Equality of whom? a genetic perspective on equality (of opportunity)

Rawls’ principle of fair equality of opportunity has been regularly discussed and criticized for being inadequate regarding natural inequalities. In so far as this egalitarian goal is sound, the purpose of the paper is to see how the prospect of radical genetic intervention might affect this particular inadequacy. I propose that, in a post-genetic setting, an appropriate response would be to extend the same rules regulating societal inequalities to a regulation of comparable genetic inequalities. I defend this stance against recent arguments from the authors of From Chance to Choice and from Colin Farrelly’s alternative of the genetic difference principle. Thanks and appreciation to Dr. Pete Morris, Noreen McGuire and Ann Feeney for their support and encouragement. My thanks also to the participants of the Ninth Manchester Graduate (Brave New World 2005) Conference in Political Theory, where a shorter version of this paper was read.     

A preliminary investigation of reaction time variability in relation to social functioning in children evaluated for ADHD

Reaction time variability (RTV) is a ubiquitous phenomenon in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Few studies have examined RTV in relation to functional outcomes such as social impairment in children with ADHD. In this exploratory study, we investigated whether RTV is associated with social functioning in children at risk for ADHD. Specifically, we explored the association between RTV (tau derived from correct go trials of a Stop-Signal task) and social functioning in 198 children ages 7–12 years referred for an ADHD evaluation. Social functioning measures included child and/or parent ratings of social competence, aggression, social problems, and impairment in relationships. In regression analyses that also included Oppositional Defiant Disorder symptoms and sex, higher RTV was significantly associated with lower ratings of social competence, and higher proactive/reactive aggression ratings on the child self-report measures. RTV was not significantly associated with parent report of social functioning or relationship impairment. This study provides preliminary evidence that RTV may be associated with social functioning in children at risk for ADHD. We propose that lapses of attention affecting cognitive control may also negatively impact social information processing thereby affecting social functioning. Replication is warranted and longitudinal studies are needed to investigate whether RTV predicts social dysfunction in ADHD.     

Caregiver burden and family functioning in different neurological diseases

Aim of this study is to examine caregiver burden and family functioning in different neurological conditions. Forty-two primary caregivers of patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementia (AD), Parkinson’s Disease (PD), Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI) and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) were administered scales for the evaluation of caregiver burden (CBI) and family functioning (FACES IV). Caregiver burden was overall high, with caregivers of patients with ALS and ABI having exceeded the CBI cut-off score for possible burn-out. The average scores of caregivers of patients with AD or other dementia and PD were close to the cut-off score, whereas those of caregivers of patients with MS were significantly lower than the others. Family cohesion, family satisfaction and the quality of family communication were associated with reduced levels of caregiver burden, whereas disengagement was associated with a higher burden. The data from the present study confirm that caregiver burden is a relevant issue in the context of neurological diseases, especially for those causing higher degrees of impairment. Significant correlations with family functioning emerged as well, highlighting the importance of studying and treating caregiver burden within the context of family relations.     

The relationship between multidimensional economic well‐being and children’s mental health,physical health,and executive function development in South Africa

Conceptualizing both economic well‐being (EWB) and children's development as multidimensional constructs, the present study examines their association using bioecological developmental theory and structural equation modeling with Zulu children (ages 7–10) in KwaZulu‐Natal, a highly impoverished region of South Africa (N = 1,958). Relative EWB within impoverished communities consists of three dimensions: material assets (durable goods and living environment), fiscal appraisal (subjective experiences of access to/allocation of resources), and fiscal capacity (monetary inflow/outflow). Children's development also is measured across multiple dimensions: physical health, mental health, and executive functioning. In addition to an overall association between EWB and children's development across outcomes, the sub‐dimensions of EWB are differentially related to aspects of children's development. The dimension of material assets exhibits the greatest association with child outcomes, while fiscal capacity exhibits the least. Implications of these findings are discussed, including the use of multidimensional approaches to measuring EWB to understand, more clearly, its relationship to multiple dimensions of children's development. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcawZ6oOt-Q     

Decision-making competence in younger and older adults: which cognitive abilities contribute to the application of decision rules?

Older adults perform worse than younger adults when applying decision rules to choose between options that vary along multiple attributes. Although previous studies have shown that general fluid cognitive abilities contribute to the accurate application of decision rules, relatively little is known about which specific cognitive abilities play the most important role. We examined the independent roles of working memory, verbal fluency, semantic knowledge, and components of executive functioning. We found that age-related decline in applying decision rules was statistically mediated by age-related decline in working memory and verbal fluency. Our results have implications for theories of aging and decision-making.     

Le fonctionnement optimal psychologique : apports conceptuels et méthodologiques

In this study, we are operationalizing a new construct: the optimal psychological functioning (OPF). The dimensions of the construct are considered from a historical and a conceptual background then a heuristic approach is mobilized based on three precise rules and the tripartite conception of the mind, i.e. cognitive, affective and conative. The sample is made of 1066 French workers of age 18 to 60 originating from a diverse sociocultural and geographic background. The methodology relies on latent variable modeling. The results give rise to a bifactor structural equations modeling (Bi-ESEM) model with six domain-specific factors demonstrating a very good fit and high psychometric properties. Construct validity was tested against Keyes's positive mental health via the Mental Health Continuum Short Form (MHC-SF) (Keyes, 2002, 2005) and a construct on psychosocial risks (PSR). The OPF strongly, very significantly, and positively predicts positive mental health, while it negatively predicts absenteeism, presenteeism and turnover intentions.     

