A comparison of two report formats for alcohol and caffeine use

Abstract

The present study compared two different methods of assessing alcohol and caffeine use in a community sample of adults over a one-year period. Daily reporting of beer/wine intake was more stable over time and showed higher correspondence with Quantity-frequency measures than daily reporting of hard liquor use. Coffee and tea use showed high temporal stability and good alternate form reliability, though a tendency to underreport typical use of coffee use was observed. The psychometric properties of substance use measures appear to vary with type of beverage consumed and report format.     

Autism characteristics in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

Background: Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) exhibit difficulties in many cognitive and behavioral domains and also have high comorbidity with other disorders such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorder as well as autism. Although the FASD profile is shown to be distinct from ADHD and conduct disorder, far less is known about the commonalities with autism. The current study used a parent-rated questionnaire containing an autism subscale to explore the autistic-like features that children with FASD exhibit. Methods: Studied were 25 children with FASD (age: M = 10.3 years) and 17 normal controls (NCs; age: M = 10.2 years). As part of a larger study, all parents/caregivers completed the Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS; Gresham & Elliot, 2008), which in addition to evaluating social skills and behavior problems globally, includes an Autism subscale. Results: Between-group comparisons showed the FASD group not only scored significantly lower in social skills and significantly higher in behavior problems than the NC group but children with FASD also scored significantly higher on the Autism subscale. Item analysis revealed they showed the most difficulty in terms of social and communicative functioning and the least in repetitive and restrictive behaviors. Conclusion: Current findings signify that FASD and autism share similarities with regard to social and communicative functioning. These findings, which further our knowledge of the FASD phenotype, may be useful in specifying the particular interventions these children need.     

Sleep disturbance and emotion dysregulation as transdiagnostic processes in a comorbid sample

Sleep disturbance and emotion dysregulation have been identified as etiologic and maintaining factors for a range of psychopathology and separate literatures support their relationships to anxiety, depression, PTSD, and alcohol dependence (AD) symptom severity. Previous studies have examined these relationships in isolation, failing to account for the high rates of comorbidity among disorders. It is not yet known whether these processes uniquely predict symptom severity in each of these domains. Participants were 220 patients in residential substance abuse treatment, who had experienced a potentially traumatic event and exceeded screening cutoffs for probable PTSD and problematic alcohol use. Controlling for emotion dysregulation and the interrelationships among the outcome variables, insomnia was uniquely associated with anxiety (B = .27, p < .001), depression (B = .25, p < .001), PTSD (B = .22, p < .001), and AD (B = .17, p = .01) symptom severity. Similarly, controlling for insomnia, emotion dysregulation was uniquely associated with anxiety (B = .40, p < .001), depression (B = .47, p < .001), PTSD (B = .38, p < .001), and AD (B = .26, p < .001) symptom severity. Insomnia and emotion dysregulation appear to be transdiagnostic processes uniquely associated with symptom severity across a number of different domains and might be important treatment targets for individuals with PTSD and AD.     

Resilience in Families Adapting to Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study explored adjustment and adaptation in families living with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Data on family resilience were collected from 19 biological mothers of children with ADS. The data were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively to yield information on factors that enable these families to bounce back from the diagnosis and accompanying challenges with regard to ADS. The findings from the qualitative analysis indicate that social support, the spousal relationship, and family time, togetherness and routines are the most important resilience-promoting factors with ASD. Family hardiness, family problem-solving communication, and family time and routines were significant resilience resources.     

Gender: Genetics,Genitality, Generosity (Grace), Gentility

After acknowledging that gender is defined at many levels and that definitions may not be concordant across all of these layers of human development, this essay illuminates how these threads intertwine with one another to produce a final product that we call a person. Gene expression, gender identity, sexual orientation, and anatomic structures are not always coterminus. Arbitrarily assigning an infant child with maldefined genitalia to a socially defined gender role on the basis of surgical convenience may (should) be perceived as an act of violence, and an untruth. A further intent of this article is to help in pastoral settings to respond to events which raise points of anxiety and concern, among persons of faith, which are sometimes associated with instances of discrepancy.     

