Predictors and moderators of improved social-emotional functioning in mothers with substance use disorders and their young children enrolled in a relationship-based case management program

Mothers with substance use disorders (SUDs) typically have trauma histories and psychosocial difficulties that lead to poor social-emotional functioning and disrupted mother–child relationships. This 12-month study explored associations of family adverse circumstances and services (case management, therapeutic, and community-based) received by 57-mothers with SUDs and their infants (less than 24-months-old) with changes in social-emotional functioning. All mothers were enrolled in a relationship-based case management program (Parent–Child Assistance Program [PCAP]) that emphasized connecting mothers to appropriate community services. A subset of mothers was additionally provided a trauma-focused psychotherapeutic intervention (infant–parent psychotherapy [IPP]). Dyads in both treatment groups improved in overall social-emotional functioning as assessed by the Functional Emotional Assessment Scale (FEAS). A combined-sample regression analysis revealed that improved FEAS scores were significantly predicted by the number of community services received but not by PCAP case management hours (IPP was not included in this analysis). More adverse circumstances were associated with less improvement in social-emotional functioning in the children; but among the mothers trauma level did not predict FEAS scores. We also found a moderating effect of trauma: Dyads with relatively more adversity showed a significantly greater association of community services received with improvement in FEAS scores than did those with relatively less adversity.     

Schizotypal traits are not related to multisensory integration or audiovisual speech perception

Multisensory integration, the binding of sensory information from different sensory modalities, may contribute to perceptual symptomatology in schizophrenia, including hallucinations and aberrant speech perception. Differences in multisensory integration and temporal processing, an important component of multisensory integration, are consistently found in schizophrenia. Evidence is emerging that these differences extend across the schizophrenia spectrum, including individuals in the general population with higher schizotypal traits. In the current study, we investigated the relationship between schizotypal traits and perceptual functioning, using audiovisual speech-in-noise, McGurk, and ternary synchrony judgment tasks. We measured schizotypal traits using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), hypothesizing that higher scores on Unusual Perceptual Experiences and Odd Speech subscales would be associated with decreased multisensory integration, increased susceptibility to distracting auditory speech, and less precise temporal processing. Surprisingly, these measures were not associated with the predicted subscales, suggesting that these perceptual differences may not be present across the schizophrenia spectrum.     

Does culture shape face perception in autism? Cross‐cultural evidence of the own‐race advantage from the UK and Japan

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are associated with face perception atypicalities, and atypical experience with faces has been proposed as an underlying explanation. Studying the own‐race advantage (ORA) for face recognition can reveal the effect of experience on face perception in ASD, although the small number of studies in the area present mixed findings. This study probed the ORA in ASD by comparing two cultural groups simultaneously for the first time. Children with ASD in the UK (N = 16) and Japan (N = 26) were compared with age‐ and ability‐matched typically developing (TD) children in the UK (N = 16) and Japan (N = 26). Participants completed a two‐alternative forced‐choice task, whereby they had to recognize a just seen face from a foil which was manipulated in one of four ways (IC: identity change; EE: easy eyes; HE: hard eyes; HM: hard mouth). Face stimuli were Asian and Caucasian, and thus the same stimuli were own and other race depending on the cultural group. The ASD groups in the UK and Japan did not show impaired face recognition abilities, or impairments with recognizing faces depending on manipulations to the eye region, and importantly they showed an ORA. There was considerable heterogeneity in the presence of the ORA in ASD and TD and also across cultures. Children in Japan had higher accuracy than children in the UK, and TD children in Japan did not show an ORA. This cross‐cultural study challenges the view that atypical experiences with faces lead to a reduced/absent ORA in ASD.     

Emergent completion of multistep instructions via joint control

Teaching procedures that facilitate the emergence of novel responses allow for increased efficiency, which is critical when providing early-intervention services to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Three 5- and 6-year-old children diagnosed with ASD participated. In Experiment 1, we demonstrated functional control over the effects of teaching echoic rehearsals on the emergence of completing novel two-step instructions via joint control and obtained generalization and maintenance of the effects in an applied, nontraining context. In Experiment 2, we conducted an experimental analysis of joint control by disrupting rehearsal of the instruction and tacts of the objects in the instruction, which served as the sources of joint control. Our results support the efficacy of the procedures for establishing first-trial performance with novel instructions and indicate that joint control is responsible for the emergent performance produced by our teaching procedures.     

