Postpartum exuberance: Not all women in a highly positive emotional state in the postpartum period are denying depression and distress

The question addressed in this study was whether or not mothers who scored low on self-report depression scales—so-called “deniers”—were denying their symptoms and suffering from an illusion of mental health. The findings did not support the interpretation that low-scoring mothers were denying other symptoms. Rather, low-scoring mothers: 1) experienced a wide range of emotions and similar levels of positive emotions compared to mid-symptom mothers; 2) changed their reported levels of depressive symptoms over the course of the study; 3) reported a variety of symptoms at levels similar to those of mothers in the mid symptom range; and 4) were affected negatively by having a diagnosis of depression, in a manner similar to mothers in the mid and high symptom groups. Furthermore, low symptom mothers consistently reported the most positive profiles of maternal adaptation with higher levels of maternal self-esteem and a high ratio of self-reported positive to negative affect. Thus, they appeared to be experiencing a heretofore underdescribed highly positive normal postpartum state that we have labeled “postpartum exuberance.” Postpartum exuberance, as well as a compromise of affective functioning associated with any lifetime diagnosis of depression regardless of the mothers' current level of depressive symptoms, highlights the complexity of emotional reactivity during the postpartum period. © 1997 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health     

Adaptive procedures in psychophysical research

As research on sensation and perception has grown more sophisticated during the last century, new adaptive methodologies have been developed to increase efficiency and reliability of measurement. An experimental procedure is said to be adaptive if the physical characteristics of the stimuli on each trial are determined by the stimuli and responses that occurred in the previous trial or sequence of trials. In this paper, the general development of adaptive procedures is described, and three commonly used methods are reviewed. Typically, a threshold value is measured using these methods, and, in some cases, other characteristics of the psychometric function underlying perceptual performance, such as slope, may be developed. Results of simulations and experiments with human subjects are reviewed to evaluate the utility of these adaptive procedures and the special circumstances under which one might be superior to another.     

Emotion-specific and emotion-non-specific components of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): implications for a taxonomy of related psychopathology

Many cognitive theories of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including our own SPAARS model, propose that one basis of the disorder is the cognitive system's persistent failure to resolve discrepancies between trauma-related information and the content of pre-existing mental representations, such as schemas. This leads to the characteristic PTSD symptom pattern of re-experiencing and avoidance of trauma-related material. Furthermore, the nature of this unresolved discrepancy revolves around appraisals of threat and the corresponding emotion profile in PTSD is therefore predominantly intense fear and anxiety. This paper argues that this general framework can be extended to discrepancies around other appraisal dimensions such as loss, and consequently to other emotions such as sadness. A localized taxonomy is therefore proposed comprising emotional disorders that resemble PTSD in their basic patterns of re-experiencing and avoidance symptoms--what we call their 'emotion-non-specific component'--but that differ from PTSD in terms of the core emotions involved--what we call their 'emotion-specific component'. The clinical and nosological implications of this argument are discussed.     

James F. Harris,Analytic Philosophy of Religion

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion -     

The Development of Compensatory Stepping Skills in Children

The development of the ability to use the step for balance recovery was studied among twenty-five 9- to 19-month-old children. The children were grouped according to walking experience (4 levels) and exposed to backward support surface translations, 8 cm in amplitude, under 3 velocity conditions: 15, 20, and 25 cm/s. New walkers (up to 2 weeks' walking experience) used the step infrequently and ineffectively in response to threats to balance. Intermediate walkers (1-3 months' walking experience) showed an increasing use of the step and significant improvement in step execution compared with new walkers. Advanced walkers (> 3 months' walking experience) experienced no falls throughout the protocol, capturing balance with feet-in-place or step responses under all perturbation conditions. A significant developmental transition in the emergence of the compensatory step occurred between the new walker and the intermediate walker experience levels, that is, within the first 3 months of walking experience. Three to 6 months' experience was required for the development of an effective stepping response. A concomitant change in mediolateral stability paralleled the emergence of compensatory stepping.     

Eating disorder and obsessive–compulsive symptoms in a sample of bulimic women: Perfectionism as a mediating factor

The present study aimed to investigate whether perfectionism mediates the association between obsessive–compulsive (OC) and eating disorder (ED) symptoms. Analyses were conducted using data collected among a national sample of eating disordered women diagnosed with BN or a subclinical variant of BN (N = 204). Each participant completed a series of self-report inventories on perfectionism, as well as OC, ED, and depressive symptoms. Higher ED symptoms were significantly associated with greater levels of perfectionism (p < .01) and OC symptoms (p < .05). As hypothesized, perfectionism significantly mediated the relationship between ED and OC symptoms, controlling for depression. Findings indicate that perfectionism may be considered a shared etiological or phenomenological factor in ED and OC symptoms.     

HIV/AIDS in scottish prisons: Attitudes of staff and prisoners

Abstract

Prison is commonly regarded as a high risk environment for the transmission of HIV/AIDS. Five hundred and fifty-nine prisoners and 591 prison staff sampled from 8 Scottish prisons completed questionnaires concerning attitudes towards various issues of HIVIAIDS. A majority of prisoners and prison staff expressed liberal attitudes with respect to HIV/AIDS. For both staff and prisoners, the most liberal responses were to items dealing with personal and social contact with people with HIVIAIDS. A majority of prisoners and prison staff expressed conservative attitudes in relation to screening of individuals for HIV. With regard to differences between prisoners and prison staff, prisoners were more supportive than prison staff of the provision of free condoms to homosexuals and free condoms and syringes to intravenous drug users, and the provision of free medical care to both groups in the case of AIDS. Among the prisoner sample, intravenous drug users, in comparison to non-users, were found to be more positive in their attitudes toward HIVIAIDS on a wide range of issues. The implications of the study for health psychology are discussed with regard to prisoner and prison staff educational needs and prisoner management.