Child, parent, and parent-child emotion narratives: implications for developmental psychopathology

Studies using narratives with children and parents offer ways to study affective meaning-making processes that are central in many theories of developmental psychopathology. This paper reviews theory regarding affective meaning making, and argues that narratives are particularly suited to examine such processes. The review of narrative studies and methods is organized into three sections according to the focus on child, parent, and parent-child narratives. Within each focus three levels of analysis are considered: (a) narrative organization and coherence, (b) narrative content, and (c) the behavior/interactions of the narrator(s). The implications of this research for developmental psychopathology and clinical work are discussed with an emphasis on parent-child jointly constructed narratives as the meeting point of individual child and parent narratives.     

COUNTERSPACES AND THE NARRATIVE IDENTITY WORK OF OFFENDER‐LABELED AFRICAN AMERICAN YOUTH

Through narrative identity work, offender‐labeled African American youth craft positive self‐concepts in the face of denigrating societal messages about their personhood. While past research suggests narrative identity work is largely intrapersonal, recent theory posits that it may also arise through individuals’ participation in counterspaces. This 9‐month ethnography explored how a group of offender‐labeled African American youth engaged in narrative identity work through participation in an intervention program that functioned as a counterspace. Findings from observations and interviews suggest youth engaged in narrative identity work by interfacing with the program's unique belief system, and roles, resources, and relationships within the program. These findings highlight specific interpersonal/setting mechanisms that facilitate the narrative identity work of offender‐labeled African American youth, while suggesting important implications for intervening with this population.     

Somatics: Investigating the common ground of western body–mind disciplines

Western body–mind disciplines (known by the name of somatics) encompass ways of working with the body that are therapeutic, educational, creative and physically expressive. This literature review uses a ‘bird's eye view’ meant to provide a comprehensive synthesis of somatic theory. This brief analysis of somatic theory examines common principles behind somatic work rather than necessarily differentiating between the wide variety of available practices. This review aims to consolidate somatic theory by drawing from key theorists within the field of somatic movement education and therapy. In addition, this review also investigates an interdisciplinary approach exploring somatic work in relation to the fields of dance and body psychotherapy in an attempt to include related fields of knowledge. Furthermore, this review explores a new avenue of research looking at the historical roots of Western body–mind methods within the physical culture of the nineteenth century. Somatics and body psychotherapy have common ancestors although a great deal of further investigation remains for this type of historical analysis.     

Psychosocial development in racially and ethnically diverse youth: conceptual and methodological challenges in the 21st century

As the US population becomes more diverse in the 21st century, researchers face many conceptual and methodological challenges in working with diverse populations. We discuss these issues for racially and ethnically diverse youth, using Spencer's phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory (PVEST) as a guiding framework. We present a brief historical background and discuss recurring conceptual flaws in research on diverse youth, presenting PVEST as a corrective to these flaws. We highlight the interaction of race, culture, socioeconomic status, and various contexts of development with identity formation and other salient developmental processes. Challenges in research design and interpretation of data are also covered with regard to both assessment of contexts and developmental processes. We draw upon examples from neighborhood assessments, ethnic identity development, and attachment research to illustrate conceptual and methodological challenges, and we discuss strategies to address these challenges. The policy implications of our analysis are also considered.     

Ego Identity Development of Adolescents with Cancer

The literature on the psychological adjustment of adolescentswith cancer contains many contradictions. The current studyassessed the psychosocial adjustment of teen-age cancer patientsfrom a developmental perspective. Forty-two adolescents withcancer and healthy matched controls were administered Archerand Waterman's (1982) Ego Identity Interview and Marcia's (1966)Ego Identity Incomplete Sentence Blank. Healthy adolescentsattained significantly higher identity status levels in interviewcontent areas of career, marriage, and children, but not religion,and also achieved higher Ego Identity scores. The implicationsof these findings for prevention and treatment are discussed.     

From a Pictogram to a Symbol: Working with a Transgender Patient in an NHS Gender Clinic Using Piera Aulagnier's Theory of Identity Formation

This article presents clinical work with a transgender patient who was attending a regional NHS gender clinic in England. It aims to link aspects of the patient's identity formation with the theoretical framework offered by the French psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Piera Aulagnier. Emphasizing the complexity of (gender) identity and its process of development, the concept of the ‘birth of the body’ is used to situate the development of gender identity as a process of the creation of an individual narrative, with the experience of embodiment based on unconscious fantasy as specifically troubling for transgender individuals. This struggle may be seen in the clinical material presented. Recommendations are made for working with transgender clients who suffer from a disturbance in creating and navigating relationships. By using the concept of the ‘word-bearer’, an exploration may be opened up of the unconscious dynamics between the clinic as an object that offers understanding, and the service user who is seeking meaning and a remedy for subjective suffering.     

