Maternal employment and development of the father–infant relationship in the first year.

This study investigated links between maternal employment and fathers' parenting quality when their infants were 4 and 12 months old. Sixty-three fathers were videotaped interacting with their infants and completed questionnaires regarding their involvement in caregiving, parenting stress, and marital quality, and mothers reported on children's temperament. Fathers whose wives either did not work outside the home or worked part time were more sensitive and responsive to their children when they were more involved in caregiving; men whose wives worked full time exhibited more negative affect and behavior when they participated more in child care. Men whose wives were not employed also were more positive in their interactions when they were happier with their marriage, whereas men whose wives worked either part time or full time exhibited a negative relation between parenting behavior and marital quality. Maternal work circumstances were not related to fathers' parenting stress; rather, marital quality and child temperament predicted parenting stress at 4 and 12 months for all fathers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Why did the sperm cross the cumulus? To get to the oocyte. Functions of the sperm surface proteins PH-20 and fertilin in arriving at, and fusing with, the egg

The sperm surface has an active role in the events of fertilization. The definition of the sperm surface in both its composition and domain organization begins during spermatogenesis and continues until the moment of sperm-egg fusion. Alterations of the surface proceed as a result of internal programming and environmental cues from both the male and female reproductive tracts, including interactions with the egg itself. We have investigated the sperm surface to understand its domain organization and the ongoing changes in this organization as well as the role of specific surface proteins in fertilization. Much of our research has concentrated on two surface proteins: PH-20 and fertilin. PH-20 is a single-chain protein, anchored in the membrane via a glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor. The N-terminal domain of the molecule has a hyaluronidase activity. The hyaluronidase activity of PH-20 on the sperm plasma membrane enables sperm to penetrate the layer of cumulus cells surrounding the oocyte. PH-20 has a second function, unrelated to its hyaluronidase activity, in the binding of acrosome-reacted sperm to the zona pellucida (secondary sperm-zona binding). The fertilin molecule is an alpha,beta heterodimer whose two subunits are closely related transmembrane proteins. Fertilin beta has a disintegrin domain that has high sequence homology with the snake disintegrins, a known class of soluble integrin ligands. The binding site of the beta disintegrin domain functions to bind sperm to the egg plasma membrane via a mechanism that leads to sperm-egg fusion. The precursor of fertilin alpha, made in the testis, has an active metalloprotease site that could function in spermatogenesis. This metalloprotease domain is removed by proteolytic processing in the testis. Mature fertilin alpha on sperm also has a hydrophobic, putative "fusion peptide" that may promote the process of lipid bilayer fusion between sperm and egg plasma membranes. Fertilin alpha and beta are the first identified members of a new gene family of transmembrane proteins, the ADAM family, so called because they contain A Disintegrin And Metalloprotease domain. Many distinct ADAMs have now been found in diverse tissues and species (Drosophila to human) and are proposed to have a variety of functions in development and the adult. In addition to fertilin, other ADAMs are also present on the sperm plasma membrane and may participate with fertilin in sperm-egg fusion.     

Should students have a gap year? Motivation and performance factors relevant to time out after completing school.

Increasingly, school leavers are taking time out from study or formal work after completing high school—often referred to as a “gap year” (involving structured activities such as “volunteer tourism” and unstructured activities such as leisure). Although much opinion exists about the merits—or otherwise—of taking time out after completing school, relatively little research has sought to understand the gap year from a psychoeducational perspective. Harnessing the theories of planned behavior and reasoned action and using structural equation modeling, the author examines the academic factors that predict gap year intentions among 2,502 high school students (Study 1) and the academic profile in respect to gap year participation of 338 students in university or college (Study 2). Findings in Study 1 show that postschool uncertainty and lower levels of academic motivation predict gap year intentions, that lower motivation and lower performance predict postschool uncertainty, and that these effects are significant over and above the effects of demographic (gender, age, ethnicity) covariates. Findings in Study 2 show that gap year participation positively predicts academic motivation and that this effect is significant over and above the effects of demographic covariates. The present investigation centrally positions psychoeducational theorizing in relation to the potential yields of a gap year in resolving problematic motivation and performance profiles that may have precipitated students' postschool uncertainty and interest in taking a year out after completing school. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social desirability or acquiescence in the MMPI? A case study with the SD Scale.

