53 research outputs found
Why Might Women Justify Dating Violence? The Role of Men’s Sexual Objectification of Their Romantic Partners Within Heterosexual Relationships
No full textMen’s partner-sexual objectification has been linked to increased self-objectification and diminished well-being in women. Some recent findings have also demonstrated that men’s partner-sexual objectification is related to increased violence in the relationship. However, mechanisms driving this association remain unexplored. In the present research, we collected data on women and men involved in heterosexual romantic relationships and investigated the associations between men’s partner-sexual objectification, women’s self-objectification, and both partners’ attitudes toward dating violence. Study 1 (N = 171 heterosexual couples) provided first evidence for the link between men’s partner-sexual objectification and their attitudes toward dating violence. Furthermore, men’s attitudes toward dating violence mediated the relationship between sexual objectification of their partners and women’s attitudes toward dating violence. These results were replicated in Study 2 (N = 235 heterosexual couples). Findings of this study also revealed that, along with men’s attitudes toward dating violence, women’s self-objectification acted as a mediating mechanism linking experiences of being sexually objectified by the romantic partner and attitudes toward dating violence in women. Implications of our findings for the issue of dating violence are discussed
A longitudinal test of the bidirectional relationships between intergroup contact, prejudice, dispositional empathy, and social dominance orientation
No full textWe conducted a longitudinal study to test the bidirectional relationships between intergroup contact, prejudice, and a range of individual difference variables relevant to intergroup relations such as social dominance orientation (SDO) and dispositional empathy (empathic concern, perspective-taking). Participants were Italian high-school students, who completed a questionnaire at two time points separated by an interval of approximately seven months, focusing on immigrants as the outgroup. Results provide support for the importance of contact in reducing prejudice and changing personality. In particular, contact (i.e., cross-group friendships) was longitudinally associated with less SDO (although the effect was marginal) and more positive behavioral intentions. In addition, SDO revealed negative effects over time, on dispositional empathy and behavioral intentions. Mixed findings emerged for dispositional empathy, with positive effects for perspective-taking (negative association with SDO), and negative effects for empathic concern (negative association with contact, and positive associations with SDO and avoidance behavioral tendencies). Results are discussed in terms of importance of an approach that takes into account both situational and personality variables, and of the need to conduct studies that simultaneously consider a wide range of variables relevant to prejudice
Love Me Inside Out: A Qualitative Investigation of Body and Appearance Valuation in Romantic Relationships and Potential for Objectification
No full textThe purpose of the present research was to investigate how objectification manifests in romantic relationships and its determining features. Despite abundant literature on sexual objectification, there are few studies about body and appearance valuation between romantic partners. Therefore, we aimed to identify concrete behavioral exemplars of how objectification manifests and is interpreted in the context of romantic relationships. Likewise, we sought to determine whether certain instances of body and appearance valuation can be benign (or even adaptive) in this context. In a phone interview we asked about the extent to which participants felt their current romantic partner valued them more for their body and appearance than for their internal attributes. We then conducted a thematic analysis of 247 of these responses, resulting in three overarching themes that suggest a tension between the desire to be seen as human and the gendered pressure to be seen as attractive. Our themes provide valuable insight about what constitutes objectification between one romantic partner and another, while exploring potentially benign or constructive implications of non-objectifying body and appearance valuation. Critically, we situate our analysis within cisheteropatriarchy and discuss gendered patterns in our results
Learning disabilities in neuromuscular disorders: a springboard for adult life
No full textAlthough the presence of cognitive deficits in Duchenne muscular dystrophy or myotonic dystrophy DM1 is well established in view of brain-specific expression of affected muscle proteins, in other neuromuscular disorders, such as congenital myopathies and limb-girdle muscular dystrophies, cognitive profiles are poorly defined. Also, there are limited characterization of the cognitive profile of children with congenital muscular dystrphies, notwithstanding the presence of cerebral abnormality insome forms, and in spinal muscular atrophies, with the exception of distal spinal muscular atrophy (such as the DYN1CH1-associated form). Starting from the Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which may
be considered a kind of paradigm for the co-occurrence of learning disabilities in the contest of a progressive muscular
involvement, the findings of neuropsychological (or cognitive) dysfunctions in several forms of neuromuscular diseases will be examined and reviewed
Systematic review on estimated rates of nephrotoxicity and neurotoxicity in patients treated with polymyxins
No full textNephrotoxicity and neurotoxicity are commonly associated with polymyxin treatment; however, the emergence of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria with limited therapeutic options has resulted in increased use of polymyxins
Neuropsychological profiles in children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy compared to dyslexic population
