The experience of male spouses in the context of breast cancer: a systematic review of the literature

The purpose of this systematic review is to look into how the experience of husbands of women treated for breast cancer is approached in the literature. Between July and August 2015, the databases of PubMed, SciELO and BIREME were searched for papers published in the period January 2005–July 2015; a final sample of 23 papers was defined. The studies listed several negative and positive aspects of the experience, such as financial difficulties, psychological distress, lack of coping skills among family members, social recognition of the role of caregiver, acquisition of new responsibilities and the maturing of family members.     

"A right to lead": The role of leader legitimacy on group reactions to transgressive leadership

Research on the transgression credit shows that groups may sometimes turn a blind eye to ingroup leaders who transgress moral norms. Although there is substantial research investigating the underlying criteria of what makes a “good” leader, research often neglects to investigate the role of followers in leader-group dynamics. In this paper, we offer a novel approach to transgressive leadership by proposing that leader legitimacy is a key factor that determines whether followers’ reactions to transgressive leaders are positive or negative. Across two experiments, participants ascribed transgression credit only to transgressive ingroup leaders perceived as legitimate (Studies 1–2, total n = 308). Transgressive illegitimate leaders were viewed as more threatening to the group, were targeted for formal punishment, received less validation for their behavior, triggered negative emotions (anger and shame), and raised higher consensus for their removal from the leadership position than did legitimate leaders. This effect also occurred irrespective of the absence of formal social control measures implemented toward the transgressive leader (Study 2). Mediation analysis showed that leader illegitimacy triggered stronger feelings of group threat and stronger negative emotions which, consequently, fuelled agreement with collective protest against the transgressive leader. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

On historical consciousness: A pilot investigation

Philosophers of history posit a class of concepts known as colligatory concepts that contribute to historical consciousness and that refer specifically to historical events. Although analysis has identified colligatory concepts in historical discourse, these concepts have not yet been investigated empirically. We present a new methodology for studying these concepts and historical consciousness more broadly, as well as pilot data supporting the methodology. Our aim in the pilot study was to establish whether colligatory concepts are processed differently from control concepts when subjects are asked to judge historical statements. We compared judgments of colligatory concepts in healthy participants and in a patient group with impaired working memory cognitive processing capacity. Forty healthy, college-educated participants and 25 patients with Parkinson's disease were asked to rate narrative sentences containing historical content and an equal number of identically constructed narrative sentences of equal length but devoid of historical content. All participants rated their pre-test interest in history as relatively low (mean 5 out of 7). Though no group differences emerged, historical sentences were judged by both groups (total N = 65) to be significantly different from non-historical sentences across dimensions of interestingness, meaningfulness, likeability, complexity, thought provoking-ness, and truth content. Interestingly, historical sentences were judged to be truer than control sentences even though participants were not interested in and presumably knew little about history. The neurocognitive system appears to process sentences with historical content separately from sentences without historical content. The methodology described here appears to be a valid approach for study of processing of historical content of sentences.     

Tablet Use in Young Children is Associated with Advanced Fine Motor Skills

Abstract

To evaluate whether frequent interactive tablet-use at preschool age is associated with improved fine motor skills and to describe tablet-use in young children. Cross-sectional study with 78 children, aged 24–42?months: group 1 with previous frequent tablet-use exposure (n?=?26), group 2 without previous tablet-use exposure (n?=?52). Fine motor skills were evaluated with the Bayley-III. Socioeconomic data and home environment quality were similar in both groups. Fine motor skills of group 1 were better than those of group 2 (p?=?0.013). Most participating children carried out passive and active tablet activities, usually accompanied by parents, not exceeding time recommendations for young age. We observed a difference in fine motor skills in young children slightly favoring those with tablet-use experience.     

