Executive Functioning in Children and Adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder

The present investigation examined neurocognitive functioning, focusing on executive functioning (EF), in 39 children and adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and 24 healthy control subjects all ages 8 to 17 years. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition along with several measures of executive functioning including the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, Trail Making Test, Controlled Oral Word Association Test, and the Stroop Color Word Test were administered. The neurocognitive profiles for the group of depressed children and adolescents were grossly intact as most scores on intellectual and EF measures fell within the average range and did not differ from the comparison group. Mental processing speed was decreased in the MDD versus normal control group and 27% of the depressed group performed below average on the Trail Making Test. This investigation provided a good base from which to compare future literature on EF in outpatients with early-onset MDD.     

Extreme thinking in clinically depressed adolescents: Results from the Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS)

The purpose of this report is to examine relations between extreme thinking, as measured by the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale, and the maintenance of gains among adolescents who participated in the Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS). We examine extreme thinking among 327 adolescents (mean age = 14.56, 57% female, 75% White) who received cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), fluoxetine (FLX), or a combination of CBT and FLX (COMB). Among those who met remission status on the Children’s Depression Rating Scale - Revised (CDRS-R ≤ 28; 56 at week 12, 79 at week 18) extreme thinking did not predict failure to maintain remission. This is in contrast to findings with depressed adults. Treatment influenced level of extreme thinking, and this appeared to be driven by greater endorsement of positively valenced beliefs as opposed to a decrease in negatively valenced beliefs. Developmental or investigation characteristics may account for the discrepancy in findings.     

重大军事任务下军人急性应激反应特点

目的：揭示军人在执行重大军事任务期间急性应激反应特点。方法：采用《急性应激反应量表》对执行重大军事任务下军人的心理反应进行测试和对比。结果：五种重大军事任务下,军人的急性应激反应各维度及总反应指数均存在显著性差异,急性应激反应主要表现在认知改变和情绪变化方面;执行任务过程中的暴露因素影响军人急性应激反应的程度;军人急性应激反应各症状与工作效率降低呈显著正相关,影响工作效率的因素主要为生理反应、焦虑、注意减退和自责。结论：随着执行重大任务的性质和暴露因素不同,军人急性应激反应特点存在显著差异,并对军事作业效能产生明显的影响。     

抑郁症早醒对事件相关电位的关系研究

本研究旨在探讨抑郁症睡眠障碍早醒与事件相关电位P300的关系。 通过对22例抑郁症早醒病人、20例抑郁症非早醒病人及20例健康自愿者进行事件相关电位P300和汉密尔顿抑郁量表检测,结果发现,早醒组与对照组比较P2、N2、P3潜伏期与反应时间明显延长(P＜0.05),P2、N2、P3波幅明显降低;非早醒组与对照组比较N2、P3潜伏期与反应时间明显延长(P＜0.05),N2、P3波幅明显降低;早醒组与非早醒组比较P2、N2、P3潜伏期与反应时间明显延长(P＜0.05),N2、P3波幅明显降低。早醒组HAMD评分明显高于非早醒组(P＜0.05)。研究表明抑郁症早醒与非早醒病人均存在认知功能的损害,损害程度早醒病人比非早醒病人更为严重。     

Observed maternal responses to adolescent behaviour predict the onset of major depression

Two mechanisms have been proposed regarding relations between parental responses to adolescent affective behaviours and the development of depression: the elicitation of parental negativity and the suppression of parental aggression. This study aimed to investigate the boundary conditions under which these two mechanisms operate in relation to the prospective prediction of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) onset in adolescence. A community sample of 159 adolescents (aged 11–13 years) with no history of MDD completed a family interaction assessment with their mothers, and were followed-up with a diagnostic interview 2–3 years later. Results showed that onset of MDD was prospectively predicted by the elicitation of maternal aggression in response to adolescent aggression (in girls only) and maternal dysphoria in response to adolescent aggression, as well as the suppression of maternal aggression and dysphoria in response to adolescent dysphoria. Thus, support was obtained for both the elicitation of negativity mechanism in relation to maternal responses to adolescents’ aggressive behaviours, and the suppression of aggression mechanisms in relation to maternal responses to adolescents’ dysphoric behaviours. Mothers’ responses to adolescents’ aggressive and dysphoric behaviours may differentially influence the risk of MDD onset for adolescents over time.     

