Adult attachment as mediator between recollections of childhood and satisfaction with life

In accordance with attachment theory, the present study investigates whether internal working models of attachment mediated the association between childhood memories and satisfaction about life in adulthood. A convenient sample of 437 participants completed questionnaires assessing a broad range of childhood memories, working models of attachment and life satisfaction. After controlling for demographics, relational status and living condition, Baron and Kenny's mediation criteria were met for the association between memories about childhood, adult attachment and life satisfaction. That is, family warmth and harmony and parental support were associated with attachment security while parental rejection and adverse childhood events (e.g., abuse, parental psychopathology) were associated with an insecure attachment style. More securely attached individuals were in turn more satisfied about their current life than insecurely attached individuals. Sobel test confirmed these findings. These finding are in accordance with attachment theory and highlight the importance of this theory for understanding how early childhood experiences may impact adult life. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Developmental prosopagnosia in childhood

Developmental prosopagnosia (DP) is defined by severe face recognition problems resulting from a failure to develop the necessary visual mechanisms for processing faces. While there is a growing literature on DP in adults, little has been done to study this disorder in children. The profound impact of abnormal face perception on social functioning and the general lack of awareness of childhood DP can result in severe social and psychological consequences for children. This review discusses possible aetiologies of DP and summarizes the few cases of childhood DP that have been reported. It also outlines key objectives for the growth of this emerging research area and special considerations for studying DP in children. With clear goals and concerted efforts, the study of DP in childhood will be an exciting avenue for enhancing our understanding of normal and abnormal face perception for all age groups.     

PULMONARY HYPERTENSION ASSOCIATED WITH PORTAL HYPERTENSION IN CHILDHOOD. Case Report of a 6-Year-Old Child and Review of the Literature

Pulmonary hypertension is a rare complication of portal hypertension. Reports of childhood cases are especially rare. This report describes an autopsy case of a 6-year-old boy with congenital biliary atresia followed by liver cirrhosis in whom severe hypertensive pulmonary arterial changes, including medial hypertrophy, intimal fibrosis and plexiform lesions were demonstrated. Fresh and organizing fibrin-platelet thrombi as well as probable organized thrombi with recanalization were occasionally found in the pulmonary vasculature, but it was thought that they had probably been formed locally as a late complication rather than being of thromboembolic origin. Retrospectively, the chest roentgenograms had revealed abnormalities suggestive of pulmonary hypertension since infancy, but the patient showed no apparent symptoms of it during life. Previously reported childhood cases of pulmonary hypertension associated with portal hypertension were briefly reviewed. Although the mechanism is presently not known, it is suggested that patients with portal hypertension, even in early childhood, are at risk of developing this unusual complication. ACTA PATHOL JPN 38: 897∼907, 1988.     

Memory Fragmentation in Dissociative Identity Disorder

ABSTRACT

This study examined the quality of self-reported memories of traumatic experiences in participants with dissociative identity disorder (DID) and compared them with their memories of non-traumatic, but emotionally significant life experiences. Systematic interview data were gathered from 30 DID patients in The Netherlands. All participants reported a history of severe childhood abuse; 93.3% reported some period of amnesia for the index traumatic event, and 33.3% reported periods of amnesia for significant non-traumatic childhood experiences. All participants who had been amnestic for their trauma reported that their memories were initially retrieved in the form of somatosensory flashbacks. This suggests that, like PTSD patients, DID patients at least initially recall their trauma not as a narrative, but as somatosensory re-experiencing. Surprisingly, however, DID participants also recalled emotionally charged non-traumatic life events with significant somatosensory components, a phenomenon that has not been previously reported. This finding raises important issues regarding basic memory processing abnormalities in DID patients.     

Early emotional memories and bonding as predictors of short-term and long-term outcome in adults with generalized anxiety disorder

The impact of childhood experiences on the development of psychopathology is well established in the literature. Few studies, however, have assessed parental bonding during childhood as a predictor of response to anxiety disorders treatment. The aim of the study was to examine whether emotional memories of childhood parenting could predict short-term and long-term outcome in three different interventions for patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD): mindfulness-based intervention (Body in Mind Training [BMT]), fluoxetine (FLX), and an active control group (quality of life [QoL]). A total of 124 participants from a randomized controlled trial for GAD treatment were evaluated pre- and post-treatment and after 18 months. Patients were assessed for the severity of GAD symptoms (GAD-7, PSWQ, and DERS), early memories of warmth and safeness (EMWSS), and recall of perceived threat and subordination/submission in childhood (ELES). Negative childhood memories predicted a greater reduction in anxiety symptoms on BMT treatment compared to FLX and QoL, whereas positive childhood memories predicted more symptomatic improvement in the QoL group. Our findings suggest that individuals with GAD who have early memories of subordination and threat appear to benefit more from interventions that focus on developing emotion-regulation strategies and enhancing self-compassion, such as mindfulness-based interventions.     

