The predictive power of Cattell's personality questionnaires: An eighteen month prospective study

An 18 month prospective study of personality traits (as assessed by Cattell's Children's Personality Questionnaire and Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire) was conducted on twin pairs and their parents. The primary personality trait scores for both the adults and children had relatively low stability over the 18 month interval; in addition, in some cases, the inter-factor stability coefficients exceeded the intra-factor coefficients. This finding, coupled with the lack of parent/offspring similarity for the primary personality traits, places in question the predictive power of Cattell's personality questionnaires. A factor analysis on the original items indicated that 5 oblique factors for the children and 6 oblique factors for the adults need be retained. These factors were not only more stable than the primary trait scores, but they also did not have such high inter-factor stability coefficients. Except for Neuroticism and IQ, the adult and juvenile factors do not show structural similarities.     

Investigating social functioning after early mild TBI: the quality of parent–child interactions

The young brain is particularly vulnerable to injury due to inherent physiological and developmental factors, and even mild forms of traumatic brain injury (mTBI) can sometimes result in cognitive and behavioural difficulties. Despite the high prevalence of paediatric mTBI, little is known of its impact on children's social functioning. Parent–child relationships represent the centre of young children's social environments and are therefore ideal contexts for studying the potential effects of mTBI on children's social functioning. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of parent–child interactions after mTBI using observational assessment methods and parental report. The sample included 130 children (18–60 months at recruitment) divided into three groups: children with uncomplicated mTBI (n = 47), children with orthopaedic injury (OI, n = 27), and non‐injured children (NI, n = 56). The quality of parent–child interactions was assessed 6 months post‐injury using the Mutually Responsive Orientation (MRO) scale, an observational measure which focuses on the dyadic nature of parent–child exchanges, and the Parental Stress Index questionnaire (Parent‐Child Dysfunctional Interaction (PCDI) domain). Significant differences with medium effect sizes were found between the mTBI group and the NI group on the MRO, but not between the OI group and the other two groups. PCDI scores did not differ across groups, suggesting that observational measures may be more sensitive to changes in parent–child interactions after TBI. The current findings have implications for children's post‐injury social development and highlight the importance of monitoring social outcomes even after minor head injuries.     

Developmental outcome of drug-exposed children through 30 months: a comparison of Bayley and Bayley-II

This study examined the effects of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) version on developmental outcomes among drug-exposed children, some of whom received an intervention. Developmental outcome was evaluated with the BSID at 12 and 18 months and with the BSID-II at 24 and 30 months. In the repeated measures analyses, children scored higher on the BSID Mental Developmental Index (MDI; p < .01) and Psychomotor Developmental Index (PDI; p < .01) than on the BSID-II MDI and PDI. Version x Time (p < .01) and Version x Group (p < .01) interactions were also found for the MDI but not the PDI. PDI scores decreased on both the BSID and the BSID-II (p < .01). Over the first 2 years postpartum, mean MDI and PDI scores decreased among these high-risk, drug-exposed children.     

Sensibilité développementale théorique et empirique des items de la Batterie d’Évaluation Cognitive et Socio-émotionnelle (BECS) pour l’évaluation du développement psychologique de très jeunes enfants au développement typique

The Social and Cognitive Evaluation Battery (SCEB) is an instrument specifically created for the examination of pre-school and school-aged children with autism and intellectual disability and recommended by the French High Health Authority (HAS, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2018). The SCEB explores 16 functional abilities, in both cognitive and socio-emotional areas and allows the calculation of domains and areas developmental levels and heterogeneity indices for the global, cognitive and socio-emotional areas. Each of the 16 domains of the SCEB includes behavioral items hierarchized into 4 developmental levels corresponding to 4 age periods (level 1: 4–8 months; level 2: 8–12 months; level 3: 12–18 months; level 4: 18–24 months). The child's assessment provides a profile of the 16 levels of cognitive and socio-emotional development that can be interpreted within the framework of Piaget's (1977) and Fisher's (1980) theory. The study tests the developmental sensitivity of level scores and their adjustment to chronological ages and developmental ages assessed with the Brunet-Lézine Scale for 65 young typical developmental French children aged from 4 months to 24 months. The results show high sensitivity of scores and satisfactory adjustment to chronological and developmental age differences. Normative benchmarks are also given for indices of heterogeneity of development profiles, heterogeneity that decreases with age. Thus, the scores are interpretable in reference to theoretical models and can be used for the study of all developmental characteristics in infant and toddlers’ children with and without neurodevelopmental disorder.     

