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European Psychiatry : the Journal of... Oct 2023The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the role of sociodemographic, clinical, and cognitive - both objective and subjective - factors in overall and in...
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the role of sociodemographic, clinical, and cognitive - both objective and subjective - factors in overall and in specific domains of psychosocial functioning, in patients with depression at different clinical states of the disease (remitted and non-remitted).
METHODS
A sample of 325 patients with major depressive disorder, 117 in remission and 208 in non-remission, were assessed with a semi-structured interview collecting sociodemographic, clinical, cognitive (with neuropsychological tests and the Perceived Deficit Questionnaire), and functional (Functioning Assessment Short Test) characteristics. Backward regression models were conducted to determine associations of global and specific areas of functioning with independent factors, for both clinical states.
RESULTS
Residual depressive symptomatology and self-appraisal of executive competence were significantly associated with psychosocial functioning in remitted patients, in overall and some subdomains of functioning, particularly cognitive and interpersonal areas. While depressive symptoms, executive deficits and self-appraisal of executive function were significantly related to functional outcomes in non-remitted patients, both in overall functioning and in most of subdomains.
DISCUSSION
This study evidences the strong association of one's appraisal of executive competence with psychosocial functioning, together with depressive symptoms, both in remitted and non-remitted patients with depression. Therefore, to achieve full recovery, clinical management of patients should tackle not only the relief of core depressive symptoms, but also the cognitive ones, both those that are objectified with neuropsychological tests and those that are reported by the patients themselves.
Topics: Humans; Depressive Disorder, Major; Depression; Psychosocial Functioning; Emotions; Neuropsychological Tests; Cognition
PubMed: 37855104
DOI: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2023.2454 -
Development and Psychopathology May 2024Despite recent applications of a developmental psychopathology perspective to the perinatal period, these conceptualizations have largely ignored the role that... (Review)
Review
Despite recent applications of a developmental psychopathology perspective to the perinatal period, these conceptualizations have largely ignored the role that childbirth plays in the perinatal transition. Thus, we present a conceptual model of childbirth as a bridge between prenatal and postnatal health. We argue that biopsychosocial factors during pregnancy influence postnatal health trajectories both directly and indirectly through childbirth experiences, and we focus our review on those indirect effects. In order to frame our model within a developmental psychopathology lens, we first describe "typical" biopsychosocial aspects of pregnancy and childbirth. Then, we explore ways in which these processes may deviate from the norm to result in adverse or traumatic childbirth experiences. We briefly describe early postnatal health trajectories that may follow from these birth experiences, including those which are adaptive despite traumatic childbirth, and we conclude with implications for research and clinical practice. We intend for our model to illuminate the importance of including childbirth in multilevel perinatal research. This advancement is critical for reducing perinatal health disparities and promoting health and well-being among birthing parents and their children.
Topics: Humans; Female; Pregnancy; Parturition; Psychopathology; Postpartum Period
PubMed: 36700362
DOI: 10.1017/S0954579422001389 -
BMC Geriatrics Sep 2023Social frailty has not been comprehensively studied in China. Our objective is to investigate the prevalence of social frailty among the older population in China, as... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
BACKGROUND
Social frailty has not been comprehensively studied in China. Our objective is to investigate the prevalence of social frailty among the older population in China, as well as identify relevant factors and urban-rural differences.
METHODS
We obtained data from the Fourth Sample Survey of the Aged Population in Urban and Rural China (SSAPUR) database. The study employed a multistage, stratified, cluster-sampling method, recruiting a total of 224,142 adults aged 60 years or older. Participants were interviewed to gather demographic data and information on family, health and medical conditions, health care service status, living environment conditions, social participation, protected rights status, spiritual and cultural life, and health. Social frailty was assessed using the HALFE Social Frailty Index. A score of three or above indicated social frailty.
RESULTS
We analyzed a total of 222,179 cases, and the overall prevalence of social frailty was found to be 15.2%. The highest prevalence was observed among participants aged 75-79 years (18.0%). The prevalence of social frailty was higher in rural older populations compared to urban older populations (19.9% in rural vs. 10.9% in urban, P < 0.0001). In urban areas, women had a higher prevalence than men (11.7% in women vs. 9.9% in men, P < 0.0001), while in rural areas, men had a higher prevalence than women (20.6% in men vs. 19.2% in women, P < 0.0001). Multivariate regression analysis revealed that living in a rural/urban environment (OR 1.789, 95% CI 1.742-1.837), absence of a spouse/spousal presence (OR 4.874, 95% CI 4.743-5.009), self-assessed unhealthy/health status (OR 1.696, 95% CI 1.633-1.761), and housing dissatisfaction/satisfaction (OR 2.303, 95% CI 2.233-2.376) were all significantly associated with social frailty.