Sleep architecture and sleep-related mentation in securely and insecurely attached people

I suggest a re-theorization of the relationship between psyche and soma in which the body is no longer seen as ‘mere’ receptacle for unwanted contents of the mind but in which a body subjectivity has a developmental history in its own right. I argue that the body has its own history arising out of the attachment nexus and the internalization of the bodies of its caregivers and the bodies they are able to recognize in their infants and children. I illustrate the way developmental body issues appear in the clinical setting and how the therapist's body can be used to locate and identify the troubled bodies of our clients. A long history of work with women with eating problems and troubled bodies shows that bodies are not born but are acquired in relationship with key caregivers.     

Identity and meaning in the experience of cancer: three narrative themes

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of three women breast-cancer survivors and the associated experiences of their partners. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted using a narrative approach, and the six accounts were analysed using the grounded theory method. The results describe the marked variation in the meaning of the experience among the participants, and the perceived change in each woman's identity from prior to her cancer diagnosis to the time of the interview. The findings are presented in three sections: (1) Three Narrative Themes, the themes, Back to 'Normal', Rebirth and Turning Point, that represent the perceived change in each woman's identity; (2) The Construction of Meaning, the shared characteristics that relate to meaning construction and identity; (3) Integration, the integration in each self-narrative of past and present self-understandings. The findings are compared with the existing literature, and the implications of different interpretations of self and change in the cancer experience are discussed. The limitations of the study are discussed with recommendations for future research.     

Copying,Cloning and Creativity: Reading Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go

Kazuo Ishiguro's (2005) dystopian novel Never Let Me Go is set in 1990s Britain, in a boarding school called Hailsham. Through the adult voice of one of the children remembering her time growing up there, the reader gradually learns that Kathy and her friends have been raised as artificially‐generated clones, manufactured to provide body parts for ‘normals’ in the world. The narrative deploys flashback and hindsight in order to interrogate the essentialism of biological origins, raising complex questions concerning the relationship between memory, copying, creativity and selfhood. These topics are discussed through a psychoanalytic reading of Ishiguro's novel where I draw on Apter's (2011) ideas about textual translation, Laplanche's (1999) notion of ‘afterwardsness’ and clinical material to explore the various ways in which memory and identification are implicated in the development of personal identity.     

Cognitive and emotional differences in young maltreated children: a translational application of dynamic skill theory

Through a translational approach, dynamic skill theory enhances the understanding of the variation in the behavioral and cognitive presentations of a high-risk population-maltreated children. Two studies illustrate the application of normative developmental constructs from a dynamic skills perspective to samples of young maltreated and nonmaltreated children. Each study examines the emotional and cognitive development of maltreated children with attention to their developing world view or negativity bias and cognitive skills. Across both studies, maltreated children demonstrate negativity bias when compared to their nonmaltreated counterparts. Cognitive complexity demonstrated by the maltreated children is dependent upon a positive or negative context. Positive problem solving is more difficult for maltreated children when compared to their nonmaltreated counterparts. Differences by maltreatment type, severity, timing of the abuse, and identity of the perpetrator are also delineated, and variation in the resulting developmental trajectories in each case is explored. This translation of dynamic skill theory, as applied to maltreated children, enhances our basic understanding of their functioning, clarifies the nature of their developmental differences, and underscores the need for early intervention.     

A latent class analysis of cognitive empowerment and ethnic identity: An examination of heterogeneity between profile groups on dimensions of emotional psychological empowerment and social justice orientation among urban youth of color

Psychological empowerment (PE) encompasses key aspects of youth development and civic engagement. Empowerment scholarship has largely focused on the intrapersonal or emotional component of PE, which considers perceptions of control and self‐efficacy, specifically in the sociopolitical sphere. Fewer studies have assessed the interactional or cognitive component of PE. Even less have examined the empirical association aspects of PE, including cognitive empowerment, with conceptually related variables, such as ethnic identity. Those studies that are present have shown that the association between aspects of PE and ethnic identity are complex. The current study of urban high school students of color (N = 383; 53.1% female; 75% Hispanic/Latinx) investigates the heterogeneity present between cognitive empowerment and ethnic identity. Latent class cluster analyses were conducted and five distinct profile groups emerged. Differences were observed on the basis of profile groups of cognitive empowerment and ethnic identity on self‐reported dimensions of emotional PE (e.g., leadership and policy control) and social justice orientation. The majority of study participants were clustered in groups that identified moderate to high levels of both cognitive empowerment and ethnic identity. Results provide useful insights for theory and programming.     