In this, his Presidential Address to the Division of Evaluation and Measurement of the American Psychological Association, September 1960, the author reviews the research pertinent to the measurement of the dimensions of "social desirability" and "acquiescent response set." Results of new data derived from an analysis of responses to the MMPI were presented to indicate the validity of the explanation in terms of the dimension of social desirability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

To transfer or not to transfer? Investigating the combined effects of trainee characteristics, team leader support, and team climate.

Eighty pilots participated in a study of variables influencing the transfer process. Posttraining performance was assessed in a flight simulation under 1 of 2 conditions. Those in the maximum performance condition were made aware of the skill to be assessed and the fact that their teammates were confederates, whereas those in the typical performance condition were not. The results indicated that (a) simulator ratings correlated with a measure of transfer to the cockpit for those in the typical condition only; (b) team leader support, manipulated in a pretask brief, moderated the disparity between maximum and typical performance; (c) team climate mediated the impact of support on performance in the typical condition; (d) those with a stronger predisposition toward the trained skill viewed their climate as more supportive; and (e) perceptions of team climate were better predictors of performance for those with a more external locus of control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

To act or not to act, that’s the problem: Primarily inhibition difficulties in adult ADHD.

Forty-nine carefully diagnosed adults with persistent attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), who had never been medicated for their ADHD, were compared with 49 normal control adults matched for age and gender on a large battery of tests in five domains of executive functioning (inhibition, fluency, planning, working memory, and set shifting) and several other neuropsychological functions to control for nonexecutive test demands. After stringent controls for nonexecutive function demands and IQ, adults with ADHD showed problems in inhibition and set shifting but not in any of the other executive functioning domains tested. We argue that adult ADHD may be mainly a disorder of inhibition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

And now what, after such tribulations? Memory and dislocation in the era of uprooting.

This article explores some of the often overlooked, traumatic psychological consequences that follow from major social and political disruption and upheaval. Specifically, it examines the importance of maintaining memory and legacy in the face of widespread uprootedness and dislocation of the sort that can undermine and even obliterate personal, social, and collective identities. The role that authentic social frameworks for memory play in preserving psychological rootedness and that accurate historical narratives play in resistance and regrouping is explored. Finally, the importance of creating a new psychology that is fully grounded in history and culture is emphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Polymorphisms of the μ-opioid receptor and dopamine D? receptor genes and subjective responses to alcohol in the natural environment.

Polymorphisms of the μ-opioid receptor (OPRM1) and dopamine D? receptor (DRD4) genes are associated with subjective responses to alcohol and urge to drink under laboratory conditions. This study examined these associations in the natural environment using ecological momentary assessment. Participants were non-treatment-seeking heavy drinkers (n = 112, 52% female, 61% alcohol dependent) who enrolled in a study of naltrexone effects on craving and drinking in the natural environment. Data were culled from 5 consecutive days of drinking reports prior to medication randomization. Analyses revealed that, after drinking, carriers of the Asp40 allele of the OPRM1 gene reported higher overall levels of vigor and lower levels negative mood, as compared to homozygotes for the Asn40 variant. Carriers of the long allele (i.e., ≥7 tandem repeats) of the DRD4 endorsed greater urge to drink than homozygotes for the short allele. Effects of OPRM1 and DRD4 variable-number-of-tandem-repeats genotypes appear to be alcohol dose-dependent. Specifically, carriers of the DRD4-L allele reported slight decreases in urge to drink at higher levels of estimated blood alcohol concentration (eBAC), and Asp40 carriers reported decreases in vigor and increases in negative mood as eBAC rose, as compared to carriers of the major allele for each gene. Self-reported vigor and urge to drink were positively associated with alcohol consumption within the same drinking episode. This study extends findings on subjective intoxication, urge to drink, and their genetic bases from controlled laboratory to naturalistic settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

To be or not to be…included in an event file: Integration and retrieval of distractors in stimulus–response episodes is influenced by perceptual grouping.

