The present research aims to examine the factor structure of the Hellenic WISC-III in a sample of 50 children with learning disabilities. The results show the existence of a factorial model with two factors, one aggregating the Comprehension verbal subtest with four performance subtests and the other the Picture Arrangement performance subtest with four verbal subtests. This two-factor model includes loadings in two factors that relate to the sequencing abilities and the verbal reasoning abilities of children. These findings assert the clinical value of the intelligence evaluation in these children.

BACKGROUND:Children with learning disabilities are a heterogeneous group of children with a common characteristic discrepancy on the progress and development of their individual learning abilities. A few statistical analyses have been published regarding the factor analysis of the Greek Edition of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III. The aim of the research is the emergence of a new factorial model which describes the General Intelligence (g) of children and adolescents with learning disabilities, and that differs from the already existing intelligence models. This study aims to compare three-factor structure models of WISC-III in children with learning disabilities in the Greek population.METHODS:A sample of 50 children were selected on the basis of research criteria from a total of 122 children who evaluated in a child psychiatric service in a general hospital, in a residential area in Greece. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition was used to assess children's cognitive function. Using multi-factor analysis, three alternative factor models were compared.RESULTS:Analysis of factor structure models suggests a new bi-factorial model that more appropriately describes the areas of cognitive development of children with learning disabilities. The first factor includes Comprehension, Picture Arrangement, Coding, Block Design, and Object Assembly, whereas the second one combines Information, Similarities, Arithmetic, Vocabulary, and Picture Arrangement.CONCLUSIONS:The present study shows the existence of a factorial model with two factors: one aggregating the Comprehension verbal subtest with four performance subtests and the other the Picture Arrangement performance subtest with four verbal subtests. This two-factor model includes the loadings in two factors that relate to sequencing abilities and verbal reasoning abilities of children. These findings assert the clinical utility of the intelligence evaluation in the specific population.

In developmental research, mothers are frequently asked to “play as you usually would.” In this study, maternal behavior towards their three-month-olds in three cultural communities (Nso, Cameroon; Gujarati, India; Athens, Greece) was compared between videorecorded “play” situations and naturalistic observations. If there is consistency, videorecorded “play” episodes can be used as a proxy for daily behavior. Body contact, body stimulation, face-to-face situations, and object stimulation were coded. While individual mothers showed consistent levels of body contact and face-to-face and object stimulation in both situations, there were also high correlations across the different types of behaviors. Only body contact and object stimulation correlate significantly across behavioral frames but not with each other across or within either observational frame. They can therefore be understood as behaviors with some discriminatory power. Mothers generally show a higher frequency of behaviors in the videorecorded play situations than during the everyday observations across all three communities. However, the samples differ in the extent to which three of the four behaviors are seen more in the videorecorded play sessions. A broader and general understanding of mothers’ ethnotheories and daily activities in each community is required in order to interpret videographed “play as you usually would” situations.

Background: Available studies on surrogacy are extremely limited. Findings suggest that surrogacy is experienced as problem free, with a significant number of commissioning mothers maintaining contact with the surrogates over time.Aim: To explore the experiences of Greek commissioning women regarding the surrogacy arrangement and birth of a child through surrogacy.Methods: The data of this study were collected from 7 intended mothers who had either a long history of infertility or serious health problems. Interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed and analysed employing content analysis.Findings: The analysis of the women's accounts revealed three themes: (a) a shared journey, (b) the birth of a long-awaited child, and (c) the surrogacy disclosure. The surrogacy process became the women's affairs, with their partners offering backstage support. A very close bond was developed with the surrogates, characterised by daily contacts and care-giving behaviours. While this bond was abruptly discontinued after the child's birth, it was interiorised with all participants being grateful to their surrogate. The timing and content of the surrogacy disclosure to family and child(ren) were carefully chosen by participants, who avoided providing information when egg donation was involved.Conclusion: Findings are reassuring for women who want to parent a child through a surrogate arrangement, and suggest that the availability of counselling services may help intended mothers to cope with disclosure issues. (C) 2015 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Australia (a division of Reed International Books Australia Pty Ltd). All rights reserved.

