The associations between insecure attachment,rooming‐in,and postpartum depression: A 2 months’ longitudinal study

Postpartum depression (PPD) is the most common complication of childbearing, and recent studies have attempted to examine risk factors associated with it. The main study hypothesis was that a protective situational factor at a sensitive time period (full rooming‐in postpartum) would moderate the associations between insecure attachment dimensions and PPD. Three hundred twelve women, in either full or partial rooming‐in, participated in a longitudinal study at the maternity ward of a tertiary healthcare center. A Demographic questionnaire and the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale were administered at 1–4 days postpartum, and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression scale at 2 months postpartum. PPD was significantly associated with both anxious and avoidant attachment dimensions, but not with rooming‐in conditions. In addition, women in partial rooming‐in showed a positive correlation between insecure attachment dimensions and PPD, whereas no such correlation was found for full rooming‐in women. A situational factor such as full rooming‐in, which occurs at a critical time point for the mother–infant relationship, can moderate the association between maternal avoidant or anxious attachment dimensions and the mother's PPD levels. Postpartum practices, such as rooming‐in, can be personalized and thus beneficial in moderating personal risk factors for PPD.     

Treatment Efficacy of Multiple Family Therapy for Chinese Families of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

The treatment efficacy of multiple family therapy (MFT) for Chinese families of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has not been studied in the past. In this paper, the effect of MFT on different aspects of the lives of the parents in the experimental group (n = 61) was compared with the effect of only the psychoeducational talks on parents in the control group (n = 53). The results of a MANOVA have shown that by the time they reached the posttreatment phase, the parents who had completed the full 42 hours of the MFT program perceived their children's ADHD symptoms as being less serious and less pathological than they had originally thought compared to the parents in the control group. The effect of MFT on parent–child relationships, parenting stress, parental efficacy, hope, and perceived social support was statistically insignificant. Contributions and limitations of our study are discussed.     

Cardiovascular Reactivity During Marital Conflict in Laboratory and Naturalistic Settings: Differential Associations with Relationship and Individual Functioning Across Contexts

Cardiovascular reactivity during spousal conflict is considered to be one of the main pathways for relationship distress to impact physical, mental, and relationship health. However, the magnitude of association between cardiovascular reactivity during laboratory marital conflict and relationship functioning is small and inconsistent given the scope of its importance in theoretical models of intimate relationships. This study tests the possibility that cardiovascular data collected in laboratory settings downwardly bias the magnitude of these associations when compared to measures obtained in naturalistic settings. Ambulatory cardiovascular reactivity data were collected from 20 couples during two relationship conflicts in a research laboratory, two planned relationship conflicts at couples’ homes, and two spontaneous relationship conflicts during couples’ daily lives. Associations between self‐report measures of relationship functioning, individual functioning, and cardiovascular reactivity across settings are tested using multilevel models. Cardiovascular reactivity was significantly larger during planned and spontaneous relationship conflicts in naturalistic settings than during planned relationship conflicts in the laboratory. Similarly, associations with relationship and individual functioning variables were statistically significantly larger for cardiovascular data collected in naturalistic settings than the same data collected in the laboratory. Our findings suggest that cardiovascular reactivity during spousal conflict in naturalistic settings is statistically significantly different from that elicited in laboratory settings both in magnitude and in the pattern of associations with a wide range of inter‐ and intrapersonal variables. These differences in findings across laboratory and naturalistic physiological responses highlight the value of testing physiological phenomena across interaction contexts in romantic relationships.     

Development and validation of the Granada Burnout Questionnaire in Spanish police

The goal of the present study is to develop a questionnaire, with proper psychometric properties and current norms, to evaluate the burnout syndrome in Spain. The operative definition of burnout proposed by Maslach and Jackson is used to define three dimensions (Emotional exhaustion, Depersonalization and Personal accomplishment). A total of 2,403 national Spanish police participated. Evidence of construct validity was checked through cross validation (showing a good fit of the three factors model to the data). Using the MBI, NEO-FII and CECAD evidence of convergent validity and criteria validity were developed (showing that the relations are similar to the ones that appear in other research). The discrimination, mean, standard deviation, and typical error of the average of the items composing the various dimensions were analyzed. Both the Cronbach's alpha coefficient and the conditional standard error of measurement (CSEM) were calculated for each of the dimensions. The results showed good internal consistency (all α values > .85). Finally, the questionnaire was scaled using T scores. The psychometrical properties reported here support the use of this new questionnaire for the burnout evaluation in Spanish police.     

