'What do they tell their friends?' - Intimacy and self-disclosure in young children's friendships

The research investigated the development of verbal intimacy in young children's (3.5-6.5 years of age) friendships by measuring their capacity for restrictive self-disclosure (i. e. the greater disclosure of information of highly personal content to friends than other individuals, as opposed to the equal disclosure of information of low personal content to all individuals). Young children's capacity for intimate friendships is ill understood, partly due to limited or unsubstantiated data regarding the types of information that are considered high and low in personal content at this age, as the First Study (N = 110) showed. The Second Study (N = 93) attempted to fill this gap in our knowledge by investigating the sort of information that children consider secret. The results showed that children's ability to differentiate secret and non-secret information increased with age: 4-year-old children could not systematically differentiate secret from non-secret information, 5-year-old children systematically identified information that was not secret but were not consistent in their identification of secret items, while 6-year-old children systematically identified and differentiated secret and non-secret items. However, children of all ages identified as secrets the statements which included a specific cue, such as the word surprise, in their wording. The Third Study (N = 209) investigated whether young children employ the restrictive disclosure-to-friends pattern when revealing the secret pieces of information. Moreover, the study investigated whether specific cues influence young children in applying the restrictive disclosure pattern, and to this effect participants were allocated randomly to either the 'clue condition' group (where they were given a clue that some information might be secret) or the 'no clue condition' group. Children in the 'clue condition' group treated the majority of the statements as secret information and therefore tended to only share it with a friend or with nobody. In contrast, in the `no clue condition' group statistically significant differences were found only in the secret items, suggesting that, when not influenced by an adult, children have the ability to identify highly personal/secret information and to treat it by accordingly applying the restrictive disclosure-to-friends pattern. Taken together, the findings suggest that young children engage in restrictive self-disclosure to friends in some, but not all, circumstances, and thus display signs of verbal intimacy in their friendships.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceAlexandros S. Onassis FoundationGBUnited Kingdo

Diet and body constitution in relation to subgroups of breast cancer defined by tumour grade, proliferation and key cell cycle regulators

BACKGROUND: The general lack of clear associations between diet and breast cancer in epidemiological studies may partly be explained by the fact that breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease that may have disparate genetic associations and different aetiological bases. METHOD: A total of 346 incident breast cancers in a prospective cohort of 17,035 women enrolled in the Malmö Diet and Cancer study (Sweden) were subcategorized according to conventional pathology parameters, proliferation and expression of key cell cycle regulators. Subcategories were compared with prediagnostic diet and body measurements using analysis of variance. RESULTS: A large hip circumference and high body mass index were associated with high grade tumours (P = 0.03 and 0.009, respectively), whereas low energy and unadjusted fat intakes were associated with high proliferation (P = 0.03 and 0.004, respectively). Low intakes of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids were also associated with high proliferation (P = 0.02, 0.004 and 0.003, respectively). Low energy and unadjusted fat intakes were associated with cyclin D(1 )overexpression (P = 0.02 and 0.007, respectively), whereas cyclin E overexpression was positively correlated with fat intake. Oestrogen receptor status and expression of the tumour suppressor gene p27 were not associated with either diet or body constitution. CONCLUSION: Low energy and low total fat (polyunsaturated fatty acids in particular) intakes, and high body mass index were associated with relatively more malignant breast tumours. Dietary behaviours and body constitution may be associated with specific types of breast cancer defined by conventional pathology parameters and cyclin D(1 )and cyclin E expression. Further studies including healthy control individuals are needed to confirm our results

A psychoanalytic and qualitative research on immigrants' “left-behind” children: “I understand why they left, but why did they leave?”

Background and Purpose: The psychoanalytic literature on migration has extensively explored the psychic impact of the migration process on the people who migrate, whereas the predicament of the immigrants' children that were left behind in the country of origin has been largely overlooked. This paper has a twofold aim. Firstly, it sets out to explore the experience of being left behind as a child by parents who emigrated to another country for economic reasons, and secondly, it aspires to present a valid combination of psychoanalytic thinking and qualitative design. Methods: Fourteen adult men and women who as children were left behind in Greece when their parents emigrated were interviewed about their current perspectives on their childhood experiences. Their narratives were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis, a qualitative research method that can offer material suitable for psychodynamic understanding. Results: The analysis of the interviews yielded the overarching theme “Trauma” and four superordinate themes, “Intense emotions,” “Effects on parent–child relationship,” “Defenses,” and “Psychopathology.” The discussion of the results focuses on the psychoanalytic exploration of the trauma induced by the early and prolonged parent–child separation and its psychic sequelae. Conclusion: Being left in the country of origin by parents who emigrated to another country for economic reasons was a traumatic experience for the “left-behind” children. The complexities of this situation may be depicted through the combination of qualitative research methods and psychoanalytic understanding. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Modifications of the therapeutic setting during the Covid-19 pandemic: thoughts based on the Greek experience with latency children and adolescents