The binding of stimulus and response features into stimulus–response (S-R) episodes or “event files” is a basic process for the efficient control of behavior. However, relevant information is usually accompanied by information that is irrelevant for the selection of action. Recent studies showed that even irrelevant information is bound into event files. In this study, we investigated the boundary conditions of distractor–response binding and subsequent distractor-based response retrieval processes. In particular, we tested whether the inclusion of distractor information into S-R episodes is modulated by whether the distractor and target stimulus are perceived as belonging to the same object or as belonging to different objects. We argue that distracting information is only bound into S-R episodes if it is perceived as belonging to the same object as the relevant information, whereas no binding occurs when the distracting information is perceived as belonging to a separate object. In 6 experiments, we found evidence for the modulation of distractor–response bindings according to perceptual grouping principles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

One declarative memory system or two? The relationship between episodic and semantic memory in children with temporal lobe epilepsy.

Objective: This study explored verbal semantic and episodic memory in children with unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy to determine whether they had impairments in both or only 1 aspect of memory, and to examine relations between performance in the 2 domains. Method: Sixty-six children and adolescents (37 with seizures of left temporal lobe onset, 29 with right-sided onset) were given 4 tasks assessing different aspects of semantic memory (picture naming, fluency, knowledge of facts, knowledge of word meanings) and 2 episodic memory tasks (story recall, word list recall). Results: High rates of impairments were observed across tasks, and no differences were found related to the laterality of the seizures. Individual patient analyses showed that there was a double dissociation between the 2 aspects of memory in that some children were impaired on episodic but not semantic memory, whereas others showed intact episodic but impaired semantic memory. Conclusions: This double dissociation suggests that these 2 memory systems may develop independently in the context of temporal lobe pathology, perhaps related to differential effects of dysfunction in the lateral and mesial temporal lobe structures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

From the American Psychological Association to the American Psychology Association--An organization for psychologists or for the discipline? 2007 annual report of the APA Policy and Planning Board.

Each year, the American Psychological Association's Policy and Planning Board takes the pulse of the Association and the discipline as a whole and writes a report that represents the Board's best appraisal of a fundamental policy. Our main objective, however, is not simply to assess the current situation but to look forward on behalf of the Association and our membership. In 2007, the Policy and Planning Board examined APA's mission in the context of a changing professional and scholarly environment. This report thus explores alternative visions of a future American Psychological Association and takes on the ambitious task of rethinking the Association's mission and how the American Psychological Association might best serve its members, the discipline, and society. In this article, we envision the promise of rethinking the American Psychological Association's mission in the profession and in society. We discuss the American Psychological Association's function and identity and then introduce a conceptual framework that would move us toward becoming the American Psychology Association to promote the work of "psychology." We then proceed to outline the benefits and pitfalls of such a change in mission, as well as some practical and ideological barriers that might block such change. We conclude by summarizing our thought experiment and identifying avenues for productive discussion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What's love got to do with it? Social functioning, perceived health, and daily happiness in married octogenarians.

This study examined day-to-day links between perceived health and happiness and between time spent with others and happiness in 47 older adult couples over an 8-day period. Marital satisfaction and time spent with others were explored as potential moderators of links between health and happiness. For both men and women, hierarchical linear modeling revealed daily links between more time spent with others and greater happiness. Daily links between time spent with one's partner and happiness were strongly moderated by marital satisfaction. For both men and women, marital satisfaction buffered day-to-day links between poorer perceived health and a decline in happiness, but time spent with others did not. This study provides support for the role of marital satisfaction in protecting older adults' happiness from daily fluctuations in perceived physical health and for the influence of social connections in promoting happiness in the lives of older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The hypothalamo-hypophysial system in Acipenseridae. V. Ecological-histophysiological analysis of the neurohypophysis of the female sturgeon Acipenser güldenst?dti Brandt during up-stream migration and after spawning

