Clinical psychology

Background. Parents have a significant impact on the formation of their children’s attitude toward health. A detailed study of this effect will allow us to devise strategies for interaction with children and directions of psychological correction of maladaptive behaviors in health issues.

Objective. To study the relationship between attitude toward healthin primary-school-age children and their parents and styles of childrearing.

Design. The study comprised 69 primary-school-aged children and their parents. The method of “Unfinished Sentences About Health” and the questionnaire “Analysis of Family Relationships” were used.Components of attitude toward healthsuch as health self-esteem, assessment of healthy people, diseases, health promotion actions, health promotion factors (causes), and the value of health were considered. 

Results. [1]The findings showed that the parents’ components of attitude toward healthare interrelated with those in children’s at all levels (from behavioral to semantic and axiological) and are connected with the style of childrearing.

Conclusion. Data analysis showed the impact of the style of childrearing and the interrelation of certain parental attitude toward healthcomponents with attitude toward health in primary-school-age children. This problem requires detailed study due to its theoretical significance and the obvious social challenges it presents.

1. These are not Results, but part of the Design.

Background. Studies have shown that teaching children and youths chess can contribute to their academic achievements and improve their cognitive abilities. Recent studies further indicate the transfer of chess skills to subjects such as mathematics. However, the literature does not address the possible benefits of chess to link between inhibition and ADHD, a disorder in the operational executive functioning system, whenwith chess ias a game that requires various cognitive abilities, and is considered dependent on executive operational functioning abilities and especially inhibition. 

Objective. To investigate whether chess experience relates to inhibitory control in teenagers with and without ADHD. 

Design. Participants completed a visual-spatial task designed for the pur- pose of the study, comprising two conditions: In the “free” condition, par- ticipants were allowed to test different solutions before choosing the answer, whereas in the “touch-move” condition they were asked to choose the answer without any physical attempts. Participants also completed “Go/No-go” tasks. 

Results. The new task was found to be partially effective as only the “touch- move” condition produced group differences, with chess players performing better than non-chess players, regardless of diagnosis. The No-go task perfor- mance analysis also showed a significant main effect for chess training, and a significant interaction among chess, ADHD, and medicine use. 

Conclusion. Although not establishing causality, these results indicate that chess players were less impulsive than non-chess players, regardless of diagnosis. 

Background. This survey article reviews research and academic writings analyzing cognitive features of patients with cardiovascular diseases.

Objective. To review the academic literature on the feasibility of psychological rehabilitation of cardiovascular patients by correcting cognitive impairment.

Method. Analysis and compilation of academic writings by Russian and foreign researchers.

Results. The cognitive dimension of coronary heart disease (CHD) patients has a number of features linked to the effect of their disease, and to their cognitive and psychological status. The article presents diagnostic techniques used to assess the patient’s cognitive state. The experimental data demonstrates the effectiveness of cognitive training with cardiovascular patients. The article also describes recommendations for cognitive rehabilitation of coronary heart disease patients, for choosing the right “target” of remedial psychological intervention, and for assessment of the recovery process.

Conclusion. Rehabilitation programs are promising for patients with coronary heart disease and other somatic diseases.

Background: Cancer incidence and mortality in young Latin American women has increased over the last few decades. In Mexico, breast self-examination (BSE) is recommended from 20 years of age to create awareness of breast cancer and detect body changes. The health belief model (HBM) allows us to identify young women’s beliefs about cancer and BSE, which could help us to design more appropriate strategies to promote BSE in the fight against breast cancer.

Objective: To assess the knowledge, practice, and beliefs about cancer and BSE in female college students; examine the differences between those who practice BSE and those who do not; and determine the most influential variable for performing BSE. 

Design: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used; the Health Belief Model scale for BSE was applied to 949 female college students from a public university.

