Basic quantitative genetic models of human behavioral variation have made clear that individual differences in behavior cannot be understood without acknowledging the importance of genetic ...influences. Yet these basic models estimate average, population-level genetic and environmental influences, obscuring differences that might exist within the population and masking systematic transactions between specific genetic and environmental influences. This article discusses a newer, more sophisticated and powerful quantitative genetic model that articulates these transactions. Results from this model highlight the ways in which the gene-environment interaction and correlation are intertwined. They can be used to integrate findings from quantitative and molecular genetic studies and to understand the roles of genetic influences and social forces in manifested behaviors, even when DNA sequence variation is not relevant.
The life of Howard Johnson, nicknamed "Stretch" because of his height (6'5"), epitomizes the cultural and political odyssey of a generation of African Americans who transformed the United States from ...a closed society to a multiracial democracy. Johnson's long-awaited memoir traces his path from firstborn of a multiclass/multiethnic" family in New Jersey to dancer in Harlem's Cotton Club to communist youth leader and, later, professor of Black studies. A Dancer in the Revolution is a powerful statement about Black resilience and triumph amid subtle and explicit racism in the United States. Johnson's engaging, beautifully written memoir provides a window into everyday life in Harlem--neighborhood life, arts and culture, and politics--from the 1930s to the 1970s, when the contemporary Black community was being formed. A Dancer in the Revolution explores Johnson's twenty-plus years in the Communist Party and illuminates in compelling detail how the Harlem branch functioned and flourished in the 1930s and '40s. Johnson thrived as a charismatic leader, using the connections he built up as an athlete and dancer to create alliances between communist organizations and a cross-section of the Black community. In his memoir, Johnson also exposes the homoerotic tourism that was a feature of Harlem's nightlife in the 1930s. Some of America's leading white literary, musical, and artistic figures were attracted to Harlem not only for the community's artistic creativity but to engage in illicit sex--gay and straight--with their Black counterparts. A Dancer in the Revolution is an invaluable contribution to the literature on Black political thought and pragmatism. It reveals the unique place that Black dancers and artists hold in civil rights pursuits and anti-racism campaigns in the United States and beyond. Moreover, the life of "Stretch" Johnson illustrates how political activism engenders not only social change but also personal fulfillment, a realization of dreams not deferred but rather pursued and achieved. Johnson's journey bears witness to critical periods and events that shaped the Black condition and American society in the process.
According to prominent theories of aging, the brain may reorganize to compensate for neural deterioration and prevent or offset cognitive decline. A frequent and striking finding in functional ...imaging studies is that older adults recruit additional regions relative to young adults performing the same task. This is often interpreted as evidence for functional reorganization, suggesting that, as people age, different regions or networks may support the same cognitive functions. Associations between additional recruitment and better performance in older adults have led to the suggestion that the additional recruitment may contribute to preserved cognitive function in old age and may explain some of the variation among individuals in preservation of function. However, many alternative explanations are possible, and recent findings and methodological developments have highlighted the need for more systematic approaches to determine whether reorganization occurs with age and whether it benefits performance. We reevaluate current evidence for compensatory functional reorganization in the light of recent moves to address these challenges.
The debate about the roles of general and specific abilities in predicting important outcomes is a tempest in a ladle because we cannot measure abilities without also measuring skills. Skills always ...develop through exposure, are specific rather than general, and are executed using different strategies by different people, thus tapping into varied specific abilities. Relative predictive validities of measurement formats depend on the purpose: the more general and long-term the purpose, the better the more general measure. The more specific and immediate the purpose, the better the closely related specific measure.
Intelligence quotient (IQ) scores tend to remain stable across the lifespan. Nevertheless, in some healthy individuals, significant decreases or increases in IQ have been observed over time. It is ...unclear whether such changes reflect true functional change or merely measurement error. Here, we applied surface-based corticometry to investigate vertex-wise cortical surface area and thickness correlates of changes in Full Scale IQ (FSIQ), Performance IQ (PIQ) and Verbal IQ (VIQ) in a representative sample of children and adolescents (n=188, mean age=11.59years) assessed two years apart as part of the NIH Study of Normal Brain Development. No significant associations between changes in IQ measures and changes in cortical surface area were observed, whereas changes in FSIQ, PIQ, and VIQ were related to rates of cortical thinning, mainly in left frontal areas. Participants who showed reliable gains in FSIQ showed no significant changes in cortical thickness on average, whereas those who exhibited no significant FSIQ change showed moderate declines in cortical thickness. Importantly, individuals who showed large decreases in FSIQ displayed the steepest and most significant reductions in cortical thickness. Results support the view that there can be meaningful cognitive ability changes that impact IQ within relatively short developmental periods and show that such changes are associated with the dynamics of cortical thickness development.
•Intelligence quotient (IQ) scores tend to remain stable across the lifespan.•Despite high stability, some individuals display strong longitudinal changes in IQ.•These have been frequently interpreted as measurement error.•Here, changes in IQ were associated with local rates of cortical thinning.•Some IQ changes are therefore genuine and have a neuroanatomical substrate.
