Intelligence and handedness: Meta-analyses of studies on intellectually disabled,typically developing,and gifted individuals

Understanding the relationship between cerebral laterality and intelligence is important in elucidating the neurological underpinnings of individual differences in cognitive abilities. A widely used, behavioral indicator for cerebral laterality, mainly of language, is handedness. A number of studies have compared cognitive abilities between groups of left- and right-handers, while others have investigated the handedness prevalence between groups of different cognitive abilities. The present study comprises five meta-analyses of studies that have assessed the handedness prevalence in (a) individuals with intellectual disability (ID) of unknown/idiopathic nature compared to typically developing (TD) individuals, and (b) individuals with intellectual giftedness (IG) compared to TD individuals. Nineteen data sets totaling 16,076 participants (5795 ID, 8312 TD, and 1969 IG) were included in the analyses. Elevated levels of atypical handedness were found to be robust only for the ID to TD comparison. Findings constrain the range of acceptable theories on the handedness distribution for different intelligence levels.     

Tailored mental health care after nursing home admission: improving transfers of people with dementia with behavioral problems. An explorative study

Objectives: In the Netherlands, many community-dwelling people with dementia and behavioral disturbances and their family caregivers receive mental health care from a community psychiatric nurse (CPN). To promote continuity of care for these persons after moving to a nursing home, a transfer intervention was developed. The aim of this explorative study was to evaluate this intervention and its implementation.

Method: A qualitative explorative study design was used. CPNs visited professional nursing home carers, people with dementia and family caregivers six weeks after moving, advised on how to manage behavioral problems of their former clients and provided support to family caregivers. Twenty-two interviews were conducted with participants exposed to the intervention (5 CPNs, 5 family and 12 nursing home carers) and with 11 stakeholders (i.e., nursing home and mental health care managers, professional caregivers) to identify facilitators and barriers to the implementation. Data were collected in 2012 and 2013.

Results: The follow-up visit at six weeks met the need for background information of new admitted patients and helped family caregivers close off the period prior to the move. It did not meet the original purpose of providing nursing home staff with advice about problem behaviors on time: six weeks after the move was experienced as too late.

Conclusion: The transfer intervention increased the awareness of nursing home staff about personal and behavioral characteristics of residents with dementia and supported caregivers in coping with the new situation. The timing of the intervention could be improved by scheduling it immediately after the move.     

The effects of coping style,social support,and behavioral problems on the well-being of mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Lebanon

The present study examined the effects of coping styles, social support, and child's behavioral symptoms on the well-being of 65 mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in Lebanon. Comparisons to the well-being of 98 mothers of typically developing children were also drawn. Regression analyses showed that disengagement and distraction coping predicted poor well-being, whereas cognitive reframing showed a correlation with better well-being levels. A significant correlation was found between child's behavioral problems and maternal well-being. T-test analyses revealed that mothers of children with ASD differed in terms of coping styles used. Additionally, mothers of children with ASD showed lower levels of perceived social support. Well-being was significantly better for mothers of typically developing children. Study limitations and implications are discussed.     

Is the difference between right and left ATLs due to the distinction between general and social cognition or between verbal and non-verbal representations?

The present review aimed to check two proposals alternative to the original version of the ‘semantic hub’ hypothesis, based on semantic dementia (SD) data, which assumed that left and right anterior temporal lobes (ATLs) store in a unitary, amodal format all kinds of semantic representations.The first alternative proposal is that the right ATL might subsume non-verbal representations and the left ATL lexical-semantic representations and that only in the advanced stages of SD, when atrophy affects the ATLs bilaterally, the semantic impairment becomes ‘multi-modal’.The second alternative suggestion is that right and left ATLs might underlie two different domains of knowledge, because general conceptual knowledge might be supported by the left ATL, and social cognition by the right ATL.Results of the review substantially support the first proposal, showing that the right ATL subsumes non-verbal representations and the left ATL lexical-semantic representations. They are less conclusive about the second suggestion, because the right ATL seems to play a more important role in behavioral and emotional functions than in higher level social cognition.     