Results: Major health study field suffered benign breast disease and having a family history of breast cancer was associated with BSE performance; also the dimensions of the health beliefs model such as barriers, benefits, self-efficacy and health motivation were different between women who perform an BSE in. The predicting variables for BSE practice were self-efficacy, the barriers perceived, benign breast disease, and the major subject of  study.

Conclusion: Reports of BSE practice in female students from Latin American countries are similar; however, the predictive variables differ from those found in the general population. Perceived barriers and self-efficacy are factors capable of  modification, and must be addressed by BSE promotion strategies aimed at female college students.

Background. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong pervasive developmental disorder affecting subjects’ emotions, will, and cognition, and inhibiting their social adaptation.

Objective. To define directions and methods for psychological assistance to autistic people that would let them achieve higher self-actualization and independence, and avoid social maladaptation.

Design. The following methods were used: analysis of the life histories and catamneses of autistic individuals; participant observation of their behavior; analysis of materials (text summaries) of psychological consulting with families who have autistic members; analysis of materials from remedial sessions with people with autism and developmental disorders.

Research participants were autistic individuals age 12 years or more at the beginning and up to 38–40 years at the end.

Results. The long-term manifestations of autistic development in emotions, will, and cognition are described. These manifestations affect subjects’ adaptation and independence negatively, even in cases of remarkable progress.

Two important aspects of psychological assistance are: a) mastering of skills; b) improving comprehension of social relationships, one’s own psychological world, and other people’s minds. The author proposes some methods of psychological remedial work and insists that rules for social interaction should not be learned mechanically.

Conclusions. The general principles of psychological assistance to autistic individuals are: (a) encouraging their long-term activity jointly with others; (b) providing a well-organized and thoughtful social environment where the activity takes place. Autistic persons often need special assistance to become successfully engaged in a more active and more complex social environment. The present work may be useful for professionals working with people with special needs.

Background. Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative illness, which occurs with increasing frequency as people age. While progressive memory impairment is the upfront element associated with the disease, other neurocognitive troubles are also associated with it, such as language impairment which can degenerate into aphasia. Language disorders interfere and worsen the functioning of memory. 

Aim of the study. To evaluate semantic and textual impairment in AD patients. 

Methods. The current study involved 151 AD patients undergong consultation at Brest University Hospital. Certain socio-demographic data (sex, age, cultural levels) were collected, as well as results from the following neuropsychological tests: Folstein (MMSE); Dubois’s 5-word test; Dubois’s frontal assessment test battery (fluencies); Cornell’s scale for depression; and Barbizet’s test ( “The Lion’s tale”). All were subject to textual analysis. Our sample of demented patients included 102 females and 49 males of average age 80.3 ± 6.91. 

Results. All the tests, including the number of items recalled much later in the Barbizet’s test, showed impairment, all the more by Folstein’s test being altered. The demented patients’ formal fluency was less impaired than their semantical lexical fluency (scored respectively 5.74 ± 1.09 versus 4.41 ± 2.19; t = 5.60, p < 0.01). The demented cohort exhibited more intrusions (n = 36) than inversions in the delayed recollection of the Lion’s Tale, both for items and the episodes in which they occurred (n = 19). The regressive PLS analysis showed that, to explain the overall scores relating to “ e Lion’s Tale”, calculated later, only attainment of lexical fluency had any notable influence (Regression coefficient CR=0.224) or, more accessorily, the cultural level (CR = 0.12). 

Conclusion. AD patients’ proficiency in tests of category fluency and their cultural levels have effects on narrativity.

Background: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), also known as domestic violence, spousal abuse, and relationship violence, among other names, is becoming a widely recognized social and public health problem. Theory and practice suggest it is vital that the issue be addressed comprehensively in both the healthcare and socio-legal contexts. The theoretical perspectives underlying inquiries into the nature and etiology of the IPV phenomenon are of fundamental importance in promoting our understanding of how to prevent, reduce, or eliminate the problem. In order to integrate various aspects of knowledge about the phenomenon, it is important to consider and evaluate the approaches to IPV currently prevalent in the field. 

