Neuroticism, perfectionism, and emotion suppression in burnout: Implications for cognitive functioning.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between burnout and cognitive functions, particularly memory, attention, and executive functions, which have been found to be negatively affected in most studies. However, the results are not consistent across studies, and there is often a discrepancy between self-reported cognitive function and objective assessment. Two possible explanations for this discrepancy are the heterogeneous profiles of individuals in burnout and their personality traits. The study administered neuropsychological tests and questionnaires to 29 participants with clinical burnout to assess their cognitive functions and the impact of perfectionism, neuroticism, and emotion suppression on subjective and objective cognitive scores. The main findings showed little or no deterioration in memory or executive functions, despite patients reporting severely impaired executive function. The study found that neuroticism and perfectionism were related to poorer self-reported executive function, while emotion suppression was related to better self-reported executive function. No relationship was found between personality traits and neuropsychological test scores, indicating a discrepancy between self-perception and objective evaluation.

The French Version of the DABS: Adaptation Process and Preliminary Field Test.

The aim of this study was to develop a transcultural adaptation of the Diagnostic Adaptive Behavior Scale (DABS) in French and to perform a field evaluation of the adapted version of the tool (DABS-F). Eight experts in intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and two professional translators formed two committees to translate the instrument. Thirty-four independent experts in IDD rated the clarity and relevance of the DABS-F. Results indicated complete agreement between the two translation committees and also demonstrated very satisfactory levels of clarity and relevance for the DABS-F. The latter result can be considered as evidence of the content validity of the adapted tool. Adjustments for the few items that presented less satisfactory results are discussed.

Executive functioning in adolescents and adults with Silver-Russell syndrome.

Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS) is a rare imprinting disorder characterized by prenatal and postnatal growth retardation. The two principal causes of SRS are loss of methylation on chromosome 11p15 (11p15 LOM) and maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 7 (UPD(7)mat). Knowledge of the neuropsychological profile of SRS remains sparse and incomplete even if several difficulties related to attention and learning have been reported both in the literature and by patients with SRS. These difficulties could be the result of troubles in different cognitive domains, but also of executive dysfunction. Nevertheless, executive functioning has never been investigated, even though executive functions play an essential role in psychological development, and are extensively involved in daily life. The present study explored the executive functioning of individuals with SRS due to UPD(7)mat or 11p15 LOM. A battery of executive tasks assessing cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, and working memory, together with a task assessing sustained attention, was administered to 19 individuals with SRS (13-39 years) and 19 healthy controls. The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function was also completed by the participants' families. The results showed that participants with SRS had similar performance (z-scores) to our controls, in a context of normal intellectual efficiency. Group comparisons with Bayesian statistics showed a single difference between the 11p15 LOM and control groups: the completion time for part A of the Trail Making Test appeared to be longer in the 11p15 LOM group than in the control group. However, at the clinical level, several participants with SRS had clinically significant scores on various measures of EFs. Thus, the cognitive phenotype of SRS did not appear to be characterized by executive dysfunction, but individuals with SRS could be at high risk of developing executive dysfunction or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. These results provide new insights into the neuropsychological profile of individuals with SRS.

Quality of life and mental health of adolescents and adults with Silver-Russell syndrome.

Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS) is a rare imprinting disorder characterized by prenatal and postnatal growth retardation. Despite normal intellectual functioning, psychosocial and behavioral difficulties have been observed in this syndrome. However, few studies have dealt with these aspects, even though this could enhance the current understanding of the SRS and, more importantly, improve the management of potential psychosocial problems. Given the sparse literature, this cross-sectional study aimed to establish the psychosocial and behavioral profile of individuals with SRS. To this end, we assessed the quality of life (World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire-Short Form), self-esteem (Coopersmith's Self-Esteem Inventory), anxiety (Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), and behavioral and emotional problems (Child Behavior Checklist and Adult Behavior Checklist) in a sample of 19 adolescents and adults with SRS and 18 without SRS (controls). We also analyzed clinical features, molecular genetic diagnosis, and past or current treatments of participants with SRS. Based on prior studies, we expected to observe psychological and behavioral difficulties in our clinical population. We also expected these difficulties, shared by both adolescents and adults with SRS, to be associated with factors such as height, genetics, or treatment. Overall, our results showed that participants with SRS had similar performances to those of controls, despite high interindividual variability among the adults with SRS. For example, while adults with SRS had a similar mean total self-esteem score to control participants, 45% of the adults with SRS still had very low self-esteem. In addition, adolescents and adults with SRS did not necessarily have the same difficulties. Social and behavioral problems appeared to be more common in adolescents with upd(7)mat while in adults, difficulties were not associated with either height, weight, NH-CSS score, or GH treatment but did appear to be associated with GnRHa treatment. Indeed, low self-esteem was associated with GnRHa treatment. Overall, this study shows that early intervention and multidisciplinary care right up to adulthood, including psychological support, are needed for this population, regardless of the molecular abnormality responsible for SRS, to cope with potential psychosocial problems.

Factors Explaining Deficits in Reading Acquisition: The Case of Williams Syndrome.

Purpose Multiple factors impact reading acquisition in individuals with reading disability, including genetic disorders such as Williams syndrome (WS). Despite a relative strength in oral language, individuals with WS usually have an intellectual disability and tend to display deficits in areas associated with reading. There is substantial variability in their reading skills. While some authors have postulated that phonological deficits are at the source of their reading deficits, others have suggested that they can be attributed to visuospatial deficits. This study was the first to undertake an in-depth exploration of reading skills among French-speaking children and adults with WS. We tested the assumption that some factors influence performance on single-word identification among individuals with WS, with a focus on the roles of phonological awareness and visuospatial skills. Method Participants were 29 French-speaking adults with WS and 192 controls matched for nonverbal mental age and reading level. We administered tests assessing reading (decoding and word recognition), vocabulary (expressive and receptive), and phonological and visuospatial skills. We also controlled for chronological age and nonverbal reasoning. Results Phonemic awareness was the most predictive factor of single-word identification in the WS group. Visuospatial skills also contributed, but not more or beyond other factors. More broadly, reasoning skills may also have accounted for the variability in single-word identification in WS, but this was not the case for either chronological age or vocabulary. Conclusions There is considerable heterogeneity among adults with WS, who may be either readers or prereaders. Similar profiles identified among individuals with other specific learning disabilities suggest that high reading variability is not specific to the neuropsychological profile of WS. We discuss a multidimensional approach to the factors involved in reading deficits in WS.

Maternal, foetal and child consequences of immunosuppressive drugs during pregnancy in women with organ transplant: a review.

Although pregnancy remains exceptional in women after heart, liver or lung transplant, obstetricians and nephrologists are regularly confronted with pregnancy in renal transplant recipients. National and international registries have described the epidemiology of maternal, foetal and neonatal complications, and transplantation societies have published recommendations on the monitoring of these high-risk pregnancies. In this review, we summarize the existing data on maternal and foetal complications of pregnancies in women after renal transplant, especially the management of immunosuppression. We also describe the few available data on the middle- and long-term outcomes of their children who were exposed in utero to immunosuppressive drugs.

[Pregnancies after kidney transplant: What are the consequences for the cognitive development of children?] / Grossesses après une transplantation rénale : quelles conséquences sur le développement cognitif des enfants ?

Thanks to medical progress in the field of kidney transplantation, the quality of life of women suffering from kidney failure has greatly improved in recent years. As a result, their fertility has increased significantly and pregnancies are now more frequent and safer. Kidney transplantation requires constant immunosuppressive treatment during pregnancy. These products can cross the placental barrier and their prescription is therefore subject to rigorous medical monitoring. There are many environmental factors that can affect the development of the child during pregnancy and affect its subsequent cognitive development. The possible impact of these immunosuppressive treatments on the medium- and long-term intellectual development of the children concerned is as yet little documented. Even if the available data are reassuring, the methodologies used in this work nevertheless raise questions and legitimize the development of complementary research. The aim of this review is to propose a synthesis of existing data in this field and to open up avenues for future research.