腰椎发育的某些特点与发育性腰椎管狭窄——17岁以下国人腰椎的X线观察与测量

通过对267名西安地区17岁以下正常儿童、青少年活体以及64具婴幼儿新鲜尸体腰椎的正、侧位X线片测量观察,研究了腰椎体矢状径(VBS)、横径(VBT)、腰椎管前后径(AP)及椎弓根间距(IPD)的发育趋势及特点。17岁以下儿童及青少年的腰椎各径随年龄增长而增大,但增大幅度、发育减缓时间均不同。AP和IPD的发育速度、增长幅度及其发育减缓年龄均小于VBT和VBS。因此,在正常腰椎发育过程中,随年龄增长腰部椎管的容积有相对变小的趋势。L_3、L_4椎管前后径自出生后即比其他腰椎的小,且随年龄增长,狭小程度相对加大。该部还伴有椎弓根间距的加大,从而使L_4椎管变扁。上述因素作用的结果表现在腰椎正常发育过程中有椎管相对变小的趋势,为发育性腰椎管狭窄的发生提供了可能性。     

职业认同发展的个案研究

目的：探询个体职业认同发展的关键时刻及过程。方法：对一个个案施测职业认同及其相关因素问卷、中国人自我效能量表、中国人人格量表和MBTI-G表格，并进行结构化访谈。结果：初次思考、选择专业、初次择业、初次工作、遭遇组织变革、再择业、晋升等关键时刻构成了职业认同发展的过程；职业认同发展过程中出现的危机反映了先前发展阶段中未解决的问题。结论：个体客观的职业选择和决策行为、持续不断的探索和努力有益于职业认同发展。     

Relationships between self‐consistency,trauma‐centred identity,and post‐traumatic adjustment

Background: Post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) models suggest that trauma‐centred self‐change is motivated by self‐consistency. Aim: The objective of this study was to investigate the relationships between self‐consistency, trauma‐centred identity, and PTSD symptoms. Method: University students (n = 134) completed measures of trauma‐centred identity (Centrality of Events Scale), self‐consistency, and post‐traumatic stress symptoms (Impact of Events Scale—Revised, Centre for Epidemiological Studies—Depression Scale). Results: A significant positive correlation was found between trauma‐centred identity and post‐traumatic symptoms. However, self‐consistency was not related to post‐traumatic symptoms or trauma‐centred identity. Given the relationship between depressive symptoms and self‐consistency, the correlations were also conducted controlling for depression. When the effects of depressive symptoms were partialled out, both self‐consistency and trauma‐centred identity were positively correlated with intrusion symptoms. Discussion and Conclusion: The implications for PTSD models, which suggest self‐change is motivated by self‐consistency, are discussed and implications for clinical treatments are considered.     

Clinical assessment of attachment patterns and personality disorder in adolescents and adults

The relevance of attachment theory and research for practice has become increasingly clear. The authors describe a series of studies with 3 aims: (a) to validate measures of attachment for use by clinicians with adolescents and adults, (b) to examine the relation between attachment and personality pathology, and (c) to ascertain whether factor analysis can recover dimensions of attachment reflecting both interpersonal and narrative style. In 3 studies, experienced clinicians provided psychometric data using 1 of 4 attachment questionnaires (2 adolescent and 2 adult samples). Attachment dimensions predicted both personality pathology and developmental experiences in predictable ways. Factor analysis identified 4 dimensions that replicated across adolescent and adult samples on the basis of a combination of interpersonal and narrative indicators: secure, dismissing, preoccupied, and incoherent/disorganized.     

人体水分测量技术综述

目的：通过对三种人体水分测量技术进行阐述,对于不同的个体或情形下,使用不同的人体水分测量技术提供参考和依据。方法：对三种人体水分测量技术,包括同位素稀释法、中子活化分析法和生物电阻抗分析法的原理、方法和应用分别进行阐述。比较三种测量技术之间的优点和缺点,探寻它们可应用的领域和范围。结果：中子活化分析法被认为是所有元素检测的参考标准,测量精确率最高,但是,测量技术十分复杂,分析成本昂贵,几乎不能用于普通人群体内水分的测量：同位素稀释法的测试精确率较高,测试技术较复杂,测试成本较昂贵,对受试者有一定的危害,一般用于实验室内的测试。生物电阻抗法的测量精确率尚可,测试技术简单,成本低廉,可用于普通人群的测试。结论：三种人体水分测量技术都能够测量出人体内的总体液、细胞外液和细胞内液。但是这三种人体水分测量技术还有其劣势,有待人们进行发展和探索。其中,生物电阻抗分析法是一种成本低廉、安全、无创,能快速而准确地测量出人体水分的技术,测试对象易接受,有较大的应用前景。     

Insecure attachment representations and child personal narrative structure: implications for delayed discourse in preschool-age children

