Inclusion of women in research on Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) has shown that gender differences contribute to unique profiles of cognitive, emotional, and neuropsychological dysfunction. We employed ...functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of abstinent individuals with a history of AUD (21 women AUDw, 21 men AUDm) and demographically similar non-AUD control (NC) participants without AUD (21 women NCw, 21 men NCm) to explore how gender and AUD interact to influence brain responses during emotional processing and memory. Participants completed a delayed match-to-sample emotional face memory fMRI task, and brain activation contrasts between a fixation stimulus and pictures of emotional face elicited a similar overall pattern of activation for all four groups. Significant Group by Gender interactions revealed two activation clusters. A cluster in an anterior portion of the middle and superior temporal gyrus, elicited lower activation to the fixation stimulus than to faces for the AUDw as compared to the NCw; that abnormality was more pronounced than the one observed for men. Another cluster in the medial portion of the superior frontal cortex elicited higher activation to the faces by AUDm than NCm, a difference that was more evident than the one observed for women. Together, these findings have added new evidence of AUD-related gender differences in neural responses to facial expressions of emotion.
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Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background
Alcoholism has been repeatedly associated with gray and white matter pathology. Although neuroimaging has shown alcoholism‐related brain volume reductions and axonal compromise, the ...integrity of white matter volumes in chronic alcoholism has been challenging to measure on a regional level.
Methods
We first examined the effects of alcoholism on cerebral white matter volumes by lobar and gyral subdivisions in 42 abstinent alcoholics and 42 control participants (split evenly by gender). We also examined cerebellar white matter and regions of the corpus callosum, as well as ventricular volumes. Next, relationships between white matter and ventricular volumes with measures of drinking patterns were assessed. Finally, an examination of early versus late abstinence was conducted. Within each examination, gender effects were explored.
Results
Differences in regional white matter volumes between alcoholics and controls were observed primarily in the corpus callosum, with a stronger group difference among men than women. Years of heavy drinking had a strong negative impact on frontal and temporal white matter among alcoholic women, and on the corpus callosum among alcoholic men. Quantity of alcohol consumption was associated with smaller corpus callosum and larger ventricular volumes among alcoholic women, whereas abstinence duration was associated with larger corpus callosum volume among alcoholic men. Preliminary data indicated that alcoholic women showed stronger positive associations between sobriety duration and white matter volume than men within the first year of abstinence, whereas men showed this association more so than women after 1 year of abstinence.
Conclusions
Effects of drinking history on white matter and ventricular volumes vary by gender, with alcoholic women showing greatest sensitivity in frontal, temporal, ventricular, and corpus callosum regions, and alcoholic men showing effects mainly in the corpus callosum. Preliminary results indicate that recovery of white matter volume may occur sooner for women than for men.
Men and women differ in personality characteristics and may be motivated to use alcohol for different reasons. The goals of the present study were to characterize personality and drinking motives by ...gender and alcoholism status in adults, and to determine how alcoholism history and gender are related to the associations between personality traits and drinking motivation.
Personality characteristics were assessed with the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, which includes Extraversion, Neuroticism, Psychoticism and Lie (Social Conforming) scales. To evaluate drinking motivation, we asked abstinent long-term alcoholic men and women, and demographically similar nonalcoholic participants to complete the Drinking Motives Questionnaire, which includes Conformity, Coping, Social and Enhancement scales.
Patterns of personality scale scores and drinking motives differed by alcoholism status, with alcoholics showing higher psychopathology and stronger motives for drinking compared with controls. Divergent gender-specific relationships between personality and drinking motives also were identified, which differed for alcoholics and controls.
Alcoholic and control men and women differed with respect to the associations between personality traits and motives for drinking. A better understanding of how different personality traits affect drinking motivations for alcoholic men and women can inform individualized relapse prevention strategies.
Men and women differed in their personality traits and their motivations for drinking, and these relationships differed for abstinent alcoholic and control groups. Additionally, alcoholics scored higher on Neuroticism and Psychoticism personality traits, and had lower Enhancement and Social Conformity drinking motives than nonalcoholic controls.
Long-term chronic alcoholism is associated with disparate and widespread residual consequences for brain functioning and behavior, and alcoholics suffer a variety of cognitive deficiencies and ...emotional abnormalities. Alcoholism has heterogeneous origins and outcomes, depending upon factors such as family history, age, gender, and mental or physical health. Consequently, the neuropsychologic profiles associated with alcoholism are not uniform among individuals. Moreover, within and across research studies, variability among subjects is substantial and contributes to characteristics associated with differential treatment outcomes after detoxification. In order to refine our understanding of alcoholism-related impaired, spared, and recovered abilities, we focus on five specific functional domains: (1) memory; (2) executive functions; (3) emotion and psychosocial skills; (4) visuospatial cognition; and (5) psychomotor abilities. Although the entire brain might be vulnerable in uncomplicated alcoholism, the brain systems that are considered to be most at risk are the frontocerebellar and mesocorticolimbic circuitries. Over time, with abstinence from alcohol, the brain appears to become reorganized to provide compensation for structural and behavioral deficits. By relying on a combination of clinical and scientific approaches, future research will help to refine the compensatory roles of healthy brain systems, the degree to which abstinence and treatment facilitate the reversal of brain atrophy and dysfunction, and the importance of individual differences to outcome.
