Balance Performance During Perturbed Standing Is Not Associated With Muscle Strength and Power in Young Adults

The authors investigate the ways in which varied postural responses to translating platform perturbations are associated with the variables of strength and power. Twenty-four physically active and 27 sedentary young adults were exposed to a set of postural perturbations at varied velocities (10 and 20 cm/s) and the respective accelerations (6.4 and 6.9 m/s²), constant distance (6 cm), and 4 directions of platform motion (forward, backward, left-lateral, and right-lateral). They also performed maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVC) and chair rising/chair jumping tests. The analysis of variance revealed significant interaction effect for peak center of pressure displacement, direction by velocity: F_3,129 = 24.43, p = .002; and direction by acceleration: F_3,129 = 34.18, p = .001. There were no significant correlations between peak center of pressure displacements and peak force and peak rate of force development measured during MVC in either standing (r = .27–57) or sitting positions (r = .12–51) and peak power during chair jumping (r = .47–.59) in all participants. As such, only a small proportion of variance was explained (9–39%, 3–23%, and 23–41%, respectively). In conclusion, interaction effects indicate that the composition of stimuli strongly influences compensatory responses and this effect is more pronounced in sedentary than in physically active young adults. Nevertheless, the dynamic balance is not associated with muscle strength and power in either group.     

Life With a Partner with ADHD: The Moderating Role of Intimacy

Adult attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) manifests itself through a variety of symptoms, some of which affect not only occupational and recreational activities but also intimate relationships. Previous findings have focused on the effects of adult ADHD on intimacy and relationships from the ADHD diagnosed person’s point of view. However, spouses of people with ADHD are a neglected population with regard to the effects that ADHD has on their romantic relationships. Our aim was to assess the effects of being married to a spouse with ADHD on marital relationships, and the moderating role of intimacy. We compared healthy spouses of people with ADHD to healthy spouses of healthy adults (M?=?38.23, SD?=?4.78) in their degree of self-reported intimacy and marital satisfaction. Our findings indicate that spouses of individuals with ADHD report significantly lower intimacy and lower marital satisfaction compared to spouses of individuals without ADHD. Moreover, our findings indicate that spousal reports about their degree of intimacy mediate the relationships between their spouses’ ADHD and their marital satisfaction. Results are discussed in relation to the broad implications that adult ADHD has for romantic intimacy. Our research addresses healthy partners married to a spouse with ADHD, suggesting that living with a partner with ADHD behaviors is challenging. ADHD symptoms negatively affect various qualities in the person experiencing them, but of equal importance is the damage occurring to his or her spouse. Implications for future research and recommendations for clinical work are suggested.     

"Motherhood starts in prison": the experience of motherhood among women in prison

This study aims to explore the way in which women prisoners in Israel experience motherhood in prison and construct their motherhood after being released. In-depth interviews were conducted with 9 women, and the data were analyzed according to the phenomenological approach. The qualitative methodology generated 5 main themes: (a) motherhood in prison as a motive for survival; (b) the sense of failure experienced by mothers in prison; (c) coping versus avoidance in the mother-child relationship during imprisonment; (d) motherhood in prison as a motive for change; and (e) the transition from questioning the right to be a mother to redeeming motherhood. The 5 themes were organized into a model that depicts the process of becoming a mother in prison and the move toward mending the experience of motherhood. The findings indicate that side by side with the traumatic experiences of prison are other aspects that allow for growth and rehabilitation. The discussion focuses on 2 main issues that evolved from the findings: the reasons for the change in motherhood that occurs during imprisonment and the aspects of prison that enable this change.     

They heard a cry: psychosocial resources moderate perception of others' distress

Two studies tested whether psychosocial resources affect perception of another's distress. Participants' had their resources depleted, left unchanged, or boosted by elaborately recalling either someone who had betrayed them, a neutral person, or a close and trusted other, respectively. Participants then listened to disturbing baby cries, and rated how much distress the cries conveyed. As predicted, participants who recalled a betrayal subsequently heard the cries as conveying more distress than did other participants (Study 1). However, recalling a betrayal did not amplify cry ratings if, prior to cry rating, betrayal‐related thoughts and feelings were disclosed (Study 2). The moderating effect of disclosure on cry ratings indicates that boosting resources (disclosure) can counteract the effects of resource depletion (betrayal). Results in both studies remained significant even after controlling for mood. This research is the first to show that social contexts, and emotional disclosure, each affects perception of others' distress. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Restoration of Firearm Rights in New York