Prevalence and correlates of disturbed dreaming in children

Relatively little is known about nightmares and other forms of disturbed dreaming in children. This article reviews the literature on the prevalence and correlates of nightmares in children and highlights key methodological issues in the field. Results show that regardless of how they are defined and measured, nightmares affect a significant proportion of children of all ages and there is some evidence to suggest that nightmare frequency may peak around the age of 10. Gender differences in nightmare frequency, with girls reporting more nightmares than do boys, tend to appear between the ages of 10 and 15. Although nightmares are associated with a range of psychosocial difficulties (e.g., stress, behavioural problems), elevated anxiety and concomitant sleep-related disorders (e.g., sleepwalking) are among the most robust correlates of nightmares. Very few studies have examined nightmare treatment in children, but promising results have been obtained with imagery rehearsal therapy. Overall, research in the field has been hampered by inconsistent definitions for nightmares, by extensive variability in questionnaire items used to measure nightmare frequency, and by a lack of awareness of how using parents versus children as respondents may impact results. Longitudinal studies are needed to better understand how nightmares and their correlates evolve during childhood and adolescence, to delineate their clinical significance, and to develop effective and age-appropriate treatment strategies.     

Remembered Parental Bonding in Adult Twins: Genetic and Environmental Influences

One common assumption in psychology is the impact of parenting and parent-child relationships on the child's adjustment throughout the life span. Studies have indicated that there are genetic influences on memories of parenting, but how these influences are mediated has not typically been investigated. A sample of 150 pairs of monozygotic and 176 pairs of dizygotic Swedish twin women reported on personal characteristics and on remembered relationships with their mother and father using the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI). Quantitative genetic analyses showed moderate genetic influences for remembered parental warmth, which also was partly explained by genetic influences for optimism, aggression, and humor. The other two PBI scales, authoritarianism and protectiveness, showed only shared and nonshared environmental influences. One interpretation of the findings is that heritable personal characteristics of children elicit parental warmth. However, other explanations such as personality characteristics influencing how experiences with parents are interpreted or circumstances in adult life that affect the recall of experiences could not be ruled out.     

What is remembered about early childhood events?

Almost 100 years ago, Freud identified infantile or childhood amnesia, the difficulty that most adults have remembering events from their first years of life. Recent research in cognitive psychology has in fact demonstrated a paucity of verbal memories of early life experiences. Although Freud believed that childhood memories are repressed, modern explanations for childhood amnesia focus instead on cognitive and social developmental advances of the early preschool years. According to the social interaction hypothesis, a narrative sense of self emerges as a result of parent-child conversations about the past. Implications of autobiographical memory research for models of adult attachment and psychotherapy are discussed.     

Associations between childhood intelligence (IQ), adult morbidity and mortality

Intelligence is a life-long trait that exerts powerful influences on educational success, occupational status, use of health services, life style and recreational choices. Until recently, the influence of cognitive performance on time to death was thought largely to be based on failing cognition in the time immediately before death or because lower mental ability was associated with low socioeconomic status and socioeconomic disadvantage. Children who were systematically IQ tested early in the twentieth century have now completed most of their life expectancy and permit evaluation of a possible link between childhood IQ and survival. This link is discussed as it affects people with intellectual disability and as a possible contributor to the acquisition of a healthy life style or use of health services. Studies on the topic are affected by many methodological pitfalls. Recently, as cohorts IQ tested as adolescents have completed middle age, new relevant data have become available. These suggest that earlier attempts to tease out the confounding effects of socioeconomic status on the relationship between childhood IQ and mortality did not take account of the full effects of childhood adversity on IQ and disease risk. When statistical models that include childhood adversity are tested, these attenuate and sometimes remove the contribution of IQ to morbidity and premature death.     

