RESUMEN
A large number of adolescents experience difficulty when choosing a suitable higher education program that matches their self-views. Stimulating self-concept development could help adolescents to increase their chances of finding a suitable major. We addressed this issue by examining the effects of a naturalistic self-concept training within a gap year context on behavioral and neural correlates of self-evaluations, as well as the long-term effects for future educational decision-making. In total, 38 adolescents/young adults (ages 16-24 years) participated in a 4-wave longitudinal study, with lab visits before, during, and after the training, including behavioral assessments and fMRI. During fMRI-scanning, they rated themselves on positive and negative traits in academic, (pro)social, and physical domains, and additionally filled out questionnaires related to self-esteem and self-concept clarity. Results showed that the positivity of domain-specific self-evaluations, self-esteem, and self-concept clarity increased during the training. Second, participants with lower medial PFC activity during self-evaluation before training showed larger self-esteem increases over the year. Moreover, mPFC activity increased after training for the evaluation of positive but not negative traits. Furthermore, individual differences in the rate of change (slope) in self-concept clarity and social self-evaluations positively predicted social adjustment to college and academic performance 6 months after training. Together, these findings suggest that self-concept can be modulated in late adolescents, with an important role of the medial PFC in relation to enhanced positive self-evaluations, and self-concept clarity as a predictor of future educational outcomes.
Asunto(s)
Imagen por Resonancia Magnética , Autoimagen , Adolescente , Adulto , Autoevaluación Diagnóstica , Humanos , Estudios Longitudinales , Encuestas y Cuestionarios , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
We investigated behavioral and neural mechanisms in the relation between social media use (SMU) and self-concept, as well as longitudinal developmental outcomes. Adolescents and young adults (N = 150, 11-21 years old at T1) rated themselves on 60 traits in the academic, physical and prosocial domain, and also indicated how they thought peers would judge them (reflected-peer-judgements). Longitudinal questionnaires (1- and 2-year follow-up) were collected to assess positive (prosocial behavior, self-concept clarity) and negative (clinical symptoms) long-term outcomes. Results indicated that heavier self-reported SMU was linked with lower difference scores between self-judgements and reflected-peer-judgements. Lower SMU was related to more positive ratings from self-judgements vs. reflected-peer-judgements. SMU was also associated with less positive self-concept, particularly in the academic domain (boys and girls) and physical domain (girls). Neurally, increased SMU was linked to heightened mPFC-activity during self-judgements compared to reflected-peer-judgements, and increased activity during physical compared to academic and prosocial self-judgements. Longitudinal analyses indicated no evidence for long-term effects of social media use, self/reflected-peer-difference scores and mPFC-activity on clinical symptoms, prosocial behavior or self-concept clarity. This study highlights the complex relationship between social media use and wellbeing and future research is needed to confirm the lack of long-term effects.
Asunto(s)
Medios de Comunicación Sociales , Adolescente , Mapeo Encefálico , Niño , Femenino , Humanos , Imagen por Resonancia Magnética , Masculino , Grupo Paritario , Autoimagen , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
Objective: Advanced parenthood increases the risk of severe neurodevelopmental disorders like autism, Down syndrome and schizophrenia. Does advanced parenthood also negatively impact offspring's general neurodevelopment?Method: We analyzed child-, father-, mother- and teacher-rated attention-problems (N = 38,024), and standardized measures of intelligence (N = 10,273) and educational achievement (N = 17,522) of children from four Dutch population-based cohorts. The mean age over cohorts varied from 9.73-13.03. Most participants were of Dutch origin, ranging from 58.7%-96.7% over cohorts. We analyzed 50% of the data to generate hypotheses and the other 50% to evaluate support for these hypotheses. We aggregated the results over cohorts with Bayesian research synthesis.Results: We mostly found negative linear relations between parental age and attention-problems, meaning that offspring of younger parents tended to have more attention problems. Maternal age was positively and linearly related to offspring's IQ and educational achievement. Paternal age showed an attenuating positive relation with educational achievement and an inverted U-shape relation with IQ, with offspring of younger and older fathers at a disadvantage. Only the associations with maternal age remained after including SES. The inclusion of child gender in the model did not affect the relation between parental age and the study outcomes.Conclusions: Effects were small but significant, with better outcomes for children born to older parents. Older parents tended to be of higher SES. Indeed, the positive relation between parental age and offspring neurodevelopmental outcomes was partly confounded by SES.
Asunto(s)
Madres , Padres , Teorema de Bayes , Etnicidad , Femenino , HumanosRESUMEN
Longitudinal data from multiple cohorts may be analyzed by Bayesian research synthesis. Here, we illustrate this approach by investigating the development of self-control between age 13 and 19 and the role of sex therein in a multi-cohort, longitudinal design. Three Dutch cohorts supplied data: the Netherlands Twin Register (NTR; N = 21,079), Research on Adolescent Development and Relationships-Young (RADAR-Y; N = 497), and Tracking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS; N = 2229). Self-control was assessed by one measure in NTR and RADAR-Y, and three measures in TRAILS. In each cohort, we evaluated evidence for competing informative hypotheses regarding the development of self-control. Subsequently, we aggregated this evidence over cohorts and measures to arrive at a robust conclusion that was supported by all cohorts and measures. We found robust evidence for the hypothesis that on average self-control increases during adolescence (i.e., maturation) and that individuals with lower initial self-control often experience a steeper increase in self-control (i.e., a pattern of recovery). From self-report, boys have higher initial self-control levels at age 13 than girls, whereas parents report higher self-control for girls.
