Family-based Psychoeducation for Children and Adolescents with Mood Disorders

Psychoeducation is often used for family members of adult patients with mood disorders. An increase in family’s knowledge of the patient’s illness course and outcome is thought to improve treatment compliance and may reduce relapse rates through identification of early symptoms and risks. While studies on family-based psychoeducation of adult patients with mood disorders have been reviewed, a similar review has not been conducted in patients who are children and adolescents. We conducted a systematic review of studies published between 1980 and 2006 on independently standing psychoeducation programs for families with children suffering from mood disorders. Results revealed eight treatment and preventive psychoeducation studies for families of affectively ill children or children at risk for depression. Findings indicate that psychoeducation models typically adopt a workshop approach incorporating didactic teachings and interactive discussion sessions, with or without specific skills training. Given the paucity of randomized controlled trials and lack of comparability between psychoeducation models, conclusions about the true efficacy of each program as a treatment or an adjunct to the treatment of mood disorders in children and adolescents cannot be made. Further research into psychoeducation for families of children with mood disorders is warranted.     

Assessing Child and Adolescent Pragmatic Language Competencies: Toward Evidence-Based Assessments

Using language appropriately and effectively in social contexts requires pragmatic language competencies (PLCs). Increasingly, deficits in PLCs are linked to child and adolescent disorders, including autism spectrum, externalizing, and internalizing disorders. As the role of PLCs expands in diagnosis and treatment of developmental psychopathology, psychologists and educators will need to appraise and select clinical and research PLC instruments for use in assessments and/or studies. To assist in this appraisal, 24 PLC instruments, containing 1,082 items, are assessed by addressing four questions: (1) Can PLC domains targeted by assessment items be reliably identified?, (2) What are the core PLC domains that emerge across the 24 instruments?, (3) Do PLC questionnaires and tests assess similar PLC domains?, and (4) Do the instruments achieve content, structural, diagnostic, and ecological validity? Results indicate that test and questionnaire items can be reliably categorized into PLC domains, that PLC domains featured in questionnaires and tests significantly differ, and that PLC instruments need empirical confirmation of their dimensional structure, content validity across all developmental age bands, and ecological validity. Progress in building a better evidence base for PLC assessments should be a priority in future research.     

心率变异性在心身疾病和情绪障碍研究中的应用

心率变异性的频谱成分可单独反映交感神经和副交感神经活动的影响。高频（HF）是由迷走神经单独介导；低频（LF）受迷走神经和交感神经共同调制，但主要反映交感神经的活动性 。此指标可对高血压、冠心病和月经前期烦躁等心身障碍进行评价。该文还探讨了它用于情绪研究的价值，并认为在不同情绪体验期间的自主神经活动有多种搭配模式，正常人与情绪障碍者之间以及情绪障碍（抑郁、焦虑、恐怖、强迫）患者在自主神经活动方面可能存在显著差别     

Coordination and movement pathology: models of structure and function

Here we consider the role of abstract models in advancing our understanding of movement pathology. Models of movement coordination and control provide the frameworks necessary for the design and interpretation of studies of acquired and developmental disorders. These models do not however provide the resolution necessary to reveal the nature of the functional impairments that characterise specific movement pathologies. In addition, they do not provide a mapping between the structural bases of various pathologies and the associated disorders of movement. Current and prospective approaches to the study and treatment of movement disorders are discussed. It is argued that the appreciation of structure–function relationships, to which these approaches give rise, represents a challenge to current models of interlimb coordination, and a stimulus for their continued development.     

Wellness,Emotion Regulation,and Relapse During Substance Use Disorder Treatment

Using a cross-sectional study design, the authors investigated the impact of wellness and emotion regulation on relapse in 179 individuals currently enrolled in substance use disorder treatment. An integration of the indivisible self model of wellness (Myers & Sweeney, 2004) and the covert antecedents model of relapse (Marlatt, 1985) informed the study hypothesis that emotion regulation mediates the wellness-relapse relationship. Binomial logistic regressions revealed that Creative Self wellness (odds ratio [OR] = 1.09, p = .002), reappraisal (OR = 1.08, p = .008), difficulties in emotion regulation (OR = 1.03, p = .007), and Physical Self wellness (OR = 0.95, p < .001) were associated with the odds of relapse on any given day during treatment. Sobel tests indicated 2 occurrences of full mediation, including that difficulties in emotion regulation mediated the relationship between Coping Self wellness and relapse (OR = 0.97, p = .015).     

Relational Diagnosis: A Retrospective Synopsis

This article highlights and summarizes efforts that have been made primarily during the past 20 years to bring the significance of relational diagnosis to the attention of the entire mental health community, and either (1) to have dysfunctional relational interactive patterns classified and codified and accepted for inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or (2) if this is not feasible, to have a nosology of relational diagnoses, which have been clearly defined with accompanying risks specified for mental illnesses that might develop, and criteria sets delineated and adequately field tested to warrant and lead to publication of a separate but equal Diagnostic Manual of Relational Disorders and Dysfunctional Interactional Patterns.     

Self, other and dialogical space in autistic disorders

The authors propose to re-evaluate Tustin's thesis using both the extensive clinical material of a child with an autistic disorder [PDD], and current research on infant development. Beebe's concept of 'interaction structure' that could be inferred from the fi fth month of life using face-to-face research data is used for postulating a dialogic space that would be generated inside such structure, allowing for defi nition of self and other in a relationship. If such space is collapsed, the other would be a threat of annihilation for the self, thus it should be avoided or merged with, which could explain the systematic avoidance of the not-me in autistic states. The authors stress that these ideas are just one alternate model, among several, that seems to be able to explain the patient's deviant development.     

Community perceptions of mental disorders: a Greek perspective

The present cross‐sectional study examines the perceptions of residents of a rural community in Greece pertaining to the interpretation, explanation, treatment and prognosis of various psychological problems. In all, 100 community residents took part. A series of vignettes in combination with both qualitative and quantitative data collection procedures was employed. The findings indicate a variation in the endorsement of interpretations and causal attributions as a function of the type of symptomatology presented. The overt psychotic cases of schizophrenia were more likely to be understood within a genetic explanatory framework while the less overt symptoms of mental disorders were perceived as being indicative of emotional problems triggered by personality and social environmental factors. A preference for psychological methods of treatment was expressed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of cultural background on WAIS‐III and WMS‐III performances after moderate‐severe traumatic brain injury

The assessment of cognitive function in individuals of culturally and linguistically diverse background poses considerable challenges for the psychologist, particularly when English proficiency is limited. This study explored the effects of diverse cultural background and non‐Western educational background on Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale‐Third edition (WAIS‐III) and Wechsler Memory Scale‐Third Edition (WMS‐III) performances in moderate‐severe traumatic brain injury within an outpatient rehabilitation setting. Participants were aged 16–65 years and met careful selection criteria. IQ, index and age‐scaled subtest scores were compared across three groups: (a) English‐speaking background (n = 130), (b) culturally and linguistically diverse background and education completed in English (n = 33), and (c) culturally and linguistically diverse background and non‐English education (n = 33). Cultural backgrounds included people of Asian, European, Middle Eastern, African and Oceania origin. Results were that the English‐educated culturally and linguistically diverse group performed lower than the English‐speaking background group on some verbal WAIS‐III measures; effect sizes were small‐moderate. The non‐English‐educated culturally and linguistically diverse group performed lower than both groups on several WAIS‐III and one WMS‐III measure, with large effect sizes. Clinical implications included the need for caution in interpreting test scores to avoid diagnostic errors and the need for further development of valid assessment tools.