Early gray-matter and white-matter concentration in infancy predict later language skills: A whole brain voxel-based morphometry study

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) brain scans were obtained from 19 infants at 7 months. Expressive and receptive language performance was assessed at 12 months. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) identified brain regions where gray-matter and white-matter concentrations at 7 months correlated significantly with children’s language scores at 12 months. Early gray-matter concentration in the right cerebellum, early white-matter concentration in the right cerebellum, and early white-matter concentration in the left posterior limb of the internal capsule (PLIC)/cerebral peduncle were positively and strongly associated with infants’ receptive language ability at 12 months. Early gray-matter concentration in the right hippocampus was positively and strongly correlated with infants’ expressive language ability at 12 months. Our results suggest that the cerebellum, PLIC/cerebral peduncle, and the hippocampus may be associated with early language development. Potential links between these structural predictors and infants’ linguistic functions are discussed.     

The Role of Filipino Occupational Therapists in Substance Addiction and Rehabilitation: A Q-Methodology

More than the shortage of manpower, occupational therapists (OTs) in substance addiction and rehabilitation (SAR) practice have remained underused and misunderstood in the Philippines. This study aimed to identify the role of Filipino OTs in people with SUD based on the perspectives of OTs, mental health professionals, and former service users and carers in the community. Using Q-Methodology (QM), this research revealed a tripartite role for Filipino OTs in SAR: (a) “Promoter of occupational participation,” (b) “Collaborator to enhance participation and well-being,” and (c) “Facilitator of environmental supports for occupational participation.”     

Adult attachment avoidance and automatic affective response to sad facial expressions

The present work represents the first study to investigate the relationship between adult attachment avoidance and anxiety and automatic affective responses to basic facial emotions. Subliminal affective priming methods allowed for the assessment of unconscious affective reactions. An affective priming task using masked sad and happy faces, both of which are approach‐related facial expressions, was administered to 30 healthy volunteers. Participants also completed the Relationship Scales Questionnaire and measures of anxiety and depression. Attachment avoidance was negatively associated with affective priming due to sad (but not happy) facial expressions. This association occurred independently of attachment anxiety, depressivity, and trait anxiety. Attachment anxiety was not correlated with priming due to sad or happy facial expressions. The present results are consistent with the assumption that attachment avoidance moderates automatic affective reaction to sad faces. Our data indicate that avoidant attachment is related to a low automatic affective responsivity to sad facial expressions.     

Social skills and social phobia: An investigation of DSM-IV subtypes

Social phobia is characterized as pervasive social timidity in social settings. Although much is known about this disorder, aspects of its clinical presentation remain unexplored, in particular characteristics that distinguish the generalized and non-generalized subtypes. For example, it remains unclear whether patients with the non-generalized subtype display social skills deficits in social interactions, and if so, are these deficits clinically, as well as statistically, significant? In this study, adults with either the non-generalized (NGSP; n = 60) or generalized (GSP; n = 119) subtype of social phobia and adults with no psychological disorder (n = 200) completed an extensive behavioral assessment of social skill and social anxiety. As expected, adults with NGSP and GSP reported equal distress and displayed similar rates of avoidance during an Impromptu Speech Task when compared to adults with no disorder. In contrast, the three groups were distinctly different when interacting with another person in various social situations. Adults with NGSP displayed social skill deficits when compared to individuals with no disorder, but they had fewer deficits than the GSP subtype. However, the identified skill deficits were clinically as well as statistically significant only for the GSP subtype. The results are discussed in terms of the contribution of skill deficits to the conceptualization and treatment of social phobia.     

Going beyond the facts: Young children extend knowledge by integrating episodes

The major question posed in this research was whether 4- and 6-year-olds productively extend their knowledge by integrating information acquired in separate episodes. The vehicle was a read-aloud activity during which children were presented with a novel fact in each of two passages. In Experiment 1, both age groups showed evidence of integration between the passages. For the 6-year-olds, the evidence came in the form of responses to open-ended questions. The 4-year-olds recognized the correct answers but did not generate them in the open-ended question format. The 6-year-olds who generated the correct answers also were likely to recall both of the individual facts presented in the passages. In Experiment 2, we tested whether the 4-year-olds’ integration performance would improve if their memory for the individual facts improved. Extra exposure to the individual facts resulted in higher levels of integration performance in both recall and recognition testing. The roles of memory and other potential sources of age-related differences in integration performance are discussed.     