A sensation seeking scale for children: Further refinement and psychometric development

A revision of the Sensation Seeking Scale for Children (SSSC) was standardized and validated on a community sample of 660 elementary- and middle-school children and 168 clinic-referred male children. Factor analysis of the combined samples yielded three unique factors, entitled Thrill and Adventure Seeking, Drug and Alcohol Attitudes, and Social Disinhibition. Psychometric indices of reliability and validity were acceptable, but test-retest reliability was only moderate. Differences in SSSC scores according to sex, ethnic group, age, and intellectual status were similar to those found previously with the adult Sensation Seeking Scales. Consistent with documented relations between adult antisocial personality and sensation seeking, the SSSC distinguished boys with conduct disorder (CD) from clinic controls, but the SSSC scores of boys with CD did not differ from those of the community sample boys. Discussion includes suggestions as to the continued study of the assessment of sensation seeking in children.This research was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant 1-R01-MH42529-04 and is based on the doctoral research of the first author.     

Differences and similarities between children,mothers, and teachers as informants on disruptive child behavior

Prevalence rates of disruptive child behaviors, based on structured psychiatric interviews, are presented for samples of clinic-referred prepubertal boys at two sites to investigate differences and similarities among reports of the behaviors from children, parents, and teachers. Children reported significantly less hyperactive/inattentive and oppositional behaviors than either parents or teachers. In contrast, children did not differ from parents or teachers in their report on the prevalence of more serious conduct problems. These results were well replicated across two sites, despite the fact that there were significant differences between the sites in the level of hyperactive/inattentive child behaviors and conduct problems. The ranking of parents' and teachers' reported prevalence of specific child behavior problems in each of the three domains of disruptive behavior was strikingly similar. With one exception, the concordance between the prevalence ranking based on the children's reports was lower than that based on adults' reports, Children's reports on their own behavior did not predict various child handicaps 1 year later as well as did adults' reports. The results are discussed in relation to the usefulness of certain child behaviors in symptom lists for diagnostic purposes; the reliability of children's reports on their own behavior; and the possible reasons why prevalence rankings, as perceived by adults, are so similar.     

Effectiveness of short-term seminars in four different cultures

The authors examine the knowledge, attitudes, and suppositions concerning family therapy among specialists from four professionally and politically quite different cultures. The results of the survey, which was carried out among participants in workshops and specialists' training courses, have shown that: attitudes toward and the place of psychotherapy in a given culture serve as a relevant point of reference for finding out about attitudes toward family therapy; the value of the family as a sociological unit has a formative effect on views regarding family therapy; and professional and political isolation may be a hindrance to the formation of a healthy family therapy approach, but the basic attitude toward psychotherapy is not significantly influenced by ideological factors.     

Are There Stable Factors in Preadolescent Girls’ Externalizing Behaviors?

Relatively little is known about the factor structure of disruptive behavior among preadolescent girls. The present study reports on exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of disruptive girl behavior over four successive data waves as rated by parents and teachers in a large, representative community sample of girls (N = 2,451). Five factors were identified from parent ratings (oppositional behavior/conduct problems, inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, relational aggression, and callous-unemotional behaviors), and four factors were identified derived from teacher ratings (oppositional behavior/conduct problems/callous-unemotional behaviors, inattention, hyperactivityimpulsivity, and relational aggression). There was a high degree of consistency of items loading on equivalent factors across parent and teacher ratings. Year-to-year stability of factors between ages five and 12 was high for parent ratings (ICC = 0.70 to 0.88), and slightly lower for teacher ratings (ICC = 0.56 to 0.83). These findings are discussed in terms of possible adjustment to the criteria for children's disruptive behavior disorders found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders.

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Evaluation of Siddha Samadhi Yoga for anxiety and depression symptoms: a preliminary study

Siddha Samadhi Yoga is a program in which meditation is associated with pranayama (breathing exercises). 22 volunteers with anxiety complaints (M age = 42.8 yr., SD = 10.3) were assigned to two groups: 14 attended the yoga group, and 8 attended a waiting-list or control group. They were evaluated before the intervention and 1 month after it on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, Tension Feelings Self-evaluation Scales, and the Well-being Self-evaluation Scales. A significant reduction in scores on anxiety, depression, and tension was found in yoga group, as well as an increase in well-being in comparison with the control group.