An Exercise in Psychological Growth*

The author presents a case report followed by a self- assessment exercise which was generated spontaneously in collaboration with the patient herself during the treatment process. The lists of questions, designed to provoke thought and stimulate maturation, were found to be quite helpful especially in making important life decisions. It is proposed as a learning tool and template for use by those confronting similar issues. Lois Gerby, MA, is a psychologist and family therapist in private practice, 32 Hapalmach St., Suite 32/7, Jerusalem, Israel 92542 (jack.friedman@mail.mcgill.ca). *Translation by Yacov Friedman and Haim Sherrf.     

A Lifespan Biological Model of Menopause

This paper continues the author's theoretical reconsideration of the biology of menopause (Derry, 2002). The author's broader-biological theoretical model of menopause, the Lifespan Biological Model, asserts that menopause is best understood by considering the biology of healthy systems. The biological subfield of life history theory combined with the psychological subfield of lifespan development provides a useful starting point to understand the biology of menopause. When compared with other mammals, humans have unusual life stages, one of which is a post-reproductive stage of relatively healthy, competent adulthood. Implications of the model are discussed with regard to conceptualizing: menopause as normal versus pathological; the arc of development as childhood growth/adult stability/aging senescence versus lifespan developmental; and the relation of menopause to chronic disease, especially osteoporosis.     

Exergame-based exercise training for depressive symptoms in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to pool existing data to investigate the overall effectiveness of exergame-based exercise training in improving depressive symptoms in adults.DesignA systematic review and meta-analysis.MethodsTen databases were systematically searched from inception to August 18, 2021, and the search was last updated on November 6, 2021. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) were calculated using random effects models. The Risk of Bias 2 (RoB 2) tool was used to assess the methodological quality of the studies, and GRADEpro software was used to assess confidence in the cumulative evidence. Funnel plots, Egger's test, and Begg's test were used to analyse publication bias. Sensitivity, subgroup and meta-regression analyses were performed to explore potential sources of heterogeneity.ResultsTwenty-one studies were included, and the results showed exergame-based exercise training had a significant effect on depressive symptoms in adults (SMD = −0.69; 95% CI, −1.01 to −0.36; P < 0.001; 19 RCTs, 924 participants; low-quality evidence). The predictive interval was not significant (95% PI, −3.45, 2.07). Subgroup analysis showed that in the intervention with the general adult population, game devices with Kinect and long-term interventions appeared to be more effective. Sensitivity analysis found the results to be robust.ConclusionExergame-based exercise training has the potential to reduce depressive symptoms. Additionally, different populations, devices and durations of intervention could influence the effect. In the future, high-quality studies with large samples, multiple centres and long follow-up durations should be performed to further explore the efficacy of exergame-based exercise training.     

Recoupling in Mid‐Life and Beyond: From Love at Last to Not So Fast

Divorce rates have dropped in the United States, except for couples over 50 where they are rising steeply, along with rates of late‐life recoupling. Both stepcouples and their young adult and adult children in new older stepfamilies are often surprised to find themselves facing many of the same challenges that younger stepfamilies do. Some challenges are even intensified by the decades‐long relationships and additional layers of extended family that come with recoupling after mid‐life. Stepfamilies formed in later life must also negotiate decisions about estate planning and elder care among stakeholders who often have sharply divergent agendas before there is time to establish trusting relationships. This article describes the “normal” challenges facing stepcouples who come together over age 50. It provides evidence‐informed guidance for therapists in meeting these challenges on three levels of clinical work: Psychoeducational, Interpersonal, and Intrapsychic/Intergenerational. As in younger stepfamilies, “family therapy” must usually begin in subsystems—often the adult stepcouple and parent–adult child. The article then describes a particularly fraught subgroup of recouplers: over‐50 fathers and their new partners, where the dad's young adult or adult daughter is very unhappy with his new relationship. In these latter stepfamilies, father–daughter repair must precede stepfamily bonding. Stepfamilies that are preceded by a partner's death and those that begin with affairs are also discussed. Finally, some “easy wrong turns” for therapists are described.     

