Of monkeys and men: Spitz and Harlow on the consequences of maternal deprivation

Evaluating the validity of animal models of mental disorder: from modeling syndromes to modeling endophenotypes

This paper provides a historical analysis of a shift in the way animal models of mental disorders were conceptualized: the shift from the mid-twentieth-century view, adopted by some, that animal models model syndromes classified in manuals such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), to the later widespread view that animal models model component parts of psychiatric syndromes. I argue that in the middle of the twentieth century the attempt to maximize the face validity of animal models sometimes led to the pursuit of the ideal of an animal model that represented a behaviorally defined psychiatric syndrome as described in manuals such as the DSM. I show how developments within psychiatric genetics and related criticism of the DSM in the 1990s and 2000s led to the rejection of this ideal and how researchers in the first decade of the twenty-first century came to believe that animal models of mental disorders should model component parts of mental disorders, adopting a so-called endophenotype approach.

Understanding psychocutaneous disease: psychosocial & psychoneuroimmunologic perspectives

The study of psychocutaneous disease involves a comprehensive understanding of the complex and often neglected psychoneuroimmunologic components and pathways. Patients suffering from the many disorders that blur the interface between the fields of psychiatry and dermatology are often misdiagnosed and mistreated because of the lack of knowledge and awareness of the underlying disease-causing mechanisms. Individuals with psychodermatologic disease also experience a general lower overall quality of life as it has negative implications on psychosocial, emotional, and cognitive well-being. Factors like early life interactions, body image dissatisfaction, and societal stigma play a crucial role in the development of psychosocial stress experienced by individuals with visible skin conditions. This heightened level of stress serves as a trigger in the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-axis (HPA), mediating immune responses that influence cutaneous disease severity and exacerbation. In order to improve the quality of life and treatment outcomes of the patient population impacted by psychodermatologic disease, it is essential to better understand the complex interplay between the various psychosocial factors and pathophysiologic pathways involved.

Vinculação e problemas de comportamento avaliados por crianças e pais

A teoria da vinculação, salienta a importância das relações precoces na estruturação do self, e conceção dos outros. O presente estudo analisa relações entre vinculação aos pais e problemas de comportamento reportados por 258 crianças (9-12 anos) e seus pais. O Inventário de Vinculação aos Pais e Pares e o Questionário de Forças e Dificuldades foram utilizados. Dimensões seguras da vinculação – “Comunicação-proximidade” e “Aceitação mútua-compreensão”) correlacionam negativamente com problemas internalizados, e “Afastamento-rejeição” positivamente com problemas in/externalizados. Os rapazes reportam mais problemas exteriorizados, e a hiperatividade é o comportamento mais reportado por crianças e seus pais.

Attachment in the Psychiatric Curriculum

Psychiatric trainees are expected to learn the fundamental concepts of psychodynamic psychotherapy, but they often struggle to understand and appreciate the relevance of this work. An introduction to attachment theory can go a long way toward assisting our trainees in understanding the relevance of psychodynamic psychiatry. To help programs develop this component of their curriculum, we summarize the history of the development of the attachment paradigm including the Strange Situation and Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), useful tools to teach these concepts, as well as ramifications of this work. We provide a summary of information regarding the evidence base connected to this paradigm, potential clinical relevance, health implications, work from neuroscience, and infant intervention models to assist in bringing psychodynamic concepts to life. Exposure to the attachment paradigm provides a model of intervention, prevention, and hope for our trainees as they transition from learning phenomenologic models of psychiatric diagnostics to other paradigms of human development and intervention.

Attachment Figure's Regulation of Infant Brain and Behavior

Altricial infants (i.e., requiring parental care for survival), such as humans and rats, form an attachment to their caregiver and receive the nurturing and protections needed for survival. Learning has a strong role in attachment, as is illustrated by strong attachment formed to non-biological caregivers of either sex. Here we summarize and integrate results from animal and human infant attachment research that highlights the important role of social buffering (social presence) of the stress response by the attachment figure and its effect on infant processing of threat and fear through modulation of the amygdala. Indeed, this work suggests the caregiver switches off amygdala function in rodents, although recent human research suggests a similar process in humans and nonhuman primates. This cross-species analysis helps provide insight and unique understanding of attachment and its role in the neurobiology of infant behavior within attachment.

AINSWORTH'S STRANGE SITUATION PROCEDURE: THE ORIGIN OF AN INSTRUMENT

The American-Canadian psychologist Mary Ainsworth (1913-1999) developed the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) to measure mother-child attachment and attachment theorists have used it ever since. When Ainsworth published the first results of the SSP in 1969, it seemed a completely novel and unique instrument. However, in this paper we will show that the SSP had many precursors and that the road to such an instrument was long and winding. Our analysis of hitherto little-known studies on children in strange situations allowed us to compare these earlier attempts with the SSP. We argue that it was the combination of Ainsworth's working experience with William Blatz and John Bowlby, her own research in Uganda and Baltimore, and the strong connection of the SSP with attachment theory, that made the SSP differ enough from the other strange situation studies to become one of the most widely used instruments in developmental psychology today.