Cognitive-behavioral Features Research Articles

Linguistic analysis of health anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health anxiety, which is defined as fear of having or contracting serious physical illness, is particularly salient in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a mixed methods study in which 578 narrative samples were analyzed using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software to determine linguistic markers from six LIWC categories relevant to cognitive-behavioral features of health anxiety. Broad linguistic predictors were analyzed through three backward elimination regression models in order to inform subcategory predictors of each area of health anxiety. Thus, both broad and specific linguistic predictors of general health anxiety, virus-relevant body vigilance, and fears of viral contamination were examined. Greater use of affective category words in written narratives predicted general health anxiety, as well as body vigilance and viral contamination fears. These findings represent the first direct demonstration of linguistic analysis of health anxiety and provide nuanced information about the nature and etiology of health anxiety.

Research on the Impact of Elective Subjects of College Entrance Examination on Talent Cultivation of Higher Vocational Colleges Based on Students’ Cognitive Behavioral Characteristics

Abstract The reform of the optional subjects of the college entrance examination under the new situation puts forward higher challenges to the talent cultivation of higher vocational colleges. In this paper, for students entering higher vocational colleges and universities after the new college entrance examination, the random forest framework is improved by mining students’ homework and quiz data with PCA dimensionality reduction. Behavioral feature extraction using Random Forest and coding definitions are proposed after feature screening. Based on general feature coding, the behavioral group differentiation extraction of higher education students was constructed, which finally provided label classification of students’ cognitive-behavioral features. After analyzing the impact of the optional subjects on the quality of higher vocational students, the learning behaviors of higher vocational students were dissected. The probability density distribution plots of students’ entry rates show that the overall probability density distribution curves of entry for different students are significantly different. The wave heights of the first, second, third and fourth academic years were 10.25, 16.48, 13.24 and 12.61, respectively, and the study behavior of senior students after the selection of subjects in the college entrance examination showed a unique pattern. In response to the behavioral performance of higher vocational students, institutions need to scientifically use assessment reports to launch talent development work.

Identifying cognitive and behavioral factors efficacious on the curriculum by emphasizing students' accountability

Introduction: The sentiment of responsibility is a productive skill for students to attain lifetime achievements. Aim: The current study was conducted to detect cognitive and behavioral factors efficacious on the curriculum by stressing students' responsibility. Method: The research scheme was qualitative-quantitative mixed with an exploratory theme. The statistical population comprised all curriculum experts and educational group leaders of Tabriz secondary schools in 2021-2022. Moreover, 205 people from the statistical population were selected using total sampling. To collect the data, the researcher utilized the 35 questions of their inquiry contingent on six dimensions of value, institutional, cognitive, personal and individual, emotional, and functional factors while developing self-management strategies that were performed on the research's sample. Additionally, the analysis of structural equations was done using SPSS version 25 and Amos version 24 to examine the data. Results: The study's findings illustrate that all the indicators had proper proportions of measurement for value, institutional, cognitive, personal and individual, emotional, and functional factors and developing self-management strategies. Based on the results of factor loadings (influence coefficients), cognitive factors (β=0.942) and value factors (β=0.923) have the most impression, whereas institutional factors (β=0.840) have the minimum impact on rational and behavioral factors affecting curriculum. Conclusion: The obtained results demonstrated that value, institutional, cognitive, personal and individual, emotional, and functional factors, and developing self-management strategies are considered cognitive-behavioral features effectual on curriculum. Furthermore, noticing these items in schools' educational and training program compilation provides a platform for students' growth, appertaining their accountability.

