The Long-Term Psychobiological Consequences of Infant Emotions: Prescriptions for the Twenty-First Century

ADHS - Indikation für psychoanalytische Behandlungen? Einige klinische, konzeptuelle und empirische Überlegungen ausgehend von der Frankfurter Präventionsstudie

Based on clinical experiences, results of the Frankfurt Prevention Study and arguments taken from a current interdisciplinary dialogue between psychoanalysis and neurobiology the authors discuss that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) always has to be understood as a product of complex interactions of (mostly unconscious) idiosyncratic, biographical, relational, institutional, societal as well as neurobiological, neurophysiological, and genetical factors. This is one reason why the authors think that psychoanalysis with its unique conceptualizations to understand psychic realities as products of such a complex intertwining of unconscious and reality factors, taking into account biological as well as societal roots of human behavior, could be regarded as one of the best available psychotherapeutic approach nowadays which is capable to deal theoretically and therapeutically with children suffering from ADHD. Psychoanalysis offers an alternative (with longlasting positive results) to exclusive treatments with psychostimulants. This thesis is discussed by short case studies illustrating 7 subgroups of children with very different inner conflicts and fantasies all being subsumed under the ADHD diagnosis in DSM-IV.

Developmental Changes in Facial Expressions of Emotions in the Strange Situation During the Second Year of Life

Infants' expressions of discrete emotions were coded during the more stressful episodes (4 through 8) of the Strange Situation at 13 and 18 months. The data showed a significant decrease in full-face expressions (more complex configurations of movements) and a significant increase in component expressions (simpler and more constrained patterns of movements). The authors interpreted this trend as a developmental change toward more regulated and less intense emotions. Consistent with this view, the aggregate index of infants' full-face negative emotion expressions, interpreted as reflecting relatively unregulated intense emotions, correlated significantly with maternal ratings of difficult temperament. The authors discuss alternative interpretations of the findings in terms of changes in reactivity/arousability and the emerging capacity for self-regulation.