The pre-history of health psychology in the UK: From natural science and psychoanalysis to social science, social cognition and beyond

Health psychology formally came of age in the United Kingdom in the 1980s, but it was prefigured by much discussion about challenges to the dominance of biomedicine in healthcare and debates. This articles focuses on what could be termed the pre-history of health psychology in the UK. This was the period in the earlier 20th century when psychological approaches were dominated by psychoanalysis which was followed by behaviourism and then cognitivism. Review of this pre-history provides the backdrop for the rise of health psychology in the UK and also reveals the tensions between the different theoretical perspectives

Factor structure of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in Japanese psychiatric outpatient and student populations

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is a common screening instrument excluding somatic symptoms of depression and anxiety, but previous studies have reported inconsistencies of its factor structure. The construct validity of the Japanese version of the HADS has yet to be reported. To examine the factor structure of the HADS in a Japanese population is needed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted in the combined data of 408 psychiatric outpatients and 1069 undergraduate students. The data pool was randomly split in half for a cross validation. An exploratory factor analysis was performed on one half of the data, and the fitness of the plausible model was examined in the other half of the data using a confirmatory factor analysis. Simultaneous multi-group analyses between the subgroups (outpatients vs. students, and men vs. women) were subsequently conducted.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A two-factor model where items 6 and 7 had dual loadings was supported. These factors were interpreted as reflecting anxiety and depression. Item 10 showed low contributions to both of the factors. Simultaneous multi-group analyses indicated a factor pattern stability across the subgroups.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The Japanese version of HADS indicated good factorial validity in our samples. However, ambiguous wording of item 7 should be clarified in future revisions.</p

Somatosensory processing in neurodevelopmental disorders

The purpose of this article is to review the role of somatosensory perception in typical development, its aberration in a range of neurodevelopmental disorders, and the potential relations between tactile processing abnormalities and central features of each disorder such as motor, communication, and social development. Neurodevelopmental disorders that represent a range of symptoms and etiologies, and for which multiple peer-reviewed articles on somatosensory differences have been published, were chosen to include in the review. Relevant studies in animal models, as well as conditions of early sensory deprivation, are also included. Somatosensory processing plays an important, yet often overlooked, role in typical development and is aberrant in various neurodevelopmental disorders. This is demonstrated in studies of behavior, sensory thresholds, neuroanatomy, and neurophysiology in samples of children with Fragile X syndrome, autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and cerebral palsy (CP). Impaired somatosensory processing is found in a range of neurodevelopmental disorders and is associated with deficits in communication, motor ability, and social skills in these disorders. Given the central role of touch in early development, both experimental and clinical approaches should take into consideration the role of somatosensory processing in the etiology and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders

Human migration: the big data perspective

How can big data help to understand the migration phenomenon? In this paper, we try to answer this question through an analysis of various phases of migration, comparing traditional and novel data sources and models at each phase. We concentrate on three phases of migration, at each phase describing the state of the art and recent developments and ideas. The first phase includes the journey, and we study migration flows and stocks, providing examples where big data can have an impact. The second phase discusses the stay, i.e. migrant integration in the destination country. We explore various data sets and models that can be used to quantify and understand migrant integration, with the final aim of providing the basis for the construction of a novel multi-level integration index. The last phase is related to the effects of migration on the source countries and the return of migrants

International Consensus Statement on Rhinology and Allergy: Rhinosinusitis

Background: The 5 years since the publication of the first International Consensus Statement on Allergy and Rhinology: Rhinosinusitis (ICAR‐RS) has witnessed foundational progress in our understanding and treatment of rhinologic disease. These advances are reflected within the more than 40 new topics covered within the ICAR‐RS‐2021 as well as updates to the original 140 topics. This executive summary consolidates the evidence‐based findings of the document. Methods: ICAR‐RS presents over 180 topics in the forms of evidence‐based reviews with recommendations (EBRRs), evidence‐based reviews, and literature reviews. The highest grade structured recommendations of the EBRR sections are summarized in this executive summary. Results: ICAR‐RS‐2021 covers 22 topics regarding the medical management of RS, which are grade A/B and are presented in the executive summary. Additionally, 4 topics regarding the surgical management of RS are grade A/B and are presented in the executive summary. Finally, a comprehensive evidence‐based management algorithm is provided. Conclusion: This ICAR‐RS‐2021 executive summary provides a compilation of the evidence‐based recommendations for medical and surgical treatment of the most common forms of RS

Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences: The Role of Financial Studies

Starting from 1969, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has become responsible for selecting Nobel laureates in Economic Sciences. In these 50 years 81 academics have been awarded with the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences; in this framework, the Royal Swedish Academy gave prizes to pure economists, finance experts and scholars investigating topics in between economics and finance. This paper first explains and describes quick facts about this important Prize and its origin, then analyses awarded fields and literature research done about this special topic. The core part of the paper investigates the choices of the Royal Swedish Academy, with a special focus on the financial theories awarded, in order to highlight the contributions of the academics awarded with the Nobel Prize to the development of the most accredited financial theories and practices

How does cognition evolve? Phylogenetic comparative psychology

Now more than ever animal studies have the potential to test hypotheses regarding how cognition evolves. Comparative psychologists have developed new techniques to probe the cognitive mechanisms underlying animal behavior, and they have become increasingly skillful at adapting methodologies to test multiple species. Meanwhile, evolutionary biologists have generated quantitative approaches to investigate the phylogenetic distribution and function of phenotypic traits, including cognition. In particular, phylogenetic methods can quantitatively (1) test whether specific cognitive abilities are correlated with life history (e.g., lifespan), morphology (e.g., brain size), or socio-ecological variables (e.g., social system), (2) measure how strongly phylogenetic relatedness predicts the distribution of cognitive skills across species, and (3) estimate the ancestral state of a given cognitive trait using measures of cognitive performance from extant species. Phylogenetic methods can also be used to guide the selection of species comparisons that offer the strongest tests of a priori predictions of cognitive evolutionary hypotheses (i.e., phylogenetic targeting). Here, we explain how an integration of comparative psychology and evolutionary biology will answer a host of questions regarding the phylogenetic distribution and history of cognitive traits, as well as the evolutionary processes that drove their evolution

A etiologia do sintoma psicossomático: sua relação com a reincidência traumática e o retraimento autista Etiology of psychosomatic symptoms: its relationship with traumatic recurrence and autistic withdrawal

A etiologia do sintoma psicossomático continua indefinida, apesar de inúmeros estudos de ciências afins. Apresento a hipótese de que este só se desenvolve em paciente portador de personalidade autista como predisposição, isto é, que tenha barreiras autistas - apego às "formas autistas" e aos "objetos autistas" - em resposta a um trauma no período fetal ou do nascimento, que promova sensação de descontinuidade física. Essas formas e objetos são elementos do próprio corpo, como a saliva, a língua, os dedos e as mãos em contato com suas próprias superfícies sensórias, mais a pele. A soma do registro dessas sensações pela memória implícita incipiente ou em desenvolvimento funciona como um ego biológico sem sujeito cognitivamente interpretante. O paciente portador de personalidade autista, diante de um novo trauma com a mesma sensação de morte, retira-se para o estado de homeostase autista, como se já soubesse o caminho, e aí fica hospedado. Dessa forma, seu corpo se converte em uma "mãe suficientemente boa", conforme conceituada por Winnicott. O sintoma psicossomático é uma representação das defesas biológicas e não um representante de conflitos que têm como base elementos sexuais ou destrutivos reprimidos. Inclui a angústia de morte, de deixar de existir. Os fenômenos psicossomáticos escondem, paradoxalmente, uma luta pela vida e, especialmente, pela sobrevivência psíquica do paciente, segundo MacDougall.<br>Etiology of psychosomatic symptoms remains unclear, in spite of many studies by similar sciences. I present the hypothesis that the patient needs to have an autistic personality as predisposition, i.e., he needs to have autistic barriers - attachment to "autistic forms" and to "autistic objects" - in response to a fetal or postpartum trauma that produces a feeling of physical discontinuity. These forms and objects are elements of the body itself, such as saliva, fingers, tongue, and hands in contact with its own sensory surfaces, especially the skin. The sum of these registers by incipient or developing implicit memory works as a biological ego without a cognitively interpreting subject. The patient with an autistic personality withdraws to the autistic homeostatic state when there is a trauma with an instinctive notion of death, as if he already knew the way and remains in suspension there. Thus, the body becomes a "good enough mother," as quoted by Winnicott. Psychosomatic symptoms are a representation of biological defenses, and not a representative of conflicts based on repressed sexual or destructive elements. It includes death anxiety, of no longer existing. Psychosomatic symptoms paradoxically hide a fight to live and especially to the patient's psychic survival, according to MacDougall