Predicting preschool motor and cognitive performance in appropriate-for-gestational-age children born at ≤ 32 weeks gestation

Although many follow-up studies have been performed on preterm infants, little attention has been devoted to prediction of motor skills in the preschool or school years. We studied the relationship of performance on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development at a mean corrected age of 21 months to performance on the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities at a mean corrected age of 44.7 months for 43 appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) children born at ≤ 32 weeks gestation. Motor scores were stable over time with a significant correlation between the Bayley Psychomotor Developmental Index (PDI) and the McCarthy Motor subscale (r = 0.60; p = 0.0001). Scores of cognitive abilities also showed a significant correlation between the Bayley Mental Developmental Index (MDI) and the McCarthy General Cognitive Index (r = 0.42; p = 0.009). Small-for-gestational-age (SGA), very low-birthweight (≤ 1500 grams) children scored lower on the McCarthy General Cognitive Index (p = 0.01) and on the Motor subscale (p = 0.047) than the AGA children. We concluded that motor performance of AGA children born at ≤ 32 weeks gestation is stable from toddlerhood to preschool age. We suggest that SGA children be excluded from studies of motor performance of prematurely born children.     

Preliminary Development of a Measure to Assess Children's Trauma Attributions

ABSTRACT

The Trauma Attribution Checklist (TAC) is a brief self-report measure of children's trauma-related attributions. A preliminary study with school-aged children, 12 months after exposure to a series of tornadoes, demonstrated significant correlations between TAC items and the Reaction Index, a measure of posttraumatic distress. Children with higher posttraumatic distress scores made more attributions of responsibility for negative tornado-related events, were more concerned with making attributions, had higher expectations of a tornado recurrence, and were more hypervigilant than children with less severe symptoms. Regression analyses indicated that items addressing expectations of recurrence and hypervigilance explained 53.3% of the variance in posttraumatic distress, with having made an attribution of responsibility for a tornado-related event accounting for an additional 5.6% of the variance.     

Individual differences in disengagement of fixation and temperament: Longitudinal research on toddlers

It has been suggested that a shift occurs in the brain's control system from the orienting network in infancy to the executive network by the age of 3–4 years; however, there has been little empirical evidence of this shift during toddlerhood. Therefore, the present study examined how the orienting system in infancy is related to an effortful control system at a later age. Children were assessed longitudinally at 12, 18, 24, and 36 months of age, using a gap-overlap task in which dynamic geometrical-shape stimuli were presented. Parents completed temperament questionnaires about the children at each age. A delayed-gratification task was also given to 36-month-olds. Overall, saccadic latencies in the gap-overlap task were significantly faster at 36 months. At all ages, responses were slower during overlap trials than during gap or no-overlap trials. Longer latencies in the overlap condition were associated with low temperamental orienting/regulation scores at 12 months but with high effortful control scores at 18 and 24 months. The associations at 18 and 24 months are thought to represent a genuine positive association between effortful control and sustained and focused attention.     

When home is in jail: child development in Spanish penitentiary units

The quality of the educational family context of children who live with their mothers in prison (N=127, age M=16.3 months) as well as how this situation affects their level of development are analysed. The assessment of these contexts was carried out using the HOME scale. The evaluation of the children's development was carried out using the Brunet–Lézine scale. The data shows that the quality of this context is extremely low, with one of the most striking features being the low score obtained in the subscales of provision of play materials and variety of experiences. Moreover, there are significant differences in the scores that are related to the mother's level of education, ethnic origins and the type of prison where they are serving their sentences. As for the scores obtained by the children in the Brunet–Lézine scale, the data shows that their level of development is similar to that of the infant population in general although we also found that the development quotients of the children in the group with the lowest scores in the HOME scale tend to drop significantly after 18 months of age. The results are discussed taking into account the interaction of context and development under the light of the canalization hypothesis, and making some suggestions about possible ways to improve these children's life conditions. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Directory of Members of the Society for Projective Techniques as of March 1, 1964

The appearance of depressive features, as reflected by responses to the Rorschach test, were explored in two groups of children from divorced and nondivorced families (referred to here as divorce and nondivorce children). The relationships between the depression scores and the children's hostility, aggression, and anxiety levels were also studied. The Rorschach Inkblot Test was individually administered to a nonclinical sample of 108 Swedish school children between 10 and 12 years old. The subjects constituted two groups,, a divorce group (27 girls, 27 boys) and a nondivorce group (27 girls, 27 boys). Divorce children scored significantly higher on Exner's (1986) Depression Index than their nondivorce peers. Furthermore, divorce children with depressive features in their Rorschach responses were found to have a high level of hostility and aggression (as manifested in their Rorschach protocols), whereas no such associations were found among nondivorce children.     