Intellectual functioning in Silver-Russell syndrome: First study in adults.

Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS) is a rare genetic disorder (estimated incidence 1/30,000 to 100,000 live births). So far, only a few studies have focused on the cognitive profile of individuals with SRS, and these were conducted some time ago, concentrated on pediatric cohorts, and included patients who had been diagnosed using a variety of clinical diagnostic systems. There has yet to be any research on the intellectual functioning of adults with SRS. This study sought to establish the intelligence, strengths and weaknesses within intellectual profile of adults with SRS, compared with normative data. Ten individuals with 11p15 epimutation aged 18-39 years completed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition. Measures of interest included participants' intelligence (Full Scale Intelligence Quotient [FSIQ]) and four domains of cognitive functioning: verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory and processing speed. Discrepancy scores were calculated, and descriptive statistical and linear correlations were used to investigate factors associated with IQ outcome. Clinical and medical information such as rehabilitation, and perceived difficulties in daily life were collected by interviews and questionnaires. Results showed that the mean FSIQ score was in the average range (M = 95.40, SD = 18.55) and they performed best on verbal comprehension. Frequent daily difficulties were reported by patients and/or their families: learning disabilities and low self-esteem were perceived by 60% of adults. Early intervention and multidisciplinary care from childhood to adulthood are important in SRS for care potential medical, cognitive and psychosocial problems. This is the first study to document the intellectual functioning of adults with SRS.

Prenatal exposure to glycol ethers and response inhibition in 6-year-old children: The PELAGIE cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Exposure to glycol ethers (GEs) is suspected of impairing neurodevelopment in children, but the specific impact on their inhibitory capacity, a central deficit of ADHD, has never been studied. We aimed to assess the impact of prenatal exposure to GEs on the response inhibition of children aged six years. METHODS: In total, 169 mother-child pairs from the French cohort PELAGIE (2002-2006) were studied. Maternal urinary concentrations of six GE metabolites (alkoxycarboxylic acids) were measured during pregnancy. Multiple imputation by quantile regression was used to handle non-detected values and the data were then classified into quartiles. Inhibition of children was evaluated by the Rhythmic Continuous Performance Test 90 (R-CPT90). The inhibition score (percentage of correct responses to non-target stimuli) was corrected for compliance with the instructions (percentage of correct responses to target stimuli). The analysis used a multiple linear regression model, adjusting for confounding factors for each metabolite. RESULTS: Median concentrations of metabolites ranged from 0.02 mg/L (Ethoxyacetic acid, EAA) to 0.39 mg/L (Phenoxyacetic acid, PhAA). The median corrected inhibition score was 37.9% [first quartile: 29.8 - third quartile: 47.9]. We found a negative and statistically significant association between the inhibition score and prenatal urinary EAA concentration (p-trend = 0.03), with a significant ß coefficient for the third quartile (ß = -0.064; 95% confidence interval: -0.121, -0.007). There were no statistically significant associations for the other five metabolites. CONCLUSION: These results are consistent with the hypothesis of possible impact of prenatal environmental exposure on inhibitory capacity among children. Data about the GEs metabolized to EAA (history of exposure sources and toxicokinetics) should be gathered to further interpret these results and guide precautionary measures.

Acquisition of Reading and Intellectual Development Disorder.

We propose a review of the literature of the studies investigating reading acquisition in intellectual deficiency (ID), with particular focus on the explanatory factors for reading difficulties. Indeed, we explore the role of intellectual efficiency, perceptual abilities, oral language development, phonological processing and memory. The study of reading acquisition in ID is a challenge because of a high degree of heterogeneity in the results which, together with other variables influencing learning and development. This review has allowed us to understand that there are multiple reasons why individuals with ID have difficulty learning to read. More specifically, there is a link between reading skills and certain cognitive skills, such as perception, oral language, phonological processing and working memory.

