Genetic effects on male sexual coercion

The genetic and environmental influences on sexual coercion, and to what extent its associations with alcohol use and psychopathy depend on shared genetic and environmental effects, were explored in a Finnish population-based sample of 938 men, aged 33-43 years, using the classical twin study design. All three phenotypes were associated positively and affected by genes (sexual coercion 28%, alcohol use 60%, psychopathy 54%), with 46% of the correlation between sexual coercion and psychopathy, 89% of the correlation between alcohol use and psychopathy and 100% of the correlation between sexual coercion and alcohol use being explained by shared genetic effects. Further, the results showed that a proportion of the variance in sexual coercion was derived from a highly genetic source that was common with alcohol use and psychopathy. This latent factor was hypothesized to reflect a general tendency for antisocial behavior that is pervasive across different situations. Relevant theories on sexual coercion were discussed in light of the results.     

The good and bad of relationships: how social hindrance and social support affect relationship feelings in daily life

The authors examined the effects of social hindrance and support on negative and positive relationship-specific feelings in three daily diary studies. Study 1 showed that hindrance and support independently predicted positive relationship feelings, but only hindrance predicted negative feelings. Study 2 used new measures of hindrance and support and showed that hindrance and support independently predicted same-day relationship feelings but that the effects of hindrance were stronger in magnitude. Study 3 yielded similar findings using the new measures of hindrance and support and controlling for morning feeling. These asymmetrical crossover effects suggest that bad is only stronger than good when it comes to bad outcomes; they also support the distinction between aversive and appetitive relational processes.     

Clinical utility of the Cross-Cultural (Chinese) Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI-2) in the assessment of substance use disorders among Chinese men

This study examined the clinical utility of the Cross-Cultural (Chinese) Personality Inventory (CPAI-2) in differentiating the personality characteristics of Chinese men with substance use disorders from other psychiatric patients and normal control participants. The CPAI-2 profile of 121 Chinese men with substance use disorders was contrasted with that of a matched psychiatric comparison group (n = 172) and a normal comparison group (n = 187). Multivariate analyses of variance and logistic regression results supported the utility of the CPAI-2 clinical scales, especially Pathological Dependence, Antisocial Behavior, and Depression, for assessing substance use disorders. The Pathological Dependence scale (cutoff T score of 64) achieved good sensitivity and specificity. Apart from the universal personality traits related to neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness found in Western studies, the indigenously derived CPAI-2 personality scales, including Family Orientation and Harmony, highlighted deficits in social adjustment and interpersonal relationship as important cultural features in the personality characteristics of these participants. The study provided a cross-cultural extension to research on the relationship between personality and substance use disorders and could assist clinicians in considering culturally relevant treatment approaches.     

How do we know what we are doing? Time, intention and awareness of action

Time is a fundamental dimension of consciousness. Many studies of the "sense of agency" have investigated whether we attribute actions to ourselves based on a conscious experience of intention occurring prior to action, or based on a reconstruction after the action itself has occurred. Here, we ask the same question about a lower level aspect of action experience, namely awareness of the detailed spatial form of a simple movement. Subjects reached for a target, which unpredictably jumped to the side on some trials. Participants (1) expressed their expectancy of a target shift during the upcoming movement, (2) pointed at the target as quickly and accurately as possible before returning to the start posiment to the target shift if required and (3) reproduced the spatial path of the movement they had just made, as accurately as possible, to give an indication of their awareness of the pointing movement. We analysed the spatial disparity between the initial and the reproduced movements on those with a target shift. A negative disparity value, or undershoot, suggests that motor awareness merely reflects a sluggish record of coordinated motor performance, while a positive value, or overshoot, suggests that participants' intention to point to the shifting target contributes more to their awareness of action than their actual pointing movement. Undershoot and overshoot thus measure the reconstructive (motoric) and the preconstuctive (intentional) aspects of action awareness, respectively. We found that trials on which subjects strongly expected a target shift showed greater overshoot and less undershoot than trials with lower expectancy. Conscious expectancy therefore strongly influences the experience of the detailed motor parameters of our actions. Further, a delay inserted either between the expectancy judgement and the pointing movement, or between the pointing movement and the reproduction of the movement, had no effect on visuomotor adjustment but strongly influenced action awareness. Delays during either interval boosted undershoots, suggesting increased reliance on a time-limited sensory memory for action. The experience of action is thus strongly influenced by prior thoughts and expectations, but only over a short time period. Thus, awareness of our actions is a dynamic and relatively flexible mixture of what we intend to do, and what our motor system actually does.     