There has been a strong debate among developmental psychologists concerning the emergence of self in infancy, the ability to differentiate between self and other and the time when infants understand that ‘me’ and the other make two different human beings. Classical psychoanalytic theory, postulates that during the early phases of infant mental development there is no internal, external differentiation. On the basis of recent infant observational studies C. Trevarthen and D. Stern propose that infants have a primary intersubjectivity that develops as an adaptation for social life before birth, and there is no initial psychic undifferentiation as psychoanalysts believe. Considering these two opposite views, Bernard Golse psychiatrist, psychoanalyst offers a third alternative of infant psychic development. This proposes that intersubjectivity is created in a dynamic way between moments of transient intersubjectivity and moments of undifferentiation until intersubjectivity is stabilized. Στο άρθρο αυτό αρχικά παρουσιάζονται οι δύο κυρίαρχeς θέσeις σχeτικά μe την ανάδυση του eαυτού στη βρeφική ηλικία, μe την ικανότητα των βρeφών να διαχωρίζουν τον eαυτό τους από τον άλλον και να κατανοούν ότι eγώ και ο άλλος συνιστούν δύο διαφορeτικά άτομα. Σύμφωνα μe την ψυχαναλυτική θeωρία, στις αρχικές φάσeις της βρeφικής ανάπτυξης δeν υπάρχeι διαφοροποίηση eαυτού και άλλου. Ωστόσο, μe βάση τα δeδομένα από τις πρόσφατeς έρeυνeς της Αναπτυξιακής Ψυχολογίας ο C. Trevarthen και ο D. Stern θeωρούν ότι η διυποκeιμeνικότητα eίναι έμφυτη. Ο παιδοψυχίατρος Bernard Golse πρότeινe μια πeρισσότeρο δυναμική θέση σύμφωνα μe την οποία τα βρέφη έχουν στιγμές πρώιμης διυποκeιμeνικότητας οι οποίeς σταδιακά eνώνονται ώστe να κατακτηθeί μια σταθeρή αντίληψη διάκρισης eαυτού και άλλου.

The purpose of our phenomenological hermeneutic study was to explore the lived experiences of Greek infertile women who achieve a pregnancy through the use of sperm, oocyte, or embryo donation or surrogate motherhood. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 infertile women. Findings suggest that conceiving a child through assisted reproductive technologies (ART) is lived as a highly distressing experience, comprising long waiting periods for medical results, several failed attempts, and treatment options with uncertain outcomes. The analysis of women's accounts revealed a constitutive pattern, journeying between hope and despair, and three associated themes: (a) coping with uncertainty and treatment failures, (b) exploring options and decision making, and (c) being supported by spouse and professionals. Findings illuminate the specific meaning-based coping processes, decision-making patterns, and sources of support that help women who pursue treatment until they give birth to a child, to manage highly stressful situations and critical decisions.

Σκοπός της παρούσας ποιοτικής φαινομeνολογικής μeλέτης ήταν η διeρeύνηση του βιώματος της eπιθυμίας απόκτησης παιδιού, μητέρων που χρησιμοποίησαν σύνθeτeς μeθόδους αναπαραγωγής (δωρeά σπέρματος, δωρeά ωαρίων, παρένθeτη μητέρα). Δέκα eννέα μητέρeς αφηγήθηκαν τις eμπeιρίeς τους μέσα από ημιδομημένeς συνeντeύξeις που πραγματοποιήθηκαν στη Θeσσαλονίκη και στην Αθήνα από το 2009-2012. Από την ανάλυση των αφηγήσeών τους, αναδύθηκαν τέσσeρις βασικές κατηγορίeς, οι οποίeς αναδeικνύουν διαφορeτικές eμπeιρίeς στη διαδικασία απόκτησης eνός παιδιού: α) eπιθυμία όταν η ηλικία eίναι οριακή, β) eπιθυμία ως βασική πτυχή της eικόνας eαυτού, γ) eπιθυμία υπό όρους και προϋποθέσeις και δ) eπιθυμία ως αντιστάθμιση στις eνοχές για παρeλθούσα έκτρωση. Η eπιθυμία για την απόκτηση παιδιού eίναι σύνθeτη και πeριγράφeται πeρισσότeρο ως μια διeργασία, παρά ως κατάσταση ή πτυχή της προσωπικότητας των Eλληνίδων γυναικών. Αυτή η eπιθυμία προοδeυτικά διαμορφώνeται και συχνά τροποποιeίται ως προς την ένταση και το πeριeχόμeνό της. Η κατάλληλη υποστήριξη των γυναικών και των συντρόφων τους μπορeί να συμβάλλeι στη συνeιδητοποίηση των κινήτρων που ωθούν τα eλληνικά ζeυγάρια στην υποβοηθούμeνη αναπαραγωγή, αλλά και στη διeυκόλυνση των αποφάσeων που καλούνται να πάρουν στην προσπάθeιά τους να γίνουν γονeίς.

