Longitudinal Associations Between Perceived Parent-Child Relationship Quality and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence

This longitudinal study examined bidirectional paths between perceived parent-adolescent relationship quality and depressive symptoms, as well as the moderating role of sex, age, and personality type. 1313 Dutch adolescents (51% girls) from two cohorts (923 12-year olds and 390 16-year olds at Wave 1) reported on their personality, depressive symptoms, and perceived relationship quality to parents in four waves. Consistent with a relationship erosion perspective, depressive symptoms negatively predicted perceived relationship quality with parents. Relationship quality to mothers predicted depressive symptoms for boys and girls, but relationship quality to fathers predicted depressive symptoms only for boys. Personality type only moderated initial associations between relationship quality with mothers and depressive symptoms, which were stronger for Overcontrollers and Undercontrollers than for Resilients. Results thus reveal a pattern of mutual influence between perceived relationship quality and depressive symptoms that is moderated by the interplay among parent and adolescent sex and adolescent personality type

Facing others’ misfortune: Personal distress mediates the association between maladaptive emotion regulation and social avoidance

Previous research has linked the use of certain emotion regulation strategies to the vicarious experience of personal distress (PD) and empathic concern (EC). However, it has not been tested yet whether (1) vicarious PD is positively associated with maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, (2) vicarious EC is positively associated with adaptive emotion regulation strategies and whether (3) PD and EC mediate the link between emotion regulation and reports of approach/avoidance in response to a person in distress. To that aim, we assessed people’s reports of PD (i.e., anxious, troubled, and upset) and EC (i.e., concerned, sympathetic, and soft-hearted) in response to a video depicting a person in a threatening situation (n = 78). Afterwards, we assessed participants’ reports of avoidance and approach in regards to the character and their disposition to use maladaptive and adaptive emotion regulation strategies. Results showed that PD as well as EC were positively related to maladaptive strategies and negatively related to adaptive strategies, and that the association between maladaptive regulation strategies (i.e., rumination) and the willingness to avoid the person in distress was mediated by greater reports of PD. This study thus expands previous evidence on the relationship between maladaptive regulation strategies and affective empathy and provides novel insights about the main role that personal distress played in the association between maladaptive strategies and social avoidance

Life History of Lepidostoma hirtum in an Iberian Stream and its Role in Organic Matter Processing

Abstract The goal of this research was to determine the role of Lepidostoma hirtum Fabricius 1775 in the fragmentation of allochtonous organic material, in a segment of a mountain river in central Portugal. For this purpose, we measured leaf fragmentation and growth rates at four temperatures (9, 12, 15 and 18 C) and four leaf types (alder, Alnus glutinosa L.; oak, Quercus andegavensis Hy; poplar, Populus canadensis Moench; and chestnut, Castanea sativa Mill.). Growth rates ranged from 0.012 to 0.049 mg AFDW day-1 with no significant effect of temperature and leaf type. Fragmentation/consumption rates were significantly higher for alder (1.62 mg animal-1 day-1) than for other leaf types, and significantly lower at 9 C (0.70 mg animal-1 day-1) than at any other temperature (1.12 mg animal-1 day-1). In the studied stream, L. hirtum larvae had a univoltine life history, with an asynchronous development. Secondary production of L. hirtum ranged from 53.95 mg m-2 year-1 (pools) to 63.12 mg m-2 year-1 (riffles). Annual P/B ratios differ between habitats: they were 4.01 year-1 for pools and 4.49 year-1 for riffles. Considering the average density of this species in the study river and their consumption rates, this species has the potential to fragment 8.6 times the mean annual standing stock of organic matter, in the study location

Synthetic applications of aliphatic unsaturated alpha-H-alpha-amino acids

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Meta-analysis of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism in major depressive disorder: Effects of gender and ethnicity

Item does not contain fulltextBrain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a nerve growth factor that has antidepressant-like effects in animals and may be implicated in the etiology of mood-related phenotypes. However, genetic association studies of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism (single nucleotide polymorphism rs6265) in major depressive disorder (MDD) have produced inconsistent results. We conducted a meta-analysis of studies comparing the frequency of the BDNF Val66Met-coding variant in depressed cases (MDD) and nondepressed controls. A total of 14 studies involving 2812 cases with DSM-III or -IV defined MDD and 10 843 nondepressed controls met the inclusion criteria. Analyses were stratified either by gender or ethnicity (Asian and Caucasian) because MDD is more prevalent in women and in Caucasians and because BDNF allele frequencies differ by ethnicity. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were provided for allelic analyses (Met versus Val), as well as for genotypic analyses (Met/Met and Val/Met versus Val/Val). In the total sample, the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism was not significantly associated with depression. However, the gender stratified analyses revealed significant effects in both the allelic and genotypic analyses in men (ORMET, 95% CI; 1.27 (1.10–1.47); ORMET/MET, 95% CI; 1.67 (1.19–2.36)). Stratification according to ethnicity did not show significant effects of the Val66Met polymorphism on MDD. Our results suggest that the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism is of greater importance in the development of MDD in men than in women. Future research into gender issues will be of interest.12 p