Religious perceptions of alcohol consumption and drinking behaviours among religious and non-religious groups

Evidence indicates that religious involvement is associated with lower levels of alcohol consumption. However, mechanisms underlying the specific effects of religion on alcohol behaviours are still not entirely clear. This study examined potential differences in religious perceptions of alcohol consumption (RePAC) among Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, and non-religious individuals, and between Catholic and Baptist Christian denominations. We also assessed whether these perceptions were associated with quantity and frequency of drinking. Participants (N?=?495; 79% female) aged 18 and above completed self-report measures of alcohol consumption and religious perceptions of alcohol use. Findings indicated that non-religious individuals and Buddhists reported higher RePAC scores (i.e., more favourable attitudes toward alcohol use), followed by Christians and then Muslims. Drinking quantity was more strongly associated with RePAC for Buddhists and Christians than the same association for non-religious participants. These results provide preliminary evidence linking religious perceptions of alcohol to drinking behaviours across religious affiliations.     

Le point de vue des adultes avec une trisomie 21 sur leurs relations fraternelles et aux pairs extrafamiliaux : impact sur leur vie intrapsychique et intersubjective

This exploratory study concerns the sibling's bonds, and the bonds with extrafamilial peers, in the perspective of people with intellectual disability. Four adults with intellectual disability, who are siblings, are included in this research, associating a half-directive interview and the Family Apperception Test administration. The results signed the increased presence of positives affects. Identification and differenciation process are identified, but implied a work about the normality by the people with a disability. Finally a co-occurrence between the configuration of sibling system and of social bond is observed. This bond has to be studied, but before, researchers have to work on methodological aspects for this research.     

Taxonomy of moderators that govern explicit memory in individuals with intellectual disability: Integrative research review

This integrative research review aims to discover moderators that influence explicit memory performance of individuals with intellectual disability (ID). We reviewed 47 explicit memory studies (since 1990) that were conducted in populations with ID. We suggest a taxonomy of moderators related to the participants, encoding and retrieval stages, where only an interrelation between the three dictates memory performance. We found that individuals with nonspecific ID can achieve the same level of recognition as individuals with typical development (TD) with the same chronological age when all encoding moderators are favorable. Recognition tests facilitate recollection more than free recall in all etiologies. The performance of individuals with ID was poorer than that of individuals with TD in all auditory memory tasks. Spatial location memory varied with task demands, practice, intention, age and intelligence. We conclude with suggestions for further research and educational implications.     

“Making it explicit” makes a difference: Evidence for a dissociation of spontaneous and intentional level 1 perspective taking in high-functioning autism

The ability of perspective taking is a fundamental aspect of social cognition. The ability to decide, what another person can or cannot see is referred to as “level 1 perspective taking.” This is thought to be a process that we can make use of intentionally, but which also takes place spontaneously. Autism is characterized by impairments of social interaction, which are thought to be related to deficits in implicit rather than explicit perspective taking. In order to assess both levels of processing with regard to perspective taking, we employed an established task in patients and controls. Our results demonstrate that both groups engage in spontaneous level 1 perspective taking. In contrast to controls, however, patients reacted more slowly if they had to verify the other’s as compared to their own perspective, which shows that participants with high-functioning autism have selective difficulties in explicit, but not implicit, level 1 perspective taking. These findings demonstrate that while spontaneous level 1 perspective taking appears to be intact in autism, this ability is impaired in patients when used explicitly.     

阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停低通气综合征是引发道路交通事故的重要原因

为了分析我国道路交通事故是否与阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停相关,以道路交通事故为主题查阅1993年~2012年万方数据库,并辅以手检同期《中华创伤杂志》和《中华流行病学杂志》,重点查阅全国性及地区性道路交通事故原因的论著,看其是否涉及阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停问题。结果显示这期间共发表了相关论著43篇,全部论文在分析道路交通事故时均未提及阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停这一重要原因,提示国内道路交通安全研究中忽略了一个与之关系密切的阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停问题,建议今后将这个问题引入到道路交通安全管理项目中。     

Depression in primary Sjögren’s syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis

