the dolphin kick was analyzed and comparisons of the stroke kinematics were made with a previous analysis of cetacean swimming conducted by Rohr and Fish (Rohr, J. J., & Fish, F. E. (2004). Strouhal numbers and optimization of swimming by odontocete cetaceans. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 207, 1633-1642). The velocities of the swimmers ranged from 1.12 m/s to 1.85 m/s which corresponded to a range of effort levels. While some swimmers performed the dolphin kick on their backs (dorsal), others employed the prone (ventral) or the side (lateral) position and no distinctions were made between these positions when considering the results. The raw quantities measured were body length L (from the fingertips of the outstretched arms to the tips of the toes), time T(L) taken by the swimmer to traverse a body length, kick amplitude A at the toes, and the number of video frames per kick. These allowed us to determine the average velocity U of the swimmer, the kick frequency f, the reduced or length-specific velocity U/L (body lengths traversed per second), and the non-dimensional quantities kick amplitude A/L, the Strouhal number fA/U (ratio of tip or toe speed to forward speed) and the quantity fL/U (kicks per body length traversed). Trends of these dimensional and non-dimensional quantities were examined for the swimmers and compared to the cetaceans. Results showed that humans and cetaceans have comparable non-dimensional kick amplitudes, but kick frequency in humans was greater than for cetaceans swimming at equivalent speeds. Human swimmers required up to five kicks per body length traveled, while cetaceans require only 1.3. Length-specific velocities reached a maximum of 0.81 for humans and this was about half that of cetaceans. Human swimmers had a mean Strouhal number of 0.80, which was above the range considered optimal for underwater undulatory propulsion.     

What Children Feel About Their First Encounter with Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

The first meeting in psychotherapeutic and psychosocial work, has a big impact on the continuation. It is a less explored research field. Children’s “voices” tend to come in the back-ground in family therapy and other settings. In a project at CAP (Child and Adolescent Psychiatry) the children’s views were collected in interviews with parents and therapists present. The grounded theory analysis process was used. The children addressed the importance of the therapist’s actions and positions in helping them to be able to communicate and to be in a dialogue. To be accepted and allowed to express feelings was important, and so was how the therapist managed to adjust to each person in the room and give space for various perspectives.     

Frequency correlates in grapheme-color synaesthesia

Individuals with synaesthesia experience certain stimuli in more than one sensory modality. Most common is the linkage of letters and digits (graphemes) to colors. Whereas synaesthesia might be partly genetically determined, the linkages to specific colors are assumed to be learned. We present a systematic statistical analysis of synaesthetic color perception based on subjects' reproduction of individual colors for each grapheme, instead of simple verbal categorizations. The statistical analysis revealed that the color perceptions, measured with the HSL (hue, saturation, and luminance) scale, varied systematically among the different digits and letters. The frequencies of the digits and letters (in the German language) partly explained these systematic variations. However, digit frequency was more strongly related to color perception in the synaesthetes than was letter frequency. The results for digit and letter frequency indicate that experience with graphemes may shape synaesthetic color perception.     

心理治疗效果评定量表（简式）在中、德应用的心理测量学研究

419名中国和德国被试参加了本研究,并回答了若干简式心理健康量表。所选的这套量表能对心理治疗不同阶段的效果（Howard’s阶段模型：重新认识期-转变期-康复期）进行测查。本研究目的在于考察这些简式量表能否用于认知-行为治疗跨文化培训项目中的质量管理。结果显示,这些量表在中德两种文化背景下都有很高的信度和效度（聚合效度和敏感性）。尽管项目间的高相关似乎提示心理健康模型只有一个维度,但探索性因素和理论分析则更支持心理健康是一个分为8个亚维度的模型,其中每个亚维度或者与基础情绪、或者与社会性情感相连关联。本文最后就研究结果及其对心理治疗质量控制的意义进行了详细讨论     

Trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms, maternal sensitivity, and children's functioning at school entry

Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, the authors modeled trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms from infant age 1 month to 7 years. The authors identified 6 trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms: high-chronic, moderate-increasing, high-decreasing, intermittent, moderate-stable, and low-stable. Women on these depression trajectories varied in sociodemographic risk and in changes in observed maternal sensitivity over time. Maternal sensitivity was generally higher and increased when depressive symptoms were low; sensitivity was lower and decreased when depressive symptoms were either high or increasing. Child outcomes at 1st grade were examined by trajectory group. The authors discuss the complexity of disentangling maternal symptoms from maternal sensitivity and sociodemographic risk when predicting children's functioning.