Prenatal Exposure to Glycol Ethers and Neurocognitive Abilities in 6-Year-Old Children: The PELAGIE Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Glycol ethers (GE) are widely used organic solvents. Despite the potential neurotoxicity of several families of organic solvents, little is known about the impact of GE on the neurodevelopment of infants and children. OBJECTIVES: We investigated the relation between urinary concentrations of GE metabolites in pregnant women and neurocognitive abilities in their 6-year-old children in the PELAGIE mother-child cohort. METHODS: Five GE metabolites were measured in first morning void urine samples of 204 French pregnant women in early pregnancy (< 19 weeks of gestation). Psychologists assessed the neurocognitive abilities of their 6-year-old children with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children IV (WISC) and the Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment (NEPSY). We analyzed the results with linear (WISC) and Poisson regression models (NEPSY), adjusted for potential confounders, including child's stimulation at home. RESULTS: GE metabolites were detected in 90-100% of maternal urine samples. The WISC Verbal Comprehension score was significantly lower for children with the highest tertile of urinary phenoxyacetic acid (PhAA) [ß (third vs. first tertile) = -6.53; 95% CI: -11.44, -1.62]. Similarly, the NEPSY Design Copying subtest score was lower in those with the highest tertile of urinary ethoxyacetic acid (EAA) [ß (third vs. first tertile) = -0.11; 95% CI: -0.21, 0.00]. The other GE metabolites we studied were not significantly associated with WISC or NEPSY scores. CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal urine concentrations of two GE metabolites were associated with lower WISC Verbal Comprehension Index scores and NEPSY Design Copying subscale scores, respectively, at age 6 years. PhAA is the primary metabolite of 2-phenoxyethanol (EGPhE), which is commonly found in cosmetics, and precursors of EAA are frequently used in cleaning agents. Additional research is needed to confirm our findings and further explore potential effects of prenatal GE exposures on neurocognitive performance in children.

Esquirol's change of view towards Pinel's mania without delusion.

We recount how Jean-Étienne Dominique Esquirol (1772-1840) gradually changed his position towards what Philipe Pinel (1745-1826) referred to as mania without delusion. Between 1805 and 1838, Esquirol moved from outright rejection, questioning the very idea of insane persons committing motiveless acts of violence without delusion, to relative acceptance. He eventually incorporated the clinical characteristics of mania without delusion in his description of homicidal monomania, dividing them between reasoning monomania and instinctive monomania. We examine this change by detailing each of Esquirol's points of disagreement, which decreased sharply between the completion of his thesis in 1805 and the publication of his chapter on homicidal monomania in 1838.

Childhood exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers and neurodevelopment at six years of age.

Mixtures of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are present in indoor environments. Studies of the developmental effects of exposure to these chemicals in large prospective mother-child cohorts are required, with data on prenatal exposure and long-term follow-up of the children. We aimed to investigate the relationship between prenatal and childhood exposure to PBDEs and neurodevelopment at the age of six years. We determined the levels of PBDEs and other neurotoxicants in cord blood and dust collected from the homes of children for 246 families included in the PELAGIE mother-child cohort in France. We assessed two cognitive domains of the six-year-old children using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV. Verbal comprehension scores were lower in children from homes with higher concentrations of BDE99 (ßDetects

Language and emotional abilities in children with Williams syndrome and children with autism spectrum disorder: similarities and differences.

Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic disease with a relatively homogeneous profile: relatively well-preserved language, impaired cognitive activities, and hypersociability. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a group of individuals with impairments in aspects of communication and a particular pattern of language acquisition. Although ASD and WS are polar opposites when it comes to communication abilities (language and emotion) and social behavior, comparisons between WS and ASD are still rare in the literature. ASD and WS are both associated with general language and developmental delays. Difficulties in social interaction and general pragmatic difficulties are reported in both ASD and WS, but are more pervasive in ASD. Regarding facial emotion recognition, the two syndromes differ markedly in sensitivity to human faces. Despite the heterogeneity of these two groups, only a few studies with children have paid sufficient attention to participant recruitment and study design. A number of aspects need to be taken into account (eg, small age range, homogeneity of the subgroups, matching with typically developing children) if scientific results are to inform the design of intervention programs for children with neurodevelopmental disorders such as ASD and WS.