Background
Previous studies have demonstrated the presence of a social cognition factor as an element of general cognition in healthy control and clinical populations. Recently developed measures of ...social cognition include the social perception and faces subtests of the Wechsler Advanced Clinical Solutions (ACS) Social Cognition module. While these measures have been validated on various clinical samples, they have not been studied in alcoholics. Alcoholism has been associated with emotional abnormalities and diminished social cognitive functioning as well as neuropathology of brain areas underlying social processing abilities. We used the ACS Social Perception and Faces subtests to assess alcoholism‐related impairments in social cognition.
Methods
Social cognitive functioning was assessed in 77 abstinent alcoholic individuals (37 women) and 59 nonalcoholic control participants (29 women), using measures of the ACS Social Cognition module and subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale‐Fourth Edition (WAIS‐IV) that contain a social cognition component (Picture Completion and Comprehension). Group and gender differences in ACS and WAIS‐IV performance were assessed, as well as relationships between measures of alcoholism severity and social cognitive functioning.
Results
Alcoholics performed significantly worse than nonalcoholics on the ACS measures of Affect Naming and Faces Content. Alcoholic men were impaired relative to alcoholic women on Prosody Face Matching and Faces Content scores. Among alcoholics, longer durations of heavy drinking were associated with poorer performance on Affect Naming, and a greater number of daily drinks were associated with lower Prosody Face Matching performance. For alcoholic women, a longer duration of abstinence was associated with better performance on Affect Naming.
Conclusions
Alcoholic men and women showed different patterns of associations between alcoholism indices and clinically validated social cognition assessments. These findings extend into the social cognition domain, previous literature demonstrating the presence of cognitive deficits in alcoholism, their association with alcoholism severity, and variability by gender. Moreover, because impairments in social cognition can persist despite extended abstinence, they have important implications for relapse prevention.
Supervision is an integral part of training for graduate-level psychologists and is often a catalyst for professional growth and identity development. This paper is intended to be a qualitative ...resource for psychological trainees and supervisors alike, as 3 women share encounters of supervision across diverse graduate-level training experiences. Within each lived experience, the authors explore critical exchanges that sparked personal and professional identity development related to caregiving, self-care, and interactions with gender and power. Developmental theories of supervision will be explored through the Competency Benchmarks Model, with a focus on core competencies as one moves through practicum experiences, internship, and postdoctoral studies (Fouad et al., 2009).
Experiencias de las Mujeres en la Supervisión y Desarrollo Profesional
La supervisión es una parte integra de la capacitación para psicólogos al nivel graduado y con frecuencia es un catalizador para el crecimiento profesional y desarrollo de identidad. Este artículo tiene el propósito de ser un recurso cualitativo para aprendices y supervisores de psicología, donde 3 mujeres comparten encuentros en la supervisión a través de diversas experiencias de capacitación al nivel graduado. Dentro de cada experiencia vivida, las autoras exploran intercambios críticos que provocaron desarrollo de identidad personal y profesional relacionados a la provisión de cuidado, el autocuidado, e interacciones con género y poder. Teorías de desarrollo en la supervisión serán exploradas mediante el Modelo de Capacidades Referente Competency Benchmarks Model, con un enfoque en las capacidades centrales mientras uno se mueve de las experiencias en prácticas, al puesto de interno, y estudios posdoctorales (Fouad et al., 2009).
女性督导及专业发展的经验
督导是研究生阶段心理学家培训的一个组成部分，常常是专业成长和自我认同发展的催化剂。本文旨在为心理学员和导师提供一个定性的资源，因为3名女性分享了不同研究生阶段的培训经历。在每一次生活经历中，作者都探索了引发个人和职业认同发展的关键交流，这些职业认同的发展与照顾、自我照顾、与性别和权力的互动都有关系。督导发展理论将通过能力基准模型进行探索，重点放在通过实践经验、实习和博士后研究培养的核心能力上 (Fouad et al., 2009)。
Alcoholism and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) often are comorbid conditions. Alcoholics, as well as nonalcoholic individuals with ASPD, exhibit behaviors associated with prefrontal brain ...dysfunction such as increased impulsivity and emotional dysregulation. These behaviors can influence drinking motives and patterns of consumption. Because few studies have investigated the combined association between ASPD and alcoholism on neuropsychological functioning, this study examined the influence of ASPD symptoms and alcoholism on tests sensitive to frontal brain deficits. The participants were 345 men and women. Of them, 144 were abstinent alcoholics (66 with ASPD symptoms), and 201 were nonalcoholic control participants (24 with ASPD symptoms). Performances among the groups were examined with Trails A and B tests, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, the Controlled Oral Word Association Test, the Ruff Figural Fluency Test, and Performance subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Measures of affect also were obtained. Multiple regression analyses showed that alcoholism, specific drinking variables (amount and duration of heavy drinking), and ASPD were significant predictors of frontal system and affective abnormalities. These effects were different for men and women. The findings suggested that the combination of alcoholism and ASPD leads to greater deficits than the sum of each.
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