Behavioural Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Associated with Recovered Memories

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is sometimes associated with recovered memories (RMs) of traumatic events. That is, the sufferer reports having forgotten traumatic events for a period of time, only to recall them later on. As the memories of traumatic events are recalled, post-traumatic stress disorder may emerge. The cause of recovered memories is uncertain and is the subject of debate. Some recovered memories may be reasonably accurate, while others may be ''recollections'' of imagined rather than actual events. It is unclear whether conventional PTSD therapies, such as behaviour therapy, are appropriate and effective in treating PTSD-RM. The present article considers these issues in the context of a case study, in which a patient with PTSD-RM was treated with behaviour therapy ( in vivo and imaginal exposure). The patient sought treatment because he wanted relief from his PTSD symptoms, regardless of whether his recovered memories were accurate (he was completely convinced in the accuracy of the memories). Treatment outcome was compared with the outcome of 13 PTSD patients who did not have recovered memories, who were also treated with behaviour therapy. Results suggest that PTSD-RM can be effectively treated with behaviour therapy. However, such treatment is unlikely to be appropriate for all cases of PTSD- RM. Selection criteria are discussed.     

Somatic Complaints in Girls: A Longitudinal Perspective

This report presents results from a study of the dimensionality and longitudinal stability of some common self-reported somatic complaints in teenage girls. Data were supplied by the Swedish longitudinal research program “Individual Development and Adaptation”. At four age levels (age 10, 13, 15, and 16 years) a representative sample of approximately 500 girls filled out questionnaires on various adjustment problems, including some typical somatic complaints. A separate dimension of somatic complaints was identified at each age level through factor analysis of the questionnaire data. Correlational stability of somatic complaints was not high until middle adolescence. At this age fairly stable patterns of somatic complaints were also found at the individual level; different somatic complaints were not found to be interchangeable. The results support the interpretation of girls' somatic complaints as a single, meaningful dimension in late childhood and adolescence. This dimension may be hypothesized to constitute a psychological process, somatization, manifesting itself in fairly stable patterns at the individual level in middle adolescence.     

Affective Priming of Alcohol Schema in Coping and Enhancement Motivated Drinkers

This study investigated whether Coping Motivated and Enhancement Motivated drinkers differ in their degree of semantic activation of alcohol concepts on a primed Stroop colour-naming task following exposure to negative and positive affect primes, respectively. Participants were 48 undergraduates (not necessarily problem drinkers) who had elevated scores on the Coping Motivated or Enhancement Motivated subscale of the Drinking Motives Questionnaire - Revised. The Stroop task involved negative, positive and neutral primes that preceded alcohol and no-alcohol target words. As hypothesized, Coping Motivated drinkers showed semantic activation of alcohol concepts following exposure to negative but not neutral primes. Also as hypothesized, Enhancement Motivated drinkers showed semantic activation of alcohol concepts following exposure to positive but not negative primes. Unexpectedly, semantic activation of alcohol concepts was also observed among Coping Motivated drinkers following positive primes and among Enhancement Motivated drinkers following neutral primes. Theoretical implications are discussed, as are implications for improving cognitive behavioral interventions for problem drinkers.     

The Forensic Examination of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Abstract

The diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has achieved a major level of significance in our judicial system. The forensic examination of PTSD is identified as a specialized assessment that is non-biased and non-prejudicial. This article attempts to provide a standard methodology to offer an objective and neutral forensic assessment and diagnosis of PTSD that will stand up to legal scrutiny by identifying problems in diagnosing PTSD and establishing a six-step methodology for the differential diagnosis of the disorder. Procedures for providing a forensic examination of PTSD and details of the author's methods of providing a forensic examination are presented.     

A Review and Meta‐Analysis Examining Conceptual and Operational Definitions of Problematic Internet Use

This study examined different conceptual and operational definitions of problematic Internet use (PIU). 3 perspectives of PIU are described along with a meta‐analytic review (K = 112) conducted to explore the implications stemming from how PIU is measured. The results offer evidence to support the construct validity of measures developed from the impulse control disorder and relationship resource deficits traditions but raise questions about substance dependence measures of PIU. Additionally, there were small but noteworthy differences in the associations between PIU and key antecedents and outcomes that could be attributed to PIU measurement tradition. Suggestions for developing a more robust body of scholarship on PIU are offered.