Control cognitions and causal attributions as predictors of fatigue severity in a community sample

Control cognitions and causal attributions of fatigue were examined in relation to Weiner's Causal Attribution theory in a community sample. Participants were 97 females and 43 males, aged 18-83 years. Weiner's dimensions of stability and uncontrollability and physical and psychosocial attributions of fatigue were related to fatigue severity. Escape-avoidance coping mediated between psychosocial causal attributions of fatigue to fatigue; whereas planful problem-solving and exercise moderated between stability cognitions to fatigue and psychosocial attributions of fatigue to fatigue, respectively. This, the cause(s) of fatigue were perceived as stable, uncontrollable, and involving physical and psychosocial factors, participants reported worse fatigue. Taken together, the results suggest that fatigue treatments may be most effective when they are tailored or matched to the belief systems of the individuals with fatigue.     

临床运动心理学研究:现状、问题与建议

本文对《临床运动心理学杂志》创刊以来的99篇论文进行内容分析,以揭示临床运动心理学研究的现状与问题.研究结果表明:临床运动心理学研究领域主要为运动功能障碍、心理健康、运动功能损害、运动表现发展;研究的热点问题主要为运动表现、饮食障碍、情绪障碍、成瘾、压力应对等;研究主要以认知行为理论为基础;42.4％的研究假设有待进一步验证;研究方法存在一些问题.基于上述研究结果,对我国运动心理学研究者提出以下建议:拓展研究领域;关注研究的本土化;丰富研究的理论基础;加强研究方法训练.     

Subjective cognitive complaint in healthy older adults: Identification of major domains and relation to objective performance

This study analyzed complaints across a range of memory domains in middle-aged and older adults, as well as assessed their relationship with objective cognitive performance and personal characteristics. A total of 115 community-dwelling, healthy adults between the ages of 45 and 87 completed the Self-Evaluation Questionnaire (QAM) and were tested with a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. A principal component analysis identified seven dimensions of complaint. Difficulty inhibiting internal and external sources of interference when learning or remembering something was the main area of complaint and it was correlated with word-list recall and Digit Symbol. We identified complaints related to a set of memory failures that appear to be more detrimental to autonomy and safety. These were correlated with a measure of functional autonomy and might, therefore, indicate more severe difficulties. Overall, this study provides indications regarding the main domains of memory complaints and identifies which complaints are most reflective of objective cognitive problems.     

On familiarity deficits in mild cognitive impairment: A reply to Migo and Westerberg

In this brief response to Migo and Westerberg we explain why we think that their criticism of our previous research showing familiarity deficits in mild cognitive impairment patients (MCI) is not sound. More concretely, we have replicated the effect several times previously, and we justify statistically the fact that in the previous paper we had to combine two MCI samples to demonstrate a reliable familiarity deficit. We note that there are several studies showing conflicting results. However, although the basis for these discrepancies remains uncertain, a new report has replicated the presence of deficits in familiarity, and more importantly, demonstrated its correlation with structural imaging biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease.     

Body image among eating disorder patients with disabilities: A review of published case studies

While individual cases of eating disorder (ED) patients with disabilities have been reported, there has been little synthesis of their experiences of body image and thin idealization. This study reviews 19 published clinical reports of ED patients with sensory, mobility-related, or intellectual disabilities and evaluates the extent to which their experiences align with or challenge current conceptions of body image in ED. ED patients with visual impairment reported a profound disturbance of body image, perceived intersubjectively and through tactile sensations. Reducing dependence in mobility was an important motivation to control body size for ED patients with mobility-related disabilities. ED as a way of coping with and compensating for the psychosocial consequences of disability was a recurrent theme for patients across a range of disabilities. These experiential accounts of ED patients with disabilities broaden current understandings of body image to include touch and kinaesthetic awareness, intersubjective dynamics, and perceptions of normalcy.     

Memory factors in Rey AVLT: Implications for early staging of cognitive decline

Supraspan verbal list learning is widely used to assess dementia and related cognitive disorders where declarative memory deficits are a major clinical sign. While the overall learning rate is important for diagnosis, serial position patterns may give insight into more specific memory processes in patients with cognitive impairment. This study explored these patterns in a memory clinic clientele. One hundred eighty three participants took the Rey Auditory‐Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). The major groups were patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), Vascular Dementia (VD), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), and Subjective Cognitive Impairment (SCI) as well as healthy controls (HC). Raw scores for the five trials and five serial partitions were factor analysed. Three memory factors were found and interpreted as Primacy, Recency, and Resistance to Interference. AD and MCI patients had impaired scores in all factors. SCI patients were significantly impaired in the Resistance to Interference factor, and in the Recency factor at the first trial. The main conclusion is that serial position data from word list testing reflect specific memory capacities which vary with levels of cognitive impairment.     

The effect of age of acquisition on older individuals with and without cognitive impairments

The present study compared the effects of age of acquisition (AoA) on object naming across groups of older individuals with cognitive impairments, healthy older controls, and young healthy controls. All participants named a set of 80 pictures, within which both AoA and frequency were manipulated orthogonally. Early-acquired objects were named faster than late-acquired objects across all groups. Response time also declined with age and with cognitive impairment between the groups. The effect of AoA differed across groups, with AoA effects being largest for the older group with cognitive impairments and smallest for the young control group. The present study adds strength to the suggestion that AoA of picture names is one of the factors that influence survival or loss of memories in dementia and cognitive decline, and this could therefore be used as a potential screening test for cognitive impairment disorders in the future.     

Sign recall by hearing signers: Evidences of dual coding

Deaf participants' sign recall is affected by sign similarity, sign length, irrelevant signing and manual articulatory suppression, suggesting the existence of a phonological loop for signs. In two experiments we explore whether hearing signers (who have learned Spanish Sign Language as second language) use a phonological loop for signs, whether they use their phonological loop for words or whether they use both when recalling sign lists. Articulatory suppression (manual and vocal) and list similarity (word similarity and sign similarity) were manipulated in two experiments. Results clearly suggest that our participants recode orally the signs and use those representations to recall sign lists, but visuospatial information is also used in this task.     

Off-Unit Activities Programming for Long-Stay Psychiatric Inpatients

The significance of program site for inpatient therapeutic activities offered to chronic patients is rarely discussed. This paper reviews experiences with the development of a facility-wide off-unit activities program in a state psychiatric center. The organizational, clinical, and administrative implications of off-unit proramming are examined in relation to on-unit treatment ractices. iecommendations are made to assist the successful introauction of off-unit programming and the identification of the most effective location for specific activities.     

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for PTSD: The Role of Complex PTSD on Treatment Outcome

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) represents an often chronic and debilitating mental illness resulting from exposure to trauma. Although the most compelling evidence for the treatment of PTSD is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), many patients experience residual functional impairment, or relapse, suggesting that this approach does not work for all cases of PTSD. Repeated severe trauma, particularly during development, might increase the risk for a more intricate clinical profile, called complex PTSD (CPTSD), which might contribute to poorer treatment response. The following provides a comprehensive summary of the evidence examining whether CPTSD symptomatology is related to poorer treatment outcome of CBT, reviews the literature on the treatment of CPTSD, and offers insights into current issues and future directions of the construct.