Nightmares: Familial aggregation and association with psychiatric disorders in a nationwide twin cohort

We quantified the genetic influences affecting the liability to nightmares, and the association between nightmares and psychiatric disorders in a community-based sample. In 1990, 1,298 monozygotic (MZ) and 2,419 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs aged 33–60 years responded to a questionnaire study in the Finnish Twin Cohort. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate genetic and environmental components of variance in the liability to nightmares. Records on hospitalization and long-term antipsychotic medication were used to estimate the period prevalence of serious psychiatric disorders. Nightmares were reported more frequently in females both in childhood and as adults. The correlation between occurrence in childhood and as adults was 0.69 in males and 0.71 in females. Polychoric correlations of occurrence within the twin pairs were 0.45 in MZ and 0.21 in DZ pairs in childhood, and as adults 0.39 and 0.18, respectively. The best fitting genetic model was that specifying additive genetic and unshared environmental effects. The estimated proportion of genetic effects in childhood was in males 44% (95% confidence interval [CI] 35–52%) and in females 45% (95% CI 38–52%) of the phenotypic variance. As adults the values were in males 36% (95% CI 27–44%) and in females 38% (95% CI 31–45%). Nightmare frequency and psychiatric disorders were linearly associated. Among those with the most frequent nightmares odds ratios (95% CI) were 3.67 (2.48–5.42) for childhood and 5.87 (4.08–8.45) for adults compared with those never having nightmares. Nightmares are quite a stable trait from childhood to middle age. There are persistent genetic effects on the disposition to nightmares both in childhood and adulthood. Nightmares are significantly associated with psychiatric disorders. Am. J. Med. Genet. (Neuropsychiatr. Genet.) 88:329–336, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Nightmares: familial aggregation and association with psychiatric disorders in a nationwide twin cohort.

We quantified the genetic influences affecting the liability to nightmares, and the association between nightmares and psychiatric disorders in a community-based sample. In 1990, 1,298 monozygotic (MZ) and 2,419 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs aged 33-60 years responded to a questionnaire study in the Finnish Twin Cohort. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate genetic and environmental components of variance in the liability to nightmares. Records on hospitalization and long-term antipsychotic medication were used to estimate the period prevalence of serious psychiatric disorders. Nightmares were reported more frequently in females both in childhood and as adults. The correlation between occurrence in childhood and as adults was 0.69 in males and 0.71 in females. Polychoric correlations of occurrence within the twin pairs were 0. 45 in MZ and 0.21 in DZ pairs in childhood, and as adults 0.39 and 0. 18, respectively. The best fitting genetic model was that specifying additive genetic and unshared environmental effects. The estimated proportion of genetic effects in childhood was in males 44% (95% confidence interval [CI] 35-52%) and in females 45% (95% CI 38-52%) of the phenotypic variance. As adults the values were in males 36% (95% CI 27-44%) and in females 38% (95% CI 31-45%). Nightmare frequency and psychiatric disorders were linearly associated. Among those with the most frequent nightmares odds ratios (95% CI) were 3. 67 (2.48-5.42) for childhood and 5.87 (4.08-8.45) for adults compared with those never having nightmares. Nightmares are quite a stable trait from childhood to middle age. There are persistent genetic effects on the disposition to nightmares both in childhood and adulthood. Nightmares are significantly associated with psychiatric disorders.     

Childhood maltreatment and internalized shame in adults with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder

Relatively little is understood regarding the aetiology of bipolar disorder (BD) other than for the influence of a large genetic component on the development of the disorder and the impact of stressful life events on changes in current mood. However, amongst a range of psychiatric diagnoses, research consistently demonstrates a higher frequency of reports of childhood abuse and neglect compared with individuals in the general population. In addition, those who report experiences of childhood maltreatment also report high levels of internalized shame in adulthood, although there is little research demonstrating this association amongst clinical populations. An adult sample of 35 participants with a diagnosis of BD and a control group of 35 participants with no psychiatric diagnoses completed measures of childhood abuse and neglect, and internalized shame. Participants in the BD group reported a significantly greater frequency of high levels of childhood trauma compared with participants in the control group, with the reported frequency of childhood emotional abuse and neglect being particularly high. Levels of current internalized shame were also significantly higher amongst participants in the BD group. Significant correlations were observed between current internalized shame and reports of childhood emotional abuse and neglect. Clinical implications of the study's findings are discussed, and limitations of the methodology are considered. Copyright ? 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGE: The frequency of reports of childhood trauma would appear to be higher amongst adults with a diagnosis of BD compared with individuals with no psychiatric diagnoses. Levels of internalized shame in adulthood are also likely to be higher than those in the general population, although the current literature does not shed light on the relationship between childhood abuse and neglect, mood-related behaviour, and shame. Experiences of childhood abuse and neglect, particularly childhood emotional abuse and emotional neglect, are likely to be frequently reported by clients with a diagnosis of BD. Clinicians should therefore explicitly consider these experiences in their assessment, formulation and intervention with clients with a diagnosis of BD.     

