Infant attachment in the Czech Republic: Categorical and dimensional findings from a post-communist country

Infant attachment remains virtually unexplored in former Eastern Bloc countries. The dimensional approach to infant attachment, which could ease common obstacles in cross-cultural attachment research, necessitates more empirical support. This study explores infant attachment in the Czech Republic, a post-communist country with a unique family policy, using both the categorical and the dimensional models. It also compares the Czech infant attachment distribution to infant attachment distributions in other countries and compares infant attachment distributions in European countries to the Baltimore study sample. In the Strange Situation Procedure, forty-nine (74 %) out of sixty-six mother-infant dyads (35 boys, M = 13.8, SD = 0.9) received the B classification. Despite the generous family policy and cultural emphasis on close mother-infant relationships, the Czech distribution of insecure categories did not differ from the Baltimore study sample. Out of other post-communist countries, only the infant attachment distribution in former East Germany differed from the Czech and the Baltimore study samples due to a lower proportion of type B and a higher proportion of type A infants. There were also more type A infants in the Italian sample. Interactive behavior scales accurately predicted attachment categories in 91 % of cases. Contact-maintenance and proximity-seeking scales substantially improve the assessment of insecure resistant behavior. Our findings support the universality and normativity of attachment and the utility of the dimensional approach.     

Memory performance predicts interrogative suggestibility better than global cognition in older adults with subjective cognitive complaints

The present study aims to investigate to which extent global cognition and verbal memory can estimate interrogative suggestibility (IS) in elderly people with subjective cognitive complaints (SCCs). We used the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS 2) subscales (i.e., Yield 1, Yield 2 and Shift) as measures of IS. Data from a sample of consecutive patients (N = 94) who referred to neuropsychology units for the first time were collected.Our results showed that verbal memory is a better predictor of IS than global cognition. Moreover, memory impairment led to significantly higher IS independently of global cognitive status. These findings suggest that the assessment of verbal memory allows to estimate individual levels of IS better than global cognition, even in elders with objective cognitive deficits. Implications for forensic assessment of senior witnesses are discussed.     

The Factor Structure of the Beavers Interactional Scales Revisited

The present study addressed limitations of a recent confirmatory factor analytic study challenging the hypothesized factor structure of the Beavers Interactional Scales. That dataset (n = 97) was reanalyzed and two additional datasets (n = 95, n = 91) were explored. With all three samples, taken separately and together, the Beavers Systems Model, when operationalized in the BIS, was not supported. A body of evidence is accumulating which suggests that clinicians and researchers should be wary of the BIS.     

Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Depression–Anxiety–Stress Scales in Depressed and Anxious Patients

The Depression–Anxiety–Stress Scales (DASS; P. F. Lovibond & S. H. Lovibond, 1995) have shown considerable promise in their ability to differentially assess depression and anxiety symptoms. Most of the work to date has relied on normal or predominantly anxious clinical samples. To extend this research to a predominantly depressed sample, a psychiatric sample from a mood disorders program (N = 439) was used to investigate the factor structure of the DASS. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a 3-factor model for the 21-item DASS was supported. A 3-factor model with crossloading items for the 42-item version showed no practical improvement. Further confirmatory analyses evaluated the ability of item subsets from the DASS to represent the constructs specified in the tripartite model (L. A. Clark & D. Watson, 1991). Strong support was obtained for the DASS to represent the construct of anhedonia and physiological hyperarousal, and their relative importance is consistent with predictions of the tripartite model in understanding the relationship between anxiety and depression.     

Early motor development and cognitive abilities among Mexican preschoolers

Psychomotricity plays a very important role in children’s development, especially for learning involving reading–writing and mathematical calculations. Evaluate motor development in children 3 years old and its relationship with their cognitive abilities at the age of 5 years. Based on a cohort study, we analyzed the information about motor performance evaluated at 3 years old by Peabody Motor Scale and cognitive abilities at 5 years old. The association was estimated using linear regression models adjusted by mother’s intelligence quotient, sex, Bayley mental development index at 18 months, and quality of the environment at home (HOME scale). 148 children whose motor performance was determined at age 3 and was evaluated later at age 5 to determine their cognitive abilities. Cognitive abilities (verbal, quantitative, and memory) measured by McCarthy Scales. Significant positive associations were observed between stationary balance at age 3 with verbal abilities (β = 0.67, p = .04) and memory (β = 0.81, p = .02) at 5 years. Grasping and visual-motor integration were significant and positively associated with quantitative abilities (β = 0.74, p = .005; β = 0.61, p = .01) and memory (β = 2.11, p = .001; β = 1.74, p = .004). The results suggest that early motor performance contributes to the establishment of cognitive abilities at 5 years. Evaluation and early motor stimulation before the child is faced with formal learning likely helps to create neuronal networks that facilitate the acquisition of academic knowledge.     