Improved Perceptions of Emotion Regulation and Reflective Functioning in Parents: Two Additional Positive Outcomes of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy

The purpose of this study was to test whether Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), a widely used effective therapy for children’s externalizing behaviors and parenting problems, was associated with improvements in parents’ emotion regulation and reflective functioning. We also investigated whether these improvements had unique associations with children’s improvements in externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Participants were 139 Australian children aged 29 to 83 months and their caregivers; all were referred for child externalizing behavior problems coupled with parenting skill deficits or high parent stress. All data were gathered via a questionnaire completed prior to and after completion of PCIT. Significant improvements were found in parents’ self-reported emotion dysregulation and capacity to use cognitive reappraisal for emotion regulation. There was also improvement in parents’ self-report of children’s symptoms, parenting practices, and reflective functioning in the form of prementalizing, which measured a low capacity to understand the emotional world of the child. Multiple regression showed that improvements in cognitive reappraisal, prementalizing, and negative parenting practices were associated with improvement in children’s symptoms. The findings extend the existing evidence for PCIT as an effective parenting intervention, adding parents’ perceived emotion regulation and reflective functioning to the list of positive outcomes from PCIT. Improved emotion regulation and reflective functioning, unique from changes in parenting practices, could be mechanisms that help explain why PCIT has been associated with improvements in children’s externalizing behaviors.     

Parental illness intrusiveness and youth glycaemic control in type 1 diabetes: intergenerational associations and processes

Objective: This study examined associations between the functioning of youth with type 1 diabetes and their parents, including parenting dimensions as intervening mechanisms. The study adds to the existing literature by focusing on (1) the concept of parental illness intrusiveness; (2) the (understudied) periods of adolescence and emerging adulthood; and (3) maternal and paternal functioning. Design: Questionnaires were completed by 317 patient-mother dyads and 277 patient-father dyads. All patients (aged 14–25) had type 1 diabetes. The hypothesised model was compared to an alternative model using structural equation modelling. Main Outcome Measures: Youth reported on depressive symptoms and treatment adherence; Physicians provided HbA_1c-values. Parents reported on illness intrusiveness, depressive symptoms, and their child’s treatment adherence. Patients and parents reported on psychological control and overprotection. Results: The hypothesised path model had a good fit to the data. Parental illness intrusiveness was positively associated with depressive symptoms and both were positively related to overprotection and psychological control. Psychological control was positively related to patients’ depressive symptoms and negatively to treatment adherence. Poorer treatment adherence was associated with worse HbA_1c-values. Conclusion: These findings underscore the relevance of parental illness intrusiveness and emphasise the importance of mothers’ and fathers’ roles throughout adolescence and emerging adulthood.     

Effects of sleep deprivation on executive functioning,cognitive abilities,metacognitive confidence,and decision making

Performance on many decision‐making tasks is underpinned by metacognitive monitoring, cognitive abilities, and executive functioning. Fatigue‐inducing conditions, such as sleep loss, compromise these factors, leading to decline in decision performance. Using a 40‐hr sleep deprivation protocol, we examined these factors and the resulting decision performance. Thirteen Australian Army male volunteers (aged 20–30 years) were tested at multiple time points on psychomotor vigilance, inhibitory control, task switching, working memory, short‐term memory, fluid intelligence, and decision accuracy and confidence in a medical diagnosis‐making test. Assessment took place in the morning and night over two consecutive days, during which participants were kept awake. Consistent with previous work, cognitive performance declined after a night without sleep. Extending previous findings, self‐regulation and self‐monitoring suffered significantly greater declines immediately after the sleepless night. These results indicate that the known decline in complex decision‐making performance under fatigue‐inducing conditions might be facilitated by metacognitive rather than cognitive mechanisms.     

Executive functioning and memory as potential mediators of the episodic feeling-of-knowing accuracy

The study focused on the cognitive determinants of the accuracy of feeling-of-knowing (FOK) judgments made on episodic memory information. An individual differences approach was used on a sample of healthy older adults assessed on an episodic FOK task and on several neuropsychological measures. At a global level of analysis of FOK accuracy, the contributions of four general cognitive processes--episodic memory, executive functioning, fluid intelligence and processing speed--were examined concurrently. Stepwise regression analyses showed that executive functioning accounted for the major part of variance on FOK accuracy, followed by a significant contribution of episodic memory. After controlling for executive and memory involvement, fluid intelligence and processing speed no longer accounted for significant variance. At a more detailed level of analysis of FOK accuracy, the contributions of three specific executive processes--shifting, updating and inhibition--were assessed. The results revealed shifting function as the primary executive process engaged in the production of accurate FOK judgments in episodic memory. Some hypotheses are put forward to better understand the central role of executive functioning in the production of accurate FOK judgments.