Neuropathological and behavioral features of an APP/PS1/MAPT (6xTg) transgenic model of Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer's disease is associated with various brain dysfunctions, including memory impairment, neuronal loss, astrocyte activation, amyloid-β plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles. Transgenic animal models of Alzheimer's disease have proven to be invaluable for the basic research of Alzheimer's disease. However, Alzheimer's disease mouse models developed so far do not fully recapitulate the pathological and behavioral features reminiscent of Alzheimer's disease in humans. Here, we investigated the neurobehavioral sequelae in the novel 6xTg mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, which was developed by incorporating human tau containing P301L mutation in the widely used 5xFAD mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. At 11-months-old, 6xTg mice displayed the core pathological processes found in Alzheimer's disease, including accumulation of amyloid-β plaque, extensive neuronal loss, elevated level of astrocyte activation, and abnormal tau phosphorylation in the brain. At 9 to 11-months-old, 6xTg mice exhibited both cognitive and non-cognitive behavioral impairments relevant to Alzheimer’s disease, including memory loss, hyperlocomotion, anxiety-like behavior, depression-like behavior, and reduced sensorimotor gating. Our data suggest that the aged 6xTg mouse model of Alzheimer's disease presents pathological and cognitive-behavioral features reminiscent of Alzheimer's disease in humans. Thus, the 6xTg mouse model of Alzheimer's disease may be a valuable model for studying Alzheimer’s disease-relevant non-cognitive behaviors.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13041-022-00933-8.

Comment to the Article by O.A. Kaplunov et al. “Hypotrophic Clavicle Pseudoarthrosis Treatment: A Case Report”

In the comment on the article Treatment of Hypotrophic Nonunion of the Clavicle: A Clinical Case, the reasons for the failure of primary and refixation of the clavicle closed fracture are analyzed in detail. A 70-year-old patient got a fracture of the middle third of the left clavicle diaphysis as a result of a fall. He underwent four surgical treatment options: plate osteosynthesis; plate osteosynthesis + bone autoplasty; plate osteosynthesis + vascularized fibular flap reconstruction; external osteosynthesis. A month after the fourth attempt of surgical treatment, fusion, improvement of the function of the right upper limb and the quality of life of the patient were achieved. Technological inaccuracy, namely, the lack of the fragments fixation stability due to the incorrectly chosen length of the plate, as well as an incomplete assessment of the anamnesis and the identified cognitive behavioral features of the patient, are considered as possible reasons for the treatment failure. The author of the comment highlights modern approaches to the treatment of clavicle fractures, and also briefly dwells on the theory of fracture fixation in general. He pays special attention to biological and mechanical factors affecting fractures healing. The author considers the compliance with the basic principles of osteosynthesis to be the main factor in achieving good results in fracture treatment.

What is the Relationship of Traumatic Brain Injury to Dementia?

There is a long history linking traumatic brain injury (TBI) with the development of dementia. Despite significant reservations, such as recall bias or concluding causality for TBI, a summary of recent research points to several conclusions on the TBI-dementia relationship. 1) Increasing severity of a single moderate-to-severe TBI increases the risk of subsequent Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common type of dementia. 2) Repetitive, often subconcussive, mild TBIs increases the risk for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative neuropathology. 3) TBI may be a risk factor for other neurodegenerative disorders that can be associated with dementia. 4) TBI appears to lower the age of onset of TBI-related neurocognitive syndromes, potentially adding "TBI cognitive-behavioral features". The literature further indicates several specific risk factors for TBI-associated dementia: 5) any blast or blunt physical force to the head as long as there is violent head displacement; 6) decreased cognitive and/or neuronal reserve and the related variable of older age at TBI; and 7) the presence of apolipoprotein E ɛ4 alleles, a genetic risk factor for AD. Finally, there are neuropathological features relating TBI with neurocognitive syndromes: 8) acute TBI results in amyloid pathology and other neurodegenerative proteinopathies; 9) CTE shares features with neurodegenerative dementias; and 10) TBI results in white matter tract and neural network disruptions. Although further research is needed, these ten findings suggest that dose-dependent effects of violent head displacement in vulnerable brains predispose to dementia; among several potential mechanisms is the propagation of abnormal proteins along damaged white matter networks.