Neurohypophyses from sexually mature female sturgeons, Acipenser guldenstadti Brandt, killed before, soon after spawning, and during down-stream migration were studied light and electron microscopically. Ovaries were examined only under a light microscope. A large amount of neurosecretory material (3.5-4.5 arbitrary units) is found in the neurohypophysial "roots" during up-stream migration to spawning grounds. Neurosecretory fibres and their terminals are replete with elementary neurosecretory granules. Side by side with the latter some terminals contain single residual granules and few "synaptic" vesicles. Soon after spawning the amount of neurosecretory material decreases markedly in most individuals (content up to 1-3 units), and elementary granules are few in the fibres and their terminals. The number of residual granules increases, and "synaptic" vesicles are especially numerous. Granulated, disintegrating neurosecretory granules and granule-shadows occur in the preterminal parts of the fibres. The number of pituicytes increases becuase some "light" tanycytes seem to migrate from the ependymal into the subependymal layer. The restoration of neurosecretory material (reaching again up to 3.5-4.5 units) occurs within a month after spawning. The number of elementary granules increases in fibres and terminals while that of residual granules and "synaptic" vesicles decreases. These changes in the neurohypophysis of females after spawning are due to discharge of great amounts of peptide neurohorsmones into the general circulation after spawning. Spawning is regarded as a "physiological" stress for these females.     

Less power or powerless? Egocentric empathy gaps and the irony of having little versus no power in social decision making.

The authors investigate the effect of power differences and associated expectations in social decision making. Using a modified ultimatum game, the authors show that allocators lower their offers to recipients when the power difference shifts in favor of the allocator. Remarkably, however, when recipients are completely powerless, offers increase. This effect is mediated by a change in framing of the situation: When the opponent is without power, feelings of social responsibility are evoked. On the recipient side, the authors show that recipients do not anticipate these higher outcomes resulting from powerlessness. They prefer more power over less, expecting higher outcomes when they are more powerful, especially when less power entails powerlessness. Results are discussed in relation to empathy gaps and social responsibility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Catching up or falling behind? Initial English proficiency, concentrated poverty, and the reading growth of language minority learners in the United States.

This study contrasts growth trajectories in English reading for 2 groups of language minority (LM) learners--those who enter kindergarten with limited oral English proficiency and those who enter kindergarten proficient in oral English--with that of native English speakers. Fitting a multilevel model for change to longitudinal data on a nationally representative sample, this study examines students' growth trajectories from kindergarten through 5th grade. Three noteworthy findings emerge. First, LM learners entering kindergarten proficient in English have trajectories similar to those of native English speakers, but LM learners entering kindergarten with limited English have trajectories that diverge from those of native English speakers, yielding large differences in achievement by the 5th grade. Second, controlling for demographic risk factors, including socioeconomic status (SES), reduces the effect of initial English proficiency from large to moderate and yields differences that narrow over time. Finally, these differences depend on school poverty, with smaller differences evident among students in high-poverty schools than among students in low-poverty schools. Results emphasize the need for academic interventions for LM learners who enter school with limited English proficiency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Invisible wounds, visible savings? Using microsimulation to estimate the costs and savings associated with providing evidence-based treatment for PTSD and depression to veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

This research used microsimulation modeling to estimate the social costs of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for the 261,827 troops deployed on June 30, 2008, for Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Given current standards of care, roughly half of these individuals will be treated for these conditions in the 2 years after they return, and 30% of those treated will receive evidence-based treatment (EBT). Our results suggest that the 2-year social costs of depression and PTSD for this cohort will be $923 million. Policy simulations evaluating the savings associated with universal access to EBT suggest that such access would generate cost savings of $138 million (15%). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differences in caries recording with and without bitewing radiographs. A study on 5-year old children in the County of Bohusl?n, Sweden