Organophosphate Insecticide Metabolites in Prenatal and Childhood Urine Samples and Intelligence Scores at 6 Years of Age: Results from the Mother-Child PELAGIE Cohort (France).

BACKGROUND: Several studies suggest that exposure to organophosphate insecticides (OP) during pregnancy impairs neurodevelopment in children. OBJECTIVES: We evaluated associations between biomarkers of prenatal and postnatal OP exposure and cognitive function of 6-year-olds in a French longitudinal birth cohort. METHODS: In 2002-2006, the PELAGIE mother-child cohort enrolled pregnant women from Brittany. For a random subcohort, we measured nonspecific dialkylphosphate metabolites (DAP) of OP in one maternal urine sample, collected before 19 weeks' gestation, and in one urine sample collected from their 6-year-old children. Six subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 4th edition (WISC-IV) were administered when the children were 6 years of age to evaluate cognitive function (n = 231). Linear regression models controlling for factors including maternal intelligence and the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment score were used. RESULTS: WISC-IV scores were not significantly associated with prenatal or childhood total DAP metabolites. WISC verbal comprehension score was significantly higher in association with the highest maternal urinary concentrations of diethylphosphate (DE) metabolites (5.5; 95% CI: 0.8, 10.3 for > 13.2 nmol/L vs. < LOQ), whereas WISC working memory score was significantly lower in association with the highest urinary concentrations of DE metabolites at age 6 years (-3.6; 95% CI: -7.8, -0.6 for > 11.1 nmol/L vs. < LOD). CONCLUSION: We found no evidence that prenatal OP exposure adversely affected cognitive function in 6-year-olds, perhaps because of the population's socioeconomic status, which was higher than in previous studies, though other causal and noncausal explanations are also possible. The negative association between WISC score and concurrent DE urinary concentrations requires replication by longitudinal studies investigating childhood OP exposure. CITATION: Cartier C, Warembourg C, Le Maner-Idrissi G, Lacroix A, Rouget F, Monfort C, Limon G, Durand G, Saint-Amour D, Cordier S, Chevrier C. 2016. Organophosphate insecticide metabolites in prenatal and childhood urine samples and intelligence scores at 6 years of age: results from the mother-child PELAGIE cohort (France). Environ Health Perspect 124:674-680; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1409472.

Pyrethroid insecticide exposure and cognitive developmental disabilities in children: The PELAGIE mother-child cohort.

Pyrethroid insecticides are widely used in agriculture and in homes. Despite the neurotoxicity of these insecticides at high doses, few studies have examined whether lower-level exposures could adversely affect children's neurodevelopment. The PELAGIE cohort included 3421 pregnant women from Brittany, France between 2002 and 2006. When their children reached their sixth birthday, 428 mothers from the cohort were randomly selected, successfully contacted and found eligible. A total of 287 (67%) mothers agreed to participate with their children in the neuropsychological follow-up. Two cognitive domains were assessed by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children: verbal comprehension and working memory. Five pyrethroid and two organophosphate insecticide metabolites were measured in maternal and child first-void urine samples collected between 6 and 19 gestational weeks and at 6years of age, respectively. Linear regression models were used to estimate associations between cognitive scores and urinary pyrethroid metabolite concentrations, adjusting for organophosphate metabolite concentrations and potential confounders. Maternal prenatal pyrethroid metabolite concentrations were not consistently associated with any children's cognitive scores. By contrast, childhood 3-PBA and cis-DBCA concentrations were both negatively associated with verbal comprehension scores (P-trend=0.04 and P-trend<0.01, respectively) and with working memory scores (P-trend=0.05 and P-trend<0.01, respectively). No associations were observed for the three other childhood pyrethroid metabolite concentrations (4-F-3-PBA, cis-DCCA, and trans-DCCA). Low-level childhood exposures to deltamethrin (as cis-DBCA is its principal and selective metabolite), in particular, and to pyrethroid insecticides, in general (as reflected in levels of the 3-PBA metabolite) may negatively affect neurocognitive development by 6years of age. Whatever their etiology, these cognitive deficits may be of importance educationally, because cognitive impairments in children interfere with learning and social development. Potential causes that can be prevented are of paramount public health importance.

