WISC-IV GAI and CPI profiles in healthy children and children with learning disabilities

IntroductionIn addition to the FSIQ, the General Ability Index (GAI) and the Cognitive Proficiency Index (CPI) are two ancillary scores that can be calculated for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale. The GAI and the CPI have been proposed to assist in identifying cognitive strengths and weaknesses, and thus to provide different views into individual's cognitive abilities.ObjectiveThe purpose of the present study is to provide the frequency of GAI/CPI score difference by direction, the frequency of FSIQ/GAI score difference, and the frequency of FSIQ/CPI score difference, for the French Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children and Adolescents–Fourth Edition (WISC-IV).MethodThese frequencies are provided for a sample of healthy children (n = 483), and for a sample of children with learning disabilities (LD, n = 370). The GAI comprises verbal comprehension and perceptual reasoning subtests, while CPI comprises working memory and processing speed subtests.ResultsResults indicated that the healthy sample performed better than the LD sample for all composite scores. The FSIQ was lower than the GAI for both groups and this difference was slightly larger for the LD sample (−1.35 points vs. −3.22 points). The GAI was higher than the CPI for both samples, but this difference was not significantly larger for the LD sample (4.2 points vs. 6.16 points). Finally, while the FSIQ was higher than the CPI for both groups, this difference was not larger for the LD sample (2.85 points vs. 2.95 points).ConclusionThese findings support the use of the GAI and the CPI, in addition to the FSIQ.     

Health outcomes resulting from the quality of emotional expression in HIV/AIDS patients

IntroductionStudies on emotional expression and its impact upon health have mainly focused on quantitative aspects of interactions rather than on their quality.ObjectiveThe present study aimed to examine the interpersonal quality of interactions in the social sharing of emotions (SSE) in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), and its impact on patients’ physical and psychological well-being.MethodOne hundred and one PLWHA answered a questionnaire (Likert scale items) which assessed the following: shame, guilt, perceived stigma, perceived physical health, perceived mental health, SSE and the interpersonal quality of SSE (IQSSE). The main hypotheses were compiled into a theoretical model which was tested by a series of structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses.ResultsThe final solution resulted into a well-fit model which showed that: shame predicted IQSSE, perceived stigma mediated the relationship between IQSSE and guilt, and perceived mental health mediated the relationship between IQSSE and perceived physical health.ConclusionThese results corroborate previous findings which demonstrate that IQSSE is independent from quantitative aspects of SSE and that the way the SSE takes place is crucial to the benefits it induces.     

ATTACHMENT IN INFANTS WITH CLEFT LIP AND/OR PALATE: MARGINAL SECURITY AND ITS CHANGES OVER TIME

This study examines the attachment quality and how this changed over time among infants who had cleft lip and palate (CLP), by conducting a prospective longitudinal study addressing the effects of this type of perinatal event on the parent–infant relationship and the emotional development of the infants. At 12 months of age, the Strange Situation Paradigm (SSP; M. Ainsworth, M.C. Blehar, E. Waters, & T. Wall, 1978) was administered to a sample of 38 CLP infants (born between 2003 and 2010) and 17 healthy controls. At 4 years of age, the Attachment Story Completion Task (ASCT; I. Bretherton, D. Ridgeway, & J. Cassidy, 1990) was administered to 32 individuals from the CLP sample and 14 from the control group. As reported in the literature, CLP infants display secure attachment behaviors as frequently as do control infants (55%). However, a more detailed analysis of the attachment scales revealed that CLP infants show more avoidance and less proximity seeking. In addition, a closer examination of the subcategories of attachment styles revealed that most CLP infants (71%) displayed distal attachment strategies such as the B1/B2 or A1/A2 subcategories. At 4 years old, CLP infants clearly displayed more deactivation and less security than did the control sample. Moreover, when detailing the evolution of attachment individually, almost 60% of the CLP children showing distal strategies at 12 months became deactivated or disorganized when they reached 4 years. Indeed, subtle differences in attachment behaviors at 12 months old—which can be considered marginally secure at that age—may reveal attachment vulnerabilities, which seem to be more apparent over the course of development.     

DOES FATHERS' PRENATAL MENTAL HEALTH BEAR A RELATIONSHIP TO PARENTING STRESS AT 6 MONTHS?