CONCLUSIONS
Using the HALFE social frailty index, we found a prevalence of 15.2% among older people in China, with the highest prevalence observed in the 75-79 age group. Social frailty was more prevalent in rural areas than in urban areas. Various factors, including spousal presence, housing satisfaction, health status, and urban-rural residential differences, were significantly associated with social frailty. These findings highlight the modifiable and non-modifiable factors that contribute to social frailty among older individuals in China.
Topics: Aged; Female; Humans; Male; Asian People; Cross-Sectional Studies; East Asian People; Frailty; Prevalence; Middle Aged; Urban Population; Rural Population; China; Psychosocial Functioning; Social Behavior
PubMed: 37658332
DOI: 10.1186/s12877-023-04241-1 -
Cognition Aug 2023An on-going debate in psychology and neuroscience concerns the way faces and objects are represented. Domain-specific theories suggest that faces are processed via a...
An on-going debate in psychology and neuroscience concerns the way faces and objects are represented. Domain-specific theories suggest that faces are processed via a specialised mechanism, separate from objects. Developmental prosopagnosia (DP) is a neurodevelopmental disorder in which there is a deficit in the ability to recognize conspecific (human) faces. It is unclear, however, whether prosopagnosia also affects recognition of heterospecific (animal) faces. To address this question, we compared recognition performance with human and animal faces in neurotypical controls and participants with DP. We found that DPs showed deficits in the recognition of both human and animal faces compared to neurotypical controls. In contrast to, we found no group-level deficit in the recognition of animate or inanimate non-face objects in DPs. Using an individual-level approach, we demonstrate that in 60% of cases in which face recognition is impaired, there is a concurrent deficit with animal faces. Together, these results show that DPs have a general deficit in the recognition of faces that encompass a range of configural and morphological structures.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Prosopagnosia; Recognition, Psychology; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Facial Recognition
PubMed: 37156079
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105477 -
Games For Health Journal Oct 2023Exergames are playing an important role in person-centered therapy, health care services, and in the rehabilitation field. This study aimed to compare the effects of... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
Exergames are playing an important role in person-centered therapy, health care services, and in the rehabilitation field. This study aimed to compare the effects of cooperative, competitive, and solitary exergames on cognition and anxiety levels in children with developmental disabilities (DD). This study was a randomized controlled trial pretest-posttest including 36 children with DD who were allocated to the cooperative exergame group (CGG), competitive exergame group (CmGG), and solitary exergame group (SGG). The exergame program was performed two times a week for 8 weeks and the outcome measurements were conducted before and after the program. A paired sample t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the changes within and between the groups. The result indicated a significant improvement in memory, attention, and visual perception in all groups; the CGG and CmGG showed a high increase in attention compared with the SGG. However, only the CGG presented a significant improvement in the language subscale. In terms of anxiety, only the CGG presented substantial improvements in all anxiety subscales. The CmGG showed improvement in social phobia and the SGG in physical injury fears, social phobia, and general anxiety fears. The findings suggest that cooperative and competitive exergames may be used to effectively improve cognitive functions; cooperative exergames can be applied as the most effective method to reduce anxiety compared with the other game types for children with DD.
Topics: Humans; Child; Exergaming; Developmental Disabilities; Video Games; Cognition; Anxiety
PubMed: 37279027
DOI: 10.1089/g4h.2023.0050 -
Infant and Child Development 2024Widespread failures of replication and generalization are, ironically, a scientific triumph, in that they confirm the fundamental metascientific theory that underlies...
Widespread failures of replication and generalization are, ironically, a scientific triumph, in that they confirm the fundamental metascientific theory that underlies our field. Generalizable and replicable findings require testing large numbers of subjects from a wide range of demographics with a large, randomly-sampled stimulus set, and using a variety of experimental parameters. Because few studies accomplish any of this, meta-scientists predict that findings will frequently fail to replicate or generalize. We argue that to be more robust and replicable, developmental psychology needs to find a mechanism for collecting data at greater scale and from more diverse populations. Luckily, this mechanism already exists: Citizen science, in which large numbers of uncompensated volunteers provide data. While best-known for its contributions to astronomy and ecology, citizen science has also produced major findings in neuroscience and psychology, and increasingly in developmental psychology. We provide examples, address practical challenges, discuss limitations, and compare to other methods of obtaining large datasets. Ultimately, we argue that the range of studies where it makes sense *not* to use citizen science is steadily dwindling.
PubMed: 38515737
DOI: 10.1002/icd.2348 -
Developmental Psychology Oct 2023One of the concerns of Jerome Kagan (2007) in his article "A Trio of Concerns" was the frequent use of questionnaires in developmental psychology and related...
