Maria Zafiropoulou

Parental bonding and depression: personality as a mediating factor.

UNLABELLED According to Bowlbys theory of attachment, the role of early experience and parenting is of crucial importance to child development and mental health. In addition, several research findings suggest that parental bonding and different types of attachment play a crucial role in personality development. The present study examines the association between parental bonding experiences (lack of parental care, overprotection or both) and depression during adulthood. The objective of the present study was to evaluate different personality dimensions as possible mediators of the relation between perceptions of parental bonding and depressive symptoms in adult life. METHODS 181 participants (15- 49-years-old) completed the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF). RESULTS The results show that lack of parental care and overprotection is linked with depressive symptoms and a number of personality characteristics, such as low self-esteem, introversion, distress and emotional instability. In contrast, high care and low protection (optimal bonding) is linked with increased self-confidence, less distress and less depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS The results presented here are in line with Bowlbys theory of attachment and show that parental bonding is linked with problematic personality development and psychopathology. The present study provided evidence that personality factors may mediate the observed relationship between parental rearing style and depression. The potential causal mechanisms warrant longitudinal evaluation.

‘Preparedness’ and the severity and outcome of clinical phobias

Abstract Ratings of 49 clinically-referred patients with specific phobias confirmed the findings of de Silva et al . (1977) that although most phobias are examples of ‘prepared’ stimuli, the degree of ‘preparedness’ is not associated with clinically-relevant variables such as onset, duration or severity of the phobia or response to treatment.

DNA damage in a human population affected by chronic psychogenic stress

The effects of chronic psychogenic stress on the expression of DNA damage and cellular response to the damage were investigated. Using the comet assay, basal DNA damage was found to be similar in lymphocytes of both affected and non-affected populations (n = 30 in both groups). The induction of DNA damage in lymphocytes by external factors (H2O2 and gamma-irradiation), was also investigated. In these studies, cells were treated with 50, 100 and 150 microM H2O2 for 5 minutes or with 0.8, 2.5 and 4.2 Gy gamma-rays. A significant difference was found between the chronically stressed and the control populations, indicating the enhanced sensitivity of the former population. Cells were also held for 2 hours after the treatment, allowing time for the cells to deal with the induced DNA damage. Based on the level of residual DNA strand breaks, cells from the stressed population had more breaks than the controls. Gender does not alter these findings. In conclusion, our data indicate that cells from the stressed population were more sensitive to the induction of DNA damage and had higher level of residual damage. Therefore, stress conditions may cause the affected individuals to be susceptible to environmental mutagenic agents.

Drawing Performance in Children with Special Learning Difficulties

The present study examined drawings on 5 tasks of 45 dyslexic and 45 nondyslexic children aged 6–9 years old. Children who show low performance in written language and phonological awareness are also expected to get low scores on drawing tasks which require similar skills such as comprehension of difference, coordination of parts in an organized whole, spatial movement, classification or distinction of figures. The present hypotheses were constructed accordingly. Analysis showed that the drawings of the dyslexic participants presented inadequate planning, difficulties in the depiction of contrast, size-scaling and canonicality, lack of details, and stereotypic depiction.

Visuomotor coordination and visuospatial working memory of children with specific reading disabilities: A study using the rey-osterrieth complex figure

The aim of the present study was to examine the visuospatial perception, short-term working memory, and motor skills of children with special reading difficulties, using the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure, which can record visuomotor and memory skills, observe drawing processes, and detect deficiencies in specific skills. 306 right- and left-handed boys and girls, ages 6.6 to 9.6 yr. (102 with special reading difficulties, 102 normal readers, and 102 with general learning difficulties) comprised one experimental and two control groups, respectively. The task was to depict the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure under two conditions, copying and drawing it from memory. Analysis indicated that (a) difficulty of the depiction of the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure, especially from memory, sharply affects childrens performance and (b) the experimental groups performance was significantly poorer than that of controls in both conditions. The results are discussed in view of the predictive value of certain motor and cognitive skill deficiencies of children with special reading difficulties.

