The intertwined effect of lack of emotional warmth and child abuse and neglect on common mental disorders in adolescence

Adolescence is a vulnerable period for mental health problems. Although child abuse and neglect (CAN) are known risk factors for some of them, it is not clear if the negative consequences on mental health also occur in families where CAN and a warm parent-child relationship coexist. The aim of this study is to explore this gap and investigate the effects of different types of CAN according to levels of warmth in the parent-child relationship on common mental disorders (CMD) in adolescence. This is a cross-sectional study encompassing 487 adolescents attending the ninth grade at 2 public and 4 private schools in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. CAN was measured by the Child Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), CMD by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the level of warmth in the parent-child relationship were recalled using short Egna Minnen Betraffände Uppfostran (s-EMBU-23). The adjusted separate effects of different types of CAN and a low level of warmth in the parent-child relationship, and both in tandem, were estimated using multivariate linear regression models. Results indicated that emotional abuse and neglect, physical abuse and neglect, and a low level of warmth in the parent-child relationship are important risk factors for CMD in adolescence. Nevertheless, in families where CAN coexist with a warm and affectionate parent-child relationship, the negative effects of CAN on mental health are attenuated. Evidence indicates that actions to prevent or interrupt CAN and improving parental practices could be effective strategies to reduce CMD in adolescence.     

课堂的困境

基础教育课堂的困境主要表现在两个方面:一是课堂上学生的精力与兴趣不能适应高难度、高速度的教学内容与单一乏味的教学方法。主要原因在于学生的家庭作业量大,作习时间晚,睡眠严重不足。二是教师的课堂教学方法单一陈旧,不能适应基础教育课程改革的需要,不能适应学生主体性发展的需要。主要原因在于教师在教学方法的变革与探索方面缺乏相应的引导与机制保障,教师仍以不变的方法应对变化着的学生与变化的内容。因为学生睡眠不足,因为教师教学方法单一,课堂就成了低效的课堂,而且还形成了恶性的循环。构建高效课堂必须双管齐下,不仅在减轻学生的课业负担上做文章,而且要在课堂教学方法变革中唱好戏。     

FOCUS ON PRACTICE: Difficulties in initiating and sustaining peer friendships: perspectives on students diagnosed with AD/HD

In this article, Myra Taylor, research fellow, and Professor Stephen Houghton of the Centre for Child and Adolescent Related Disorders at the University of Western Australia, report theory generated from interviews with teachers, students and mothers residing in Perth, Western Australia, on how children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) initiate and sustain peer relationships. An initial review of the three sample groups’ respective perspectives reveals that children with AD/HD exhibit three distinct socialisation patterns: a socially integrated pattern (that is, having three or more ongoing friendship pairings with peers); a marginal integrated pattern (that is, having two or less ongoing friendship pairings with peers); and a socially isolated pattern (that is, having no, or infrequent, friendship pairings with peers). Both teacher and maternal perspectives are similar in so far as both perceive children with attention deficit disorders to have marginal to non‐existent friendships. Students with AD/HD perceive themselves, however, as having strongly to marginally formed friendships with their peers. Myra Taylor and Stephen Houghton explore suggestions that differences between adult and child perspectives relate to diagnostic status, age and developmental maturity. They identify opportunities for further research arising out of their work and indicate that a wider evidence base will be needed before robust recommendations for practice can be made.     

Relationship and community factors related to better mental health following child maltreatment among adolescents

Research on factors associated with good mental health following child maltreatment is often based on unrepresentative samples and focuses on individual-level factors. To address these gaps, the present study examined the association between relationship- and community-level factors and overall mental health status among adolescents with and without a history of maltreatment in a representative sample. Data were drawn from the National Comorbidity Survey of Adolescents (NCS-A; n = 10,148; data collection 2001–2004); a large, cross-sectional, nationally representative sample of adolescents aged 13–17 years from the United States. Having supportive parent and family relationships were significantly associated with good mental health (AOR ranging from 2.1 to 7.1). Positive community and school experiences were also significantly associated with good mental health (AOR ranging from 2.0 to 9.8). In most models, support from friends and siblings was not related to better mental health. Factors to be tested for efficacy in interventions targeted to adolescents with a history of child maltreatment include encouraging supportive parent and family relationships, and fostering positive community and school experiences.     

