Electrodermal Activity Moderates Sleep-Behavior Associations in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Relative to children without autism spectrum disorder (ASD), children with ASD experience elevated sleep problems that can contribute to...     

Student-Teacher Relationships and Early School Adaptation of Children with ASD: A Conceptual Framework

In this conceptual article, we integrate existing literature on early school transitions, ecological systems theory, and student-teacher relationships to propose a framework for investigating the transition to school for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A review of the literature suggests that the quality of early student-teacher relationships may play an important role in this process for young children with ASD. Factors important in predicting student-teacher relationship quality, and ultimately, early school outcomes, are derived from the existing literature, which is heavily focused on the experiences of typically developing children. Hypothesized direct effects of child characteristics, teacher factors, classroom/school characteristics, and parent-school connectedness on student-teacher relationship quality are set forth. Potential moderators of the relation between student-teacher relationship quality and child outcomes are proposed, including child cognitive functioning, child relationships with other school staff, classroom placement, and parent involvement. Continued research on these factors will help identify malleable targets for school-based intervention with teachers and children with ASD to enhance student-teacher relationship quality and, in turn, school adjustment for this student population.     

The Objective Value of Subjective Value: A Multi‐Round Negotiation Study

A 2‐round negotiation study provided evidence that positive feelings resulting from one negotiation can be economically rewarding in a second negotiation. Negotiators experiencing greater subjective value (SV)—that is, social, perceptual, and emotional outcomes from a negotiation—in Round 1 achieved greater individual and joint objective negotiation performance in Round 2, even with Round 1 economic outcomes controlled. Moreover, Round 1 SV predicted the desire to negotiate again with the same counterpart, whereas objective negotiation performance had no such association. Taken together, the results suggest that positive feelings, not just positive outcomes, can evoke future economic success.     

Resource depletion does not influence prospective memory in college students

This paper reports an experiment designed to investigate the potential influence of prior acts of self-control on subsequent prospective memory performance. College undergraduates (n = 146) performed either a cognitively depleting initial task (e.g., mostly incongruent Stroop task) or a less resource-consuming version of that task (e.g., all congruent Stroop task). Subsequently, participants completed a prospective memory task that required attentionally demanding monitoring processes. The results demonstrated that prior acts of self-control do not impair the ability to execute a future intention in college-aged adults. We conceptually replicated these results in three additional depletion and prospective memory experiments. This research extends a growing number of studies demonstrating the boundary conditions of the resource depletion effect in cognitive tasks.     

Risk,Resilience, and the Rorschach: A Longitudinal Study of Children Who Experienced Sexual Abuse

Experiencing sexual abuse increases the risk that children will report or otherwise demonstrate problems with emotion, behavior, and health. This longitudinal study of 44 children who experienced sexual abuse examined whether information processing as assessed via the Rorschach Inkblot Test was associated with child-reported depression symptoms assessed via the Children's Depression Inventory (Kovacs, 1992) concurrently and an average of 15 months later. Children whose Rorschach protocols were relatively free of scores suggesting intense distress, complex processing, and sexual content were more likely to experience remission of depression symptoms at follow-up. Findings provide incremental validity for certain Rorschach indexes to inform prognosis regarding depression symptoms and perhaps their treatment.     

Adolescents in Residential Treatment: Caregiver and Peer Predictors of Risk Behavior and Academic Performance

The purpose of this research was to better understand the substance use and sexual risk taking behavior among high-risk adolescent populations placed in residential treatment facilities, including those in the foster care and juvenile justice systems. The primary predictors considered in this study included caregiver support, caregiver closeness, other adult support, adolescent self-disclosure/communication with caregiver, caregiver expectations about sexual behavior, and peer influence regards to drugs/alcohol and sexual behavior. Participants included 120 adolescent females in grades 7 to 12 (median grade?=?10; mean age 15.7 years), primarily African American (57.2 %) and White (29 %), in a residential treatment setting in a large urban area in the Midwest. Caregiver support and self-disclosure/communication with caregivers predicted condom use at most recent intercourse, but variables related to substance use were most consistently predictive of sexuality variables including onset and frequency of behavior. None of these support variables significantly predicted onset and frequency of substance use. Caregiver support was the contributing variable in predicting academic achievement.     

Predictors of Symptom Outcome in Interpretation Bias Modification for Dysphoria

Interpretation Bias Modification (IBM) interventions have been effective in reducing negative interpretation biases theorized to underlie depressive psychopathology. Although these programs have been highlighted as potential short-term interventions for depression, mixed evidence has been found for their effects on depressive symptoms. There is a need to examine attitudes towards training as well as individual difference factors that may impact symptom outcomes for IBM depression interventions. Seventy-two dysphoric young adults were randomly assigned to receive either an IBM targeting negative interpretation bias in personal evaluations or interpersonal situations or a healthy video control (HVC) condition. Compared to those who received HVC, participants in the IBM condition reported lower negative interpretation bias at posttreatment. No differences between conditions were found for symptom outcomes. Greater perceived treatment credibility and expectancy were associated with better treatment outcomes for both the IBM and HVC groups. Within the IBM group, a greater tendency toward assimilation with treatment scenarios was significantly associated with better treatment outcomes for both depressive and anger symptoms. This effect was unique from treatment credibility and expectancy. Pretreatment psychological reactance did not predict treatment response for either condition. Implications and future research directions are discussed.     

Comparing public concern and support for drone regulation to the current legal framework

In this study we assess the extent to which the regulations governing the use of drones in the United States address the concerns held by the public they are meant to protect. In general, respondents were most supportive of those regulations that could be categorized as limiting one's exposure to an unwanted drone. The most popular policies were those that protected personal privacy, while the least popular were those that hampered drones used for public safety. The largest discrepancy was found to be respondents' preference for laws protecting personal privacy compared with the lack of regulatory constraints currently in place. Federal regulators have only begun to introduce regulations on how drones can be used in our national airspace, with additional regulations for other types and sizes of drones likely to be introduced in the future. The results of this study may be utilized by regulators and lawmakers to create a regulatory structure that effectively mitigates risk and supports the public interest.