Objectives: The present article aims to provide a critical overview of the existing theories, methodological frameworks, typologies, and definitions of Intimate Partner Violence. 

Design: The present paper reviews the international literature on the conceptual frameworks and definitions of IPV. First, it draws on the conceptual frameworks of violence; it then reviews relevant theories and definitions of IPV considered from sociocultural, individual, and integrative perspectives. The disparities, limitations, and explanatory powers of these theories, as well as their clinical and research applications, are discussed in an attempt to bring more clarity into the current state of understanding in the field. 

Results and Conclusions: Our review suggests that there is no universally accepted definition of IPV, nor a conceptual framework that would encompass the complexity of the phenomenon. Some of the theoretical frameworks for studying IPV appear to provide potential advantages over others, but their empirical viability has yet to be determined. We argue that, due to the complex multifaceted nature of IPV, a narrow theoretical stance might exclude a variety of exploratory factors and limit understanding of the phenomenon. 

Background. Special features of communicative development in children with Down Syndrome are reported to correlate with intellectual disability, while their mothers’ communication with them is considered to be a reaction to difficulties in building rapport with the child. The cultural-historical approach to human psychological and mental development (Vygotsky, 1982) supports research into the contribution of maternal behavior to the development of communication in children with Down Syndrome. 

Objective. To analyze the relationship between the development of responsive and initiative communicative actions in children with Down Syndrome and features of maternal communicative behavior. 

Design. The subjects were 15 pairs of mothers and their children diagnosed with “trisomy 21, Down Syndrome, full (or complete) type of trisomy” and 18 pairs of mothers and their typically developing children. The children in the experimental group are from 18 to 36 months old, the age of mothers is from 24 to 41 years. e children in the control group are from 18 to 36 months old; the mothers’ age is from 20 to 44 years. The research included collection of video data and expert video recording analysis. Communication was recorded of mothers and their children without a toy, and then with a toy. Videos were made three times, every 1.5 or 2 weeks, and each session lasted 20 minutes; two videos were analyzed, excluding the first one. The analysis was performed by three experts — researchers at the Federal State Budget Scientific Institution “Institute of Special Education of the Russian Academy of Education” — calculating the frequency of the children’s responsive and initiative communicative actions. A qualitative analysis of the mothers’ communicative behavior was conducted: Repeated patterns of the mothers’ communicative behavior in both groups were identified, and the number of mothers with these communicative actions was calculated. 

Results. Mothers’ actions that correlated with the development of responsive and initiative communicative actions in typically developing children were identified, including: the adult caregiver addresses her child directly and personally; she pays attention to the child’s actions and supports them; she plays with the child as with an equal. The communicative behavior of mothers of children with Down Syndrome did not differ from that of the mothers of typically developing children in terms of the behavioral characteristics listed above. Thedevelopment of responsive and initiative communicative actions in children with Down Syndrome correlates with a greater number of characteristics of maternal communicative behavior, such as: continuing the communication despite approximate, uncertain, or contradictory signals from the child; creating vivid and positive emotional support for interactions; and keeping in mind the child’s language and motor limitations. 

Conclusion. Our research suggests that for the development of communication in children with Down Syndrome, maternal communicative actions that correlate with the development of communication in typically developing children are not sufficient. 

Background. Contemporary rehabilitation of memory impairments relies on the use of external compensatory strategies. In Russian neuropsychological tradition, rehabilitation is understood as a transformation of a higher mental function, based on intact elements of that function and on use of external and internal means. Such a restructuration approach may be applied to memory. 

Objective. This article describes the basic principles underlying memory rehabilitation and gives an example of their successful implementation in a clinical case. 