There is substantial uncertainty regarding the prevalence of depression in Primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS). We conducted a systematic review aiming to evaluate the association of pSS with depression. PubMed, Web of Science, VIP, CNKI and Wanfang database were searched to find the published literatures (from these databases established to October 2016). Studies were screened according to inclusion and exclusion criteria and the qualities of included studies were evaluated. The data was analyzed using Revman5.2 software. A total of 12 studies including 1917 patients were eligible for inclusion in the systematic review and meta-analysis. In this meta-analysis, Severity of depression was assessed using psychometric measures, such as PHQ-9; HADS; CES-D; Zung depression scale and BDI. The result revealed that pSS was associated with an increased prevalence of depression (summary odds ratio (OR) = 5.36, 95% CI: 4.05–7.09, P < 0.01). The depression score in pSS patients (standardized mean difference (SMD) = 1.47, 95% CI: 0.81–2.12, P < 0.01) were higher than in the control group. Depression is highly prevalent in pSS than in healthy controls. Early recognition and appropriate intervention are therefore essential to reduce the negative impact of depression on the patient’s quality of life and outcome of their disease.     

Factors predictive of a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: Neuropsychological assessment

A variety of neurodevelopmental impairments related to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) diagnoses have been consistently documented. However, it is not clear whether such variables are predictive of a diagnosis. The purpose of the present study is to use logistic regressions to identify predictors of FASD in neuropsychological assessment. Charts of 180 children and adolescents with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) who underwent psychological and diagnostic assessment for FASD were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 107 received an FASD diagnosis (the PAE-FASD group) and 73 did not (the PAE group). Following preliminary analyses, direct logistic regressions were performed to assess the contribution of different neuropsychological testing measures on the likelihood of a child or adolescent receiving an FASD diagnosis. The results indicate that the classification accuracy of the PAE-FASD and PAE groups is clinically significant across models of intelligence, academic achievement, memory, and executive functioning. Classification rates across the various models range from 67.1% to 75.5%, with models incorporating 10 intelligence subtests or 3 academic subtests emerging as superior to those using broad indices of intelligence and/or individual subtests of memory or executive functioning. A “test battery” model incorporating verbal intelligence, verbal/auditory working memory (digit span), basic reading and spelling skills, math calculations, delayed story recall, and spatial planning and problem-solving yielded a classification rate of 74.7%. These results suggest that neuropsychological testing is a critical component of FASD assessment and help guide decisions to maximize the efficiency and efficacy of the diagnostic process and treatment recommendations.     

Delineation of a spatial working memory profile using a non-verbal eye-tracking paradigm in young children with autism and Williams syndrome

Working memory deficits profoundly inhibit children’s ability to learn. While deficits have been identified in disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Williams syndrome (WS), findings are equivocal, and very little is known about the nature of these deficits early in development. A major barrier to advances in this area is the availability of tasks suitable for young children with neurodevelopmental disorders who experience difficulties with following verbal instructions or who are distressed by formal testing demands. To address these issues, a novel eye-tracking paradigm was designed based on an adaptation of the classic A not B paradigm in order to examine the early foundations of spatial working memory capabilities in 26 developmentally delayed preschool children with ASD, 18 age- and IQ-matched children with WS, and 19 age-matched typically-developing (TD) children. The results revealed evidence that foundational spatial working memory performance in ASD and WS was comparable with that of TD children. Performance was associated with intellectual ability in the ASD and TD groups, but not in the WS group. Performance was not associated with adaptive behavior in any group. These findings are discussed in the context of previous research that has been largely limited to older and substantially less developmentally delayed children with these neurodevelopmental disorders.     

An investigation of intra-individual variability in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)

Intra-individual variability (IIV) is defined as systematic within-person variation in performance either across test sessions (e.g., test/retest performance on the same task) or in one session (e.g., variations in performance on multiple trials of a single task). Higher levels of IIV have been noted as a characteristic of neurodevelopmental disorders such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder? (ADHD), but IIV is yet to be investigated in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). FASD is a term used to describe a range of conditions resulting from prenatal exposure to alcohol. As part of a comprehensive neuropsychological battery, four study groups (1. fetal alcohol syndrome/partial fetal alcohol syndrome; 2. static encephalopathy/alcohol exposed; 3. neurobehavioral disorder/alcohol exposed as diagnosed using the University of Washington FASD 4-Digit Code; 4. typically-developing (TD) age-matched children with no prenatal alcohol exposure) were administered measures of motor response and inhibitory control, attention, and adaptive behavior. The results indicate increased levels of IIV in those with FASD compared to the TD controls. It was found that IIV uniquely contributes to predicting adaptive behavior above and beyond attention, while attention partially mediates the relationship between IIV and adaptive behavior. This is the first study to the authors’ knowledge to show the presence of increased IIV in children with FASD. It additionally provides evidence that IIV measures some inherent variability in performance independent of poor attention in children with FASD.