Predicting adult offending behavior for individuals who experienced a traumatic brain injury during childhood.

OBJECTIVES: To examine whether individuals who experienced a childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI) are at increased risk for subsequent offending behavior, to identify the emotional characteristics of adults who experienced childhood TBI, and to examine whether these predict offending behavior. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals from the Canterbury region who had experienced a childhood (<18 years of age) injury event and were now 18 years or older and more than 5 years postinjury (between 18 and 30 years of age). Three groups were formed: (1) moderate/severe TBI (n = 62); (2) mild TBI (n = 58); and (3) fracture control group (n = 38). SETTING: University of Canterbury. MAIN MEASURES: A semistructured interview assessed lifetime involvement in offending behavior; the Emotional Behavior Scale measured internalizing and externalizing behaviors, including malevolent aggression, social anxiety, and social self-esteem. RESULTS: Compared with controls, there was an increased risk of offending behavior (mild TBI: odds ratio = 8.7; moderate/severe TBI odds ratio = 20.4). Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that the strongest predictors of offending behavior were TBI status, higher levels of malevolent aggression, and age at injury. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals who experienced childhood TBI are at increased risk of offending behavior. Emotional behavior measures were useful predictors of offending behavior, offering opportunity for intervention.

Characteristics of executive function impairment in Parkinson's disease patients without dementia.

Executive function impairments in Parkinson's disease (PD) are well documented. However, uncertainties remain regarding the impact of these deficits on other areas of cognitive functioning. The goal of this study was to provide a comprehensive assessment of cognitive characteristics in patients with PD without dementia and to assess how any such deficits affected other areas of cognitive functioning. Forty PD patients without dementia were compared to healthy controls using measures of attention and speed of processing and a comprehensive set of executive function tests including working memory, planning, and problem solving. Measures of memory/learning and visuospatial skills were also included to examine the relationship between aspects of executive function and other areas of cognition. Patients with PD showed deficits on measures of executive function, problem solving, and visuospatial skills. However, they were unimpaired on measures of planning, attention, and memory/learning. Deficits in problem solving were only evident for tasks with a high visuospatial content and were no longer significant when visuospatial skills were controlled for. While deficits in executive function and visuospatial skills were apparent for PD patients compared to controls, many aspects of cognition remained intact. These can provide a focus for cognitive intervention strategies that can be effective in delaying decline for PD patients.

Assessing cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease: a comparison of two tower tasks.

This study examined whether two tower tasks-the Cambridge Automated Neuropsychological Test Battery "Stockings of Cambridge" (CANTAB-TOL) and the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS-TOH), are interchangeable for detecting cognitive deficits in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Forty PD patients who met the criteria for this study were assessed with both tasks. The relative contribution of working memory and inhibition was also examined. Relative to controls, PD patients were impaired on the CANTAB-TOL but not the D-KEFS-TOH. Regression analysis which showed that whereas performance on the CANTAB-TOL task was dependent on inhibition and spatial working memory, performance on the D-KEFS-TOH was dependent on spatial working memory only. Only 7% to 24% of the variance between the two tasks was shared. These findings suggest that these tower tasks from two well-established neuropsychological test batteries are not interchangeable.

Neuropsychiatric problems in Parkinson's disease: comparisons between self and caregiver report.

INTRODUCTION: This study examined the level of agreement between caregiver and Parkinson's disease (PD) patient reports of neuropsychiatric problems. METHOD: Forty-three patients and 43 informants who knew the patient well (caregivers) participated in the study. Caregivers rated patients' behaviour, as well as their own stress, using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). Information from patients was obtained using commonly used scales (Beck Depression Inventory, Apathy Scale, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale and the Hamilton Anxiety Depression Scale). Both the patients and the caregivers also completed the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale, which assesses behaviours associated with apathy, disinhibition and executive dysfunction. RESULTS: The level of agreement between these self and caregiver reports was low, with only 45.8% agreement for depression, 45.0% for apathy, 28.6% for hallucinations, 26.9% for sleep problems and 6.7% for anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Given this low level of agreement between self and other report, these two methods of assessment cannot be considered interchangeable.

La diferencia de la sensibilidad emocional entre británicos y venezolanos / Differences in emotional sensitivity among british and venezuelan

En el presente estudio se comparan la sensibilidad emocional de dos grupos culturalmente disímiles, uno británico y el otro venezolano. Los participantes completaron la Escala de Sensibilidad Emocional (ESE) en sus versiones en inglés y en español. Se compararon inicialmente las estructuras factoriales de ambas escalas utilizando análisis factorial confirmatorio, para finalmente comparar los puntajes de los estudiantes, con el objeto de determinar diferencias culturales en su sensibilidad emocional. Los resultados indicaron que la estructura factorial de la versión anglosajona de la escala está compuesta por dos dimensiones de la sensibilidad, mientras que la escala en español arrojó una tercera dimensión que describía de manera más apropiada los datos. Por otro lado, los estudiantes británicos mostraron mayor sensibilidad emocional tanto negativa como positiva con respecto a los venezolanos, estableciéndose así una diferencia que contrasta con estereotipos culturales ampliamente aceptados

The present study reports on the results of a comparative analysis of de emotional sensitivity amongst two culturally dissimilar groups, one British and the other Venezuelan. Participants completed the Emotional Sensitivity Scale (ESS) in both English and Spanish versions. The factorial structure of both scales was compared using confirmatory factor analysis, and then the scores of the students were compared in order to determine cultural differences on their sensitivity. Results indicated that the factorial structure of the English version comprises two dimensions of sensitivity, while the Spanish scale yielded a third dimension, which better described the data. On the other hand, British students showed a higher emotional sensitivity, both negative and positive, compared with the Spanish group, thus imposing a difference that largely contrasts with well-established cultural stereotypes