Design. A 62-year-old patient was admitted 6 months after severe traumatic brain injury with primary damage to his le frontal and temporal lobes. He faced difficulties in social living and activities of daily life, mainly due to memory impairment. Neuropsychological assessment revealed moderate impairment of different memory types: modal nonspecific impairment with mild but persistent impairments in autobiographic and semantic memories. During a 3-week rehabilitation program, an algorithm involving the use of text was developed in consideration of the structure of memory impairment (impaired selectiveness, excessive inhibition and pathologic inertness of memory traces). 

Results. After multiple trials and modifications, the resulting algorithm (written retelling with the use of keywords, self-correction with writing correct variants instead of errors), allowed reproduction of the presented text with 100% recall of significant information and no false memories. The use of the developed memorization technique in everyday life allowed the patient to effectively memorize relevant information.

Conclusion. The described approach—restructuration of memory on the basis of preserved chains—is a feasible strategy of memory rehabilitation. 

Background. Cancer is a chronic disease that significantly affects the quality of life of patients who suffer from it, because they must face stressful situations, including their diagnosis, surgical procedures, and the adverse effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. 

Objective. To evaluate the effects of hypnotherapy on breast cancer patients’ quality of life during chemotherapy. 

Design. A quasi-experimental design was used with a convenience sample. Method. Two groups of patients with early breast cancer diagnoses were assigned to either a control group that received standard medical care (n = 20), or a hypnotherapy group (n = 20) that received 12 intensive sessions over the course of 1 month, and 12 additional sessions over the course of 6 months. The patients’ quality of life was evaluated using the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30). 

Results. The hypnotherapy group showed a statistically significant improvement and a large effect size on the cognitive functioning and social functioning scales compared to the control group. The physical functioning, role functioning, and quality of life scales showed improvement with a medium effect size, but the changes were not statistically significant. 

Conclusion. The improvement observed in the cognitive functioning and social functioning scales allows us to suggest that hypnotherapy improves the quality of life of breast cancer patients during chemotherapy.

Background. Throughout the ontogenic development period and life journey, everyone faces numerous threats and challenges. Certain of these challenges are beyond the individual’s control and are caused by social and environmental factors, but others, conversely, are provoked by the individual’s own lifestyle and mental and/or physical health condition. This paper considers how the social adaptation of children with intellectual developmental disorders affects the development of various forms of socially dangerous behavior. 

Objective. The primary goal of the study described in the article is to identify and analyze the potential risk factors related to antisocial behavior among teenagers with intellectual disabilities (mental retardation) based on a survey of teachers in special (correctional) schools. 

The methodological basis of our research uses the provisions of Lev Vygotsky’s theory of socialization among children with intellectual disabilities. This article shows the importance of implementing Lev Vygotsky’s doctrine of correction and compensation of disturbed psychological, emotional and social development of schoolchildren with intellectual disabilities. 

Design. To achieve this purpose, the following methods were used: interviews, questionnaires, and factor analysis. In the first stage of the study, interviews were conducted with teachers working in special (correctional) schools (teachers, child and youth counselors, school psychologists, developmental pediatricians) — of 108 teachers from 10 schools. Analysis of the interviews revealed a list of risk factors related to antisocial behavior among teenagers with intellectual disabilities (only 35 points). The collected data formed the basis for a questionnaire, “Social Safety for Children with Intellectual Disabilities”. In the second stage, 83 teachers working in the special (correctional) schools were surveyed. The survey was completed by teachers of children (12-13 years old) who had a diagnosis of F70 (Mild mental retardation) or F71 (Moderate mental retardation). To determine the significance of risk factors, the respondents were asked to assess children’s exposure to risk factors on a 5-point scale. In the third stage, the results of the risk factor assessment conducted in relation to socially dangerous behavior of adolescents with intellectual disabilities were processed using the factor analysis. 

Results. From the factor analysis of the data collected, as well as an analysis of the relevant theoretical and methodological materials, the following risk factors (with load factors) of socially dangerous behavior among teenagers with intellectual disabilities were identified: antisocial behavior (violation of generally accepted societal norms) (48.7 %); asociality (the lack of motivation to engage in social interaction) (7.96 %); infantilism (5.9 %); social mistrust in the world (4.86 %); propensity for victimizing behavior (4.18 %); virtual addiction (3.98 %); and high self-concept discrepancies (3.14 %). 

