Impulsivity Mediates the Relationship between Future Orientation and Juvenile Deviancy

Both future orientation and impulsivity are intrinsic parts of an adolescent’s self-control, and empirical evidence clearly establishes them as crucial features on the origin of juvenile deviant behavior. However, we do not yet fully understand how these variables relate in explaining deviant conduct. In the present study, we tested a mediation model between these variables among 126 Portuguese adolescents. Findings support the mediation model in analysis, namely that impulsivity fully mediates the effect of future orientation on deviant behavior. In conclusion, our results suggest that lesser future orientated youth develop impulsive behavior which, in turn, explains their higher deviant conduct.     

Psychopathy and Functions of Aggression in Emerging Adulthood: Moderation by Anger Rumination and Gender

Psychopathy has been previously identified as a risk factor for aggression (Porter and Woodworth 2006). However, few studies have considered specific relationships with functional subtypes of aggression, or how gender and anger rumination affect these relationships in emerging adulthood. We hypothesized that primary psychopathy would be uniquely related to proactive aggression (PA) and secondary psychopathy to reactive aggression (RA), and that these relationships would be amplified by anger rumination, and potentially influenced further by gender. Undergraduate students (N = 610; 73.3 % female) ages 18–20 completed self-report measures of anger rumination, psychopathy, and aggression, and hypotheses were tested using hierarchical regression. As predicted, anger rumination enhanced the association between secondary psychopathy and RA. It also amplified the relationship between primary psychopathy and PA, but only at very high levels of anger rumination. Gender moderated interactions between primary and secondary psychopathy on aggression. For men, primary psychopathy attenuated the secondary psychopathy – RA relationship, but not for women. These findings fill an important gap in the literature by demonstrating how tendencies to ruminate on anger and psychopathic traits interact to influence functional subtypes of aggression in young men versus women.     

Family Dynamics in Digital Homes: The Role Played by Parental Mediation in Young Children’s Digital Practices Around 14 European Countries

In contemporary society, digital media are fully integrated in our daily lives, indispensable for our routines, always connected and at-hand. Our research thus explores the parental mediation of portable digital devices in families with young children, addressing the following questions: (a) which are the most common parental mediation styles adopted towards young children; and (b) which individual features of the parents or contextual factors influence the parental mediation style adopted. Our methodology is exploratory and qualitative, considering as empirical corpus 14 national reports from the European-scale study “Young Children (0–8) and Digital Technologies” for a comparative thematic analysis. The authoritative style was the most common parental mediation style related to technology use. In general, there are transversal rules to all parental mediation styles (except laissez-faire style), such as withdraw or give devices to children according to their behavior, control (inappropriate) content and control the time of use. Also, parental perceptions and attitudes about the technologies played a heavier weight on the parental mediation style adopted, and consequently influenced the relationship of the children with digital media. Some implications for future studies, preventive actions, and family therapy are discussed.     

Unidimensionality of Abbreviated Proactive Personality Scales across Cultures

Vu la pertinence de la personnalité proactive et du comportement proactif pour l’efficacité des individus, des équipes et des organisations dans un environnement de plus en plus multiculturel, cette étude a examiné l’unidimensionnalité des formes abrégées de l’Echelle de Personnalité Proactive (PPS) de Bateman & Crant (1993) sur des données ni américaines, ni britanniques. L’unidimensionnalité des PPS à 10, 6, 5 et 4 items a été mise à l’épreuve grâce à une analyse factorielle et à une analyse de fidélité interne sur des échantillons indépendants provenant de trois pays: la Belgique (N= 822), la Finlande (N= 100) et l’Espagne (N= 100). Les résultats montrent que les versions de 4 et 5 items ne présentent aucune fidélité interne en Belgique, en Finlande et en Espagne, tandis que les deux autres formes abrégées sont satisfaisantes. L’analyse factorielle confirme qu’un modèle à facteur unique est une solution quasi optimale pour la PPS à 10 items. La PPS à 6 items mesure la personnalité proactive avec une fidélité interne cohérente à partir d’un facteur unique. Le score total sur l’échelle a été calculé par l’addition des scores sur les 6 items. On a obtenu sur un autre échantillon belge (N= 499) une corrélation des plus satisfaisantes (r= .92) entre la PPS de 6 items et la version originelle de 17 items. Given the relevance of proactive personality and proactive behavior for effectiveness of individuals, teams, and organisations in an increasingly multicultural context, this study investigated the unidimensionality of abbreviated forms of the Proactive Personality Scale (PPS; Bateman & Crant, 1993 ) beyond American and British data. The unidimensionality of the 10‐item, the 6‐item, the 5‐item, and the 4‐item PPS was tested through internal reliability analysis and factor analysis across independent samples in three countries (Belgium, N= 822; Finland, N= 100; Spain, N= 100). The results showed that the 5‐item and the 4‐item versions were not internally reliable in Belgium, Finland, and Spain, while the two other abbreviated forms of the PPS were. Factor analysis showed that a one‐factor solution for the 10‐item PPS was a sub‐optimal solution. The 6‐item PPS, however, measured the proactive personality in an internally consistent manner and through a single factor. The total score on the scale was calculated by adding up scores on the six items. In a separate Belgian sample (N= 499), correlations of the 6‐item PPS with the original 17‐item PPS proved satisfactory with r= .92.     