Associations between perceived discrimination and relative deprivation have been observed among both general and migrant populations. However, it is unclear how, and under what conditions, perceived ...discrimination relates to relative deprivation, a subjective cognition and affective experience in which individuals or groups perceive themselves as disadvantaged, compared to their peers. Therefore, this study aimed to construct a moderated mediation model to examine the roles of locus of control and duration since migration in the relationship between perceived discrimination and relative deprivation among Chinese rural-to-urban migrant adolescents.
We conducted a cross-sectional study using a convenience sampling method in three coastal cities in southeast China. We recruited 625 Chinese rural-to-urban migrant adolescents, who completed a battery of questionnaires assessing perceived discrimination, relative deprivation, locus of control, and demographic variables. Regression-based statistical mediation and moderation were conducted using the PROCESS macro for SPSS.
After controlling for sex and age, perceived discrimination was positively associated with migrant adolescents' relative deprivation, and external locus of control partially mediated this connection. Furthermore, the mediating effect was moderated by the duration of the migration. In relatively recently migrated adolescents, perceived discrimination was significantly related to relative deprivation through a greater external locus of control; however, this indirect association was not significant for adolescents with long-term migratory duration.
The results of our analysis expand our understanding of the link between perceived discrimination and relative deprivation. Moreover, these findings may provide practical guidance for interventions among Chinese rural-to-urban migrant adolescents to raise their social status and improve their mental health by addressing the macro-social psychological causes of relative deprivation.
This study aimed to better understand patient and caregiver perspectives on social risk screening across different healthcare settings.
As part of a mixed-methods multisite study, the authors ...conducted semistructured interviews with a subset of adult patients and adult caregivers of pediatric patients who had completed the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Accountable Health Communities social risk screening tool between July 2018 and February 2019. Interviews, conducted in English or Spanish, asked about reactions to screening, screening acceptability, preferences for administration, prior screening experiences that informed perspectives, and expectations for social assistance. Basic thematic analysis and constant comparative methods were used to code and develop themes.
Fifty interviews were conducted across 10 study sites in 9 states, including 6 primary care clinics and 4 emergency departments. There was broad consensus among interviewees across all sites that social risk screening was acceptable. The following 4 main themes emerged: (1) participants believed screening for social risks is important; (2) participants expressed insight into the connections between social risks and overall health; (3) participants emphasized the importance of patient-centered implementation of social risk screening; and (4) participants recognized limits to the healthcare sector's capacity to address or resolve social risks.
Despite gaps in the availability of social risk–related interventions in healthcare settings, patient-centered social risk screening, including empathy and attention to privacy, may strengthen relationships between patients and healthcare teams.
This article is part of a supplement entitled Identifying and Intervening on Social Needs in Clinical Settings: Evidence and Evidence Gaps, which is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Kaiser Permanente, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Despite recent growth in healthcare delivery-based social risk screening, little is known about patient perspectives on these activities. This study evaluates patient and caregiver acceptability of ...social risk screening.
This was a cross-sectional survey of 969 adult patients and adult caregivers of pediatric patients recruited from 6 primary care clinics and 4 emergency departments across 9 states. Survey items included the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Accountable Health Communities’ social risk screening tool and questions about appropriateness of screening and comfort with including social risk data in electronic health records. Logistic regressions evaluated covariate associations with acceptability measures. Data collection occurred from July 2018 to February 2019; data analyses were conducted in February‒March 2019.
Screening was reported as appropriate by 79% of participants; 65% reported comfort including social risks in electronic health records. In adjusted models, higher perceived screening appropriateness was associated with previous exposure to healthcare-based social risk screening (AOR=1.82, 95% CI=1.16, 2.88), trust in clinicians (AOR=1.55, 95% CI=1.00, 2.40), and recruitment from a primary care setting (AOR=1.70, 95% CI=1.23, 2.38). Lower appropriateness was associated with previous experience of healthcare discrimination (AOR=0.66, 95% CI=0.45, 0.95). Higher comfort with electronic health record documentation was associated with previously receiving assistance with social risks in a healthcare setting (AOR=1.47, 95% CI=1.04, 2.07).
A strong majority of adult patients and caregivers of pediatric patients reported that social risk screening was appropriate. Most also felt comfortable including social risk data in electronic health records. Although multiple factors influenced acceptability, the effects were moderate to small. These findings suggest that lack of patient acceptability is unlikely to be a major implementation barrier.
This article is part of a supplement entitled Identifying and Intervening on Social Needs in Clinical Settings: Evidence and Evidence Gaps, which is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Kaiser Permanente, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Lothian Birth
Cohorts, 1936 and 1921 were used to study the longitudinal comparability of
Five-Factor Model (McCrae & John,
1992) personality traits from ages 69 to 72 years and
from ages 81 to 87 ...years, and cross-cohort comparability between ages 69 and 81
years. Personality was measured using the 50-item International Personality Item
Pool (Goldberg,
1999). Satisfactory measurement invariance was
established across time and cohorts. High rank-order stability was observed in
both cohorts. Almost no mean-level change was observed in the younger cohort,
whereas Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Intellect declined
significantly in the older cohort. The older cohort scored higher on
Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. In these cohorts, individual differences in
personality traits continued to be stable even in very old age, mean-level
changes accelerated.
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