The paper reflects on the authors’ observations regarding the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic within the context of child and adolescent psychoanalytic psychotherapy in Greece. The specific conditions in Greece during the first general lockdown are described, and the necessary modifications to the therapeutic framework with latency children and adolescents are discussed. During the lockdown, the authors continued to meet with their patients online, a framework that had both advantages and limitations. The authors share their thoughts about the ways they tried to keep the connection with their patients alive, in the face of the first wave of the coronavirus crisis. © 2021 Association of Child Psychotherapists

“A Sacred Sacrifice?” Exploring Children’s Meaning-Making of Separation From Their Parents Due to Political Reasons

The present study explored the experiences of the (now adult) offspring of former political prisoners who at a young age were forced to be separated from their parents due to political reasons. During the Greek Civil War and its aftermath, thousands of people were detained in prisons or were sent to concentration camps on remote islands and were thus separated from their families and young children. This particular form of parent–child separation, laden with political and ideological tension, has rarely been studied before from the viewpoint of the children. In the present research, 10 adult men and women who as children were separated from both their parents due to political reasons were interviewed about their current perspectives on their childhood experiences. Their narratives were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), a qualitative research method that can offer material suitable for psychodynamic understanding. The analysis of the interviews yielded the overarching theme “sacred sacrifice” and seven subordinate themes, “parental idealization,” “following parental footsteps,” “justification of separation,” “emotional effects of separation,” “political relationship with parents,” “sense of belonging,” and gender differences between “mothers and fathers.” The themes demonstrated that ideology as the perceived etiology of separation defined at large the participants’ understanding and meaning-making of their experiences. The participants’ defensive maneuvers and self-reflective functioning are also discussed. © 2022 American Psychological Associatio

Pregnancy outcome in nulliparous women at age >35 in comparison to younger nulliparous women

Objective: in this retrospective study we investigate the pregnancy outcome in nulliparous women aged >35 years in comparison with nulliparus women aged <35 years. Study design: we studied the Birth Registry of the Delivery Room in our department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in “Tzaneio” Hospital of Piraeus. The study included 1880 nulliparous women, who delivered single infants (>24 weeks of gestation or infants heavier than 500 gr) between January 1993 and December 2002. In the study we collected information about age and the nationality of the mother, gestational age, mode of delivery, the Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Hypertension, birth weight, admission to NICU, Apgar Score, preterm labor and perinatal mortality. Results: in the total of 6783 women we registered 1880 nulliparous women. There were 99 nulliparous > 35 aged years and 1781 nulliparous aged 35 years, have fewer reproductive opportunities, “valuable pregnancies” increase significantly. The advanced maternal age should be considered as a risk indicator rather than a risk factor. So the high rate of interventions may result from traditionally held views by physicians that late maternal age poses significant risk

Work discussion groups in Greek nurseries: the experience of facilitators and participants

The paper presents qualitative research on the experience of facilitators and participants in work discussion groups in Greek nurseries. Work discussion groups offer a powerful mode of learning and development, not only in psychoanalytic oriented training but in educational settings in general, as they focus on the understanding of the emotional processes that underlie teaching and learning. Although there is evidence that provision of work discussion groups to teaching staff can have a far-reaching impact (i.e., they can help teachers manage the challenges of their work, reduce work-related stress, and promote the development of reflective practice), research on work discussion groups in early education settings is scarce. The present research aspires to contribute to this topic. Five facilitators and six nursery teachers who had participated for at least one year in work discussion groups run in Greek nurseries were interviewed on their experience. Their accounts were analysed using thematic analysis. The themes extracted from their accounts are compared and contrasted. The results demonstrate the generally positive experience from the work discussion groups in Greek nurseries, as reported by facilitators and teachers. The experience of being in a discussion group had an important impact on most nursery teachers, both on a professional and personal level. Suggestions for improvement of the experience, including the clear definition and safeguarding of the work discussion group’s setting, are discussed. © 2021 Association of Child Psychotherapists