This study aimed to explore fathers’ mental health and retrospectively reported adverse childhood experiences during pregnancy, as well as various pathways predicting self‐reported stress at 6 months’ postpartum as assessed by the Parenting Stress Index (PSI; R.R. Abidin, 1990 ). A total of 835 fathers contributed data to the study. Data collection comprised five time points during pregnancy and one at 6 months’ postpartum. The main analyses were performed using linear regression and path analyses. First, linear regression analyses showed that paternal anxiety symptoms during pregnancy predicted stress scores in the PSI child domain at 6 months (coefficient = 0.36). Second, path analyses showed that depressive symptoms during pregnancy predicted parenting stress in the child domain, mediated by spousal disharmony at 6 months’ postpartum (coefficient = 0.77). Third, adverse childhood experiences scores predicted parenting stress in the child domain by two different pathways: one mediated by anxiety symptoms in pregnancy (coefficient = 0.29) and the other by depressive symptoms in pregnancy and experienced spousal disharmony at 6 months’ postpartum (coefficient = 0.77). The findings suggest that fathers’ symptoms of anxiety and depression during pregnancy as well as adverse childhood experiences predict paternal stress and a negative perception of their children's behavior at 6 months’ postpartum.     

CAREGIVER SENSITIVITY AND CONSISTENCY AND CHILDREN'S PRIOR FAMILY EXPERIENCE AS CONTEXTS FOR EARLY DEVELOPMENT WITHIN INSTITUTIONS

The current study addressed whether two institution‐wide interventions in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, that increased caregiver sensitivity (Training Only: TO) or both caregiver sensitivity and consistency (Training plus Structural Changes: T+SC) promoted better socioemotional and cognitive development than did a No Intervention (NoI) institution during the first year of life for children who were placed soon after birth. It also assessed whether having spent less than 9 versus 9 to 36 months with a family prior to institutionalization was related to children's subsequent socioemotional and cognitive development within these three institutions. The Battelle Developmental Inventory (J. Newborg, J.R. Stock, L. Wnek, J. Guidubaldi, & J. Svinicki, 1988) was used to assess the socioemotional and cognitive functioning of children in NoI (n = 95), TO (n = 104), and T+SC (n = 86) at two to three time points during their first 6 to 12 months of residency. Results suggest that improving caregiver sensitivity can improve the cognitive development of infants in the first year of institutionalization whereas improving caregiver consistency in addition to sensitivity is more beneficial for socioemotional development than is sensitivity alone. Similarly, for children in T+SC, longer time with a family prior to institutionalization (consistent caregiver, unknown sensitivity) was associated with better socioemotional, but not cognitive, baseline scores and more rapid cognitive than socioemotional development during institutionalization. These results suggest caregiver sensitivity is more highly related to cognitive development whereas caregiver consistency is more related to socioemotional development in the first years of life.     

L’évaluation cognitive de la lecture au collège : synthèse des principaux outils de dépistage et de diagnostic des troubles spécifiques de la lecture et cognitifs associés

As reported by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA, 2012), almost 20% of French teenagers show difficulties in reading (OCDE, 2014). What are the French language tools the practitioner or educationalist (teacher, school doctor, psychologist, and speech-language pathologist) use to assess specific reading disorders for middle school students? The tools assessing reading comprehension skills, word-level reading skills and reading-related skills are presented by distinguishing the tools developed for screening of reading difficulties (the purpose of which is to detect early disease or risk factors for disease in large numbers of apparently healthy individuals) than them developed for diagnosing of reading difficulties (the purpose of which is to establish the presence [or absence] of disease as a basis for treatment decisions in symptomatic or screen positive individuals). This synthesis allows to identify their interests and limits, and to consider new tools respecting five essential criteria: (1) the tool structure must be based on recent theoretical models specific at the middle school, (2) the tool must assess reading comprehension skills (with control of listening comprehension skills) and the mastery of two word-level reading procedures (lexical and sublexical), (3) the tool must measure a set of reading-related skills such as phonological awareness, phonological short-term memory, rapid serial naming and morphological awareness, (4) the experimental material (vocabulary control) and the standardization must be recent or updated and (5) the speed must be measured accurately.     

Jungian dialogism and the problem of depth

Notions of dialogical inquiry and of the dialogical self have become increasingly influential in contemporary psychology in response to the limitations of the traditional view of monologically encapsulated and radically disengaged consciousness. Conceptions of self and inquiry as intrinsically embedded in and constituted by our shared life with others seem to do better justice to the richly interconnected character of contemporary life. At the same time, our highly interconnected global world has also tended to foster a flattening of cultural and inter‐cultural horizons that undermines dialogical engagement in any deeply meaningful sense. What is needed is to enrich current conceptions of dialogue with an understanding of experiential and cultural depth. This paper seeks an understanding of the depth dimensions of dialogue through an engagement of dialogical self theory with Jungian dialogical thought. Critical to this engagement is to appreciate the expressive potential of Jungian dialogism beyond Jung's theoretical claims about dialogue.     

Validation of the Self-Discrepancies Scale (S-DS). A tool to investigate the self in clinical and research settings

Introduction

Self-discrepancies (the distances between the perceived self and the ideal or the socially prescribed selves) are a hallmark in psychological distress. However, a clinical tool evaluating these discrepancies is lacking.