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the cerebral blood flow parameters assessed by transcranial Doppler during aortic cross-clamping and unclamping in patients undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysmectomy. METHODS: Invasive intraoperative monitoring of mean arterial pressure (MAP) and PaCO2, and right middle cerebral artery (RMCA) monitoring of blood flow parameters (mean velocity "Vm" and pulsatility index "PI") by transcranial Doppler were performed as well as evaluation of the four parameters during these subsequent periods: pre-cross-clamping, pre-unclamping, unclamping and 1-5-10-20 minutes after abdominal aortic unclamping. RESULTS: No significative changes of MAP, PaCO2, Vm and PI were noticed during the aortic cross-clamping period (77.5 +/- 18.5 SD minutes). During aortic unclamping Vm and MAP decreased (64 +/- 20 vs 52 +/- 20 cm/sec, p < 0.05, and 101 +/- 8 vs 80 +/- 15 mmHg, p < 0.01, respectively). At the 1th post-unclamping minute there was an increase from pre-unclamping values of Vm (75 +/- 20 cm/sec, p < 0.05) and PaCO2 (42 +/- 1.5 vs 36 +/- 2 mmHg, p < 0.05), with persistent reduction of MAP (92 +/- mmHg, p < 0.05), even more evident at the 5th post-unclamping minute (Vm = 93 +/- 25 cm/sec; PaCO2 = 46 +/- 1.2 mmHg, p < 0.001, and MAP returned to pre-unclamping value), in which there was also a decrease of PI (0.65 +/- 0.16 vs 0.78 +/- 0.2, p < 0.05). At the 10th minute Vm (83 +/- 24 cm/sec, p < 0.02) and PaCO2 (41 +/- 1.5 mmHg, p < 0.05) increments were present together with persistent reduction of PI (0.69 +/- 0.17, p < 0.05), while at the 20th post-unclamping minute also Vm, PaCO2 and PI returned to their pre-unclamping values. CONCLUSIONS: The Vm decrease at aortic unclamping might correlate with the acute changes in MAP (blood steal hypovolemia) and is likely due to an inadequate cerebral autoregulatory response to abrupt MAP changes. The arterial CO2 increase after aortic unclamping could lead to a dilation of cerebral arterioles and a rise of CBF (increase of Vm and decrease of PI). Transcranial Doppler is a simple and reliable technique for the monitoring of cerebral blood flow parameters and seems to be quite suitable for the recognition and the quantification of changes in these parameters induced by surgical manoeuvres able to produce hemodynamic instability.     

Can we trust parent reports in research on cultural and ethnic differences in child psychopathology? Using the bicultural family design to test parental culture effects.

Research comparing cultural and ethnic groups on child psychopathology has relied heavily on parent reports. But don't parents' own cultural backgrounds bias their reports, undermining valid assessment of actual child behavior? The question is hard to address because parent and child culture tend to be confounded. To solve this problem, we assembled an unusual but heuristically valuable sample: 50 bicultural families, each with an ethnic Thai parent reared in Thailand and a Caucasian parent reared in the U.S. Parents in each pair independently completed standardized problem checklists on the same child in their family. Across all 10 empirically derived problem syndromes, no parental culture effect was either significant or larger than "small," by Cohen's (1988) standards; across all 140 specific problems, the mean percent of variance accounted for by parent culture was less than 1%. Results do not point to a biasing effect of parental culture. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do cognitive models help in predicting the severity of posttraumatic stress disorder, phobia, and depression after motor vehicle accidents? A prospective longitudinal study.

The study investigated the power of theoretically derived cognitive variables to predict posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), travel phobia, and depression following injury in a motor vehicle accident (MVA). MVA survivors (N = 147) were assessed at the emergency department on the day of their accident and 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months later. Diagnoses were established with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Predictors included initial symptom severities; variables established as predictors of PTSD in E. J. Ozer, S. R. Best, T. L. Lipsey, and D. S. Weiss's (2003) meta-analysis; and variables derived from cognitive models of PTSD, phobia, and depression. Results of nonparametric multiple regression analyses showed that the cognitive variables predicted subsequent PTSD and depression severities over and above what could be predicted from initial symptom levels. They also showed greater predictive power than the established predictors, although the latter showed similar effect sizes as in the meta-analysis. In addition, the predictors derived from cognitive models of PTSD and depression were disorder-specific. The results support the role of cognitive factors in the maintenance of emotional disorders following trauma. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)