Pregnancy,Intimacy, and the Family Constitution

SUMMARY

The psychological effects of pregnancy and birth have a profound effect on the parents' relationship, especially on their experience of intimacy. The nature of the impact on the couple depends on the developmental stage of each parent and the couple's ability to adapt to new circumstances. Three developmental stages are described and the “family constitution” is presented as the body of goals, rules and roles that governs the behavior of the family and effectively managing the constitution is introduced and applied to two sets of circumstances related to pregnancy. Finally, the implications of the above concepts for therapists and counselors are delineated.     

人类积极发展的资源模型——积极青少年发展研究的一个重要取向和领域

积极青少年发展观(Positive Youth Development Perspective,PYD)自20世纪90年代出现以来迅速推动了发展心理学知识的创新与应用,其中发展资源框架(The Developmental Assets Framework)是研究者进行深入探讨与应用研究的一个重要模型.发展资源是指一系列能够有效促进所有青少年获得健康发展结果的相关经验、关系、技能和价值观,本文在这一概念的基础上介绍了发展资源模型的结构、构建与发展基础以及基于该模型的重要假设及实证研究,并在综述研究的基础上探讨了资源模型的未来研究方向.     

Integrating childhood in the family context: Commentary on Bjorklund,Periss and Causey

Bjorklund, Periss and Causey use an evolutionary developmental perspective to highlight several reasons as to why children should be allowed to be children. Childhood is not just a training ground for adulthood, but there is a unique integrity to this phase of life. Bjorklund and colleagues suggest that several of the immature behaviours observed in children are adaptive in their own right providing children with immediate benefits for their particular age and do not necessarily (only) serve the function of providing benefits for the child later in development. The concept of ontogenetic adaptations is useful in providing a new lens on which to view infants, children, adolescents and even adults. In this commentary I focus on three issues related to their work: (1) the possibility that the overestimation tasks reviewed in their paper do not empirically verify that overestimation is related to perseverance in learning; (2) whether ontogenetic adaptations are gender specific; and (3) the costs of this extensive immaturity and how inappropriate overinvestment of parents may reflect a maladaptive response to low fertility in a resource-rich environment.     

Adverse developmental experiences and risky health behaviours among black South African university students

This study examined the relationship between adverse developmental experiences (ADEs) and risky health behaviours among a cross-sectional sample of black South African students (n = 393; females = 58%, M_age = 20.5 years, SD = 2.9). Binary logistic regression was used to model the association between categories of ADEs and risky health behaviours. Findings suggest individual ADEs to significantly predict risky health behaviours. The highest singular ADEs reported were being treated like a child (62%), parents being overprotective (59%), and being driven to be perfectionistic (58%). There was no indication of a general trend of ordered associations between the number of ADEs and risky health behaviours.     

初中生积极适应的发展轨迹:基于潜变量增长模型的分析

采用问卷法对290名初中生在初中三年间积极适应的发展状况进行四次追踪测试,利用潜变量增长模型检验个体积极适应的变化趋势,同时考察了随时间稳定变量(学校转换)和随时间变化变量(压力知觉)对积极适应的影响。结果发现:1、从初一到初三,个体积极适应的自我肯定和行事效率维度呈曲线上升趋势,且上升速度逐年下降;亲社会倾向呈线性上升趋势;积极应对呈线性下降趋势;2、学校转变对初中生积极适应发展的影响较小;3、压力知觉可显著抑制当时初中生的积极适应。     

Atypical speech lateralization in adults with developmental coordination disorder demonstrated using functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound

Research using clinical populations to explore the relationship between hemispheric speech lateralization and handedness has focused on individuals with speech and language disorders, such as dyslexia or specific language impairment (SLI). Such work reveals atypical patterns of cerebral lateralization and handedness in these groups compared to controls. There are few studies that examine this relationship in people with motor coordination impairments but without speech or reading deficits, which is a surprising omission given the prevalence of theories suggesting a common neural network underlying both functions. We use an emerging imaging technique in cognitive neuroscience; functional transcranial Doppler (fTCD) ultrasound, to assess whether individuals with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) display reduced left‐hemisphere lateralization for speech production compared to control participants. Twelve adult control participants and 12 adults with DCD, but no other developmental/cognitive impairments, performed a word‐generation task whilst undergoing fTCD imaging to establish a hemispheric lateralization index for speech production. All participants also completed an electronic peg‐moving task to determine hand skill. As predicted, the DCD group showed a significantly reduced left lateralization pattern for the speech production task compared to controls. Performance on the motor skill task showed a clear preference for the dominant hand across both groups; however, the DCD group mean movement times were significantly higher for the non‐dominant hand. This is the first study of its kind to assess hand skill and speech lateralization in DCD. The results reveal a reduced leftwards asymmetry for speech and a slower motor performance. This fits alongside previous work showing atypical cerebral lateralization in DCD for other cognitive processes (e.g., executive function and short‐term memory) and thus speaks to debates on theories of the links between motor control and language production.     

Welcome to “Parent–Infant Disturbance: Theory and Therapy”

Abstract

The initiator of the conference and (together with Sophie de Mijolla-Mellor) conference co-chair, Harold Blum, introduces the objectives of the interdisciplinary and psychoanalytic conference on “Parent–Infant Disturbance: Theory and Therapy.” In the epilogue, the author brings up the coincident Paris terrorist attack of November 13, 2015 – the first day of this two-day conference.     

Formation of yittrium oxide in cemented carbides

Rare-earth (RE) elements are helpful in improving the mechanical properties of cemented carbides. In this work, the formation of Y₂O₃ in functionally graded cemented carbides is investigated using transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate that Y₂O₃ can stabilize the Co phase with the face-centred cubic structure (α-Co), since it has a cubic structure similar to the high-temperature Co phase. The α-Co phase has a higher plasticity than ε-Co, and this suggests a possible mechanism for the role of RE elements in toughening cemented carbides.     

Evaluation of developmental surveillance by physicians at the two-month preventive care visit

We evaluated the effects of feedback and instruction on resident physician performance during developmental surveillance of infants at 2-month preventive care visits. Baseline data were obtained by videotaping 3 residents while they performed the physical and developmental exam components. Training consisted of individualized feedback and a brief instructional module, after which the residents were again videotaped while they performed preventive care visits. All 3 residents showed improved performance following training.     

Evaluation of the rate of problem behavior maintained by different reinforcers across preference assessments

The rates of problem behavior maintained by different reinforcers were evaluated across 3 preference assessment formats (i.e., paired stimulus, multiple-stimulus without replacement, and free operant). The experimenter administered each assessment format 5 times in a random order for 7 children with developmental disabilities whose problem behavior was maintained by attention, tangible items, or escape. Results demonstrated different effects related to the occurrence of problem behavior, suggesting an interaction between function of problem behavior and assessment format. Implications for practitioners are discussed with respect to assessing preferences of individuals with developmental disabilities who exhibit problem behavior.