Neuroticism and depressive symptoms among spouse caregivers: do health behaviors mediate this relationship?

This study examined the mediating role of health behaviors in the relationship between neuroticism and depressive symptoms among spouse caregivers. Path analysis was used to test a model of the caregiver stress process among 233 caregivers of people with dementia. Results indicate that neuroticism has a significant direct effect on depressive symptoms and also indirectly influences depressive symptoms through health behaviors and perceived stress. When individual health behaviors were examined in the path model, only physical activity served a significant mediating role. These findings suggest that neuroticism may lead to depressive symptoms among caregivers partly through declines in physical activity.     

The Tourette's Disorder Scale (TODS): development, reliability, and validity

To address the lack of a simple and standardized instrument to assess overall illness severity of Tourette's disorder (TD), the authors developed and tested a 15-item scale to measure a broad range of common symptoms including tics, inattention, hyperactivity, obsessions, compulsions, aggression, and emotional symptoms. Independent investigators used the 15-item Tourette's Disorder Scale (TODS) to assess 60 TD patients who were taking part in a double-blind placebo-controlled multicenter 8-week treatment study. Interrater reliability, internal consistency, convergent and discriminant validity, and sensitivity to change were examined. The TODS was associated with good interrater reliability, excellent internal consistency, and favorable levels of validity and sensitivity to change. Individual TODS items showed good convergent and discriminant validity against other measures. The TODS is a simple, efficient way for clinicians and parents to rate the severity of multiple symptoms commonly found in patients with Tourette's disorder.     

The category test perseveration, loss of set, and memory scales: three new scales and their relationship to executive functioning measures

The Category Test (CT) is a neuropsychological measure that taps into multiple domains of complex reasoning but yields a single error score, limiting the use of the test. In this study, three new CT scales were developed to assess specific aspects of executive dysfunction: Perseveration, Failure to Maintain Cognitive Set, and Inability to Recall and Re-Initiate Past Behavior. The relationship of these scales to well-established neuropsychological measures was examined in head-injured individuals and schizophrenia patients. The CT Perseveration score was correlated with the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) Perseverative Responses score, but also with measures from the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised and the California Verbal Learning Test. The CT Memory score correlated with other memory measures, but also with the WCST Perseveration measure. Although future studies designed to test discriminant and convergent validity are warranted, these scales may be useful in determining specific aspects of impaired CT performance.     

Confessions from the Classroom Teaching with Augustinian Eyes

Through an analysis of Augustine's Confessions, this essay aims to identify the sources, tenets, and implications of the theological anthropology that grounds the author's pedagogy. The author describes classroom dynamics and teaching strategies in terms of the concepts of creation, sin, and redemption found in the Confessions. In relation to Augustine's doctrine of creation, the author argues that a theological anthropology that posits an ineradicable relationship of the human person to God justifies optimism about student response to the study of theology. It also supports a sacramental understanding of the effectiveness of the teacher. In relation to Augustine's theology of sin, the author reflects on the effects of pride on both teacher and student. The section on redemption acknowledges that although the teacher cannot eradicate sin in the classroom, he or she can counter such effects through the responsible and sensitive exercise of authority. Throughout the essay, the virtues of humility and gratitude in the classroom are highlighted, and concrete pedagogical issues are examined in a theological light.     

Familiarity and pronounceability of nouns and names

Ratings of familiarity and pronounceability were obtained from a random sample of 199 surnames (selected from over 80,000 entries in the Purdue University phone book) and 199 nouns (from the Ku?era-Francis, 1967, word database). The distributions of ratings for nouns versus names are substantially different: Nouns were rated as more familiar and easier to pronounce than surnames. Frequency and familiarity were more closely related in the proper name pool than the word pool, although both correlations were modest. Ratings of familiarity and pronounceability were highly related for both groups. A production experiment showed that rated pronounceability was highly related to the time taken to produce a name. These data confirm the common belief that there are differences in the statistical and distributional properties of words as compared to proper names. The value of using frequency and the ratings of familiarity and pronounceability for predicting variations in actual pronunciations of words and names are discussed.     

Mother Knows Best? Mother and Child Report of Behavioral Difficulties of Children of HIV-Infected Mothers

Children of HIV-infected mothers have more psychosocial adjustment difficulties than do those of noninfected mothers. In this study, child psychosocial adjustment in children of HIV-infected women is examined across the three stages of HIV-infected: asymptomatic, symptomatic and AIDS. Participants were 99 HIV-infected women and 148 noninfected women. Children were not identified as being HIV infected. Mother and child reports of behavioral difficulties are compared, and competing hypotheses about mother report of child behavior difficulties are tested. Results indicate an ascending linear trend for child report of internalizing and externalizing difficulties from the noninfected stage through increasingly severe stages of HIV-infection. According to mother report, child externalizing and internalizing difficulties are nonlinear, as mothers report an increase through the infected symptomatic stage, then a decrease in the AIDS stage. Implications for assessment, prevention and intervention in families with maternal HIV infection are discussed.     

Toward a Developmental Diagnostic and Statistical Manual: The Vitality of a Contextual Framework

Counselors of all types need an understanding of and an ability to work with issues described by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). The traditional approach to the DSM-IV tends to locate the problem in the client, whereas a developmental approach focuses on the client in social and historical context. Specific recommendations for organizing a comprehensive treatment plan are presented. The authors endorse an educational and developmental role for counselors.