Conclusions. The results of our research may be used to prevent antisocial behavior in teenagers with intellectual disabilities through the implementation of psychological and pedagogical follow-up programs aimed at preventing antisocial and asocial behavior, overcoming infantilism and victimization, forming adequate self-esteem, and forming personality-trusting relationships with significant adults and peers.

Background. Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) has been one of the most performed surgical procedures for more than 30 years. Recent research has shown severe cognitive disorders accompanying cardiac surgery. However, mild cognitive dysfunction, which is more amenable to prevention and correction, has been less studied because of difficulties in diagnosing it. 

Objective. For this reason, we set out to analyze the dynamics of cognitive functioning in CHD patients undergoing CABG. Our study focuses on the main indicators of cognitive functioning and on comparing cognitive functioning with normative data, as well as on the emotional state which accompanies cardiac surgery. 

Methods. The present study enrolled 70 patients (of average age 59.71 ± 7.32 years) who underwent CABG with the standard cardiopulmonary bypass technique. Our examination used a pathopsychological test battery (including the WAIS, TMT, Stroop test, TAS, Benton test, etc.), and was performed in three stages: two days before, and both 12–14 days and three months after the surgery. 

Results. The results obtained suggest that the majority of cognitive complaints are connected with memory decline after CABG. Patients with CHD experience significant postoperative cognitive decline mostly in verbal memory and attention. A significant cognitive improvement three months after the operation occurred in the following cognitive domains: visual memory, logical memory, and spatial thinking. An analysis of the patients’ trait anxiety leads to the conclusion that the highest intensity of anxiety was observed in relation to the following indicators: “emotional discomfort,” “asthenic component,” and “anxious assessment of the future.” 

Conclusion. Our research demonstrates negative changes in both short- and longterm memory. Possible reasons for postoperative cognitive decline include the conditions and consequences of the surgery, normal aging, brain injury at the time of coronary surgery, and the emotional state of the patients. A positive trend was discovered in the visual and logical memory, active attention, and thinking activity.

In this article the features of social-relationship systems are analyzed based on the data from a sociopsychological empirical study conducted in two stages (2002 and 2014) on a large sample with the help of g. Kelly’s Repertory grid Technique. A. V. Petrovsky’s three-factor interpersonal-relationships model as interpreted for closed groups by M. Yu. Kondratev and the concept of the closed society as described by Karl Popper provide the foundation for the theoretical hypothesis we tested. The empirical data obtained in 2002 came from 391 participants of different ages who were living in provincial towns in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The elderly respondents (232 people) had lived almost all their lives under the Soviet regime; the middle-aged respondents (159 people) got their education and started their careers in the USSR. Soviet society is considered to be closed because of its authoritarian and collectivist nature, static social structure, and dogmatic ideology. It is argued that both closed societies and closed groups are characterized by a rigid hierarchical social structure, isolation from other systems, and depersonalization of social relations. We have proved that members of a closed group and citizens of a closed society have similar social-relationship matrices. 

Immunization is one of the most significant achievements of public health over the last 100 years. Recently, however, people have been increasingly refusing to vaccinate. There are a large number of separate studies on how pervasive this behavior is and what fac- tors influence it, but no systematic review has been undertaken so far that looked at these studies as a whole. To conduct an analysis of studies that examine vaccine refusal and negative attitudes towards vaccination, focusing on the methodological approaches to the study of these problems and evaluation of their quality. A systematic review of English-language studies published between 1980 and 2015, using the Web of ScienceTM Core Collection database. The final review dealt with 31 papers. The studies in question were mainly conducted in North America and Western Europe. They were published three years after conclusion, on average. We have identified five different approaches to the study of these problems: 1) studies of parents’ attitudes and behavior; 2) analysis of vaccination records; 3) studies of attitudes and behavior among the general population; 4) studies of medical professionals’ attitudes, behavior, and experience; and 5) others. We found that theoretical models were not commonly used at the planning stage, while the studies also lacked a common approach to the operationalization of vaccine refusal, as well as of negative attitudes towards vaccination. Several promising directions have been identified for future studies on vaccine refusal and negative attitudes towards vac- cination. 