Self-Reported Interoceptive Sensibility Does Not Moderate the Relationship Between Eating Disorder Symptoms and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors

Past research has demonstrated a strong relationship between eating disorders (EDs) and suicidality (i.e., suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts), and preliminary work within the framework of the interpersonal psychological theory of suicide (Joiner, 2007) suggests that potentially painful ED behaviors (binge eating, purging, fasting, excessive exercise) may contribute to increased risk of suicide through heightened pain tolerance and increased capability of suicide. However, additional explanations are needed for why only some individuals with EDs actually engage in suicidal behaviors (i.e., attempt suicide), whereas others do not. A growing body of literature suggests that interoceptive deficits (a disconnection from one’s own bodily sensations and emotions; IDs) might be a factor linking eating disorders and suicide. To better understand this relationship, the current study tests the moderating effects of self-reported IDs on the relations between ED behaviors and suicidality and past suicide attempts in a transdiagnostic ED sample (N = 181). We hypothesized that ED behaviors would directly relate to suicidality, but that IDs would moderate the relationship between ED behaviors and past suicide attempts, such that those high in IDs would demonstrate a stronger relationship between ED behaviors and suicide attempts. Contrary to our hypothesis, IDs did not moderate the relationship; instead, fasting and purging had significant and strong main effects on suicidality and past suicide attempts without moderation effects. Results suggest that fasting and purging may be important ED behaviors to consider in the relationship between EDs and suicidality. Future directions include further examining the relationship between IDs, suicidality, and EDs using measures of IDs that better encompass physical (as opposed to emotional) aspects of IDs.     

The Feeling of Bodily Ownership

In certain startling neurological and psychiatric conditions, what is ordinarily most intimate and familiar to us—our own body—can feel alien. For instance, in cases of somatoparaphrenia subjects misattribute their body parts to others, while in cases of depersonalization subjects feel estranged from their bodies. These ownership disorders thus appear to consist in a loss of any feeling of bodily ownership, the felt sense we have of our bodies as our own. Against this interpretation of ownership disorders, I defend Sufficiency, the thesis that every experience of bodily awareness suffices for a feeling of bodily ownership. Since Sufficiency conflicts with a face-value interpretation of these ownership disorders, the burden is on me to explain away the apparent tension. To do so, I identify and correct what I believe to be the fundamental mistake in the extant literature on the feeling of bodily ownership, namely the tendency to treat the notion of a feeling of bodily ownership as a single psychological construct. Instead, I distinguish the feeling of minimal ownership, the first-personal character of bodily awareness, from the feeling of affective ownership, the distinctive type of felt concern we have for our bodies. I motivate this distinction by raising the disownership puzzle, the fact that subjects suffering from ownership disorders display an ambiguous set of symptoms, arguing the distinction I draw between minimal and affective ownership is just what is required to resolve the puzzle.     

Validation française de l’échelle de mesure de l’orthorexie ORTO-15 et étude des liens avec les troubles des conduites alimentaires et l’image du corps

IntroductionAlthough orthorexia is described as a pathological obsession over healthy food, its nature remains unclear. The results of the majority of studies, mainly using the ORTO-15 measurement scale, remain limited to certain countries and cannot be generalized to every culture. Furthermore, recent studies suggest that body image should be included in the orthorexia research, in addition to eating disorders.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to propose a French adaptation of the ORTO-15 measurement scale using the Vallerand's transcultural validation procedure, explore its psychometric properties and the links between orthorexic behvaiour, symptoms of eating disorders and body image.MethodFour hundred and nine young adults (89% female), aged 18 to 25 years, completed the online version of the following scales: ORTO-15, Dunn et al. criteria (2016), the Eating-Attitudes Test (EAT-26), Binge Eating Scale (BES) and the Multidimensional Body Self Relations Questionnaire-Appearance Scale (MBSRQ-AS). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA and CFA, respectively) were carried out on two randomly split samples and links between different variables were explored using Spearman correlation coefficients.ResultsThe EFA yielded a single-factor 11-items structure explaining 24% of variance. The adjustment indices from the CFA were excellent. The stability of the scale was satisfactory (ICC = 0.71), despite a questionable internal consistency (α = .50). Links with other scales indicated good structural validity.ConclusionORTO-11-Fr presented satisfactory psychometric properties. Further studies are needed for identifying predictors of orthorexia as well as improving its definition and assessment.     