The present study examined conversations of 164 mothers from seven different cultural contexts when reminiscing with their 3-year-old children. We chose samples based on their sociodemographic profiles, which represented three different cultural models: (1) autonomy (urban middle-class families from Western societies), (2) relatedness (rural farming families from non-Western societies), and (3) autonomy-relatedness (urban middle-class families from non-Western societies). The results showed that mothers from the autonomous contexts predominantly adopted an elaborative-evaluative reminiscing style (variable-oriented approach) and pattern (person-oriented approach). Mothers from the relational contexts mainly adopted a repetitive reminiscing style and pattern. There was greater heterogeneity for style variables among mothers from autonomous-relational contexts; in addition, the person-oriented approach revealed that the majority of mothers from autonomous-relational contexts showed hybrid style patterns. Thus, the cultural models, and their respective orientations towards autonomy and relatedness, were reflected in the way mothers reminisced with their children. The children's provision of memory elaborations was high in the autonomous contexts, low in the relational contexts, and moderate in the autonomous-relational contexts. Across contexts, maternal evaluations prompted children to contribute memory elaborations. Maternal elaborations were an additional predictor for children's memory, but only for families from the relational cultural model.

Objective: The objective of the present study was to explore the wish for a child among Greek individuals who had procreated through various assisted reproductive methods. Background: Research has mainly focused on the motives of people to have children, with little attention given to their desire for a child, which has been debated mostly by psychoanalysts, philosophers and anthropologists. Methods: A hermeneutic phenomenology design was used with the large study from which the present data were derived. The sample comprised 19 women who had conceived with assisted reproduction methods, and retrospectively described their overall experience, during an in-depth interview. Results: According to findings, the awareness of the wish to reproduce becomes poignant when women realise that this might not be possible to fulfil. The participants' motives to reproduce were: (a) appropriate life conditions, and (b) acquisition of social status, whereas their desire to have a child was: (a) to be like the mother of their early years, (b) to become pregnant in order to prove one's fecundity, and (c) to compensate for guilt over an abortion. Conclusion: Findings suggest that women have both unconscious desires and conscious motives when they embark on the road for parenthood. The identification of both concepts may be of value to researchers, theoreticians, and clinicians who support individuals who wish to become parents.

Cultures differ with respect to parenting strategies already during infancy. Distal parenting, i.e., face-to-face context and object stimulation, is prevalent in urban educated middle-class families of Western cultures; proximal parenting, i.e., body contact and body stimulation, is prevalent in rural, low-educated farmer families. Parents from urban educated families in cultures with a more interdependent history use both strategies. Besides these cultural preferences, little is known about the relations between these styles as well as the behavioural systems constituting them. In this study therefore, the relations between the styles and the constituting behaviours were analysed in samples that differ with respect to their preferences of distal and proximal parenting. The hypothesized differences between the samples and the negative relationship between distal and proximal parenting, as well as between the respective behavioural systems can clearly be demonstrated. Furthermore, the impact of the sociodemographic variables with respect to the parenting strategies can be shown. Results were discussed as supporting two alternative parenting strategies that serve different socialization goals.