Biobanking is an emerging medical, research, and social institution that has many im- plications for psychological science and practice. The bibliographic study of abstracts and full text articles retrieved from major databases (PsycInfo, PubMed, EBSCO, SAgE) indicates that the role of psychology in the establishment and functioning of biobanks is not well articulated. Two promising directions of biobank-based studies are concerned with studies of risk factors for various disorders and with genetic and epigenetic mecha- nisms of psychological and behavioral trait development, and are closely tied to a devel- oping model of a new “personalized” medicine. It is important to carefully select the psy- chological variables and measurements, with consideration of their suitability for genetic studies, possibilities for networking and sharing of results, economic limitations, and biobank purposes. Of special importance is a systemic foundation of mental functions that requires not only the assessment of efficacy, but also the search for simple, natural, and objectively observable components. Applied tasks of professional psychologists in the field of biobanking can be defined, such as donor selection and management of ethi- cal issues. As a new technology, biobanking poses several challenges to society and the individual that need to be studied in order to prevent misuse and to earn the public trust. The hidden dangers of eugenics-like ideas, of consumer practices with genetic products, and of over-emphasis on human enhancement are particularly stressed. We conclude that while biobanks represent a promising and fertile ground for psychological research and applications, there is a need for a comprehensive psychology of biobanking to make them fruitful. 

This work is dedicated to the development of L.S. Vygotsky’s ideas in clinical psychology and the clarification of some basic points of the cultural-historical concept. The paper presents a thesis about the development of man in ontogeny as the result of his interaction with the cultural environment, which transforms natural mental functions into higher mental functions. This process can be attended by a whole range of psychopathologies. The issues discussed include voluntary regulation of higher mental functions, determination of the involuntariness and “post-voluntariness” of functions, the internalization of actions, the differentiation of affect and emotion (including as higher mental functions), the “cultural” socialization of non-mental functions (sex, sleep, excretion), and the discord between natural and “cultural” entities in a person. The basis for the ontological development of man is the genesis of “subjectness”, like all the forms of higher activity that emerge when encountering cultural restrictions and requirements causing specific mental disorders. The supposition is made that there are no significant restrictions to explaining either mental or non-mental functions with the cultural-historical approach. Recommendations for further research are suggested.

From a Relational-Historical theoretical framework applied to clinical psychological practice, this study examines the data set underlying the personality attributes of different groups of children with behavior problems as demonstrated on the Rorschach Inkblot Test. To define the groups, categories were established from parents’ descriptions of their own children. This procedure allowed for the formation of three major psychological profiles: hyperkinetic, oppositional defiant, and antisocial (Saraiva & Ferreira, 2016). The major goal of this study is data exploration in a clinical setting, in order to investigate whether and in what ways groups of hyperkinetic, oppositional defiant, and antisocial children differ. These profile characteristics are important issues embraced by both psychodiagnosis and psychotherapy. The participants for this study were 39 Portuguese children, who were private clinic clients; there were 24 boys and 15 girls between the ages of 6 and 14. Their personality attributes were measured using the Rorschach Inkblot Test (Rorschach, 1994), and the Comprehensive System developed by Exner (1991, 1993, 2000) was applied, with the support of the clinical interpretation provided by Quintino-Aires (1999; 2009; 2012; 2014). Comparison of the three profiles showed four common aspects of personality structure: a deficit in cognitive perceptual skills, lack of self-control, limited relational skills, and low self-esteem. Differences in the three profiles revealed factors related to the functional characteristics of specific behavior patterns. Children with the hyperkinetic psychological profile show factors of difficulty in controlling their activity, impulsivity, and overlapping emotions about conscious action. Those with the oppositional defiant profile revealed factors of low self-confidence, low trust in others, high pessimism, loneliness, and structural stress. Finally, those with the antisocial profile had factors of a deficit in coping skills, lack of verbalization of affects and emotions, and egotism.

