Deficient processing of alcohol cues in the addicted brain: Evidence from event-related potential microstates.

Objective: Patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) show altered brain responses to alcohol cues as compared to healthy controls. Event-related potential (ERP) studies mostly focus on the P3, which is usually diminished in AUD patients. The few studies that have investigated earlier components have yielded inconsistent results.

Catch the moment: The power of turning mistakes into 'precious' learning opportunities.

We developed a series of small group workshops that aim to facilitate communication during very challenging ethically sensitive scenarios within a Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine (NPM) postgraduate curriculum at the University of Ottawa. These workshops are called Scenario-Oriented Learning in Ethics (SOLE). This educational intervention aims to focus attention on the learner's needs and to help them recognize, define, and view each communicative or behavioural mistake as an occasion to achieve a personal-defined learning goal in a controlled environment free of judgement.

The role of shame and self-compassion in psychotherapy for narcissistic personality disorder: An exploratory study.

This process-outcome study aims at exploring the role of shame, self-compassion, and specific therapeutic interventions in psychotherapy for patients with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). This exploratory study included a total of N = 17 patients with NPD undergoing long-term clarification-oriented psychotherapy. Their mean age was 39 years, and 10 were male.

Neurophysiological traces of interpersonal pain: How emotional autobiographical memories affect event-related potentials.

The automatic, involuntary reactivation of disturbing emotional memories, for example, of interpersonal pain, causes psychological discomfort and is central to many psychopathologies. This study aimed at elucidating the automatic brain processes underlying emotional autobiographical memories by investigating the neurophysiological dynamics within the first second after memory reactivation. Pictures of different individualized familiar faces served as cues for different specific emotional autobiographical memories, for example, for memories of interpersonal pain and grievances or for memories of appreciation in interpersonal relationships.

Leaving Distress Behind: A Randomized Controlled Study on Change in Emotional Processing in Borderline Personality Disorder.

Objective: The marked impulsivity and instability of clients suffering from borderline personality disorder (BPD) greatly challenge therapists' understanding and responsiveness. This may hinder the development of a constructive therapeutic relationship despite it being of particular importance in their treatment. Recent studies have shown that using motive-oriented therapeutic relationship (MOTR), a possible operationalization of appropriate therapist responsiveness, can enhance treatment outcome for BPD.

Integrating Engagement and Improvement Work in a Pediatric Hospital.

Although geared towards a common goal - improved patient-centred care - quality improvement strategies and patient engagement-focused approaches are often developed and conducted in silos. The lack of integration may lead, on the one hand, to the uptake of patient suggestions that do not always take into consideration implications for the delivery of quality care and, on the other hand, to inadequate understanding of patient views required to create optimal services. The Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO)'s action plans to address gaps in patient engagement and quality improvement, two of its priority areas, were initially carried out in isolation of each other.

Education in the Waiting Room: Description of a Pediatric Emergency Department Educational Initiative.

Objective: The aim of this study was to understand parents' awareness of and reactions to a slide presentation based waiting-room educational initiative.

Methods: This was a prospective observational study at a Canadian tertiary-care pediatric emergency department (ED) with an annual census of 68,000 visits. An anonymous parental survey was developed de novo, and parents were asked to complete the survey during their low-acuity ED visit over a 2-week study period.

Treat Me But Don't Judge Me: A Qualitative Examination of Health Care Experiences of Pregnant and Parenting Youth.

Study Objective: To share pregnant and parenting youth's experiences with health care to inform recommendations for promoting youth-friendly medical encounters.

Design: This exploratory study used a qualitative descriptive approach.

Setting: Three urban centers that service pregnant youth and young parents in a large Canadian city.

Development of stimulus material for research in alcohol use disorders.

The availability of appropriate stimulus material is a key concern for an experimental approach to research on alcohol use disorders (AUDs). A large number of such stimuli are necessary to evoke relevant alcohol-related associations. We report the development of a large stimulus database consisting of 457 pictures of alcoholic beverages and 398 pictures of neutral objects.

But We're Not Like the People on TV: A Qualitative Examination of How Media Messages are Perceived by Pregnant and Parenting Youth.

Objectives: The media has long been established as influential in the formation of youth attitudes. It remains unknown, however, whether popular media depictions of teenage pregnancy and motherhood shape the meanings pregnant and parenting youth (PPY) construct. This study explored PPY's perceptions of media messages portraying PPY.

Facilitators and Barriers to Noninvasive Ventilation Adherence in Youth with Nocturnal Hypoventilation Secondary to Obesity or Neuromuscular Disease.

Objective: Many youth struggle with adherence to bilevel noninvasive ventilation (NIV), often shortly after initiation of treatment. Anecdotal evidence suggests youths with comorbid obesity struggle with adherence while youths with comorbid neuromuscular disease demonstrate better adherence rates. The objective of this study was to explore factors relating to bilevel NIV adherence, and to compare these between youths with underlying obesity or neuromuscular disease.

Emotional Processing, Interaction Process, and Outcome in Clarification-Oriented Psychotherapy for Personality Disorders: A Process-Outcome Analysis.

It is important to understand the change processes involved in psychotherapies for patients with personality disorders (PDs). One patient process that promises to be useful in relation to the outcome of psychotherapy is emotional processing. In the present process-outcome analysis, we examine this question by using a sequential model of emotional processing and by additionally taking into account a therapist's appropriate responsiveness to a patient's presentation in clarification-oriented psychotherapy (COP), a humanistic-experiential form of therapy.

Focus on emotion as a catalyst of memory updating during reconsolidation.

We share the idea of Lane et al. that successful psychotherapy exerts its effects through memory reconsolidation. To support it, we add further evidence that a behavioral interference may trigger memory update during reconsolidation.

Lactation support and breastfeeding duration in jaundiced infants: a randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: Neonatal jaundice is the most common problem in full-term infants during the immediate post-natal period. We examined the effect of a lactation support intervention on breastfeeding duration in hospitalized jaundiced infants.

Study Design: We conducted a randomized controlled trial with a qualitative component involving mothers of hospitalized jaundiced breastfed infants <4 weeks of age.

Teaching ethics in neonatal and perinatal medicine: What is happening in Canada?

Ethically challenging clinical situations are frequently encountered in neonatal and perinatal medicine (NPM), resulting in a complex environment for trainees and a need for ethics training during NPM residency. In the present study, the authors conducted a brief environmental scan to investigate the ethics teaching strategies in Canadian NPM programs. Ten of 13 (77%) accredited Canadian NPM residency programs participated in a survey investigating teaching strategies, content and assessment mechanisms.

Controlling conflict from interfering long-term memory representations.

Remembering is more than an activation of a memory trace. As retrieval cues are often not uniquely related to one specific memory, cognitive control should come into play to guide selective memory retrieval by focusing on relevant while ignoring irrelevant information. Here, we investigated, by means of EEG and fMRI, how the memory system deals with retrieval interference arising when retrieval cues are associated with two material types (faces and spatial positions), but only one is task-relevant.