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 encouraged states to create processes by which individuals who have lost their rights to firearm possession for mental-illness-related reasons could receive relief from restrictions. Over 20 states have created relief processes for this sub-group, but there still exists considerable state-by-state heterogeneity. The spectrum ranges from states that require a physician's opinion regarding appropriateness for restoration to those that rely solely on judicial proceedings without input from psychiatrists or other mental health professionals. This article reviews the restoration process in New York State, a model in which psychiatrists participate in the process of assessing whether an individual's firearm rights can be restored. It discusses the legislative background of these regulations, the specific policies and procedures governing the restoration process, and clinical considerations for the forensic evaluation. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Can Item Format (Multiple Choice vs. Open-Ended) Account for Gender Differences in Mathematics Achievement?

The purpose of this study was to investigate differential performance of boys and girls on open-ended (OE) and multiple-choice (MC) items on the 1988 and 1991 International Assessment of Educational Progress (IAEP) mathematics test. In the 1988 mathematics assessment, a representative sample of approximately 1,000 13-year-olds in each of the six participating countries was assessed. In the 1991 mathematics assessment, a representative sample of 9- and 13-year-olds (approximately 1,650 from each age group) in some 20 participating countries was assessed. Analyses of both assessments yielded results that indicated that boys generally performed better than girls in mathematics. In the 1988 assessment, gender effects were larger on MC items than on OE items, corresponding to results of earlier studies. However, the 1991 IAEP assessment produced contrary results: gender effects tended to be larger for OE items than for MC items. These inconsistent results challenge the assertion that girls perform relatively better on OE test items, and suggest that item format alone cannot account for gender differences in mathematics performance. Further investigation of the data revealed that the inconsistent patterns of gender effects with regard to item format were related to the difficulty level of the items, regardless of item format. Correlations between item difficulty and item gender effect size were computed for age 13 in the 1988 assessment and for ages 9 and 13 in the 1991 assessment. The correlations obtained were 0.26, 0.47, and 0.53, respectively, suggesting that the more difficult the items, the better boys perform relative to girls.     

Psychoacoustic abilities as predictors of vocal emotion recognition

Prosodic attributes of speech, such as intonation, influence our ability to recognize, comprehend, and produce affect, as well as semantic and pragmatic meaning, in vocal utterances. The present study examines associations between auditory perceptual abilities and the perception of prosody, both pragmatic and affective. This association has not been previously examined. Ninety-seven participants (49 female and 48 male participants) with normal hearing thresholds took part in two experiments, involving both prosody recognition and psychoacoustic tasks. The prosody recognition tasks included a vocal emotion recognition task and a focus perception task requiring recognition of an accented word in a spoken sentence. The psychoacoustic tasks included a task requiring pitch discrimination and three tasks also requiring pitch direction (i.e., high/low, rising/falling, changing/steady pitch). Results demonstrate that psychoacoustic thresholds can predict 31% and 38% of affective and pragmatic prosody recognition scores, respectively. Psychoacoustic tasks requiring pitch direction recognition were the only significant predictors of prosody recognition scores. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying prosody recognition and may have an impact on the assessment and rehabilitation of individuals suffering from deficient prosodic perception.     

Pictorial superiority effects in oldest-old people

We examined memory for pictures and words in middle-age (45–59 years), young-old (60–74 years), old-old (75–89 years), and the oldest-old adults (90–97 years) in the Louisiana Healthy Aging Study. Stimulus items were presented and retention was tested in a blocked order where half of the participants studied 16 simple line drawings and the other half studied matching words during acquisition. Free recall and recognition followed. In the next acquisition/test block a new set of items was used where the stimulus format was changed relative to the first block. Results yielded pictorial superiority effects in both retention measures for all age groups. Follow-up analyses of clustering in free recall revealed that a greater number of categories were accessed (which reflects participants’ retrieval plan) and more items were recalled per category (which reflects participants’ encoding strategy) when pictures served as stimuli compared to words. Cognitive status and working memory span were correlated with picture and word recall. Regression analyses confirmed that these individual difference variables accounted for significant age-related variance in recall. These data strongly suggest that the oldest-old can utilise nonverbal memory codes to support long-term retention as effectively as do younger adults.