新型冠状病毒肺炎流行期间儿童和青少年的心理行为问题:Scoping综述北大核心CSCD

目的探讨新型冠状病毒肺炎(coronavirus disease 2019,COVID-19)流行期间儿童和青少年的心理行为问题及影响因素,为相关问题的防治提供参考依据。方法检索中国知网、万方知识数据服务平台、PubMed和Web of Science数据库,采用主题检索方式,检索时间为建库至2022年3月31日,提取相关文献数据进行Scoping综述。结果共检索到文献3951篇,最终纳入35篇,来自12个国家,多数文献来源于儿科学、精神病学、心理学及流行病学相关主题期刊,研究方法大多数采用横断面调查研究。儿童和青少年的心理行为问题主要包括抑郁/焦虑/压力、睡眠问题、网络行为问题、创伤后应激障碍和自伤/自杀5种。影响因素分别从社会人口学特征、生活方式的改变和COVID-19的应对方式3个方面进行分析。结论COVID-19流行期间,国内外儿童和青少年的心理行为问题形势严峻,未来可以通过相关影响因素进一步开展调查研究来改善相关心理行为问题。     

Brief report: Peer group influences and adolescent internalizing problems as mediated by effortful control

Internalizing problems in adolescence encompass behaviors directed inward at the self (Colman, Wadsworth, Croudace, & Jones, 2007). Several predictors have been linked to internalizing problems including antisocial and prosocial peers (Cartwright, 2007; Chung, 2010). Effortful control, a component of self-regulation, is one factor that could mediate the relationship between peer behaviors and individual outcomes. This study assessed the relationship between peer behaviors, effortful control, and adolescent internalizing problems. Participants were 151 middle school adolescents (M = 12.16 years old) who completed self-report questionnaires regarding behaviors of their peers, perceptions of effortful control, and experiences of internalizing problems. Structural equation modeling (SEM) yielded a significant negative relationship between antisocial peers and effortful control, and a significant positive relationship between prosocial peers and effortful control. In addition, effortful control significantly mediated the relationship between prosocial peers and internalizing problems, but not for antisocial peers. Implications for interventions related to adolescent health were discussed.     

Ambulatory measurement of the ECG T‐wave amplitude

Ambulatory recording of the preejection period (PEP) can be used to measure changes in cardiac sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity under naturalistic conditions. Here, we test the ECG T‐wave amplitude (TWA) as an alternative measure, using 24‐h ambulatory monitoring of PEP and TWA in a sample of 564 healthy adults. The TWA showed a decrease in response to mental stress and a monotonic decrease from nighttime sleep to daytime sitting and more physically active behaviors. Within‐participant changes in TWA were correlated with changes in the PEP across the standardized stressors (r = .42) and the unstandardized naturalistic conditions (mean r = .35). Partialling out changes in heart rate and vagal effects attenuated these correlations, but they remained significant. Ambulatory TWA cannot replace PEP, but simultaneous recording of TWA and PEP provides a more comprehensive picture of changes in cardiac SNS activity in real‐life settings.     

父母控制对青少年抑郁的直接和间接效应

目的:探讨父母控制的不同形式(行为控制、心理控制)与青少年抑郁的联系,并检验青少年基本心理需要满足在其中的中介作用。方法:采用父母控制问卷、基本心理需要满足量表以及儿童抑郁调查表(中文版)对703名青少年进行测查。结果:1行为控制对抑郁具有显著的负向预测作用,心理控制对抑郁具有显著的正向预测作用;2行为控制通过促进基本心理需要满足进而减少青少年抑郁,心理控制通过阻碍基本心理需要满足进而增加青少年抑郁。结论:父母控制的不同形式对青少年抑郁具有不同的影响,基本心理需要满足在二者之间起中介作用。     

Children with bronchial asthma assessed for psychosocial problems in a teaching hospital in Nigeria

Background

Paediatric bronchial asthma causes respiratory related mortality and morbidity globally and elevates the risk of psychological and social problems (psychosocial problems); which may result in poorer asthma control. The rate of and associated factors for psychosocial problems among our asthmatic children was assessed in this study.

Methods

Seventy five (75) children aged 7 to 14 years with bronchial asthma who were attending clinics at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria, were assessed with Child behaviour questionnaire and a semi-structured questionnaire.

Results

Probable psychological morbidity was present in 25% of the children. The most frequently reported social impairments associated with the disease were: interference with play (60%), domestic work (49%), fear of dying anytime (29%) and feeling of being a burden on the family (25%). Psychological morbidity was significantly associated with lower maternal education (p=0.020) and occupation (p=0.038), polygamy (p=0.012), fathers having more than 5 children (p=0.027) and mothers having inadequate spousal support (p=0.012). Inadequate spousal support and lower maternal occupational level were the significant predictors of morbidity following logistic regression.

Conclusion

Routine psychosocial assessment and care for children with asthma needs to be introduced into our clinics to help protect them and their families from avoidable suffering.