Empathic responses and optimum social functioning are associated with psychological and physical health benefits. The aim of this study was to compare emotional empathy, cognitive empathy, and social functioning among different age groups, including adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood. One hundred and ninety-six people (92 males, 104 females) with the age range of 14 to 85 assigned to four age groups (adolescents, young adults, middle adults, and older adults) participated in this study. Participants were asked to complete the Empathy Quotient, the Revised Eyes Test, and Social Functioning Scale. The results showed that there were significant differences between older adults and other groups. Emotional empathy increased in older people, but there were deficits in some aspects of cognitive empathy. Also, the findings showed an age-related decline in social functioning. Due to deficits in cognitive empathy affected by ageing, older adults showed some impairment in their ability to interpret emotional cues. This age-related decline in cognitive empathy might be a reason for weak social functioning in older adults. Therefore, considering these elements would be helpful to provide healthcare strategies for elderly people.

Objective. Previous studies have shown some motor deficits among stuttering and dyslexic children. While motor deficits in speech articulation of the stuttering children are among the controversial topics, no study on motor deficits of dyslexic children has been documented to date. Methods. 120 children (40 stuttering, 40 dyslexia, and 40 normal) 6–11 years old were matched and compared in terms of diadochokinetic skill. Dyslexia symptoms checklist, reading test, and diadochokinetic task were used as measurement instruments. Results. The data analysis showed that there are significant differences (P < 0.001) in reaction time and the number of syllables in accomplishing diadochokinetic tasks among stuttering children, dyslexics, and the control group. This indicates that stuttering children and dyslexics have poor performance in reaction time and in the number of monosyllable articulation and long syllable articulation. Furthermore, there are significant differences (P < 0.001) in these indices between stuttering children and dyslexics, so that the latter group have better performance than the former one. Conclusion. The findings indicate that stuttering children and dyslexics have deficits in diadochokinetic skill which suggests their low performance in the motor control of speech production and articulation. Such deficits might be due to the role of the tongue in the development of stuttering and dyslexia.

No abstract

No abstract

SummaryAim: The present study aimed to investigate the role of schema modes in cluster B personality disorders. Materials and methods:The participants were 220 individuals -38 men and 137 women -selected from psychiatric and psychological clinics in Tabriz, Iran. Among the participants, 153 individuals were diagnosed with cluster B personality disorder (44 with borderline disorder, 16 with antisocial disorder, 56 with histrionic disorder and 37 with narcissistic personality disorder). The remaining 67 participants had no personality disorder. The diagnosis was based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II disorders (SCID-II). All participants (with or without personality disorder) were assessed with Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MC-MI-III) and Schema Mode Inventory (SMI).Results: Vulnerable, angry and impulsive child modes are predictors of borderline personality disorder, and angry child, self-soother and healthy adult modes are predictors of antisocial personality disorder. The impulsive and happy child, the attack-bully and healthy adult schema modes predict histrionic personality disorder. Finally, the angry child, happy child, self-soother and self-aggrandizer schema modes could predict narcissistic personality disorder. Conclusions:Special schema modes have a role in explaining cluster B personality disorders, and yet these disorders may overlap with regard to some dimensions, especially in terms of cognitions and beliefs. This can be interpreted as a lack of specificity in categorical classification systems such as the DSM. personality disorder/cluster B/schema modes/cognitive theory of personality disorder