Inferring emotions from speech prosody: not so easy at age five.

Previous research has suggested that children do not rely on prosody to infer a speaker's emotional state because of biases toward lexical content or situational context. We hypothesized that there are actually no such biases and that young children simply have trouble in using emotional prosody. Sixty children from 5 to 13 years of age had to judge the emotional state of a happy or sad speaker and then to verbally explain their judgment. Lexical content and situational context were devoid of emotional valence. Results showed that prosody alone did not enable the children to infer emotions at age 5, and was still not fully mastered at age 13. Instead, they relied on contextual information despite the fact that this cue had no emotional valence. These results support the hypothesis that prosody is difficult to interpret for young children and that this cue plays only a subordinate role up until adolescence to infer others' emotions.

Age- and sex-dependent contact call usage in Japanese macaques.

The question of the flexibility of nonhuman primate vocal communication remains open today, especially due to early evidence of innately guided vocal production. However, socially determined flexibility can be found when the debate is moved from vocal structure to vocal usage. While increasing evidence shows that the audience quality influences the vocal behaviour of nonhuman primates, the impact of the caller's characteristics has been far less studied. Here, we tested the influence of an individual's sex and age on the usage style of contact calls. We recorded contact calls of male and female Japanese macaques and compared the vocal usage styles of approximately 1-year-old juveniles with those of adults at various ages. We found, first, important differences in call usage style between juveniles and adults, the latter forming temporally ruled vocal exchanges respecting an interindividual turntaking principle. Moreover, sex differences were substantial in adults but nonexistent in juveniles. Finally, age continued to influence female vocal behaviour during adulthood, whereas dominance rank explained differences between adult males. Two nonexclusive mechanisms can explain this phenomenon, that is, a socially guided development of the appropriate form of calling versus an emotional maturation to control call emission, opening new lines of research on nonhuman primate vocal development of appropriate usages.

Oral narrative skills in French adults who are functionally illiterate: linguistic features and discourse organization.

PURPOSE: To investigate the nature and extent of oral language difficulties encountered by adults who are functionally illiterate. METHOD: Fifty-two men and women identified as functionally illiterate, together with a group of control individuals of comparable age, sex, and socioprofessional background, produced a narrative intended for an absent recipient based on a sequence of pictures featuring a cast of 3 protagonists. All narratives were transcribed in their entirety and coded in terms of linguistic features and discourse organization. RESULTS: As a group, the participants who were illiterate had great difficulty handling morphosyntactic rules, referential cohension, and the narrative schema. Furthermore, a qualitative analysis highlighted considerable interindividual variability in narrative styles, reflecting different types of difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals who have not succeeded in learning to read also have impaired oral language abilities. This may affect different aspects of communication skills to a greater or lesser extent. These results have implications for teaching written language to adult learners.

Idiom comprehension in French-speaking children and adolescents with Williams' syndrome.

This study looks at idiom comprehension by French-speaking people with Williams' syndrome (WS) and metapragmatic knowledge is examined. Idiomatic expressions are a nonliteral form of language where there is a considerable difference between what is said (literal interpretation) and what is meant (idiomatic interpretation). WS is characterized by a relatively preserved formal language, social interest and poor conversational skills. Using this framework, the present study aims to explore the comprehension of idiomatic expressions by 20 participants with WS. Participants performed a story completion task (comprehension task), and a task of metapragmatic knowledge to justify their chosen answers. WS performances were compared to typically developing children with the same verbal mental age. The main results can be summarized as follows: (1) people with WS have difficulties to understand idioms; (2) WS group seems to perform partly as typically developing children for the acquisition of metapragmatic knowledge of linguistic convention: there is a progressive increase in metapragmatic knowledge of linguistic convention as age increased. Our results indicate a delay of acquisition in idiom comprehension in Williams' syndrome.