Experimental Philosophy: A Methodological Critique

This article offers a critique of research practices typical of experimental philosophy. To that end, it presents a review of methodological issues that have proved crucial to the quality of research in the biobehavioral sciences. It discusses various shortcomings in the experimental philosophy literature related to (1) the credibility of self‐report questionnaires, (2) the validity and reliability of measurement, (3) the adherence to appropriate procedures for sampling, random assignment, and handling of participants, and (4) the meticulousness of study reporting. It argues that the future standing of experimental philosophy will hinge upon improvements in research methods.     

Niveles socioeconómicos-culturales y ejecución lingüística

Resumen

En este artículo se realiza una aproximación al estudio y evaluación del lenguaje desde una perspectiva psicosocial. El objetivo prioritario de esta investigación es conocer y exporter la importancia y relevancia que poseen ciertas variables socioeconómicas culturales, tipificadas como indicadores sociales, sobre el rendimiento en lenguaje, evaluado a través del I.T.P.A., de una muestra de escolares del Ciclo Medio de la E.G.B, en Galicia.     

Efectos del contexto y de la imaginabilidad en la memoria de oraciones negativas

Resumen

Las investigaciones sobre memoria de frases han encontrado que las negativas se recuerdan peor que las afirmativas. Entre las posibles causas de este resultado están: a) la mayor complejidad gramatical de las negativas, b) la dificultad que tienen estas frases de ayudarse de imágenes mentales y c) la ausencia, en estos experimentos, de un contexto que ayude a comprender las frases.

En este trabajo se investigaron las tres variables en un solo diseño factorial, utilizando como sujetos 32 estudiantes universitarios. De forma individual, se les presentaban las oraciones, una a una, en la pantalla de un televisor y después de la presentación se les pasaba una prueba de reconocimiento. Los resultados demostraron que las negativas se recuerdan peor solamente si no existe un contexto que posibilite su codificación profunda. Cuando se presentan las frases formando parte de un párrafo no aparecen tales diferencias entre afirmativas y negativas.     

Lenguaje y adquisición del conocimiento

RESUMEN

El presente trabajo es un estudio empírico longitudinal y transversal de dos grupos de niños de procedencias ambientales diferentes (ambiente familiar y centro de menores) en el que se observan las diferencias en el proceso de desarrollo lingüístico, centrándose en la evolución pragmática del lenguaje mediante la cual se estudia la evolución y construcción de conceptos. Tras definir el procedimiento de estudio y analizar el desarrollo del lenguaje en los sujetos teniendo en cuenta la Longitud Media de los Enunciados (L.M.E.), las autoras concluyen que este desarrollo es mejor en los niños del medio ambiental familiar, diferenciándose también en el ritmo de adquisición y, por tanto, en la evolución del proceso de simbolización. Entre otras cuestiones, los autores destacan que el retraso tanto lingüístico como cognitivo que presentan los niños institucionalizados es consecuencia de la no adecuación de las pautas de interacción adulto-niño exigidas, afirmando que dichas pautas están determinadas por las condiciones ambientales. El trabajo finaliza resaltando que interacción, lenguaje y cognición están dialécticamente interrelacionados.     

Entrevista con P. Mounoud

RESUMEN

El profesor Mounoud -uno de los investigadores más activos de la Sección de Psicología de la Universidad de Ginebra- comienza recordando el papel capital que jugaron sus años de trabajo con Piaget e Inhelder, además de explicar las fuentes de desacuerdo que en los años setenta le llevaron a “simbolizar” la disidencia teórica dentro de la escuela piagetiana. Intercalando diversas consideraciones en torno a la teoría de Piaget, la entrevista se centra en las investigaciones evolutivas de este autor neopiagetiano abordando cuestiones tales como la importancia del preformismo, la función del medio ambiente, su concepción de representación o la vinculación entre estructuras y contenidos. Mounoud explica también, entre otros, su concepto de desfase horizontal, la defensa del desarrollo cognitivo como construcción de representaciones o su idea de empobrecimiento de las capacidades del niño, finalizando con algunas alusiones acerca del futuro de la Psicología científica.