Guided by the principle that scientific knowledge should serve to transform reality and create suitable conditions of life for all, the Portuguese Association for Relational-Historical Psychology (APPRH) founded a school named RITA LEAL (RLS), with a therapeutic purpose based on new perspectives for treating autism — perspectives quite different from instrumental and behavioral learning programs. The Rita Leal School (Leal, 1975/2004, 1997, 2005, 2010) is rooted in the theory that mental development is based on a mutually contingent emotional relationship, while it underwrites Vygotsky’s concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and Mediation (1930/2004, 1934/2009). Learning to read is a complex process which individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) master slowly and with difficulty. We analyzed the process of learning to read of two ASD children accompanied by peers without special educational needs, aiming to pinpoint distinct aspects of their progress. We used the Observer Software Program to collect and analyze observations of their performance, which were understood as data to be classified according to previously specified codes. We believed we could demonstrate that, especially in the case of ASD children, learning is dependent on contingent responses and adequate levels of mediation. The technical team at the RLS has continuous clinical supervision. That is because we believe this supervision is what permits the team to undergo a process of de-centering, becoming more empathic and accessible to the autists. This makes the team’s intervention more efficient, because it becomes more aware of each autist’s individual characteristics, and therefore more available to respond to the autist’s needs.

Low birth weight has a negative impact on psychomotor development, specifically on motor and perceptual functions. In order to prevent this effect, neurodevelopmental diagnosis should be supplemented by an effective therapeutic system. The aim of this work was to test a program for psychomotor development based on A.R. Luria’s concept of three functional brain units or blocks and the necessity of stimulation of the first functional unit in early childhood. Stimulation of subcortical systems associated with psychomotor and cognitive regulation may help to set the basis for positive functioning of the cerebral cortex in the coming years. Vestibular exercises and proprioceptive stimulation were used. All exercises included significant communicative activity as described by Vygotsky and Lisina, which provided positive direct emotional contact between adult and child. Twenty-five babies with low birth weight were included in the study, along with their parents. After 250 days in the program, all the underweight children presented positive functional development. We conclude that positive effects of these programs for correction and psychological development may be achieved during the first year of life. The methods for sensitive diagnosis and correction should be considered by all specialists involved in topics of early development.

This article deals with vital questions of the health and safety of children with intellectual disability (mental disability and mixed specific disorders). Theoretical analysis has demonstrated insufficient study of the problem, both in national and foreign psychological and pedagogical studies, although a number of approaches exist. Researchers agree that development of these children is an important condition for the existence of both individual and society at large. At the contemporary stage of development of our society, the safety of the children is all the more relevant since the degree of their development is an important condition of socialization and normal interaction with the environment. Diagnostic tools to estimate the comprehension and recognition of unsafe situations by children with these disorders are still insufficiently developed.

This paper describes the application of a technique called “Recognition of Unsafe Situations”, which was designed to study the ability of children with intellectual disability to recognize potentially life-threatening situations (handling household appliances, electricity, medicine, hot or sharp objects, behavior at heights and with stray animals) and to predict the consequences of their actions in such situations. The results of this study allow us to determine the differences in recognizing unsafe situations by children with mental disability and children with mixed specific developmental disorders. We show that children with mixed specific developmental disorders have a certain ability to identify potentially unsafe situations, and with support provided by adults, they are able to predict the consequences of their actions. Children with mental disability, however, have insufficient knowledge of safe behavior; but special activities that take into account these children’s ability to compensate enable them to develop the essential skills for behavior in potentially life-threatening situations.