Extending the Validity of the Personality Assessment Inventory's (PAI) Level of Care Index (LOCI) in Multiple Psychiatric Settings

The purpose of this study was to extend the validity and clinical application of the Level of Care Index (LOCI) from the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) in 2 independent psychiatric samples. In Study 1 (N = 201), the LOCI effectively differentiated level of care (inpatients from outpatients), and was also meaningfully associated with risk factors for psychiatric admission (e.g., suicidal ideation, self-harming behavior, previous psychiatric admission, etc.), even after controlling for other demographic variables (range of Cohen's ds = 0.57–1.00). Likewise, the LOCI also incremented other risk indicators (suicide and violence history) and relevant PAI indexes (i.e., Mean Clinical Elevation, and Suicide and Violence Potential) in predicting level of care, and explained an additional 6% to 12% of variance in the target variable. Diagnostic efficiency analyses indicated LOCI scores in the range of 15 to 18 optimize positive and negative predictive power, and classification rate. In Study 2 (N = 96), the LOCI was found to be significantly higher in those with a recent psychiatric admission within the past 6 months (d = 0.64), as compared to those without an admission. Similarly, those who were admitted for suicide risk had significantly higher mean LOCI scores as compared to those who did not (d = 0.70). The clinical implications of these findings and potential application of the LOCI are discussed.     

A longitudinal investigation of the relationship between maternal mind‐mindedness and theory of mind

Data are presented from a longitudinal investigation examining the relationship between maternal mind‐mindedness (MM) in infancy and socio‐cognitive development in childhood. We revisited children (n = 18) who had taken part in a longitudinal study as infants. MM had been assessed at 10, 12, 16, and 20 months of age. We followed up these children at 5–6 years of age to test their higher order theory of mind (ToM) (using the strange stories task). The convergent validity, temporal stability, and predictive validity of the construct of MM were examined in a longitudinal data set. The five measures of MM were not significantly correlated. Mother's production of appropriate mind‐related comments (but no other measures) showed evidence of temporal stability throughout infancy. Thus, MM (as measured by appropriate mind‐related comments) was confirmed as a stable construct. Children's ToM at 5–6 years of age was significantly predicted by their mother's MM up to 4 years earlier, with MM accounting for 40% of the variance of the strange stories task scores. These findings identify a relationship between MM across a protracted period of infancy and socio‐cognitive development at 5–6 years of age.     

Mother's attachment representations of their premature infant at 6 and 18 months after birth

The effects of premature birth on attachment have generally been examined from the infant's perspective. There is a lack of data concerning parental attachment representations toward a premature child. Because of the psychological stress engendered in parents confronted with a premature birth, we hypothesized that their attachment representations would be altered during the first months after the hospital discharge. Fifty families with a premature infant (25–33 gestation weeks) and a control group of 30 families with a full‐term infant participated to the study. Perinatal risks were evaluated during hospitalization. To assess mothers' representations of their infant, the Working Model of the Child Interview (WMCI, Zeanah & Benoit, 1995 & Benoit, Zeanah, Parker, Nicholson, & Coolbear, 1997) were administered when their children were 6 and 18 months old. The severity of the perinatal risks was found to have an impact on the mothers' attachment representations. At six months, only 20% of the mothers of a prematurely born infant (30% at 18 months) had secure attachment representations, vs. 53% for the control group (57% at 18 months). Furthermore, mothers of low‐risk premature infants more often had disengaged representations, whereas distorted representations were more frequent in the high‐risk group of premature children. These findings suggest that the parental response to a premature birth is linked to the severity of postnatal risks. The fact that secure attachment representations are affected in mothers of low‐risk infants just as much as they are in mothers of high‐risk infants points to the need to conduct further studies aimed at evaluating whether preventive intervention for both low‐risk and high‐risk premature will be helpful.     