Construcción y validación de la Escala de Sensibilidad Emocional (ESE). Un nuevo enfoque para medir neuroticismo / Construction and validation of the Emotional Sensitivity Scale (ESS). A new approach for measuring neuroticism

La presente investigación tuvo como objetivo la construcción y validación de un nuevo instrumento para evaluar la sensibilidad emocional, con el objeto de examinar su posterior implicación en el proceso estrés - enfermedad. Para ello, el constructo de neuroticismo propuesto en la teoría biológica dela personalidad de Eysenck, así como los instrumentos desarrollados bajo este enfoque -EPI y EPQ-fueron sometidos a un proceso de revisión teórica y psicométrica. Como resultado, se propone la Escalade Sensibilidad Emocional (ESE) como una medida de la reactividad emocional, que supera las principales limitaciones psicométricas halladas en las escalas de Eysenck. Además, se propone una nueva conceptualización del neuroticismo, concibiéndose no sólo como la expresión de la reactividad emocional negativa, sino ampliando su espectro hacia una dimensión más positiva y adaptativa de la emocionalidad (AU)

The aim of the present research was the construction and preliminary validation of a new instrument for measuring emotional sensitivity, to further examine its role in the stress-illness relationship.To do so, extensive theoretical and psychometric revisions were performed on both the construct of neuroticism proposed by Eysenck, and on his most widely used scales - EPI and EPQ. As a result, the Emotional Sensitivity Scale (ESS) is proposed as a measure of the emotional reactivity, which addresses the main psychometric shortcomings identified in Eysenck’s scales. Furthermore, a new conceptualisation of neuroticism is proposed, where the expression of the emotional reactivity is not only negative, but rather a more positive and adaptive sphere of the emotionality is also conceived (AU)

The construction and validation of a new scale for measuring emotional response style in adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Research on children's emotional behaviour has been hampered by the lack of psychometric assessment scales. The present study reports on the construction and validation of a new self-report instrument to measure the emotional response styles of adolescents. METHOD: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were carried out on the responses of three samples of adolescents aged between 11 and 14 years (total = 609) to an item pool derived from a scenario study. In addition to assessing reliability, the final form of the questionnaire was concurrently validated using a variety of related psychometric instruments as well as teacher ratings of pupils' behaviour. RESULTS: The factor analyses of the item pool yielded three independent factors labelled social anxiety, malevolent aggression, and social self-esteem. These categories correspond closely to the three dimensions that have emerged consistently from studies of children's temperament, labelled inhibited, undercontrolled and well-adjusted. The three factors comprising the final Emotional Behaviour Scale (EBS) all demonstrated satisfactory internal (coefficient alpha) and re-test reliability. Concurrent validation showed that the three factors were related in predictable ways to other related constructs, and comparisons with teacher ratings of pupils confirmed the relationship between the EBS subscales and children's actual social and emotional behaviour. CONCLUSION: The new scale offers a valid and reliable instrument for assessing adolescent emotional behaviour, and current work is aimed at extending the research to the assessment of young offenders.

Impact of a nurse-led counselling service on quality of life in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

AIM: Health related quality of life is impaired in patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease. Although counselling directed towards physical and psychological morbidity is assumed to improve health related quality of life, this has never been demonstrated. METHODS: Physical and psychological well-being were assessed using questionnaires administered to 100 out-patients in the United Kingdom suffering from inflammatory bowel disease, 50 subjects not suffering from inflammatory bowel disease and a disease control group comprising 28 patients with psoriatic arthritis. A specific nurse led counselling package was given to half the inflammatory bowel disease group and health related quality of life was assessed at baseline, 6 and 12 months. RESULTS: Inflammatory bowel disease and psoriatic arthritic patients had a range of physical disease activity, although none were severely ill during the course of the study. Medical therapy was similar in both groups throughout the duration of the trial. The mean Short Form 36 (SF-36) scores for mental health were low in inflammatory bowel disease patients; 62.9 +/- 9.1 (SD) in ulcerative colitis, 60 +/- 9.8 (SD) in Crohn's disease, compared with 72.4 +/- 7.2 (SD) in healthy controls (P < 0.05). Mean SF-36 scores for social function were also reduced in Crohn's disease patients; 68.4 +/- 10.1 (SD) in Crohn's disease, compared with 87 +/- 10.1 (SD) in healthy controls (P < 0.05). As expected, the mean SF-36 scores in psoriatic arthritic patients were significantly low 61.9 +/- 1.5 (SD) compared with 82.4 +/- 14 (SD) in healthy controls (P < 0.05). Crohn's disease patients were significantly more anxious than the other groups, mean HAD score was 10 +/- 3.7 (SD) in Crohn's disease patients and 6.86 +/- 3.5 (SD) in healthy volunteers (P < 0.05), although mean HAD scores for depression were similar in all groups. Maladaptive coping mechanisms were present in a significant proportion of Crohn's disease patients. At follow-up all aspects of psychological morbidity returned to the normal range in the Crohn's disease patients without significant change in the mean physical disease index. CONCLUSION: Health related quality of life can be improved over 6 months by provision of a nurse led counselling service but the effects are not sustained for 12 months.