Relationship between Assessed Emotion,Personality, Personality Disorder and Risk in Offenders with Intellectual Disability

In mainstream studies on offenders and on individuals with psychopathology, relationships have been found between personality characteristics, emotional problems and personality disorders. This study reviewed the relationships between the Emotional Problems Scale, two circumplex measures of personality, personality disorder assessments and risk assessments in 212 offenders with intellectual disability. Previous studies had established the reliability and validity of these measures with the client group. Strong relationships emerged between externalizing emotional problems and dominant and hostile personality dimensions with weaker but significant relationships between internalizing problems and submissive and hostile dimensions. Externalizing problems were strongly associated with risk for violence, while internalizing problems had a weaker but significant relationship with some historical and clinical risk scales. Dominant personality dimensions were associated with narcissistic personality disorder and nurturant personality dimensions negatively associated with anti-social personality disorder. It would seem that there are orderly, significant relationships among measures of personality, personality disorders, emotional problems and risk. We discuss the implications of emotional assessment for the evaluation of risk and prediction of treatment progress.     

Evaluation of an antipsychotic information sheet for patients

Introduction. The objective of this study was to develop a decision aid that patients and clinicians might use to help the patient in the process of selecting an antipsychotic medication. In addition, we aimed to determine the antipsychotic that patients would choose given the information contained in the leaflet. Method. We designed a questionnaire for patients to appraise the contents of the leaflet, their understanding of the leaflet and the potential impact of the leaflet on compliance and therapeutic relationship between patient and doctor. Results. We recruited 30 stable patients with a diagnosis of a psychotic illness to evaluate the leaflet and to determine patient choice. Over 90% of patients felt that the leaflet improved their knowledge of antipsychotic medication. Seventy-six percent of patients agreed that the leaflet contained the right type and amount of information. Seventy percent of respondents believed the leaflet would improve the trust between them and their doctors, and almost half (47%) stated they were more likely to take their medicine after reading the leaflet. Forty percent of patients would prefer to switch antipsychotic medication, with quetiapine being the most frequently preferred option. Conclusion. The results indicate that, for patients in the stable phase of their illness, the leaflet is a useful tool in selecting an antipsychotic medication and may represent a way forward in improving outcomes in patients with psychotic disorders. A larger study examining outcomes using this tool would establish its clinical utility.     

Demographically Adjusted Normative Standards for New Indices of Performance on the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT)

Logical grammatical structures comprehension is the ability to understand the relations between objects, actions, and qualities in spoken and written sentences. The Logical Grammatical Structures Test (LGST) was especially devised to assess these abilities in children and adolescents. In the present study the LGST was administered to 405 healthy Dutch children and adolescents. The aims of the present study were (i) to evaluate the psychometric properties of the LGST (using an Item Response Theory framework), and (ii) to establish demographically corrected normative data. The results showed that there was a strong curvilinear relationship between age and LGST performance, i.e., the relative improvement in ability level was much more pronounced for younger children (aged below 14 years) than for older children (aged above 14 years). Level of parental education was positively associated with the LGST performance. Normative data that took the relevant demographic variables into account were established, and it was shown that the LGST had sound psychometric properties.     

A review of physical activity interventions on determinants of mental health in children and adolescents

The purpose of this article was to review the effects of physical activity (PA) lifestyle intervention on determinants of mental health among children and adolescents. A search was performed using the databases Academic Search Premier, CINHAL, EBSCOHost, PsycARTICLES and PsycINFO. Inclusion criteria were studies that utilized PA interventions designed to impact a determinant of mental health in a target population of 6–18 years. From this search, 537 results were identified and eight met the inclusion criteria. All studies reported an inverse relationship between PA and depression. Seven found a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in depression when various aerobic and/or resistance training exercises were introduced. Only one study found a negative correlation between very light intensity activity and determinants of psychological health (e.g. depression and anxiety); however, these results were not statistically significant. In conclusion, promoting PA appears to improve determinants of mental health, such as depression, global self-worth and self-efficacy. Recommendations for enhancing future interventions are presented.     