One of the concerns of Jerome Kagan (2007) in his article "A Trio of Concerns" was the frequent use of questionnaires in developmental psychology and related disciplines. His main reasons were the minimal overlap between (self-)reported and observed phenotypes, the ambiguity of items, and systematic socioeconomic status (SES) disparities in responding. We wondered whether genetic differences would also influence response bias in cases of ambiguous or even absurd items triggering an acquiescence bias to agree with even impossible question content. We examined the genetic predisposition for the acquiescence response bias in 257 families with twins. Both parents and twins completed a modified Wildman Symptoms Questionnaire and provided salivary DNA samples. From published genome-wide association studies (GWAS), we derived polygenic score (PGS) algorithms for indicators of SES (educational attainment [EA] and income) and for general intelligence (IQ), which were applied to the GWAS results of our participants' DNA. The twins ( = 514 children, 55% monozygotic pairs) were on average 7.92 years old ( = 0.66), and 51.6% were female. The primary parents were on average 40.48 years old ( = 4.66), and 91% were female. In 90% of the families, both parents were born in the Netherlands and 91% were from a middle or higher socioeconomic background. Higher PGSs for EA and income but not for IQ predicted less acquiescence response bias in parents and children. In addition to Kagan's reasons for his concerns about questionnaires, we found a genetic predisposition to response bias triggered by the ambiguous form of questions and answers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
PubMed: 37902678
DOI: 10.1037/dev0001614 -
Journal of Clinical Psychology Dec 2023This research aimed to systematically examine supervisor-trainee differences in assessments of trainee competencies across domains and developmental stages.
OBJECTIVES
This research aimed to systematically examine supervisor-trainee differences in assessments of trainee competencies across domains and developmental stages.
METHODS
Trainees and supervisors (N = 141 dyads) independently rated trainee performance at the end of placements using the Clinical Psychology Competencies Rating Scale. Based on the number of placement hours completed at the time competence was assessed, the 141 trainees were assigned to three developmental levels (61, 42, and 31 in the groups, respectively). Trajectories of 10 different competencies and trainee-supervisor differences for these competencies were examined across three developmental levels.
RESULTS
Compared to their supervisor ratings, trainees underestimated their competence during early stages of training, with this discrepancy reducing at Level 2 and reversing into an overestimation at Level 3. Compared to their own ratings for overall competence, trainees rated Relational and Communication, Reflective Practice, and Professionalism domains as relative strengths, and rated their competence on assessment and intervention domains as relative weaknesses.
CONCLUSION
Growth trajectories derived from supervisor assessments were much flatter than trajectories derived from trainee assessments. As predicted by the impostor theory of practitioner development, trainees significantly underestimated their competence early in training. The trend for trainees to overestimate their competence toward the end of their training is a potential concern that warrants further research.
Topics: Humans; Self-Assessment; Clinical Competence; Attitude of Health Personnel
PubMed: 37688801
DOI: 10.1002/jclp.23590 -
Journal of Nutrition Education and... Jun 2024To describe the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) staff experiences, perceptions, and training needs surrounding the...
OBJECTIVE
To describe the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) staff experiences, perceptions, and training needs surrounding the provision of infant feeding support for parents with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
METHODS
We conducted in-depth semistructured interviews between October and November 2021 with Maryland WIC staff (N = 10) who provide infant feeding counseling and support. We analyzed interviews using conventional content analysis.
RESULTS
Three themes were identified: identifying and documenting IDD, facilitating effective communication and infant feeding education, and assessing WIC staff competence and readiness.
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
The interviews suggested the need to explore the risks and benefits of routine and compassionate processes for identifying and documenting disability, create accessible teaching materials that facilitate understanding and engagement, and educate and train staff to provide tailored support in WIC. Engaging parents with IDD to better understand their perspectives and experiences should guide future efforts to improve inclusivity and accessibility.
Topics: Humans; Female; Developmental Disabilities; Food Assistance; Intellectual Disability; Pregnancy; Infant; Adult; Maryland; Parents; Infant, Newborn; Male
PubMed: 38849192
DOI: 10.1016/j.jneb.2024.02.007 -
Biological Reviews of the Cambridge... Apr 2024Forty years ago, Gallup proposed that theory of mind presupposes self-awareness. Following Humphrey, his hypothesis was that individuals can infer the mental states of...
Forty years ago, Gallup proposed that theory of mind presupposes self-awareness. Following Humphrey, his hypothesis was that individuals can infer the mental states of others thanks to the ability to monitor their own mental states in similar circumstances. Since then, advances in several disciplines, such as comparative and developmental psychology, have provided empirical evidence to test Gallup's hypothesis. Herein, we review and discuss this evidence.
PubMed: 38676546
DOI: 10.1111/brv.13090