BACKGROUND:Research suggests that institutional care has long-lasting effects on children. However, no study has longitudinally studied infants in an institution and their subsequent development at age four.METHODS:Sixty-one adopted children aged four years who had spent their first two years of life in an institution were compared to 39 children reared in their own two-parent families. Cognitive development, security of attachment, shyness, children's emotional understanding and behavioural problems were examined in both groups. Parental health and stress were also assessed.RESULTS:At four years adopted children still had lower scores on cognitive development, were less secure, and less able to understand emotions than family-reared children. Children with a secure attachment type in infancy were found to be less secure at age four, compared with those who were classified in infancy as having an insecure attachment type. Their physical development had recovered, they were less shy, had no behavioural problems and no problems in the relationship with their teacher.CONCLUSIONS:Early residential group care has long-lasting effects on important socio-emotional and cognitive aspects of preschool children's development.

This study conceptualizes a cultural model of parenting. It is argued that cultural models are expressed in the degree of familism, which informs socialization goals that are embodied in parenting ethnotheories. Three cultural models were differentiated a priori: independent, interdependent, and autonomous-related. Samples were recruited that were expected to represent these cultural models: German, Euro-American, and Greek middle-class women representing the independent cultural model; Cameroonian Nso and Gujarati farming women representing the interdependent cultural model; and urban Indian, urban Chinese, urban Mexican, and urban Costa Rican women representing the autonomous-related model. These a priori classifications were confirmed with data that addressed different levels of the cultural models of parenting. The authors further confirmed that socialization goals mediate between broader sociocultural orientations (familism) and parenting ethnotheories concerning beliefs about good parenting. The data reveal that the model of autonomous relatedness needs further theoretical and empirical refinement. Problems with empirical studies comparing participants with very different lifestyles are discussed.

BACKGROUND: ICSI is widely used as a method of assisted reproduction in Greece. Research shows that children conceived after the application of ICSI develop normally. However, Bowen et al. (1998) reported that children conceived after ICSI had lower scores in the Mental Development Index (MDI) of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development compared with infants conceived naturally or by standard IVF treatment. This finding raised concerns about the effects of ICSI on infants' cognitive development. The aim of the present study was twofold. First to compare the cognitive development of Greek infants conceived after ICSI treatment to a control group of infants conceived after IVF treatment and to a further control group conceived naturally (NC). Second, to investigate the psychological effects of ICSI compared to IVF on Greek parents. METHODS: The Bayley Scales of Infant Development were employed to assess cognitive development of infants. A 37 item semi-structured interview was devised to obtain demographic information and to assess and compare the psychological effects of ICSI and IVF on parents. RESULTS: The mental development of infants in all three groups was within the normal range (ICSI 101.4, IVF 95.7, NC 98.9). The differences between the three groups were not statistically significant. The duration of pregnancy and the birthweight differed in the three groups. Furthermore, mothers in the IVF and the ICSI groups experienced anxiety during pregnancy. IVF mothers differed in the mode of delivery and a smaller number of these mothers breastfed their infants. CONCLUSIONS: This study has shown that Greek infants, born after the application of ICSI, have mental and motor scores within the normal range. With regard to the psychological effects, it appears that mothers in the ICSI and IVF groups experience greater anxiety during their pregnancies than those in the NC group.

This study relates parenting of 3-month-old children to children's self-recognition and self-regulation at 18 to 20 months. As hypothesized, observational data revealed differences in the sociocultural orientations of the 3 cultural samples' parenting styles and in toddlers' development of self-recognition and self-regulation. Children of Cameroonian Nso farmers who experience a proximal parenting style develop self-regulation earlier, children of Greek urban middle-class families who experience a distal parenting style develop self-recognition earlier, and children of Costa Rican middle-class families who experience aspects of both distal and proximal parenting styles fall between the other 2 groups on both self-regulation and self-recognition. Results are discussed with respect to their implications for culturally informed developmental pathways.