Affective structure,measurement invariance,and reliability across different experience sampling protocols

While affect is frequently measured with experience sampling methodology (ESM), the affective structure at the between- and within-person level has not been thoroughly investigated. We investigated the affective structure at the between- and within-person level, its invariance across different ESM protocols, and its reliability. Participants (N = 147) were randomly assigned to receive either a 30 or 60 item questionnaire three, six, or nine times per day, resulting in 72–75 participants per questionnaire length and 48–50 participants per sampling frequency. Momentary affect was assessed with 8 or 18 items. At both levels, a structure with two correlated factors showed the best fit compared to an orthogonal and a unidimensional model. A structure with additional freed residual correlations was invariant across protocols at the within-person level and showed high reliability. We observed indications of a more discrete affective structure within than between persons.     

Evaluation of an integrated fluency and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy intervention for adolescents and adults who stutter: Participant perspectives

PurposeChildhood-onset stuttering is a neurodevelopmental disorder that may cause pervasive negative consequences for adults who stutter. In addition to significant challenges in personal, social, and emotional domains, stuttering has been shown to impose an economic burden on adults who stutter. Intervention for adults who stutter has historically addressed speech fluency more so than the covert psychosocial aspects of the disorder. There is an identified clinical need for holistic, efficacious, and cost-effective stuttering interventions that meet consumer needs. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate a novel, integrated intervention that combined traditional fluency techniques with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, from the perspective of the adults who stutter who participated in the intervention.MethodTwenty-eight adults who stutter completed the intervention program. Participants were invited to complete an online post-program written survey (including qualitative comments) and a semi-structured interview to explore their evaluations of the program with respect to its authenticity, acceptability, and social validity.ResultsParticipants perceived positive psychosocial changes as a result of the program, and were satisfied with the program overall. Qualitative thematic analyses of the written survey comments and the semi-structured interviews identified two major themes: factors specific to the intervention and factors specific to the therapeutic process. Several important sub-themes were also identified.ConclusionFindings support the authenticity, acceptability, and social validity of an integrated fluency and psychosocial intervention for stuttering. Findings also highlight the need for consideration of the consumer voice in the management of stuttering disorders, in keeping with person-centred care.     

A systematic review of the within-person association between physical activity and affect in children's and adolescents' daily lives

BackgroundIt is important to understand the relationship between physical activity and affect because affect experienced during physical activity and momentary incidental affect may both predict physical activity behaviours. Additionally, affect experienced during physical activity may explain the mental health benefits of participation in physical activity. Utilising ambulatory assessment techniques, researchers can examine the acute within-person association between physical activity and affect in children and adolescents' daily life. The purpose of this study was to systematically review the literature to determine whether there is a within-person association between physical activity and affect in children and adolescents' daily life.MethodsMedline via EBSCOHost, SPORTdiscus, PsychINFO, and Scopus were searched up to March 2020. A narrative synthesis was used to summarize results of the included studies.ResultsTen studies, reporting on nine unique samples, met the inclusion criteria. The strongest evidence identified was for a positive within-person association between physical activity and subsequent positive affect and energy. The findings regarding the within-person association between physical activity and subsequent negative affect and moods were mixed, as were the findings regarding affect predicting subsequent physical activity.ConclusionThere was mixed support for the acute within-person association between physical activity and affect in children and adolescents. Future research should consider factors that may moderate the relationship between physical activity and affect. Additionally, experimental research should examine how manipulations of incidental affect effect physical activity participation in children and adolescents' daily life.Prospero RegistrationCRD42020141649.