Sing that tune: Infants’ perception of melody and lyrics and the facilitation of phonetic recognition in songs

To better understand how infants process complex auditory input, this study investigated whether 11-month-old infants perceive the pitch (melodic) or the phonetic (lyric) components within songs as more salient, and whether melody facilitates phonetic recognition. Using a preferential looking paradigm, uni-dimensional and multi-dimensional songs were tested; either the pitch or syllable order of the stimuli varied. As a group, infants detected a change in pitch order in a 4-note sequence when the syllables were redundant (experiment 1), but did not detect the identical pitch change with variegated syllables (experiment 2). Infants were better able to detect a change in syllable order in a sung sequence (experiment 2) than the identical syllable change in a spoken sequence (experiment 1). These results suggest that by 11 months, infants cannot “ignore” phonetic information in the context of perceptually salient pitch variation. Moreover, the increased phonetic recognition in song contexts mirrors findings that demonstrate advantages of infant-directed speech. Findings are discussed in terms of how stimulus complexity interacts with the perception of sung speech in infancy.     

Educational inequalities in quantity, duration and type of tobacco consumption among lung cancer patients in Asturias: epidemiological analyses

Socioeconomic inequalities cause different tobacco consumption patterns. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between educational level and smoking behaviour, including type of tobacco consumption, in lung cancer patients. To this end, epidemiological analyses of 801 lung cancer patients recruited for a case-control study in four public hospitals in Asturias, Spain, between October 2000 and April 2006 were carried out. Smoking behaviour and educational level data were obtained through personal interview. Analyses indicated that the probability of heavy smoking among low educational-level patients was approximately twice as high as for high educational-level patients (RRR>31.2 packs/years=2.04; CI 95%=1.15-3.62; RRR>52packs/years=2.14; CI 95%=0.98-4.64). Low-educated patients were more than three times as likely to be long-time smokers (RRR>40 years=3.30; CI 95%=1.43-7.62). The probability of smoking exclusively black tobacco was almost four times greater in low educational-level patients (RRRblack only=3.72; CI 95%=1.23-11.19). The results show that there are broad educational inequalities with regard to the quantity, duration and type of tobacco consumption among lung cancer patients in Northern Spain.     

Roles of Callous-Unemotional Traits,Narcissism, and Machiavellianism in Childhood Aggression

This study obtained teacher ratings of impulsivity, callous-unemotional traits, narcissism, and Machiavellianism for a sample of 252 middle school children, and investigated the extent to which these variables were related to reactive versus proactive aggression and physical versus relational aggression. Results showed a main effect for gender, with boys rated highest on all measures of psychopathy and aggression, with the exception of relational aggression. Results of hierarchical multiple regressions showed that whereas impulsivity was associated with all types of aggression, CU traits, narcissism, and Machiavellianism were differentially related to specific forms of childhood aggression. In addition, Machiavellianism mediated the relationship between narcissism and relational aggression. Implications for fine-tuning interventions in ways that account for the motivators underlying subtypes of childhood aggression are discussed.     

What remains of that day: The survival of children's autobiographical memories across time

In this study we investigated the contributions of the content and the coherence of initial event reports to the survival of autobiographical memories during part of the lifespan eventually obscured by childhood amnesia. Over 100 children reported personal experiences when they were 4, 6 or 8 years old, enabling a determination of age‐related differences in two aspects of narrative coherence: Theme and chronology. Content was assessed separately through the presentation of directed memory probes. After a 1‐year delay, younger children more frequently failed to report target experiences. Multilevel modelling indicated that the survivability of a memory was predicted over and above the child's age by high thematic coherence of the initial memory narrative, but not by the memory content. It is possible that memories described in a highly thematically coherent narrative are indicative of well‐integrated event memories, and thus likely to be cued more often, resulting in their long‐term survival. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Concerns of South Korean Patients and Family Members Affected with Genetic Conditions: A Content Analysis of Internet Website Messages

The genetic counseling profession is expanding globally, and many countries, such as South Korea, are in the early stages of developing programs to prepare healthcare professionals specifically trained as genetic counselors. However, little research has investigated the concerns of South Korean patients and family members that have genetic conditions. The present study assessed their concerns by accessing and analyzing messages posted to websites devoted to genetic conditions. Eighteen websites were accessed—1 website concerns general genetic conditions, and 17 concern specific conditions. A sample of 700 messages was translated into English and analyzed using grounded theory analysis. Three major themes and 30 categories were extracted. The themes are: 1) Medical Concerns (e.g., clinical symptoms, diagnosis, prognosis, recurrence risk, prevention, inheritance); 2) Psychosocial Concerns (e.g., emotions, social stigma, social support); and 3) Management Concerns (e.g., therapy and alternative treatments, education, financial support, nutrition, medical facilities, folk remedies). The findings provide insight into the types of information and genetic counseling services that might benefit South Korean individuals and family members.