Psychiatric Morbidity and Family Environment Among Female Juvenile Detainees in a Malaysian Sample

Family environmental factors have been implicated in the development of delinquency and adolescent psychiatric disorders. We examined the association between psychiatric disorders and family environmental factors among female juvenile detainees. A hundred female juvenile detainees in a Malaysian rehabilitation center (12–17 years-old) were assessed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Child and Adolescent and the Family Environment Scale. Majority of participants (56 %) had a psychiatric disorder, the commonest being Disruptive Behavior Disorders (40 %) and Depressive Disorders (30 %). Multivariate analysis found younger age (OR 0.52; 95 % CI 0.29, 0.94), older maternal age (OR 1.15; 95 % CI 1.03, 1.28), family history of crime (OR 7.19; 95 % CI 1.05, 49.43), family environment i.e. achievement orientation (OR 1.11; 95 % CI 1.02, 1.20) and control (OR 1.12; 95 % CI 1.03, 1.22) as significant factors for psychiatric disorder. This study demonstrated the role of age (younger adolescent and older mother), family history of crime and family environment beyond socio-economic status in psychiatric morbidity among female juvenile detainees. Future larger studies are needed to clarify familial-genetic factors that may impact strategies for family-centric mental health interventions.     

The relation between type A behavior and chronic emotional distress: a meta-analysis

A meta-analysis was conducted of studies examining the relation between Type A behavior and chronic emotional distress as measured by standard psychological scales. Aggregating across all studies, the average effect size was .27, indicating a positive association between Type A and chronic dysphoria; however, there was considerable variability in the size of the relation among studies. Partitioning by Type A measure revealed that Structured Interview-assessed Type A was unrelated to chronic dysphoric emotions; however, most of the self-report measures of Type A behavior were moderately correlated with upset. The Framingham Type A Scale and the Bortner Scale showed the strongest relations. Thus, contrary to the traditional view, Type A measured by self-report does have some emotional concomitants, although they are not in the pathological range. Also discussed are how the results bear on the proposal that the maladjusted personality confers coronary risk, the implications for reported associations between Type A and illness complaints, and for the study of the Type A as a social psychological construct.     

Repetition benefit in mental rotation is independent of stimulus repetition

In this study, we investigated whether there is a repetition benefit in mental rotation that is independent of stimulus repetition (i.e., due to increased efficiency in postencoding processing). Three experiments were conducted, in which different conditions of stimulus repetition (different letters on consecutive trials in Experiment 1, letters of different orientations on consecutive trials in Experiment 2, and priming of rotation direction in Experiment 3) were used, and the extent of repetition of rotation direction between two consecutive trials was manipulated. The results of all three experiments showed clear evidence of a repetition benefit without repeating the stimulus, suggesting that this effect is independent of stimulus repetition and lending support to the notion of increased efficiency in mental rotation as a result of repeated rotation direction per se.     

当代大学生创业意识问卷的初步编制

该研究目的在于编制能够反映当代大学生创业意识结构特点的大学生创业意识问卷。文章首先分析了国内外对大学生创业意识的相关研究,在文献分析和开放式问卷的基础上形成大学生创业意识问卷,再经过847名大学生被试评定,对数据进行探索性因素分析显示,大学生创业意识问卷由21个项目组成,包括创业情感意识、创业需要和动机意识、创业价值意识、创业风险意识和创业素质意识等5个因素。对构成量表的项目分析的结果显示问卷具有较好的信度和效度。     

Correlates of Academic Procrastination and Students’ Grade Goals

This study examined correlates of academic procrastination and students’ grade goals in a sample of 226 undergraduates from Singapore. Findings indicated that self-efficacy for self-regulated learning was significantly and negatively related to procrastination. High self-efficacy for self-regulated learning also predicted students’ expectations of doing well and low self-efficacy for self-regulated learning predicted students’ expectations of not doing well academically. Additionally, help-seeking predicted students’ expectations of doing well academically while academic stress predicted students’ expectations of not doing well academically. Implications for education and educational practice were discussed. This project was partially supported by the Undergraduate Research Experience on Campus (URECA) program from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.     

“清代道藏”——江南蒋元庭本《道藏辑要》之研究

继明代《正统道藏》之后,《道藏辑要》是最重要的道教丛书。《道藏辑要》一书的形成至今仍是个谜,当代学者普遍认为它有三个主要版本:一为彭定求(1645-1719)编原本,二为蒋元庭(1755-1819)增补本,三为贺龙骧、彭瀚然最终修订本。与学者们普遍认可的观点不同,本文力图证明《道藏辑要》实际上只有两个版本(版本二和版本三),而所谓的彭定求本纯属虚构。在对蒋元庭之同代人闵一得(1748/58-1836)的作品进行研究后,我们证实蒋元庭确是《道藏辑要》的编者。在闵一得的作品中,我们还可以发现《道藏辑要》在江南地区与"吕洞宾崇拜"有关之道教社团中的影响;在巴黎藏本《道藏辑要》(这一版本与藏书家丁福保编制目录之版本十分近似)中,这种影响的痕迹更是十分明显。在此发现的基础上,本文力图开辟新的研究领域,使读者可以更好地了解《道藏辑要》的复杂文本历史,以及它在推动清代道教纯粹远景及扶鸾崇拜中的角色。     

An improved screw-free method for electrode implantation and intracranial electroencephalographic recordings in mice

We recently developed a glue-based method for the implantation of intracranial electrodes in mice. Our approach is to secure a preconstructed electrode array using a cyanoacrylate-based glue (similar to Krazy Glue). This method is applicable to both young and aging mice and is suitable for long-term electroencephalographic recordings. In the present experiment, we explored whether the glue-based method is capable of securing individual electrodes in addition to securing the electrode array. C57 black mice aged 25–35 days or 13–19 months were operated on under isoflurane anesthesia. Monopolar or bipolar electrodes were inserted independently in the ipsilateral hippocampal CA3 and entorhinal cortical areas, and they were fixed onto the skull using the glue together with dental acrylic, but without anchoring screws. We found that the implanted electrodes were stable and allowed repeat intracranial recordings and electrical stimulation in freely moving mice.