Investigation of fine motor performance in children younger than 36-month-old using PDMS-2 and Bayley-III

ABSTRACT

The aim of the study was to investigate the concurrent validity of fine motor (FM) development scores between the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, Second Edition (PDMS-2), and Bayley Scale of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III). Both tests were administered to 223 children aged 13–36 months with suspected developmental delays from a medical centre. Concurrent validity and agreement of FM delay were assessed. The Bayley-III FM scale scores (FMSS) and motor composite quotients were moderately correlated with PDMS-2 FM quotients. The agreement of FM delay between the two instruments was excellent (Kappa coefficient value = .80) in children aged 13–18 months and good in children aged 19–36 months. When using PDMS-2 as the reference standard, Bayley-III (FMSS < 7) identified fewer children aged 19–24 months as delayed but more in children aged 25–36 months as delayed. When adjusting the cut-off point of Bayley-III FMSS to 8 for children aged 19–24 months and to 6 for children aged 25–36 months, the agreement improved between these two instruments. FM delays might be underestimated solely using Bayley-III in children aged 19–24 months. Additional tests, such as PDMS-2 should be considered to avoid delays in accessing early intervention services.     

Money Doesn't Buy Happiness,but It Helps: Marital Satisfaction,Psychological Distress,and Demographic Differences Between Low- and Middle-Income Clinic Couples

The characteristics of 51 very low-income and 61 middle-income couples receiving services from a university-based community clinic offering a sliding fee scale were compared on a number of demographic variables. Group differences were significant with the exception of the number of children and wife's ethnicity. Middle-income couples were better educated, more likely to be full-time employed, less likely to be from a minority group, older with longer relationships, and more likely to present with family problems. Middle-income couples also had significantly lower scores on the General Severity Index of the Brief Symptom Inventory and higher scores on the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. The relevance of these differences for clinicians is discussed.     

Mother's prenatal and postpartum depression symptoms and infant's sleep problems at 6 months

Mother's prenatal and postpartum depression have been associated with infant's sleep problems. This study aimed to analyze (a) the effects of mother's prenatal and postpartum depression symptoms, including the effects of prenatal and postpartum anxiety and depression scores of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), on infant's sleep problems at 6 months, and (b) the interaction effect between mother's prenatal and postpartum depression symptoms and infant's sex on infant's sleep problems at 6 months. The sample was comprised of 164 mother–infant dyads whose mothers completed measures of depression at the third trimester of pregnancy, 2 weeks, 3 and 6 months postpartum and a measure of infant's sleep problems at 6 months (CSHQ-I). Mother's prenatal depression symptoms, specifically depression scores of the EPDS, predicted more infant's sleep anxiety and daytime sleepiness, while mother's depression symptoms at 2 weeks postpartum, specifically anxiety scores of the EPDS, predicted more bedtime resistance and CSHQ-I total scores at 6 months. Boys of mothers with more prenatal depression symptoms presented more sleep anxiety at 6 months. Both mother's prenatal and early postpartum depression symptoms have a negative effect on the emergence of infant's sleep problems. Additionally, boys seem more vulnerable to mother's prenatal depression symptoms.     

Spanish-speaking caregivers’ use of referential labels with toddlers is a better predictor of later vocabulary than their use of referential gestures

Variation in how frequently caregivers engage with their children is associated with variation in children's later language outcomes. One explanation for this link is that caregivers use both verbal behaviors, such as labels, and non-verbal behaviors, such as gestures, to help children establish reference to objects or events in the world. However, few studies have directly explored whether language outcomes are more strongly associated with referential behaviors that are expressed verbally, such as labels, or non-verbally, such as gestures, or whether both are equally predictive. Here, we observed caregivers from 42 Spanish-speaking families in the US engage with their 18-month-old children during 5-min lab-based, play sessions. Children's language processing speed and vocabulary size were assessed when children were 25 months. Bayesian model comparisons assessed the extent to which the frequencies of caregivers’ referential labels, referential gestures, or labels and gestures together, were more strongly associated with children's language outcomes than a model with caregiver total words, or overall talkativeness. The best-fitting models showed that children who heard more referential labels at 18 months were faster in language processing and had larger vocabularies at 25 months. Models including gestures, or labels and gestures together, showed weaker fits to the data. Caregivers’ total words predicted children's language processing speed, but predicted vocabulary size less well. These results suggest that the frequency with which caregivers of 18-month-old children use referential labels, more so than referential gestures, is a critical feature of caregiver verbal engagement that contributes to language processing development and vocabulary growth.

Research Highlights

• We examined the frequency of referential communicative behaviors, via labels and/or gestures, produced by caregivers during a 5-min play interaction with their 18-month-old children.
• We assessed predictive relations between labels, gestures, their combination, as well as total words spoken, and children's processing speed and vocabulary growth at 25 months.
• Bayesian model comparisons showed that caregivers’ referential labels at 18 months best predicted both 25-month vocabulary measures, although total words also predicted later processing speed.
• Frequent use of referential labels by caregivers, more so than referential gestures, is a critical feature of communicative behavior that supports children's later vocabulary learning.

