Effects of stress on recall

Subjects in experimental conditions were exposed to a traumatic autopsy colour slide (labelled either as of New York Police Department (NYPD) or MGM studio origin) embedded in a neutral series of travel scenes, while control subjects saw a neutral target. Subjects in the high-stress condition showed a significant decrease in memory for neutral slides which followed the NYPD-labelled traumatic stimulus (p < 0.001). Results support evidence in the eyewitness memory field which indicate reduced recall under elevated levels of stress.     

Relations between behavioral reactivity at 4 months and attachment classification at 14 months in a selected sample

Attachment at 14 months of age was examined in a sample of infants who had been selected for high or low levels of positive or negative affective reactivity and motor activity at 4 months of age. The type of early emotional reactivity was not clearly associated with attachment security or insecurity. The proposal of Belsky and Rovine [Belsky, J., & Rovine, M. (1987). Temperament and attachment security in the strange situation: An empirical rapprochement. Child Development, 58, 787–795] that infants classified as B3/B4 or C1/C2 are temperamentally more negatively reactive than those classified as A1/A2 or B1/B2 was supported. Compared with infants who showed high levels of positive affect and infants who scored low on affective reactivity, infants who showed high levels of negative affect in response to stimulation at 4 months of age were significantly more likely to be classified as B3/B4 or C1/C2 in the Strange Situation at 14 months of age. These findings are discussed in the context of prior inconsistent findings about the relations between temperament and groups of attachment sub-classifications. The role of different methods of assessing temperament and the importance of selected samples in clarifying such relations is discussed.     

Gender-moderated dorsolateral prefrontal reductions in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome: implications for risk for schizophrenia.

To investigate the impact of the microdeletion on morphology of the prefrontal cortex in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11.2 DS), high-resolution, anatomic magnetic resonance imaging was performed on 19 children and adolescents with 22q11.2 DS (11 females, 8 males) and 18 unaffected controls (10 females, 8 males). Tissue volumes of the dorsolateral, dorsomedial, orbitolateral, and orbitomedial prefrontal cortex were measured. Tasks of executive function and working memory were administered to investigate the association between anatomy and function. Whole brain volume and frontal lobe tissue volume were preserved in girls but reduced in boys with 22q11.2 DS relative to age-matched controls. Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) volumes were reduced in participants with 22q11.2 DS, although the gender-by-diagnosis effect found for frontal lobe was not as robust for DLPFC. DLPFC volumes were associated with performance on tasks of planning and emotional facial recognition. Longitudinal studies are needed to clarify whether gender differences in frontal lobe and DLPFC persist with development, and whether the volumes of the DLPFC are associated with eventual deterioration in adaptive/psychosocial function that may presage the onset of schizophrenia, for which individuals with 22q11.2 DS are at a disproportionately high risk.     

Trauma and Resilience Among Refugee and Undocumented Immigrant Women

Migration and resettlement processes are often characterized by stressful and traumatic experiences. Immigrants may experience premigration trauma in their countries of origin and trauma during their migration journey. Furthermore, refugee and undocumented immigrant women navigate unique and ongoing stressors postmigration. In this study, the authors used a phenomenological approach to explore refugee and undocumented immigrant women's experiences of trauma and stress and the ways in which they develop resilience to cope with these experiences.     

A Guide for Assessing Clients’ Attachment to the Sacred: The Spiritual Attachment History

Current research supports that many people relate to God or a higher power in ways consistent with attachment theory, yet nothing exists assisting therapists in gathering attachment-focused background information regarding their clients’ spiritual lives. This paper fills that gap with the Spiritual Attachment History (SAH), a semi-structured interview guide adapted from an ICEEFT Training in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy attachment history handout, to help the authors meet their clients’ spiritual and relational clinical concerns. We describe how we developed the SAH and provide a case study of its incorporation into two treatment plans. We also discuss implications for training, for use by marriage and family therapists, for cross-cultural research, and the ethics of addressing spirituality as a cultural issue.     

Posttraumatic growth following pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality: the predictive role of coping strategies and perinatal grief

Background: Research about termination for fetal abnormality (TFA) suggests that it is a traumatic event with potential negative psychological consequences. However, evidence also indicates that following traumatic events individuals may experience growth. Although TFA’s negative psychological outcomes are well documented, little is known of the potential for growth following this event. Therefore, the study’s objectives were to measure posttraumatic growth (PTG) post-TFA, examine the relationship between PTG, perinatal grief and coping, and determine the predictors of PTG.

Design: An online, retrospective survey was conducted with 161 women.

Methods: Eligible participants were women over 18 who had undergone TFA. Participants were recruited from a support organisation. They completed the Brief COPE, Short Perinatal Grief Scale and Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. Data were analysed using regression analyses.

Results: Moderate levels of PTG were observed for “relating to others,” “personal strengths” and “appreciation of life.” “Positive reframing” was a significant predictor of PTG. Despite using mainly “adaptive” coping strategies, women’s grief levels were high.

Conclusions: “Adaptive” coping strategies such as, “positive reframing” are relevant to TFA. They may act as protective factors against distress and as foundations for growth, implicating that interventions such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which aim to reframe women’s experience, may be beneficial.     

Aging, Training, and the Brain: A Review and Future Directions

As the population ages, the need for effective methods to maintain or even improve older adults’ cognitive performance becomes increasingly pressing. Here we provide a brief review of the major intervention approaches that have been the focus of past research with healthy older adults (strategy training, multi-modal interventions, cardiovascular exercise, and process-based training), and new approaches that incorporate neuroimaging. As outcome measures, neuroimaging data on intervention-related changes in volume, structural integrity; and functional activation can provide important insights into the nature and duration of an intervention’s effects. Perhaps even more intriguingly, several recent studies have used neuroimaging data as a guide to identify core cognitive processes that can be trained in one task with effective transfer to other tasks that share the same underlying processes. Although many open questions remain, this research has greatly increased our understanding of how to promote successful aging of cognition and the brain.     

USING VIDEO TECHNOLOGY TO DISSEMINATE BEHAVIORAL PROCEDURES: A REVIEW OF FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS: A GUIDE FOR UNDERSTANDING CHALLENGING BEHAVIOR (DVD)

Although applied behavior analysis has generated many highly effective behavior‐change procedures, the procedures have not always been effectively disseminated. One solution to this problem is the use of video technology, which has been facilitated by the ready availability of video production equipment and software and multiple distribution methods (e.g., DVD, online streaming). We review a recent DVD that was produced to disseminate the successful experimental functional analysis procedure. The review is followed by general recommendations for disseminating behavior‐analytic procedures via video technology.     

The development of idiom comprehension: an investigation of semantic and contextual processing skills

Two experiments compared 7- and 8-year-olds' and 9- and 10-year-olds' ability to use semantic analysis and inference from context to understand idioms. We used a multiple-choice task and manipulated whether the idioms were transparent or opaque, familiar or novel, and presented with or without a supportive story context. Performance was compared with that of adults (Experiment 1) and 11- and 12-year-olds (Experiment 2). The results broadly support Cacciari and Levorato's global elaboration model of figurative competence with a notable exception: Even the youngest children were able to use semantic analysis to derive the meanings of transparent idioms as well as being sensitive to meaning in context. The findings show that young children process language at both the small-grain phrase level and the discourse level to establish figurative meaning, and they demonstrate that the language processing skills that aid idiom comprehension, as well as idiom knowledge itself, are still not fully developed in 11- and 12-year-olds.