Differences in caregiver behaviors of infants at-risk for autism and typically developing infants from 9 to 15 months of age

During an object sharing paradigm, we compared infant-caregiver interactions between two groups: i) infants at high-risk (HR) for being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and ii) low-risk (LR) infants, observed at 9, 12, and 15 months of age. 16 HR infants (14 infants with an older sibling diagnosed with ASD and 2 preterm infants that received a diagnosis of ASD at 2 years) and 16 LR infants (typically developing infants without older siblings diagnosed with ASD) were included in the study. At each visit, infants played with objects in the presence of their caregivers as crawlers or walkers. Previously, we found that HR infants are less likely to share their object play with caregivers at walker ages. The present study found that caregivers of HR infants used greater directive bids including being more proximal to infants and using greater verbal and non-verbal bids to sustain their infant’s attention and to ensure their compliance during the task compared to caregivers of LR infants. Our study emphasizes the bidirectional and dynamic nature of infant-caregiver interactions. Our findings have implications for caregiver training programs that teach parents appropriate strategies to promote early social communication skills in at-risk infants.     

Children's response biases to results of object sharing

This study investigated whether 2- to 6-year-old children exhibit a response bias to questions pertaining to the results of sharing objects that should attract their interest. An experimenter distributed four objects between herself/himself and a child, equally or unequally (more to the child or more to the experimenter) and asked the child yes-no questions: “Is this okay?” and “Is this bad?” The results indicated that 2- and 3-year-olds exhibited a yes bias in all conditions, 4-year-olds exhibited a yes bias to the equal condition and to the unequal condition with more distributed to the child, and 5-year-olds exhibited a yes bias to both unequal conditions, whereas 6-year-olds did not show any response bias. Young preschoolers exhibited a yes bias regardless of questions and children may become able to say both “yes” and “no” appropriately to questions about object sharing after the age of six.     

基于秘密分享的学前儿童对友谊关系的推断

秘密是隐藏在内心深处的东西,人们通常会与亲密的人分享和披露秘密。因此,追踪人们知道彼此的秘密可以作为社会关系的线索。本研究开展两个实验探究秘密分享对学前儿童推断友谊关系的影响。105名和60名幼儿分别参与实验1、实验2。实验1发现5岁以下的儿童大多数认为主角分享物质资源(玩具)的对象是主角的朋友,5～6岁的儿童大多数认为主角分享秘密的对象是主角的朋友,选择被分享秘密的人是分享者更可能的朋友的人数随着年龄的增长而增长; 实验2发现与分享积极的秘密信息和物质资源相比,大部分5～6岁的儿童更倾向于认为分享消极的秘密信息的双方存在友谊关系。研究结果说明至少5～6岁的儿童理解分享秘密的社会意义,并且5～6岁儿童把分享消极的秘密作为友谊关系更有力的标志。     

Impact of Psychoeducational Interventions on Distressed Family Caregivers

This study compared the effectiveness of two active interventions to a waiting-list control condition to reduce depression and burden and increase use of adaptive coping strategies in family caregivers (N = 161) of physically and/or cognitively impaired older adults. Chi-square analysis of change in depression status from pre- to postintervention showed a higher percentage of improvement among participants in the increasing life satisfaction psychoeducational condition compared to the improvement rate in either the problem-solving psychoeducational class or the wait-list condition. Change in coping strategies and subjective level of burden also differed by group, with participants in the class conditions reporting more frequent use of cognitive or behavioral coping strategies, and less subjective burden, from pre- to postintervention. There was no change in either avoidant coping or perceived stress over time. Results show that intervention programs targeted to improve specific coping skills and psychological symptoms can have a significant impact on caregivers' distress.     

自我损耗对儿童分享行为的影响

探讨抵制诱惑范式在儿童自我损耗研究中的应用,并研究自我损耗对儿童分享行为的影响。采用双任务范式,任务一为抵制诱惑,任务二为7个连续的分享任务,记录被试分享的数量以及分享的优先性。随机选取某师范大学附属幼儿园共182名儿童,其中有效被试144人。结果表明：与以往研究一致,儿童分享行为不存在性别差异,且所有被试均表现出较强的利己分享倾向;抵制诱惑范式能够有效启动儿童的自我损耗状态,自我损耗抑制儿童分享中的利他倾向,即损耗组被试在分享任务中表现出更强的利己;自我损耗对小班和中班儿童的利他分享影响较大,对大班儿童在分享行为中的利他倾向影响并不明显。     

The enigmatic “nature of the subject”

Freud once placed psychoanalysis in a “middle position between medicine and philosophy”. Yet, the meaning of that position has never been sufficiently clarified. The author suggests that the essence of the psychoanalytic experience is defined by the fact that its clinical practice operates within a basically relational or intersubjective frame containing the analysand's self-interpreting reflection, which here is identified as ethical in nature. It is further argued that late modernity is experiencing a crisis in the art of reflection, accompanied by a flight from this ethical dimension. A common social response is to fall back on the authority of neo-positivistic science, making psychoanalysis increasingly redundant. To meaningfully connect with the consequences of this state of affairs, psychoanalysis needs to deepen the understanding of its unique essence. To that end, a model for collaboration with philosophy is briefly sketched.     

