Dyadic coping mediates the relationship between parents’ grief and dyadic adjustment following the loss of a child

Background and Objectives: This study aimed to examine forms of dyadic coping (DC) as mediators of the association between parents’ grief response and dyadic adjustment and to determine whether these indirect effects were moderated by the child’s type of death, timing of death, and age.

Design: The study design was cross-sectional.

Method: The sample consisted of 197 bereaved parents. Participants completed the Prolonged Grief Disorder Scale, Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale, and Dyadic Coping Inventory.

Results: Significant indirect effects of parents’ grief response on dyadic adjustment were found through stress communication by oneself and by the partner, positive and negative DC by the partner, and joint DC. The timing of death moderated the association between grief response and dyadic adjustment and between joint DC and dyadic adjustment. Grief response was negatively associated with dyadic adjustment only when the death occurred after birth. Grief response was negatively associated with joint DC, which, in turn, was positively associated with dyadic adjustment, when the death occurred both before and after birth. However, the association was stronger in the latter.

Conclusions: Specific forms of DC might be mechanisms through which grief response is associated with dyadic adjustment and should be promoted in clinical practice.     

Parental Opioid Abuse: A Review of Child Outcomes,Parenting, and Parenting Interventions

Opioid abuse is now considered an epidemic, and many of the adults using this substance are parents. The purpose of the current paper is twofold: (1) to review rigorously conducted studies (e.g., included a comparison group; utilized inferential statistics) examining the association of opioid abuse with parenting and child outcomes, and (2) to review parenting intervention programs with these caregivers. Findings indicate that there are very few rigorously conducted studies examining children and parenting when parents abuse opioids. Furthermore, only four intervention programs have been conducted using randomized control trials and inferential statistics. We conclude that there is limited research that can be labeled as a rigorous science currently addressing this aspect of the opioid epidemic. Recommendations for further research are delineated.     

Be a Mom: Formative Evaluation of a Web-Based Psychological Intervention to Prevent Postpartum Depression

A formative evaluation (consisting of two phases: a scoping literature review and a focus group with mental health professionals) was conducted to inform the design of a web-based intervention to prevent postpartum depression, in terms of its characteristics and content: the Be a Mom program. The results showed that the web-based intervention should be short-term, delivered postnatally, and grounded in cognitive-behavior therapy principles. Moreover, the intervention should include weekly sessions targeting basic contents: motherhood changes, reorganizations and emotional experience; cognitions, self-criticism, and self-compassion; parenting values, social support, and assertive communication skills; couple relationship, negotiation and conflict resolution skills; and postpartum depression signs and professional help-seeking. These results may improve the Be a Mom’s adequacy, implementation success, and effectiveness.     

Acute starvation in C57BL/6J mice increases myocardial UCP2 and UCP3 protein expression levels and decreases mitochondrial bio-energetic function

Associations between uncoupling protein (UCP) expression and functional changes in myocardial mitochondrial bio-energetics have not been well studied during periods of starvation stress. Our aim was to study the effects of acute starvation, for 24 or 48 h, on combined cardiac mitochondrial function and UCP expression in mice. Isolated heart mitochondria from female mice starved for 48 h compared to that from mice fed revealed a significantly (p < 0.05) decreased adenosine diphosphate-to-oxygen ratio, a significantly increased proton leak and an increased GTP inhibition on palmitic acid-induced state 4 oxygen consumption (p < 0.05). These bio-energetic functional changes were associated with increases in mitochondrial UCP2 and UCP3 protein expression. In conclusion, our findings suggest that increased UCP2 and UCP3 levels may contribute to decreased myocardial mitochondrial bio-energetic function due to starvation.     

Technological Other/Quasi Other: Reflection on Lived Experience

This reflection focuses on lived experience with the Technological Other (Quasi-Other) while pursuing creative video and film activities. In the last decade work in the video and film industries has been transformed through digital manipulation and enhancement brought about by increasingly sophisticated computer technologies. The rules of the craft have not changed but the relationship the artist/editor experiences with these new digital tools has brought about increasingly interesting existential experiences in the creative process. How might this new way of being with technology change the craft and the crafter? Through a phenomenological understanding of Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Don Ihde, and their contributions to the human-technology conversation, this essay moves to reveal the lived experiences of artists/editors who use computers to create by means of film and digital video formats. Exploring notions of lived space, lived body, lived time, and lived relation through the computer interface allows for digging deeper into inhabiting technology and experiencing the Technological Other.     

Older adults as adaptive decision makers: evidence from the Iowa Gambling Task

Older adults process emotional information differently than younger adults and may demonstrate less of a negativity bias on cognitive tasks. The Iowa Gambling Task designed by A. Bechara, H. Damasio, D. Tranel, and A. R. Damasio (1997) has been used to examine the integration of emotion and cognition in a risky-choice decision task and may give insight into differences in the decision-making strategies in younger and older adults. Eighty-eight younger adults (18-34 years) and 67 older adults (65-88 years) completed the Iowa Gambling Task. Using a theoretical decomposition of the task designed by J. R. Busemeyer and J. C. Stout (2002), the authors found that both groups were successful at solving the task but used very different strategies that reflected each group's strength. For younger adults, that strength was learning and memory. For older adults, that strength was an accurate representation of wins and losses (valence).     

Validation of the psychopathic personality inventory on a female inmate sample

This investigation evaluated the construct validity of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI; Lilienfeld & Andrews, 1996), a self-report measure designed to assess psychopathy. One hundred and two incarcerated females were administered the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT), an oral alcohol and drug screening measure, a demographic interview, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), and the PPI. There were significant correlations among the PPI, MMPI-2 scales, and the PCL-R. In addition, the correlations between the PPI and the separate PCL-R factors were not significantly different from each other, indicating that the PPI is assessing both facets of the psychopathy construct to some extent. A high correlation between the PPI and the DSM-IV criteria, which assesses adult antisocial behaviors, revealed adequate concurrent validity. Nonsignificant or negligible correlations between the PPI and the MMPI-2 scales provided some support for discriminant validity. The results are discussed with respect to the clinical and forensic utility of the PPI, the limitations of the study, and the need for further research.     

Activation of adenosine receptors in the posterior cingulate cortex impairs memory retrieval in the rat

Adenosine A1 and A2A receptor agonists and antagonists have been reported to alter learning and memory. The aim of our study was to investigate the involvement of adenosinergic system in memory retrieval into posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) of Wistar rats. To clarify this question, we tested specifics agonist and antagonists of adenosine A1 and A2A receptors in rats submitted to a one-trial inhibitory avoidance task. The stimulation of adenosine A1 and A2A receptors by CPA and CGS21680, respectively, impaired memory retrieval for inhibitory avoidance task, into PCC. These findings provide behavioral evidence for the role of adenosinergic system in the memory retrieval into PCC.     

Relational factors of vulnerability and protection for adolescent pregnancy: a cross-sectional comparative study of Portuguese pregnant and nonpregnant adolescents of low socioeconomic status

This study explores multiple relational contexts that promote vulnerability and protection against early pregnancy in a potential risk group of Portuguese adolescents. A comparative analysis was made between two groups of female adolescents of low socioeconomic status: pregnant adolescents (n=57) and adolescents without a history of pregnancy (n=81). Results suggest that several variables belonging to different contexts-family and school and peer relations--are important in the characterization of the two groups. Lower levels of mother's overprotection and father's emotional support, presence of early pregnancy in adolescent's mother, lower level of emotional proximity to peer relations, and higher number of school failures are significantly associated with adolescent pregnancy.