Beyond negotiated outcomes: The hidden costs of anger expression in dyadic negotiation

This paper focuses on the hidden costs of expressing anger in negotiations. Two experimental studies show that an opponent’s expression of anger can elicit both concessionary and retaliatory responses by focal negotiators. In the first study, equal-power negotiators exhibited overt concessionary behaviors when their opponents expressed anger, but also sabotaged their opponents covertly. Feelings of mistreatment mediated the relationship between opponents’ anger expression and focal negotiators’ covert retaliation. In the second study, low-power negotiators made larger concessions when high-power opponents expressed anger, but they retaliated covertly against high-power negotiators. High-power negotiators were overtly demanding (and not concessionary) regardless of whether or not the opponent expressed anger, but also retaliated covertly against low-power opponents who expressed anger. The two studies suggest that the value-claiming advantages of expressed anger need to be weighed against the costs of eliciting (covert) retaliation. We discuss implications of the findings and provide recommendations for future research.     

The psychometric properties of the center for epidemiological studies-depression scale (ces-d) when used with adults with physical disabilities

Abstract

Psychometric properties of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) were examined in a sample of 790 adults with physical disabilities and compared to the responses obtained from non-disabled samples (Craig and Van Natta, 1976; Radloff, 1977). Findings suggested the CES-D is a valid measure of depressive symptoms among adults with physical disabilities. Scores on the CES-D scale were not elevated by somatic issues related to physical disability as evidenced by the lack of statistically significant differences in the persistence percentages reported by adults with physical disabilities and non-disabled adults for four of the seven items composing the somatic dimension of the CES-D. Moreover, the factor structure obtained via principal components analysis was highly similar to that obtained with non-disabled adults. Likewise, the Cronbach alpha value for the total score was within acceptable ranges and scores on the CES-D scale were moderately correlated with scores on a number of related but putatively distinct constructs.     

The State-Trait Depression Scales: An International Comparison

Equivalent English and German versions of the State-Trait Depression Scales (STDS) were developed and presented to samples of American and German students who were comparable with regard to gender and age. Factorial structure and equivalence of the two versions were determined by confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). The CFAs included multiple group analyses which were employed to compare factor patterns, loadings, factor variances and covariances across the two samples. In addition, statistical and psychometric properties of the items and scales were determined and mean differences between nationalities and genders on these scales were tested. In order to obtain information about the external validity, relationships between the STDS and tests which already exist in English and German (several depression scales as well as the State-Trait Personality Inventory, the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, and the Mainz Coping Inventory) were analysed.     

Mapping self-reports of working memory deficits to executive dysfunction in Fragile X Mental Retardation 1 (FMR1) gene premutation carriers asymptomatic for FXTAS

Fragile X Syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is caused by the silencing of a single gene on the X chromosome, the Fragile X Mental Retardation 1 (FMR1) gene. In recent years, the premutation (“carrier”) status has received considerable attention and there is now an emerging consensus that despite intellectual functioning being within the average range premutation males present with subtle executive function impairments that include poor inhibitory control, working memory deficits, and poor planning skills. The ranges of these skills, although not nearly as severe as seen in the full mutation, nonetheless serve to differentiate males with the premutation from males in the unaffected population. In the present study we extend these findings to suggest that behavioral markers, specifically self-report on the Brown Attention-Deficit Disorder Rating Scales, may serve as a clinically useful indicator or “signature” of the Fragile X Premutation status. We discuss the possibility that this measure provides a means to identify those at greatest risk for developing the newly identified neurodegenerative disorder that affects some premutation males – Fragile X Tremor/Ataxia Syndrome (FXTAS).