老年人睡眠障碍与睡眠养生

睡眠是人最重要的生理活动之一,健康良好的睡眠不仅可以养精蓄锐,更大大降低了多种疾病的发病率。老年人由于生理机能的衰退,睡眠障碍的发生率大大提高。通过调整睡眠环境来改善老年人的睡眠状态是一种行之有效的养生手段,如睡眠时间的调整、睡眠姿势的选择、睡眠环境的布置、舒适的床具、柔软的枕头、厚实的被褥等,都可以为老年人提供一个舒适的睡眠环境。     

Evaluation of Serum Vitamin B12 Levels and Its Correlation with Anti-Thyroperoxidase Antibody in Patients with Autoimmune Thyroid Disorders

Vitamin B12 deficiency has been reported in patients with Autoimmune thyroid disorders. However there is limited data on exact prevalence of low B12 and its correlation with anti-thyroperoxidase antibody (anti-TPO) levels in these patients. The aim of our study was to estimate serum vitamin B12 levels in autoimmune thyroid disorders and to correlate B12 levels with anti-TPO. 350 patients were selected by convenient sampling. Vitamin B12 levels and thyroid parameters were estimated using fully automated chemiluminescence method on Access 2. Results of our study shows that using the manufacturer’s cut-off of 145 pg/mL, the prevalence of low serum vitamin B12 was found to be 45.50 %. Higher prevalence (55 %) was seen based on the published cut-off of 200 pg/mL The study however did not demonstrate any significant correlation between vitamin B12 levels and anti-TPO (r = −0.11 and p value of 0.30).

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12291-014-0418-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

浅谈班主任如何做好学生的心理健康教育

心理健康教育是以人的心理教育经验为基础的,从生活中产生的各种心理问题绝不是仅仅通过上几堂心理学知识课就能解决的。班主任工作必须树立新的理念,认真做好学生的心理健康教育,营造积极健康的心理教育氛围,教书育人,为社会造就新世纪高素质人才。     

高职院校大学生创业心理障碍及其干预

创业心理障碍是阻碍大学生参与创业的重要因素,主要表现在情感障碍、认知障碍、行为障碍三个方面.高职院校应加强创业教育,建设包括创业心理教育在内的完整创业教育体系.创业心理障碍的干预是一个复杂过程,它需要学校、政府、家庭多方共同支持,尽管学校发挥主要作用,但来自家庭的支持也是不可或缺的;政府在出台自主创业政策时,应一视同仁地看待高职生与本科生,而不是人为地增加导致创业心理障碍的因素.     

太极拳运动对失眠患者的作用探析

太极拳是我国宝贵的文化遗产之一,是以中国传统文化为理论基础,以内外兼修,术道并重为鲜明特点的一项运动,正确认识太极拳的当代价值功能是关系到其发展方向的关键问题,本文从其对习练者心理作用的探讨,揭示出太极拳对失眠的预防与治疗价值,以期引起失眠者对太极拳的重视。     

Insights into complexity of congenital disorders of glycosylation

Biochemical and biological properties of glycoconjugates are strongly determined by the specific structure of its glycan parts. Glycosylation, the covalent attachment of sugars to proteins and lipids, is very complex and highly-coordinated process involving > 250 gene products. Deficiency of glycosylation enzymes or transporters results in impaired glycosylation, and consequently pathological modulation of many physiological processes. Inborn defects of glycosylation enzymes, caused by the specific mutations, lead to the development of rare, but severe diseases - congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDGs). Up today, there are more than 45 known CDGs. Their clinical manifestations range from very mild to extremely severe (even lethal) and unfortunately, only three of them can be effectively treated nowadays. CDG symptoms highly vary, though some are common for several CDG types but also for other unrelated diseases, especially neurological ones, leaving the possibility that many CDGs cases are under- or misdiagnosed. Glycan analysis of serum transferrin (by isoelectric focusing or more sophisticated methods, such as HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography) or MALDI (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization)) or serum N-glycans (by MS), enzyme activity assays and DNA sequence analysis are the most frequently used methods for CDG screening and identification, since no specific tests are available yet. In this review we summarize the current knowledge on the clinical, biochemical and genetic characteristic of distinct CDGs, as well as existing diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, aiming to contribute to the awareness on the existence of these rare diseases and encourage the efforts to elucidate its genetic background, improve diagnostics and develop new strategies for their treatment.