Associations of Youth and Adulthood Body-Mass Index and Waist-Hip Ratio with Attachment Styles and Dimensions

The current cross-sectional study examined whether body-mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio are associated with adult attachment. Participants were 1,570 men and women participating in Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study. BMI was measured in youth and in adulthood and waist-hip ratio in adulthood. A single measure of attachment style was conducted when participants were aged 24–39 years. In age and sex adjusted models, youth BMI (Beta = .066, p = .008), adulthood BMI (Beta = .069, p = .007) and waist-hip ratio (Beta = .082, p = .016) were associated with fearful attachment. The associations remained significant when education and relationship status were adjusted for. Age adjusted association between adulthood waist-hip ratio and preoccupied attachment was found in men (Beta = .132, p = .002). The association was not essentially changed by additionally adjusting for education and relationship status, and including fearful attachment in the model. Furthermore, associations for attachment dimensions were also found. These results suggest that in addition to previously reported negative effects of higher BMI on physical health, higher BMI might have negative associations with psychological functioning as well. Furthermore, our results imply that physical appearance might be associated with attachment style in adulthood.     

Visual distance estimation in static compared to moving virtual scenes

Visual motion is used to control direction and speed of self-motion and time-to-contact with an obstacle. In earlier work, we found that human subjects can discriminate between the distances of different visually simulated self-motions in a virtual scene. Distance indication in terms of an exocentric interval adjustment task, however, revealed linear correlation between perceived and indicated distances but with a profound distance underestimation. One possible explanation for this underestimation is the perception of visual space in virtual environments. Humans perceive visual space in natural scenes as curved, and distances are increasingly underestimated with increasing distance from the observer. Such spatial compression may also exist in our virtual environment. We therefore surveyed perceived visual space in a static virtual scene. We asked observers to compare two horizontal depth intervals, similar to experiments performed in natural space. Subjects had to indicate the size of one depth interval relative to a second interval. Our observers perceived visual space in the virtual environment as compressed, similar to the perception found in natural scenes. However, the nonlinear depth function we found can not explain the observed distance underestimation of visual simulated self-motions in the same environment.     

Intergenerational Continuity in Qualities of the Parent–Child Relationship: Mediating and Moderating Mechanisms

Intergenerational continuity in parenting quality has been demonstrated but the mechanisms underlying this continuity are less understood. This study investigated whether the offspring personality and years of education mediate the continuity in qualities of the parent–child relationship and whether offspring personality moderates this association. The sample comprised 1308 Finnish offspring (G2; 62% female) and their mothers (G1). G1 (Mean age?=?37.7) reported self-perceived qualities of the parent–child relationship in terms of emotional warmth and acceptance towards G2 aged 3–18 years in 1980. Thirty-two years later, once having become parents themselves, G2 (Mean age?=?42.9) self-rated their own qualities of the parent–child relationship towards their children using the same scales. Between these follow-ups, G2 self-rated their personality (consisting of temperament and character traits) using the Temperament and Character Inventory and reported years of education. Results indicated that G2 character traits—Self-directedness and Cooperativeness—partially mediated the intergenerational continuity in self-perceived emotional warmth and explained 16% of this association. No mediating role of G2 temperament traits was found (all ps?>?.240). Character traits accounted for the indirect association better than education in a multiple mediator model. Moreover, no moderating role of either temperament or character traits was found (all ps?≥?.064). Study findings show that warm and accepting qualities of the parent–child relationship in childhood are related to offspring character traits that reflect personality maturity in adulthood, which in turn would predict their own positive parent–child relationship later in life.     

Victimization and Exposure to Pro‐Self‐Harm and Pro‐Suicide Websites: A Cross‐National Study

The study of websites displaying methods of both physical self‐harm and suicide has become an important aspect of deliberate self‐injury and suicide research. However, little is known about contextual factors related to entering such sites. Using data from 3,567 respondents aged 15–30 in the US, UK, Germany, and Finland, we found that experiences of victimization are associated with entering pro‐self‐harm sites and pro‐suicide sites. Also, the victimization context had relevance, as online victimization was particularly related to pro‐self‐harm behavior. The findings suggest a need to organize more specific online support for the victims of violence and online aggression.     

马克思主义与文化理论

马尔库什是东欧新马克思主义重要流派——布达佩斯学派的主要成员之一,早年与赫勒等人师从卢卡奇进行哲学和社会学研究。上个世纪70年代,由于政治原因,他被迫移居国外。马尔库什因与赫勒、费赫尔合著的《对需要的专政》以及专著《马克思主义与人类学》等理论研究而闻名。在本文中,他从马克思关于文化问题论述中所涉及到的三个概念——"基础与上层建筑","意识形态"和"文化生产"入手,对三者的内涵、价值及存在的悖论进行了个人阐述。     

Acute stress impairs recognition for positive words--association with stress-induced cortisol secretion

Some studies suggest that stress-induced effects of cortisol on memory are modulated by the valence of the stimuli to be learned and retrieved. The present study investigated the effect of acute stress-induced cortisol secretion on acquisition and retrieval of pleasant, unpleasant and neutral words. Sixty healthy men were randomly assigned to one of the three experimental groups. Participants were either exposed to a standardized laboratory stressor (the Trier Social Stress Test) before learning a wordlist, or before retrieval, or were not stressed. Free recall and recognition were tested 24 h later. Free recall was not affected by stress exposure. For recognition, there was no main effect of the stressor, but a main effect of valence and a valence by group interaction emerged: recognition for positive words was significantly impaired when subjects were stressed before retrieval. In addition, a positive correlation between the cortisol response and errors of commission was found. The results suggest that acute stress impairs memory for positive stimuli and that stress-induced cortisol secretion interferes with accuracy of memory retrieval, i.e. the ability to discriminate true memories from false ones.     

Nichtspezifische,funktionelle und somatoforme Körperbeschwerden

In the S3 guidelines on non-specific, functional and somatoform bodily complaints, a broad group of medical and psychological societies as well as patient representatives have for the first time achieved an evidence-based consensus on terminology and care of these patients. This paper summarizes the main background information and recommendations for psychotherapists. For mild courses treatment by the general practitioner with establishment of a biopsychosocial explanatory model and physical as well as social activation is usually sufficient. More severe courses call for cooperative, coordinated management, including regular appointments with the general practitioner, graded activation and psychotherapy, especially cognitive behavioral, in addition to psychodynamic interpersonal or hypnotherapeutic imaginative psychotherapy. In particularly severe courses multimodal and if necessary day clinic or inpatient treatment is needed. Additionally the patient guidelines for affected people and their relatives are presented.     

Interventionism and Supervenience: A New Problem and Provisional Solution

The causal exclusion argument suggests that mental causes are excluded in favour of the underlying physical causes that do all the causal work. Recently, a debate has emerged concerning the possibility of avoiding this conclusion by adopting Woodward's interventionist theory of causation. Both proponents and opponents of the interventionist solution crucially rely on the notion of supervenience when formulating their positions. In this article, we consider the relation between interventionism and supervenience in detail and argue that importing supervenience relations into the interventionist framework is deeply problematic. However, rather than reject interventionist solutions to exclusion wholesale, we wish to propose that the problem lies with the concept of supervenience. This would open the door for a moderate defence of the interventionist solution to the exclusion argument.