Early consequences of pre-Oedipal maternal deprivation

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to emphasize the early consequences of pre-Oedipal maternal deprivation, addressing the theories and techniques of the pioneers of child psychoanalysis. Even when these theories differ in their understanding and conceptualization of child psychopathology, their common denominator is that they believe in the importance of the infant’s early experiences of life and the necessary physical and emotional constancy of the mother–infant dyad. This paper approaches the different theories using three clinical vignettes. Through the synthesis of the psychoanalytic therapeutic process of a four-year-old boy, we can see how the conflicts and symptoms evolved and resolved in the course of five years of treatment, during which the boy’s behavior and productivity changed, allowing the treatment to come to an end. This boy was able to work through his traumatic separation experience in analysis, and to develop more mature defense mechanisms that led him toward a better adjustment to his environment. We can conclude that the early interruption of maternal care led to serious symptoms in this child’s behavior and mental organization. If these difficulties had not been addressed in time, the symptoms would have gone on to become severe.     

The impact of sleep quality,fatigue and safety climate on the perceptions of accident risk among seafarers

IntroductionSeafaring is an extremely demanding profession that takes place in one of the most dangerous work environments possible. The unpredictable and demanding working conditions foster a high potential for risks and accidents.ObjectivesTo examine how sleep quality, fatigue and safety climate combine to influence perceptions of risk among seafarers.MethodParticipants were 151 seafarers working in the deck or machine departments on board 11 ships belonging to a Norwegian company. Questionnaires were administered at two different time points, approximately one week apart.ResultsPerceptions of risk of personal injuries and ship accidents increase when seafarers are fatigued. We also found that fatigue is related to poor sleep quality and that safety climate predicted both sleep quality and fatigue one week later.ConclusionsThe findings point to the importance for maritime organizations to be cognizant of the causes and consequences of fatigue among their employees, and that that policies and prioritizations are being perceived and interpreted by seafarers and may influence their sleep quality and vigilance when working at sea.     

A two-week monitoring of self-reported arousal, worry and attribution among persons with annoyance attributed to electrical equipment and smells

Non-patients attributing annoyance to either smells (smell annoyed; SA, n= 29) or electrical equipment (electrically annoyed; EA, n= 17), or both (generally annoyed; GA, n= 38), were monitored for 2 weeks through daily self-ratings of arousal (stress), sleep disturbances, health complaints, worry about hypersensitivity reactions, avoidance behaviors, and attributions of health complaints to electrical equipment and smells. In parallel, a demographically matched reference group was followed (n= 56). GA persons reported higher arousal (stress), more subjective health complaints, and more sleep disturbances than the other groups. About 60% in the GA and EA groups reported intentional avoidance behavior, compared to 31% in the SA group and 2% of the referents. Worry and attribution to environmental factors was also more frequent among GA persons than in the other groups. Thus, even at sub-clinical levels, environmental annoyance generalized to several triggers seems to be associated with behaviors commonly observed among patients with idiopathic environmental intolerance.     

不同时间的睡眠剥夺对执行功能的影响

睡眠剥夺在日常生活工作中广泛存在,执行功能指需要很多认知过程参与,以使操作优化的机制.目前有关睡眠剥夺对认知功能的影响关注于对执行功能的影响,但是尚没有不同时间睡眠剥夺后执行功能情况的研究,并且研究缺乏系统.本研究应用卡片分类测验、词汇流畅性测验究了32名青年男性在不同睡眠剥夺条件下(睡眠剥夺21h、睡眠剥夺45h、睡眠剥夺69h、正常对照组)的执行功能情况.结果表明:睡眠剥夺后执行功能下降,同剥夺时间有一定关系,45h后下降显著.     

Examination of a multi-factorial model of body-related experiences during pregnancy: the relationships among physical symptoms, sleep quality, depression, self-esteem, and negative body attitudes

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate relationships among women's body attitudes, physical symptoms, self-esteem, depression, and sleep quality during pregnancy. Pregnant women (N = 215) at 15–25 weeks gestation completed a questionnaire including four body image subscales assessing self-reported feeling fat, attractiveness, strength/fitness, and salience of weight and shape. Women reported on 29 pregnancy-related physical complaints, and completed the Beck Depression Inventory, Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. In regressions, controlling for retrospective reports of body image, more frequent and intense physical symptoms were related to viewing the self as less strong/fit, and to poorer sleep quality and more depressive symptoms. In a multi-factorial model extending previous research, paths were found from sleep quality to depressive symptoms to self-esteem; self-esteem was found to be a mediator associated with lower scores on feeling fat and salience of weight and shape, and on higher perceived attractiveness.     

Sleep: A pathway linking personality to mortality risk

Personality and sleep predict longevity; however, no investigation has tested whether sleep mediates this association. Thus, we tested this effect across a 20-year follow-up (N = 3759) in the Midlife Development in the United States cohort (baseline M_age = 47.15) using proportional hazards in a structural equation modeling framework. Lower conscientiousness predicted increased death risk via the direct, indirect, and total effect of quadratic sleep duration. Although there were no other direct personality-mortality effects, higher neuroticism and agreeableness and lower conscientiousness predicted increased death risk via the joint indirect effects of quadratic sleep duration and higher daytime dysfunction. Lower extraversion predicted increased mortality risk via the indirect effect of daytime dysfunction. Our findings have implications for personality-based health interventions.