Neuroanatomical Phenotype of Klinefelter Syndrome in Childhood: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study

Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is a genetic disorder characterized by a supernumerary X chromosome. As such, KS offers a naturally occurring human model for the study of both X-chromosome gene expression and androgen on brain development. Previous neuroimaging studies have revealed neuroanatomical variations associated with KS, but have differed widely with respect to subject inclusion criteria, including mosaicism, pubertal status, and history of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), all factors likely to influence neurodevelopment. We conducted a voxel-based morphometry study of regional gray and white matter (GM and WM, respectively) volumes in 31 KS males (mean age, 9.69 ± 1.70 years) and 36 typically developing (TD) male controls (10.99 ± 1.72 years). None of the participants with KS had received TRT, and all were prepubertal and had nonmosaic 47,XXY karyotypes. After controlling for age, males with KS showed trends (0.05 < p < 0.10) for significantly reduced total gray matter volume (TGMV) and total white matter volume (TWMV), relative to TD males. After controlling for TGMV and age, the KS group had significantly increased sensorimotor and parietal-occipital GM and significantly reduced amygdalar, hippocampal, insular, temporal, and inferior frontal GM relative to TD controls. After controlling for TWMV and age, the KS group had significantly increased left parietal WM as well as significantly reduced frontal and temporal WM. These findings are indicative of a characteristic prepubertal neuroanatomical phenotype that may be associated with cognitive-behavioral features of KS. This work offers new insight into the relationships among X-chromosome gene expression, neuroanatomy, and cognitive-behavioral functions impaired in KS, including language and attention.

Genotype–Phenotype Association Studies of Chromosome 8p Inverted Duplication Deletion Syndrome

Individuals diagnosed with chromosome 8p inverted duplication deletion (invdupdel(8p)) manifest a wide range of clinical features and cognitive impairment. The purpose of this study is to employ array CGH technology to define more precisely the cytogenetic breakpoints and regions of copy number variation found in several individuals with invdupdel(8p), and compare these results with their neuropsychological characteristics. We examined the cognitive-behavioral features of two male and two female children, ages 3-15years, with invdupdel(8p). We noted cognitive deficits that ranged from mild to severe, and adaptive behavior composites that ranged from significantly to substantially lower than adequate levels. CARS scores, a measure of autistic behavior, identified three children with autism or autistic-like features. Three of the four children exhibited attention deficits and hyperactivity consistent with a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of ADHD. One child showed extreme emotional lability. Interestingly, intellectual disability was not correlated with deletion size, nor was the deletion location associated with the autistic phenotype. On the other hand, the duplication length in 8p21.1/8p22 was associated with cognitive deficit. In addition, a small locus of over-expression in 8p21.3 was common for all three participants diagnosed as autistic. A limitation of the study is its small sample size. Further analyses of the deleted and over-expressed regions are needed to ascertain the genes involved in cognitive function and, possibly, autism.

Cognitive‐behavioral features of Wolf–Hirschhorn syndrome and other subtelomeric microdeletions

Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS) is a complex congenital malformation produced by a loss of genomic material at the locus 4p16.3. In addition to its dysmorphic features, the deletion produces a range of intellectual disability (ID). Many clinical aspects of WHS are well-characterized; however, the cognitive-behavioral characteristics have been rarely examined in a systematic fashion. The purpose of our study was to examine the cognitive-behavioral features of WHS and to compare them to children with other subtelomeric deletions that also produce ID. We recruited 45 children with subtelomeric deletions and examined their cognitive-behavioral abilities using a neuropsychological assessment battery composed of standardized instruments. Nineteen children were diagnosed with WHS and 26 children with one of three other subtelomeric deletions-11q25 (Jacobsen syndrome), deletion 2q37, and inversion duplication deletion 8p21-23. We found children with WHS to be more severely impacted cognitively than children from any of the other groups. Their overall adaptive behavior was lower as well. However, children with WHS exhibit strengths in socialization skills comparable to the levels attained by the other groups we assessed. Importantly, the proportion of children with WHS with autism or autistic-like features is significantly lower than the rates of autism found in the other subtelomeric disorders we examined.