Asunto(s)
Desarrollo del Adolescente/fisiología , Autocontrol/psicología , Adolescente , Adulto , Estudios de Cohortes , Femenino , Humanos , Estudios Longitudinales , Masculino , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
Natural regulatory CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) T cells control peripheral immune responses. Freshly isolated regulatory T-cell populations are regarded as being unable to suppress the proliferation of strongly stimulated effector T cells. We now provide evidence that it is not the strength of the proliferative signal to effector T cells but activation and accessibility of regulatory T cells that determine whether suppression may occur. Human regulatory T cells were initially cocultured with allogeneic monocyte-derived dendritic cells for a short time and were then rendered accessible for effector T cells by removal of the dendritic cells. That way activated regulatory T cells effectively suppressed the proliferation of autologous effector T cells which was strongly driven by cell-sized Dynabeads coated with CD3/CD28 antibodies. Although regulatory T cells are known to display MHC II molecules and to upregulate their expression along with activation, a role of MHC II molecules in forming the contact to effector T cells was not yet envisaged. However, blocking of MHC II on activated regulatory T cells abrogated their suppressive potential. It should not be excluded that self-MHC molecules on physically accessible activated regulatory T cells arrange the contact to effector T cells.
Asunto(s)
Anticuerpos/farmacología , Antígenos de Histocompatibilidad Clase II/inmunología , Tolerancia Inmunológica/efectos de los fármacos , Linfocitos T Reguladores/efectos de los fármacos , Comunicación Celular/inmunología , Proliferación Celular , Células Cultivadas , Técnicas de Cocultivo , Células Dendríticas , Humanos , Activación de Linfocitos/inmunología , Linfocitos T Reguladores/inmunologíaRESUMEN
A 65-kDa tumor-associated protein (P65) is a potential non- specific tumor marker expressed by many types of tumor cells. Our recent studies indicate that P65 gene expression is connected with poor prognosis for the patients with colorectal cancer. In the present study P65 gene expression was determined by means of RT-PCR in the group of 22 gastric cancer and adjacent normal gastric mucosa. Its presence was correlated with some parameters of clinical staging. P65 gene expression was also determined in 102 tissue antral gastric endoscopic biopsy specimens from the patients suspected of H. pylori infection. The presence of H. pylori infection was determined by urease test. We found that in the group of gastric cancers, similarly to colorectal cancer, P65 gene expression was connected with poor clinicopathological parameters as T3, lymph nodes and distant metastases. There was no dependence between P65 gene expression and H. pylori infection. However, more often P65 gene expression was detected in the group of infected men than women. There was also a statistically significant dependence between age and P65 gene expression in the group of people above 60 years old. It could be then postulated that P65 gene expression is connected with poor prognosis for the patients suffering from gastric cancer and that this expression does not depend on H. pylori infection.
Asunto(s)
Infecciones por Helicobacter/genética , Infecciones por Helicobacter/microbiología , Helicobacter pylori/patogenicidad , Neoplasias Gástricas/genética , Neoplasias Gástricas/microbiología , Factor de Transcripción ReIA/genética , Adulto , Biopsia , Femenino , Mucosa Gástrica/metabolismo , Mucosa Gástrica/patología , Infecciones por Helicobacter/metabolismo , Humanos , Ganglios Linfáticos/patología , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Invasividad Neoplásica/patología , Pronóstico , ARN Mensajero/metabolismo , Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa de Transcriptasa Inversa , Neoplasias Gástricas/metabolismo , Factor de Transcripción ReIA/metabolismoRESUMEN
The irreversible binding of the radical cation of promethazine (PMZ+.) to DNA and protein in vitro and bacterial macromolecules in situ has been studied. Binding experiments were performed with synthesized [35S] promethazine. The results are compared to those with the chlorpromazine radical cation (CPZ+.). Secondary reaction products which result from fission of the alkylamino side chain are involved in the macromolecular binding of PMZ+. Compared to CPZ+. the covalent DNA binding of PMZ+. is significantly less. A larger amount of PMZ+. binds to single-stranded DNA than to double-stranded DNA. The extent of binding to proteins and RNA is of the same order as that of CPZ+. Bacterial mutagenicity tests show that the low genotoxicity of PMZ+. is related to the low DNA binding. The bacterial cytotoxicity is possibly related to the covalent protein binding. Similar results have been obtained with photoactivated promethazine (PMZ) and chlorpromazine (CPZ). The role of radical cations in the photosensitization and metabolic activation of phenothiazine drugs is discussed.