Stuttering treatment control using P300 event-related potentials

Positron emission tomography studies during speech have indicated a failure to show the normal activation of auditory cortical areas in stuttering individuals. In the present study, P300 event-related potentials were used to investigate possible effects of behavioral treatment on the pattern of signal amplitude and latency between waves. In order to compare variations in P300 measurements, a control group paired by age and gender to the group of stutterers, was included in the study. Findings suggest that the group of stutterers presented a significant decrease in stuttering severity after the fluency treatment program. Regarding P300 measurements, stutterers and their controls presented results within normal limits in all testing situations and no significant statistical variations between pre and post treatment testing. When comparing individual results between the testing situations, stutterers presented a higher average decrease in wave latency for the right ear following treatment. The results are discussed in light of previous P300 event-related potentials and functional imaging studies with stuttering adults.Educational objectives: The reader will learn about and be able to describe the: (1) use of P300 event-related potentials in the study of stuttering; (2) differences between stuttering and non-stuttering adults; and (3) effects of behavioral fluency treatment on cerebral activity in stuttering speakers.     

Structure factorielle et qualités psychométriques de la version française de l’inventaire de comportements des adultes (Adult Behavior Checklist) d’Achenbach et Rescorla

While they often need to obtain information about their patients’ functioning from friends, relatives or spouse, French clinicians currently lack a reliable and handy other-report instrument allowing for a comprehensive review of the behavioral and emotional problems presented by an adult person. The aim of the present study is to verify the factor structure and psychometric properties of the French version of the Achenbach and Rescorla's Adult Behavior Checklist (ABCL). We collected 403 ABCL forms completed by informants, who all were third-year students in psychology. The subjects (198 women) were aged 18 to 59 years and came from families with a large variety of socioeconomic status. The confirmatory factor analyses yielded the expected eight-syndrome first order factor structure and supported the measurement models implied by the DSM-oriented scales more recently added to the ABCL. French people scored higher than American on almost all scales. Women scored higher than men on the scales measuring anxiety, and lower on those measuring attention problems and rule-breaking behavior. Middle-aged people scored lower than younger on attention problems and rule-breaking behavior. Despite some limitations, these results speak in favor of the use of the French Adult Behavior Checklist in both research and clinical practice.     

Transmission of attachment across three generations

A low-risk Finnish sample (N _total = 135) of parents expecting their first child and maternal grandmothers was followed from pregnancy until the child was 3 years old. The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) was used to assess attachment in mothers during the last trimester of pregnancy, and maternal grandmothers. The Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) was used to assess attachment in infants at 12 months, and the Preschool Assessment of Attachment (PAA) at 3 years. Mothers' AAI classifications (3-category) during pregnancy predicted infants' SSP classifications (3-category) in 76% of cases, and the 3-year-old children's PAA classifications (3-category) in 58% of cases. Grandmothers' AAI classifications predicted infants' SSP classifications in 48% of cases, but the 3-year-old children's PAA classifications in 72% of cases. Using log-linear analysis, it was shown that a simple model accounted for transmission of attachment across three generations when the children were 3 years. Even though the results indicated continuity across generations, the correspondences were slightly weaker than those obtained by Benoit and Parker in their 3-generational study. The results are discussed in terms of the prototype view, the rapid contextual changes seen across 3 generations in Finland, the size of the sample, and the comparability of the DMM to other assessment methods of attachment.     

Measuring adult attachment: a construct validation of two self-report instruments

This study reports the Swedish construct validation of two translated attachment style scales. The factor structure of the attachment construct was investigated via exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of attachment scores from 515 students of a Swedish university. Results supported the expected two-factor solution, but found a three-factor solution to be a viable alternative. In addition, the attachment scales were compared with the Big Five personality inventory (NEO-PI), using a sample of 87 Swedish students, and found to have expected correlation to this scale.