Alexithymia components in excessive internet users: A multi-factorial analysis

The increasing use of computers and the internet - especially among young people - apart from its positive effects, sometimes leads to excessive and pathological use. The present study examined the relationship among the excessive use of the internet by university students, the alexithymia components and sociodemographic factors associated with internet users and their online activities. 515 university students from the University of Thessaly participated in the study. Participants anonymously completed: a) the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), b) the Toronto Alexithymia Test (TAS 20) and c) a questionnaire covering various aspects of internet use and demographic characteristics of internet users. Excessive use of the internet among Greek university students was studied within a multi-factorial context and was associated with the alexithymia and demographic factors in nonlinear correlations, forming thus a personalized emotional and demographic profile of the excessive internet users.

Drawing Performance in Prediction of Special Learning Difficulties of Kindergarten Children

Recent experimental studies indicate the importance of drawing process in determining the final shape of the drawn product. Emphasis has been given on short-term and working memory, visual perception, visuospatial encoding planning, sequencing, and depiction of the third dimension. The above prerequisites are also necessary for the acquisition of reading and spelling. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prereading and drawing abilities of kindergarten children. 20 boys and girls were selected from 1,237 kindergarten children, based on their performance on a set of drawing tasks. The drawings were used as tools to indicate the conditions under which deficiencies in the cognitive system become apparent. Those 20 children and 20 matched controls were again tested during their first three years in primary school. The reassessment on the first and third year included tasks on drawing as well as on reading and spelling (speed and accuracy) based on the curriculum. The results showed an effect of the same cognitive factors in both areas of knowledge. The cognitive deficiencies observed across tasks focused on the childrens information processing and were apparent in both symbolic systems.

A cognitive-behavioral intervention program for students with special reading disabilities

Interaction among cognitive, meta-cognitive, and emotional factors seems to play a determining part in achievement behavior and especially in scholastic performance. In this study some preliminary results are presented of the implementation of a multidimensional cognitive-behavioral psychoeducational program especially designed for students with reading disabilities in which parents and teachers also take part. The aim of the program was to provide students with appropriate emotional and cognitive skills with which to address their learning problems. First results on the efficacy of the implemented program to 20 primary school boys and girls with special reading disabilities encourage research on management of learning problems with focus on cognitive and emotional aspects in which parents and teachers contribute. Research including a control group is necessary.

Understanding Nutrition: A Study of Greek Primary School Children Dietary Habits, Before and After Classroom Nutrition Intervention

The purpose of this study was first to assess and then to improve the diet of Greek primary school children teaching them healthy dietary habits and instructing them to face critically advertisements and media projected dietary models using a program which included intervention on cognitive, emotional, and social level. The results show that our intervention was more effective on the cognitive level and in particular on childrens ability to estimate the dietary value of different kinds of food. However, their food preferences were not affected significantly, suggesting that these are more resistant to change since they are already consolidated and, therefore, need longer intervention.

The relationship of parental bonding to depression in patients with chronic pain

Abstract Attachment theory is a theory of normal development as well as a theory of psychopathology. Attachment theory and research suggests that different types of parental bonding can be important determinants of illness behaviour, depression, pain perception and treatment response in individuals with chronic pain. Different types of parental bonding have been shown to be associated with specific personality characteristics and a variety of psychiatric disorders. We assessed 65 patients with chronic pain who visited the pain management unit of Larissa University Hospital in Greece. All patients completed the Parental Bonding Instrument, the Beck Depression Inventory and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain. Results demonstrated that patients who reported an affectionless bonding (overprotective and insensitive) with their parents, and especially their mother, reported significantly greater depression and higher VAS scores. Conversely, chronic pain patients with an optimal parental bonding reported lower depression and VAS scores. These findings suggest that parental bonding style could be a useful construct for examining factors affecting psychiatric disorders and pain perception in patients with chronic pain.