Neurobiological effects of childhood abuse: implications for the pathophysiology of depression and anxiety

Summary Mood and anxiety disorders are highly prevalent psychiatric disorders, especially in women, and they are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. A considerable literature indicates that vulnerability to depression and anxiety disorders is markedly increased by childhood abuse, e.g., physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, as well as adulthood stressors, e.g., death of a spouse. Little is known about the developmental neurobiological mechanisms by which childhood abuse increases the susceptibility of women to the development of depression and anxiety disorders in adulthood. Recent research on the effects of adverse early life experiences on central nervous system (CNS) stress systems has provided a greater understanding of the link between childhood abuse and susceptibility to mood and anxiety disorders. Specifically, early life traumatic events, occurring during a period of neuronal plasticity, appear to permanently render neuroendocrine stress response systems supersensitive. These physiological maladaptations likely represent long-term risk factors for the development of psychopathology after exposure to additional stress. Received October 15, 2002; accepted November 17, 2002 Published online January 17, 2003 RID="*" ID="*"  Presented at the First World Congress on Women's Mental Health, Berlin, March, 2001; Symposium: Understanding the interaction of stress and gender in the prediction of major depression and treatment response. Acknowledgements This work is in part supported by NIMH grants MH-42088 and MH-38599. Correspondence: Charles B. Nemeroff, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, 1639 Pierce Drive, WMB, Suite 4000, Atlanta, GA 30322, U.S.A.; e-mail: cnemero@emory.edu     

Childhood sleeping difficulties and depression in adulthood: the 1970 British Cohort Study

Sleeping difficulties in childhood have been associated with an increased risk of depression in adult life, but existing studies have not accounted for comorbid maternal sleeping difficulties and depression. This study aimed to determine the association between childhood sleeping difficulties and depression in adulthood after adjusting for the potential confounding influences of maternal depression and sleeping difficulties. Data from the British Cohort Study 1970, a prospective birth cohort with 30 years of follow‐up (1975–2005) were used. At 5 years of age, 7437 parents of participants recorded information on whether their child had sleeping difficulties, the frequency of bed‐wetting, nightmares, maternal depression and sleep difficulties. At 34 years of age, participants reported whether or not they had received medical treatment for depression in the past year. Parental reports of severe sleeping difficulties at 5 years were associated with an increased risk of depression at age 34 years [odds ratio (OR) = 1.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.2, 3.2] whereas moderate sleeping difficulties were not (OR = 1.1, 95% CI = 0.9, 1.3). In conclusion, severe sleeping problems in childhood may be associated with increased susceptibility to depression in adult life.     

Childhood adversity, recent life events and depression in late life

BACKGROUND: The study investigates whether persons who have experienced childhood adversity are more likely to develop depressive symptoms when faced with recent events. METHOD: Data were used from a population-based sample, aged 55 to 85 years (n=1887), which were not depressed at baseline. Childhood adversities and recent stressful life events were retrospectively assessed. Depressive symptoms were measured with the CES-D. RESULTS: 14.4% of our sample experienced adverse events during childhood (<18 yrs) and 35.4% experienced recent events. Associations of depressive symptoms were found with both, childhood adversity (OR 1.80, 95% CI 1.21-2.69) and recent life events (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.01-2.00). The effect of recent events on depressive symptoms was not modified by childhood adversity. LIMITATIONS: Underreporting may be present due to unwillingness to report embarrassing events or to disclose painful memories. CONCLUSIONS: No evidence was found for the assumption that older persons were more vulnerable for depression in reaction to recent life events when they were exposed to childhood adversity.     

A genetic study of torsion dystonia.