Neuroimaging in hyperkinetic children and adults: an overview

The application of brain imaging techniques to children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders is reviewed, stressing methodological aspects. Findings are still provisional, but suggest minor structural changes in frontal and candate areas, especially on the right side. Functional studies suggest reduced activation in these and other areas. The techniques do not yet contribute to individual diagnosis.     

A Cognitive Control Architecture for the Perception–Action Cycle in Robots and Agents

We show aspects of brain processing on how visual perception, recognition, attention, cognitive control, value attribution, decision-making, affordances and action can be melded together in a coherent manner in a cognitive control architecture of the perception–action cycle for visually guided reaching and grasping of objects by a robot or an agent. The work is based on the notion that separate visuomotor channels are activated in parallel by specific visual inputs and are continuously modulated by attention and reward, which control a robot’s/agent’s action repertoire. The suggested visual apparatus allows the robot/agent to recognize both the object’s shape and location, extract affordances and formulate motor plans for reaching and grasping. A focus-of-attention signal plays an instrumental role in selecting the correct object in its corresponding location as well as selects the most appropriate arm reaching and hand grasping configuration from a list of other configurations based on the success of previous experiences. The cognitive control architecture consists of a number of neurocomputational mechanisms heavily supported by experimental brain evidence: spatial saliency, object selectivity, invariance to object transformations, focus of attention, resonance, motor priming, spatial-to-joint direction transformation and volitional scaling of movement.     

The Management of Mycotic Aortic Aneurysms: Is there a Role for Endoluminal Treatment?

Background : Mycotic aneurysms are rare. Conventional surgical options include ligation or excision with in-situ or extra-anatomical reconstruction. The use of endoluminal stenting for mycotic aneurysms in the presence of sepsis is controversial, but may be a temporising measure, or sometimes the only option in the management of critically ill patients who are not fit for surgery.

Methods : A literature review was undertaken using Medline, all relevant papers on endoluminal management of mycotic aneurysm were taken into account.

Results : Open surgical repair of mycotic aortic aneurysm is associated with considerable peri-and post-operative morbidity and mortality. Endoluminal treatment with stent-grafts has been introduced as an alternative, and early results are promising.

Conclusion : No level I evidence for the endoluminal treatment of mycotic aneurysms exists. Ideally a randomised controlled trial of open surgery versus endoluminal treatment should be performed but this may be difficult to perform because of the low incidence of infected aneurysms.     

Neuroanatomical consequences of very preterm birth in middle childhood

Individuals born preterm can demonstrate reductions in brain volume, cortical surface area and thickness. However, the extent of these neuroanatomical deficits and the relation among these measures in middle childhood, a critical developmental period, have not been determined. We assessed differences in brain structure by acquiring high-resolution T₁-weighted scans in 25 children born very preterm (<32 weeks gestational age) without significant post-natal neurological sequelae and 32 age-matched term-born children (7–10 years). Children born very preterm had decreased brain volume, surface area and cortical thickness compared to term-born children. Furthermore, children born preterm did not display the robust relation between total brain volume and basal ganglia and thalamic volume apparent in the term-born children. Cortical thickness analyses revealed that the cortex was thinner for children born preterm than term-born children in the anterior cingulate cortex/supplementary motor area, isthmus of the cingulate gyrus, right superior temporal sulcus, right anterior insula, postcentral gyrus and precuneus. Follow-up analyses revealed that right precuneus thickness was correlated with gestational age. Thus, even without significant postnatal medical sequelae, very preterm-born children showed atypical brain structure and developmental patterns in areas related to higher cognitive function. Disruptions of the typical neurodevelopmental trajectory in the third trimester of pregnancy likely underlie these differences persisting into middle childhood.