Comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in borderline patients defines an impulsive subtype of borderline personality disorder

In order to examine the impulsive profile of a BPD sample with comorbid ADHD, adult patients who met criteria for BPD were assessed for ADHD with the CAADID and the WURS. A high rate of ADHD in the BPD sample was found, with sixty-nine (38.1%) BPD patients diagnosed as having comorbid adult ADHD. BPD-ADHD group had higher rates of general substance use disorder (59.4% vs. 38.4%), antisocial personality disorder (7.2% vs. 0.9%) and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (21.7% vs. 6.3%). The BPD group without comorbid adult ADHD showed a higher rate of mood disorders (62.5% vs. 37.7%), panic disorders (54.5% vs. 23.1%) and benzodiazepine abuse (18.8% vs. 5.8%). Only in BPD patients without ADHD was comorbid avoidant personality disorder found. BPD patients could be distinguished in two clear subgroups related to the adult ADHD comorbidity. BPD-ADHD patients showed a more homogeneous and impulsive profile while BPD without ADHD comorbidity had more anxiety and depressive disorders.     

Comparison of Nomothetic Versus Idiographic-Oriented Methods for Making Predictions About Distal Outcomes From Time Series Data

We illustrate the idiographic/nomothetic debate by comparing 3 approaches to using daily self-report data on affect for predicting relationship quality and breakup. The 3 approaches included (a) the first day in the series of daily data; (b) the mean and variability of the daily series; and (c) parameters from dynamic factor analysis, a statistical model that uses all measurement occasions to estimate the structure and dynamics of the data. Our results indicated that data from the first measurement occasion does not provide information about the couples' relationship quality or breakup 1 to 2 years later. The mean and variability of the time series, however, were more informative: females' average positive and negative affect across time was related to relationship quality, whereas males' variability in negative affect across time was predictive of breakup. The dynamic factor analysis, in turn, allowed us to extract information central to the dyadic dynamics. This information proved useful to predict relationship quality but not breakup. The importance of examining intraindividual variability and couple dynamics is highlighted.     

Don't hide your happiness! Positive emotion dissociation, social connectedness, and psychological functioning

It is now clear that positive emotion leads to enhanced psychological functioning. What is less clear, however, is just why this is so. Drawing on a social-functional perspective, we argue that positive emotional behavior that accurately signals to others the individual's internal state will enhance social connectedness. Positive emotional behavior that does not accurately signal a person's experience--such as a smile that is not felt--may impede social connectedness and, in turn, psychological functioning. This perspective suggests that (a) the degree to which experience and behavior are dissociated during positive emotional episodes, over and above level of positive behavior, should predict worse psychological functioning and (b) the effect of dissociation should be mediated by social connectedness. To test these hypotheses, we conducted a short-term prospective longitudinal study, with a baseline assessment of depressive symptoms and well-being at Time 1. Six months later, at Time 2, we used a novel within-individual laboratory paradigm to measure the degree to which positive emotional behavior was dissociated from (vs. coherent with) a participant's positive emotional experience. We also assessed level of positive behavior and experience. Then, another 6 months later, we assessed social connectedness as a mediator and depressive symptoms and well-being as outcomes at Time 3. Even when controlling for baseline functioning and for level of positive emotion behavior and experience, we found that greater positive experience-behavior dissociation at Time 2 predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms and lower levels of well-being at Time 3. As predicted, these associations were mediated by social connectedness.     

Why is working memory related to intelligence? Different contributions from storage and processing

Domain-specific contributions of working memory (WM), short-term memory (STM), and executive functioning (EF) to individual differences in intelligence were analysed using a latent variable approach. A sample of 345 participants completed a battery of 24 tests tapping the constructs of interests as comprehensively as possible. Visuospatial and verbal STM and WM tasks were administered along with three subcomponents of EF, namely inhibition, planning, and shifting. Intelligence was assessed by non-verbal/abstract/fluid intelligence (Gf) and verbal/crystallised intelligence (Gc) standardised tests. Structural equation modelling results show that EF is the main predictor of Gf, whereas verbal STM is the main predictor of Gc. Storage and processing providing different contributions to the prediction of Gf and Gc supports the view that both short-term storage and executive functioning account for the relationship between WM and intelligence. This main conclusion stresses the importance of acknowledging core cognitive constructs as being hierarchical systems with general and domain-specific mechanisms.     

Ultradian cyclicity in auditory and visual reaction time during long performance

24 subjects were tested to check the hypothesis proposed by Kleitman about a "basic rest-activity cycle". Reaction time tasks were delivered at 10-min. intervals for 320 min. Spectral density function analyses showed no significant periods within the limits of the cycle. Discussion concerns fulfilling assumptions of spectral analysis and Fisher's test.     

The concept of love in a Spanish representative sample

The model of romantic love and the acceptance of related myths have been granted wide relevance in our context. It has also been suggested that the concept of love can play a role in the origin and maintenance of gender violence. As an initial step towards researching this relationship, the objective of this article is to study the prevailing concept of love in the Spanish population, as well as to analyze any differences that gender and age may introduce in this conception. A reduced version of the Love Attitudes Scale was administered to a representative sample of 1,351 people. Results show that both men and women widely accept the love styles Eros, Agape, Storge and Pragma, reject the Ludus style, and are indifferent to the Mania style. However, the order of preference for love styles is different for men and women and for different age groups. These results are analyzed and discussed.     

Multivariate modeling of age and retest in longitudinal studies of cognitive abilities

Longitudinal multivariate mixed models were used to examine the correlates of change between memory and processing speed and the contribution of age and retest to such change correlates. Various age- and occasion-mixed models were fitted to 2 longitudinal data sets of adult individuals (N>1,200). For both data sets, the results indicated that the correlation between the age slopes of memory and processing speed decreased when retest effects were included in the model. If retest effects existed in the data but were not modeled, the correlation between the age slopes was positively biased. The authors suggest that although the changes in memory and processing speed may be correlated over time, age alone does not capture such a covariation.