No full textDuchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is associated with lack of dystrophin, a structural component of the muscular cell membrane. Dystrophin appears to have also a role as signaling molecule and a brain localization. Cognitive and learning deficits are seen in approximately 30–50% of DMD, with a major impairment in verbal domains still largely uncharacterized. We compared neuropsychological and literacy performances in six ambulatory, school-aged DMD patients with 12 age- and sex-matched children with developmental dyslexia (DD). Among others, the neuropsychological protocol included WISC-III, reading, writing, and comprehension tests, rapid automatic naming (RAN), working memory, and verbal and semantic fluency tests. Only six of 12 children with DD had a history of language delay (LDD). DMD patients and DD controls presented normal IQ values. All DMD were more impaired than controls with no LDD on most verbal measures including phonological working memory. DMD also shared with the selected DD population a low speed in RAN tests and impaired performances on working-memory tests. Preliminary observations confirm that DMD patients are at risk for learning problems with a specific deficit in the speed of lexical access. Difficulties in written language could also stem from a sub-optimal functioning of phonological working-memory. It is helpful to identify such profile in order to offer more appropriate educational measures warranting better performances at school
Reading impairment in Duchenne muscular dystrophy: A pilot study to investigate similarities and differences with developmental dyslexia
No full textBelow-average reading performances have been reported in individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), but literacy problems in these subjects have yet to be characterized. In this study, the presence and characteristics of literacy deficits in boys with DMD were investigated through a comparison with typically developing children and with children affected by developmental dyslexia, with the aim of clarifying whether DMD and developmental dyslexia have overlapping profiles of literacy deficits and whether these deficits are associated, as in children with dyslexia, with impairments in phonological processing and rapid lexical access.The results confirmed the high incidence of literacy problems in boys with DMD and revealed a profile less severe than, but qualitatively similar to, that of Italian children with developmental dyslexia. Both groups showed specific difficulties in reading and writing words and a reduced rapid automatized naming (RAN) speed. This is the first time that a RAN speed deficit has been documented in DMD. Moreover, the boys with DMD and the subgroup of dyslexic children with a previous language delay showed additional deficits in phonological processing.The impairments highlighted in this study could explain the reading difficulties observed in boys with DMD and suggest that there is a need for targeted preschool interventions
Reading impairment in Duchenne muscular dystrophy: A pilot study to investigate similarities and differences with developmental dyslexia.
No full textBelow-average reading performances have been reported in individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), but literacy problems in these subjects have yet to be characterized. In this study, the presence and characteristics of literacy deficits in boys with DMD were investigated through a comparison with typically developing children and with children affected by developmental dyslexia, with the aim of clarifying whether DMD and developmental dyslexia have overlapping profiles of literacy deficits and whether these deficits are associated, as in children with dyslexia, with impairments in phonological processing and rapid lexical access. The results confirmed the high incidence of literacy problems in boys with DMD and revealed a profile less severe than, but qualitatively similar to, that of Italian children with developmental dyslexia. Both groups showed specific difficulties in reading and writing words and a reduced rapid automatized naming (RAN) speed. This is the first time that a RAN speed deficit has been documented in DMD. Moreover, the boys with DMD and the subgroup of dyslexic children with a previous language delay showed additional deficits in phonological processing. The impairments highlighted in this study could explain the reading difficulties observed in boys with DMD and suggest that there is a need for targeted preschool interventions
Cognitive profile in Duchenne muscular dystrophy boys without intellectual disability: The role of executive functions
No full textThe aim of our prospective observational study was to assess profiles of cognitive function and a possible impairment of executive functions in a cohort of boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy without intellectual and behavior disability. Forty Duchenne boys (range of age: 6 years to 11 years and 6 months) were assessed by Wechsler Intelligence scale and battery of tests including tasks assessing working memory and executive functions (inhibition and switching, problem solving and planning). In our cohort some aspects of cognitive function were often impaired. These included multitasking, problem solving, inhibition and working memory necessary to plan and direct goal oriented behavior. Our results support the suggestion that aspects of cognitive function could be impaired even in boys without intellectual disability and support the hypothesis that executive functions may play an important role in specific aspects of cognitive impairment in Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Implicit learning deficit in children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy: Evidence for a cerebellar cognitive impairment?
No full textThis study aimed at comparing implicit sequence learning in individuals affected by Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy without intellectual disability and age-matched typically developing children. A modified version of the Serial Reaction Time task was administered to 32 Duchenne children and 37 controls of comparable chronological age. The Duchenne group showed a reduced rate of implicit learning even if in the absence of global intellectual disability. This finding provides further evidence of the involvement of specific aspects of cognitive function in Duchenne muscular dystrophy and on its possible neurobiological substrate
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