An Investigation of Quality of Life of the Elderly in South Africa, with Specific Reference to Mpumalanga Province

This paper is based on a research study that investigated the quality of life of elderly persons (aged 60 years and over) in South Africa in the wake of population aging, HIV/AIDS, the process of modernization which ushered in new challenges and the legacy of apartheid. A combination of all these factors among others has played a major role in lowering the quality of life of senior citizens in South Africa. For effective measurement purposes, a conceptual framework of broad categories of quality of life indicators for this proportion of the population are identified as: household structure, social inclusion, care of older persons and care burden on the elderly. Under these broad categories we investigate such specific indicators as: general health; satisfaction with basic needs of food, clothing and housing; emotional well-being; and their environmental harmony regarding access to amenities of transport, sanitation, safe water and security. The influence of socio-demographic factors on the above indicators is also examined. The long term goal of the study is to provide guidance for more creative policies including strategies of poverty reduction, housing older people in a dignified way and providing a wide range of options that facilitate healthy aging, in so doing, catering for the best interests and needs of senior citizens in South Africa. A representative sample of size 900 randomly selected elderly persons in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa is used. Structured interviews and direct observation are used to collect data, and bivariate statistical analyses performed.     

Maintaining perceived control with unemployment facilitates future adjustment

Unemployment is a major challenge to individuals' development. An important personal resource to ameliorate the negative impact of unemployment may be perceived control, a general-purpose belief system. Little is known, however, about how perceived control itself changes with the experience of unemployment and what the antecedents, correlates, and consequences of such change in perceived control are in different ages. We use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (N = 413 who experienced unemployment and N = 413 case-matched controls; time period of data collection: 1994–1996) to examine whether perceived control changes with unemployment, explore the role of socio-demographic, psychosocial and health factors in moderating such change, and investigate whether levels of perceived control prior to unemployment and unemployment-related change in perceived control predict unemployment-related outcomes up to five years following. Results indicated that, on average, perceived control remained relatively stable with unemployment, and that younger and older workers did not differ in this regard. However, there were sizeable individual differences in change in perceived control, with women and those with fewer years of education experiencing greater unemployment-related declines in perceived control. Lower levels of perceived control prior to unemployment and steeper unemployment-related decrements in perceived control were each associated with a higher risk of remaining unemployed in the 12 months immediately following unemployment. Steeper unemployment-related declines in perceived control also predicted lower life satisfaction up to five years following. We discuss possible pathways by which perceived control may facilitate adjustment to unemployment, consider the role of perceived control for better understanding the dynamics of unemployment, and suggest routes for further more process-oriented inquiry.     

The Roles of Personality Traits and Vocational Interests in Explaining What People Want Out of Life

Life goals reflect people’s aspirations of what they want to become and what kind of life they want to live. In two student samples from the United States (N = 385) and Iceland (N = 1338), we used hierarchical regression and relative weights analyses to first replicate Roberts and Robins (2000) finding that Big Five personality traits predict major life goals, and then to test whether vocational interests have incremental validity in explaining major life goals over and above personality traits. Overall, vocational interests explained larger amounts of variance in major life goals than personality traits, and added incremental validity above and beyond personality traits. Expectations about specific linkages were largely confirmed across the two samples, providing implications for theory and practice.     

Anticipating Alternative National and Regional Futures in Energy Efficiency

Thirty-five stakeholder representatives and six observers from thirty organizations, interested in anticipating the adoption of energy efficiency for the Pacific Northwest, identified and described one hundred and seventy-eight national and regional trends extending to the year 2015 impacting energy efficiency, and proposed more than ninety actions for addressing these trends at the regional level. The representatives were engaged in a collaborative action planning workshop that was facilitated with the CogniScope methodology founded in the systems sciences. Convergence was achieved on eight highly influential actions as the highest priority.     

后疫情时代：复工阶段不同阶层的社会情绪及压力因素

本研究考察新冠肺炎疫情复工阶段,不同阶层社会情绪和压力因素随时间的变化规律。基于三次问卷调查（NT1 = 1073; NT1 = 983; NT3 =1078）发现：（1）民众社会情绪均表现为积极情绪高于消极情绪,而且随时间推进社会情绪持续向好;（2）低阶层者的社会情绪始终比高阶层者更消极;（3）民众感知的安全压力随时间下降,而经济压力随时间没有显著变化;（4）低阶层者感知到更大的经济压力,高阶层者感知到更大的安全压力;（5）安全压力在社会阶层与积极情绪和消极情绪之间起显著的中介作用,经济压力在社会阶层与消极情绪之间起显著的中介作用。研究揭示了不同社会阶层在复工阶段存在社会情绪和压力来源的差异,为有针对性进行积极社会心态治理提供启示。