Cognitive‐behavioral features of children with Wolf–Hirschhorn syndrome: Preliminary report of 12 cases

As a subset of genetic abnormalities, subtelomeric deletions have been found in 7-10% of individuals with mental retardation (MR). One subtelomeric deletion, Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS), causes mild to severe MR, but the cognitive-behavioral features of individuals with WHS have not been studied systematically. To that end, we administered a comprehensive cognitive-behavioral battery to 12 children with WHS, ages 4-17 years, who also had some expressive language. Using the Stanford-Binet (4th Edition), we found cognitive deficits ranged from mild to severe, with mean IQ = 44.1. Interviewing parents with the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, we found mean adaptive behavior score (DQ) = 37.3, with females exhibiting slightly higher scores than males. Cognitive profiles indicated relative strengths in Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning. Adaptive behavior profiles noted significant relative strengths in the Socialization Domain. These cognitive-behavioral profiles differed from children with other subtelomeric deletion syndromes, 2q37 or 8p23. Attention deficits and hyperactivity (ADHD) were observed in 7/12 (58%) of the children we tested. One child attained a score on the Child Autism Rating Scale (CARS) suggestive of mild autism. We conclude that different genetic disorders, which cause MR, produce diverse cognitive-behavioral profiles. Consequently, cognitive-behavioral profiles of children with MR need to be assessed more comprehensively.

Constructivist Psychotherapy: Principles into Practice

The field of cognitive psychotherapy has experienced considerable growth and development in recent years and, as a result, has become a prominent feature of the psychotherapeutic landscape (Dobson, 1988; Dryden & Golden, 1986; Freeman, Simon, Beutler, & Arkowitz, 1989; Ingram, 1986; Neimeyer & Neimeyer, 1987). Increased differentiation, however, has accompanied this growth, as new developments from both within and outside the cognitive and clinical sciences have been brought to bear on current configurations of the field. Among the most notable of these developments, has been the emergence of the constructivist perspective (Mahoney & Lyddon, 1988). As Mahoney (1991) points out, the term constructivism originates from the Latin construere, which "means 'to interpret' or 'to analyze,' with emphasis on a person's active 'construing' of a particular meaning or significance" (p. 96). More formally, the term as it is used in philosophy and psychology refers to a theory of knowledge, or epistemology, that is based on the assertion that "humans actively create and construe their personal realities" (Mahoney & Lyddon, 1988, p. 200). Constructivist epistemology is often contrasted with objectivist theories of knowledge. Objectivists tend to believe in a free-standing, stable, and external reality - a reality that gradually yields its timeless truths under the succession of increasingly accurate approximations of its innermost nature. Constructivists, on the other hand, assume that the primary source of knowledge is the human capacity for creative and imaginative thought, and thus speak of an invented reality. Constructivists and objectivists also differ with regard to the criteria by which truth claims about knowledge may be warranted. While objectivists focus on the accuracy or validity of knowledge as a measure of epistemic truth (that is, how well knowledge either copies or corresponds to objective reality), constructivists view all knowledge as inherently fallible and thus measure the value of knowledge in terms of its current utility or viability (Anderson, 1990; Howard, 1991; Mahoney, 1991). Moreover, from a constructivist perspective, human knowledge and human knowing structures are presumed to have the capacity to undergo developmental changes in the direction of increased complexity and integration (Guidano, 1990; Mahoney, 1991). Three salient themes shape the focus of this Special Issue on the interface of constructivism and cogntive psychotherapy: pragmaticism, diversity, and integrationism. First, as the title of the issue indicates, the overriding emphasis is on the practical dimensions of constructivist psychotherapy. All the contributions to this volume are designed to elucidate the way in which general constructivist principles are translated into the everyday realities of clinical practice. In the lead article Robert Neimeyer sets the stage for this focus by differentiating traditional cognitive-behavioral features from constructivist emphases at both the level of epistemology and the level of clinical strategy. He argues that these contrasts, rather than representing distinct boundaries between various cognitive approaches (e.g., rationalist vs. constructivist), may instead be better understood as useful dimensions for measuring emerging developments within particular schools of therapy. A second theme reflected by the contributions is that of diversity. An attempt has been made to highlight the diversity of assessment practices, strategic methods, and clinical applications emanating from contemporary constructivist orientations. …