Interaction between the basolateral amygdala and dorsal hippocampus is critical for cocaine memory reconsolidation and subsequent drug context-induced cocaine-seeking behavior in rats

Contextual stimulus control over instrumental drug-seeking behavior relies on the reconsolidation of context-response-drug associative memories into long-term memory storage following retrieval-induced destabilization. According to previous studies, the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and dorsal hippocampus (DH) regulate cocaine-related memory reconsolidation; however, it is not known whether these brain regions interact or independently control this phenomenon. To investigate this question, rats were trained to lever press for cocaine reinforcement in a distinct environmental context followed by extinction training in a different context. Rats were then briefly re-exposed to the cocaine-paired context to destabilize cocaine-related memories, or they were exposed to an unpaired context. Immediately thereafter, the rats received unilateral microinfusions of anisomycin (ANI) into the BLA plus baclofen/muscimol (B/M) into the contralateral (BLA/DH disconnection) or ipsilateral DH, or they received contralateral or ipsilateral microinfusions of vehicle. They then remained in their home cages overnight or for 21 d, followed by additional extinction training and a test of cocaine-seeking behavior (nonreinforced active lever responding). BLA/DH disconnection following re-exposure to the cocaine-paired context, but not the unpaired context, impaired subsequent drug context-induced cocaine-seeking behavior relative to vehicle or ipsilateral ANI + B/M treatment. Prolonged home cage stay elicited a time-dependent increase, or incubation, of drug-context-induced cocaine-seeking behavior, and BLA/DH disconnection inhibited this incubation effect despite some recovery of cocaine-seeking behavior. Thus, the BLA and DH interact to regulate the reconsolidation of cocaine-related associative memories, thereby facilitating the ability of drug-paired contexts to trigger cocaine-seeking behavior and contributing to the incubation of cocaine-seeking behavior.     

Recording vocalizations with Bluetooth technology

We propose a method for capturing vocalizations that is designed to avoid some of the limiting factors found in traditional bioacoustical methods, such as the impossibility of obtaining continuous long-term registers or analyzing amplitude due to the continuous change of distance between the subject and the position of the recording system. Using Bluetooth technology, vocalizations are captured and transmitted wirelessly into a receiving system without affecting the quality of the signal. The recordings of the proposed system were compared to those obtained as a reference, which were based on the coding of the signal with the so-called pulse-code modulation technique in WAV audio format without any compressing process. The evaluation showed p < .05 for the measured quantitative and qualitative parameters. We also describe how the transmitting system is encapsulated and fixed on the animal and a way to video record a spider monkey’s behavior simultaneously with the audio recordings.     

Race Dialogues in Group Psychotherapy: Key Issues in Training and Practice

Growing racial and ethnic diversity in the United States and globally requires culturally competent mental health professionals who can address ongoing racial tensions and experiences of racism and xenophobia. Attending to racial and ethnic issues and infusing race and ethnic dialogues in group psychotherapy can play a major role in addressing mental health problems, promoting racial harmony, and healing deep psychological wounds and trauma that are the result of racial tensions. This article describes seven key issues necessary to effectively address race and ethnicity in group psychotherapy.     

The auditory sensory memory trace decays rapidly in newborns

The present study investigated the temporal dynamics of auditory sensory memory in newborns as reflected by the mismatch negativity (MMN), a preattentive electric change-detection response. MMN was obtained from 24 full-term healthy newborns who were either awake or asleep (quiet or active sleep) during the experiments. Stimuli were 1,000 Hz tones (standards) that were occasionally replaced by 1,100 Hz tones (deviants). The constant stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) was, in separate blocks, either 450, 800, or 1,500 ms. A prominent MMN was obtained at the 800 ms SOA in all three sleep or waking states, whereas no MMN occurred at 450 and 1,500 ms SOAs. In view of the fact that in adults MMN is elicited even with a 10s SOA, these results imply that the time span of auditory memory is considerably shorter in neonates than in adults and 8-12-year-old children.     

Role of dopamine,the frontal cortex and memory circuits in drug addiction: insight from imaging studies

Drug addiction is characterized by a set of recurring processes (intoxication, withdrawal, craving) that lead to the relapsing nature of the disorder. We have used positron emission tomography to investigate in humans the role of dopamine (DA) and the brain circuits it regulates in these processes. We have shown that increases in DA are associated with the subjective reports of drug reinforcement corroborating the relevance of drug-induced DA increases in the rewarding effects of drugs in humans. During withdrawal we have shown in drug abusers significant reductions in DA D2 receptors and in DA release. We postulate that this hypodopaminergic state would result in a decreased sensitivity to natural reinforcers perpetuating the use of the drug as a means to compensate for this deficit and contributing to the anhedonia and dysphoria seen during withdrawal. Because the D2 reductions are associated with decreased activity in the anterior cingulate gyrus and in the orbitofrontal cortex we postulate that this is one of the mechanisms by which DA disruption leads to compulsive drug administration and the lack of control over drug intake in the drug-addicted individual. This is supported by studies showing that during craving these frontal regions become hyperactive in proportion to the intensity of the craving. Craving is also associated with activation of memory circuits including the amygdala (implicated in conditioned learning), hippocampus (implicated in declarative learning), and dorsal striatum (implicated in habit learning) all of which receive DA innervation. We therefore postulate that dopamine contributes to addiction by disrupting the frontal cortical circuits that regulate motivation, drive, and self-control and by memory circuits that increase the motivational salience of the drug and drug-associated stimuli.