Mother–Child Book‐Sharing and Children's Storytelling Skills in Ethnically Diverse,Low‐Income Families

The present study examined book‐sharing interactions between mothers and their 4‐year‐old children from African American (n = 62), Dominican (n = 67), Mexican (n = 59) and Chinese (n = 82) low‐income U.S. families, and children's independent storytelling skills one year later. Mothers' book‐sharing style was analysed in terms of how much storyline information they provided (story components), the extent to which they asked children about the story (dialogic emphasis) and which features of the story they highlighted (story content). African American mothers referred to more story components than did Dominican mothers, and Mexican mothers surpassed Dominican and Chinese mothers. Mothers of all groups were low in dialogic emphasis; they predominantly narrated rather than asked about the story, although Mexican mothers asked relatively more questions than did African American and Dominican mothers. In terms of content, compared with other groups, African American mothers were most likely to emphasize ‘individual goals’, and Chinese mothers were most likely to emphasize ‘negative consequences’. Latino mothers were more likely to emphasize ‘emotions’ than were Chinese mothers. Children's storytelling styles partially mirrored those seen in their mothers. Mothers' dialogic emphasis related to children's contributions to book‐sharing, which in turn predicted children's later independent storytelling skills. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The moderating role of pessimism in the association between retrospective relational peer victimization,interpersonal risk factors,and suicide ideation

Peer victimization (PV) is a serious concern for youth and is associated with subsequent suicide ideation in young adulthood. The interpersonal theory of suicide may provide a framework for understanding suicide ideation in this population. Specifically, thwarted belongingness (TB) and perceived burdensomeness (PB) have been significantly associated with suicide ideation among young adults with a history of peer victimization. Additionally, the personality trait of pessimism is associated with elevated suicide ideation. Thus, this study tested the association between self-reported frequency of retrospective relational (i.e., verbal and indirect) PV in primary and secondary school, thwarted interpersonal needs (TB and PB), and current suicide ideation, as well as how these relations may vary based on current pessimism. Participants were 330 undergraduate students. Nonparametric bootstrap moderated mediation procedures were used to test hypotheses. Results indicated significant indirect effects of frequency of retrospective relational PV and suicide ideation through PB and TB. Contrary to predictions, results did not indicate significant moderated mediation; however, the association between PB and suicide ideation was stronger at lower pessimism levels. We also provide supplemental analysis with optimism as the moderator. These findings suggest that clinicians may consider targeting TB, PB, as well as pessimism and optimism among those with a history of relational PV when assessing and intervening on current suicide ideation. Implications, limitations, and future directions are further discussed.     

乳腺癌患者经济负担对情绪健康及生活质量的影响研究进展

通过文献综述的方式,对乳腺癌患者疾病经济负担、情绪健康、生活质量及三者相关关系的实证研究成果进行系统梳理。研究证实,乳腺癌患者疾病经济负担的主观感知严重程度对患者治疗依从性、情绪健康和生活质量产生重要负面影响。长期的治疗以及靶向药物、免疫药物使用的增加,加重了患者及其家庭经济负担,进而增加抑郁、焦虑的患病风险,导致患者总体生活质量下降。并在探讨当前研究局限性的基础上,提出对未来研究方向的建议与展望。

     

The Sharing Dilemma: Joining Cooperative Groups and Sharing Resources as a Means of Coping with Environmental Risk

The “social insurance” hypothesis posits that individuals join cooperative groups and share resources in order to reduce environmental risk. Despite its significance for explaining cooperative groups' formation, in small‐scale and in developing societies, the hypothesis has been subjected to little experimental testing. The present research is designed to examine the relative weight of the motivation for social insurance compared with other psychological motivations for sharing risk. We conducted two studies to test the tendency to share risk under different risk conditions and for groups of different sizes. A third experiment extends the risk‐sharing research to situations involving losses instead of gains. The findings of the first two studies lend strong support to the risk‐sharing hypothesis in the gain domain. For the loss domain, the results of the third experiment demonstrate an intriguing shift from strong reluctance to join groups under lower risk, to ubiquitous readiness to join groups under higher risk. We discuss these results in light of prospect theory and decisions from experience. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.