A family study of 32 patients with torsion dystonia has shown at least two forms of generalized dystonia with onset in childhood. These two forms, an autosomal dominant and an autosomal recessive, are clinically indistinguishable. There were at least three families and probably about six to eight patients with the autosomal recessive variety. The remaining nine to 11 patients with generalized childhood dystonia are thought, because of a probable paternal age effect, to be examples of new dominant mutations. Since fitness with childhood onset is 1/20 of normal, most childhood dominant cases appear sporadically. Most of the other 15 patients (12 with onset in adult life) appear to have a non-genetic torsion dystonia, although an example of a benign adult-onset dominant form associated with a tremor has been observed. It is concluded that there are at least two forms of genetic torsion dystonia, an autosomal recessive form with onset in childhood, which, on evidence from America, is particularly common in Ashkenazi Jews, and one or more dominant forms, with onset in childhood or adult life. The majority of adult-onset isolated cases of idiopathic torsion dystonia seem to be due to exogenous but unidentified causes.     

From Wounded Victims to Scarred Survivors

The author reports on working psychotherapeutically with refugees who are 'victims', or rather 'survivors', of torture. He argues for the importance of understanding their experience of loss and also considers the problem of the recovery of painful memories by suggesting that these patients are trapped by the need to remember what they only wish to forget. As illustration he presents clinical material on patients suffering from anxiety states, sleeplessness and terrifying nightmares resulting from imprisonment and torture, and focuses on the specific aspects of transference and countertransference that emerged in their therapy.     

Some observations on the functions of involuntary memory: an analysis of the circumstances surrounding occurrence

The purpose of this study was to investigate the functions of involuntary memory in the course of daily life. The participant was the author, a 39-year-old male at the time when the record of involuntary memories was begun. When an autobiographical memory occurred spontaneously, the participant would record the contents of that memory and the circumstances surrounding its occurrence, such as the triggered cues for the remembered event and the participant's activity and mood at the time. Over a period of four and a half years, involuntary memories of 184 events were collected. The results suggest four functions of involuntary memory: (1) confirmation of one's existence at a given time in one's life history; (2) confirmation of one's own psychological traits; (3) confirmation of one's relationship to others; and (4) the direction or regulation of one's behavior. One of the main functions of involuntary memory may be to provide one with the opportunity for recognition of the individual's stable beliefs and behavior, that is, the sense of self-continuity.     

Some Characteristics of Positive and Negative (“Most Traumatic”) Event Memories in a College Sample

Abstract

Discrepant findings from cognitive science and clinical research underpin the debate regarding the nature of traumatic memory and raise issues regarding the generalizability of conclusions from non-clinical samples to traumatized clinical populations. In the present study, we replicated and extended a cognitive study by Christianson and Loftus (1990) by comparing characteristics of positive and negative (“most traumatic”) childhood event memories in a college sample and rating the negative memory reports against a clinically-defined standard for traumatic events. Results indicated that negative and positive memories were similar in their ease of recall, vividness, amount of central and peripheral details, degree of past emotion, and amount of discussion of the event. However, negative memories were associated with significantly less present emotion than positive memories and more instances of a highly memorable detail. Expert judges determined that only 8% (4/48) of the negative memory events met the traumatic event exposure criterion for PTSD, and none of these events was associated with self-reported symptomatology sufficient to indicate a likely current PTSD diagnosis. Four other negative events were associated with elevated symptomatology. These results suggest that many of the claims regarding the characteristics of what have been called “traumatic” memories may instead describe emotional memories in general. Further, life events that nonclinical samples identify as “most traumatic” may not correspond to clinically-defined traumatic events. Consequently, caution should be exercised in generalizing negative memory findings from nonclinical samples -even if described as “traumatic” -to describe or explain memories in clinical populations with severe event exposure or posttraumatic symptomatology.     

Psychopathy in juvenile offenders. Can temperament and attachment be considered as robust developmental precursors?

Attempts to predict adult psychopathy generally focus on aggressive and antisocial behavior exhibited in childhood and adolescence. Yet, children with conduct problems constitute a heterogeneous group, and many of the unique interpersonal and affective features associated with the construct of psychopathy only apply to a small subset of children displaying antisocial behavior. The current review seeks to derive an understanding of the specific precursors of the apparently amoral, affectionless, and self-centered orientation that psychopathic youngsters display towards other people. The focus is on the notions of temperament and attachment in early childhood, and their links to the emergence of moral emotions later in life. Based on a developmental perspective, the data currently available are examined, highlighting the insights gained from this body of work and outlining the conceptual and methodological challenges that still need to be addressed.