The internal working model of attachment has been assessed through attachment interviews and story-stems that exhibit differentiated patterns in adult and child narratives. This study examined variation in length and structure of children’s independent personal narratives by attachment representations, discriminating between insecure-avoidant and insecure-ambivalent, and we tested attachment insecurity as a predictor of developmental delay in narrative discourse. Sixty-five preschool-age children completed the Attachment Story Completion Task-Revised and recalled three recent past events. Secure children told longer personal narratives than both avoidant and ambivalent children, and secure children’s narrative structure was more coherent than that of ambivalent children but not avoidant children. Likewise, the two insecure categories differentially predicted delayed discourse. Ambivalent children were 10 times more likely to exhibit delayed discourse than secure children, whereas avoidant children were not at significantly greater risk. Differential developmental outcomes of avoidant and ambivalent children are discussed and conclusions are drawn about the role of child attachment in storing, accessing and communicating memories about everyday lived experiences.     

Characterization of fat body cells at different developmental stages of Culex pipiens

The fat body, originates from mesoderm, has many metabolic functions which changes as the embryonic development of the insect progresses. It plays an important role in the intermediate metabolism and in the metabolism of proteins, lipids and carbohydrates. It has roles in synthesis, absorption and storage of nutrients from hemolymph. It is also responsible for the production of immunological system components, antibacterial compounds and blood clotting proteins. The most common type of fat body cells are trophocytes (the basic cells of the fat body) and oenocytes are found associated with the fat body. In this study, it is aimed at determining the cell types contained in the fat body of Culex pipiens at different developmental stages as well as identifying the molecules such as carbohydrate, protein and lipid contained in each of these cells. Knowing the regional distribution of the fat body cells and the concentration of its content at each developmental stage is important in understanding the process related to its physiology and it may help in fighting against the pest C. pipiens, which is a vector species for many contagious diseases observed in humans and other species.To achieve our goal, we have employed different histochemical techniques (fixatives and staining methods) for staining C. pipiens preparates of different developmental stages and analyzed the structure of the fat body, its distribution, its cell types and the macromolecular contents of the cells. We only observed trophocytes and oenocytes as fat body components in C. pipiens. The trophocytes had all the three macromolecules (lipids, proteins, carbohydrates) in the cytoplasm varying in concentration between the different regions and different stages. The oenocytes were observed below the integument as well as between the muscles in the larvae of Culex pipiens. They were present either as single cells or in clusters and also varied in size. Their cytoplasm was stained strongly for proteins when bromophenol blue staining was applied, but it was rather heterogeneous due to the lipid inclusions. On the contrary, oenocytes were not observed among the adult C. pipiens preparations.     

Developmental commentary: ecological perspectives on parental influences during adolescence.

Adolescence is marked by change and renegotiation in almost every arena -- biological, social, and cognitive development; identity development; changes in peer relations and friendships; a renegotiation of family relationships, especially the parent-adolescent relationship; and school transitions. Further, for African Americans, adolescence is also marked by the exploration of ethnic or racial identity, which is shaped by parents' ethnic socialization and interactions with an increasingly diverse peer group. This article provides a developmental, cultural, and contextual framework for understanding changes in parenting and parental influences vis-a-vis peers. The normative developmental changes in adolescent outcomes, parenting, and parent-adolescent relationships are discussed as they are shaped by neighborhood characteristics, family-level socioeconomic status, and ethnicity and are related to mental health and developmental outcomes across late childhood through adolescence.     

Towards the resolution of a long-standing evolutionary question: muscle identity and attachments are mainly related to topological position and not to primordium or homeotic identity of digits

Signaling for limb bone development usually precedes that for muscle development, such that cartilage is generally present before muscle formation. It remains obscure, however, if: (i) tetrapods share a general, predictable spatial correlation between bones and muscles; and, if that is the case, if (ii) such a correlation would reflect an obligatory association between the signaling involved in skeletal and muscle morphogenesis. We address these issues here by using the results of a multidisciplinary analysis of the appendicular muscles of all major tetrapod groups integrating dissections, muscle antibody stainings, regenerative and ontogenetic analyses of fluorescently-labeled (GFP) animals, and studies of non-pentadactyl human limbs related to birth defects. Our synthesis suggests that there is a consistent, surprising anatomical pattern in both normal and abnormal phenotypes, in which the identity and attachments of distal limb muscles are mainly related to the topological position, and not to the developmental primordium (anlage) or even the homeotic identity, of the digits to which they are attached. This synthesis is therefore a starting point towards the resolution of a centuries-old question raised by authors such as Owen about the specific associations between limb bones and muscles. This question has crucial implications for evolutionary and developmental biology, and for human medicine because non-pentadactyly is the most common birth defect in human limbs. In particular, this synthesis paves the way for future developmental experimental and mechanistic studies, which are needed to clarify the processes that may be involved in the elaboration of the anatomical patterns described here, and to specifically test the hypothesis that distal limb muscle identity/attachment is mainly related to digit topology.