Evaluating warning sound urgency with reaction times

It is well-established that subjective judgments of perceived urgency of alarm sounds can be affected by acoustic parameters. In this study, the authors investigated an objective measurement, the reaction time (RT), to test the effectiveness of temporal parameters of sounds in the context of warning sounds. Three experiments were performed using a RT paradigm, with two different concurrent visuomotor tracking tasks simulating driving conditions. Experiments 1 and 2 show that RT decreases as interonset interval (IOI) decreases, where IOI is defined as the time elapsed from the onset of one sound pulse to the onset of the next. Experiment 3 shows that temporal irregularity between pulses can capture a listener's attention. These findings lead to concrete recommendations: IOI can be used to modulate warning sound urgency; and temporal irregularity can provoke an arousal effect in listeners. The authors also argue that the RT paradigm provides a useful tool for clarifying some of the factors involved in alarm processing.     

Treatment effectiveness of combined medication/behavioural treatment with chinese ADHD children in routine practice

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of a combined methylphenidate/behavioural treatment (BT) versus methylphenidate-only for Chinese children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was tested in routine clinical practice in Hong Kong. METHODS: A randomized group comparison design was adopted with two treatment conditions (methylphenidate-only; methylphenidate/BT), which lasted for 6 months. There were four assessment time points (pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 6-month and 12-month follow-ups), using the Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD Symptoms and Normal Behaviours (SWAN) Rating Scale. Parental attitude toward different treatment options of ADHD was also assessed at pre-treatment and post-treatment. Participants included 90 Chinese ADHD children (mean age=8 years, SD=.95). RESULTS: The combination of BT and a low-dose methylphenidate was significantly more effective than methylphenidate-only in reducing ADHD and ODD symptoms at post-treatment. At follow-ups, the benefits of the combined treatment were maintained, while the methylphenidate-only group caught up in improvement in ADHD symptoms. Parents in both treatment conditions showed improved attitude toward medication after the 6-month treatment phase, while their attitude toward BT was positive all along. CONCLUSIONS: This study supported the added benefits of BT, on top of medication, for Chinese ADHD children in routine practice with treatments conducted by regular medical and paramedical staffs.     

Envy,Facts and Justice: A Critique of the Treatment of Envy in Justice as Fairness

A common anti-egalitarian argument is that equality is motivated by envy, or the desire to placate envy. In order to avoid this charge, John Rawls explicitly banishes envy from his original position. This article argues that this is an inconsistent and untenable position for Rawls, as he treats envy as if it were a fact of human psychology and believes that principles of justice should be based on such facts. Therefore envy should be known about in the original position. The consequences for Rawlsian theory—both substantive and methodological—are discussed.

Investigating models of affect: relationships among EEG alpha asymmetry, depression, and anxiety

The approach-withdrawal and valence-arousal models both predict that depressive and anxious profiles will be associated with relatively reduced left frontal and increased right frontal activity respectively, while the valence-arousal model also proposes a dissociation by lower and higher right parietotemporal activity, respectively. Recent work further suggests that subtypes of anxiety disorders may be characterized by distinctive patterns of activity depending on their type of arousal (anxious arousal/apprehension). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships among nonclinical depression/anxiety and lateralized frontal/parietotemporal activity by categorizing participants (N=428) on the basis of both negative mood and alpha EEG. Key findings include: (i) greater right frontal lateralization in anxious participants, symmetrical frontal activity in depressed/comorbid, and left frontal lateralization in healthy controls; (ii) right frontal lateralization in anxious arousal participants, left frontal and right parietotemporal lateralization in anxious apprehension; (iii) bilateral increase in frontal and increased right parietotemporal activity in depressed/comorbid participants. Findings support predictions for frontal but not posterior regions. Grouping on the basis of EEG may not be reciprocally predictive of negative mood groupings, suggesting involvement of additional factors.     

An R package for single-case randomization tests

Randomization tests are nonparametric statistical tests that obtain their validity by computationally mimicking the random assignment procedure that was used in the design phase of a study. Because randomization tests do not rely on a random sampling assumption, they can provide a better alternative than parametric statistical tests for analyzing data from single-case designs. In this article, an R package is described for use in designing single-case phase (AB, ABA, and ABAB) and alternation (completely randomized, alternating treatments, and randomized block) experiments, as well as for conducting statistical analyses on data gathered by means of such designs. The R code is presented in a step-by-step way, which at the same time clarifies the rationale behind single-case randomization tests.