     

Analyse de la dispersion des indices du WISC-IV en utilisant l'écart significatif par rapport à la moyenne des quatre indices

The discontinuation of traditional Verbal and Performance IQs in the WISC-IV and their replacement by four Indices lead to important modifications in practitioners' habits. The scatter analysis of the composite scores should be now considered in another way. In this paper, we advocate the use of the average index score as a baseline to analyze the Index score variability and to identify strengths and weaknesses in the profile of the Index scores. Davis's formula was used to compute reference values that can be used to highlight the Index scores significantly moving away from the average index score. The method was used for analyzing the Index score scatter in the standardization sample of the French adaptation of the WISC-IV. A rather important dispersion of the Index scores around the average index score was observed. More than 60% of the standardization sample showed at least one Index scores significantly moving away from the average index score. This variability was unrelated to gender, age and IQ level.     

Mother–Toddler Affect Exchanges and Children's Mastery Behaviours during Preschool Years

This study examined the longitudinal relations of mother–child affect exchanges at 18 months with children's mastery motivation at 39 months. Observation and questionnaire data were collected from mother–child dyads when children were 18 months; 43 mothers again rated their children's mastery motivation at 39 months. Results suggested that after controlling for gender and the corresponding 18‐month mastery aspect, positive affect exchanges had long‐term positive relationships with children's persistence and competence, whereas dismissed affect exchanges had long‐term negative relationships with children's persistence and independent mastery. Findings suggest that children's autonomous mastery‐oriented endeavours have deep roots in their early mother–child affective interactions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Efficacy of a Brief Relaxation Training Intervention for Pediatric Recurrent Abdominal Pain

This study is a preliminary investigation of the efficacy of a brief intervention for recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) via a multiple baseline across subjects design. The intervention consisted of a single 1-hour session including psychoeducation and coaching of breathing retraining; the length, duration, and content of the intervention were designed with a goal of maximum portability to primary-care settings. Five children with recurrent abdominal pain participated in this study, 1 of whom served as a pilot participant. Children received the intervention at 1-week intervals. Parent and child reports of each child's abdominal pain, general somatic complaints, functional disability, and anxiety were collected throughout the study. All children participated in a 3-month follow-up session. Results indicated that this brief intervention was successful in lessening abdominal pain, as demonstrated by decreased Abdominal Pain Index (API) scores in two children and decreased abdominal pain following breathing retraining practice in all children. The intervention was also successful in decreasing some children's general somatic symptoms. Functional disability and anxiety symptoms remained consistent for all children throughout the study, which may be due to low levels of these symptoms pretreatment. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.     

Child abuse and neglect: Effects on Bayley Scale Scores

Compared to controls, children who were diagnosed as victims of Nonaccidental Trauma or Failure to Thrive had depressed Bayley Scale Mental Index scores, p < .002and p < .0001, respecitvely. Failure-to-Thrive children also had depressed Bayley Scale Motor Index scores, p < .0001. Nonaccidental-Trauma children had Mental and Motor Scale range scores, as determined by differences between basal and ceiling items on the Mental and Motor scales, that were a function of measured Mental and Motor Index Scores. Specifically, Nonaccidental-Trauma children with lower Mental Index scores had higher Mental Scale range scores than Nonaccidental-Trauma children with higher Mental Index scores, p < .003. Control children had Mental Scale range scores that did not differ between the high-low Mental Index score conditions. On the Motor Scale, range scores of Nonaccidental-Trauma children in the highlow Motor Index score conditions did not differ. However, children with higher Motor Index scores had higher Motor Scale range scores than control children with lower Motor Index scores, p < .02. In addition, the Infant Behavior Record of the Bayley Scales revealed behavior ratings of Nonaccidental-Trauma and Failure-to-Thrive children that differed from Mental and Motor Scale scores on several dimensions. These differences may reflect differential effects of the Nonaccidental-Trauma and Failureto-Thrive conditions.This study was supported in part by Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Office of Child Development Grant OCD-CB-371. We wish to acknowledge the advice and encouragement of Roger V. Cadol, director, Developmental Evaluation Center of Denver General Hospital, and Michael J. Fitch, director, Child Study Project. A portion of this article was read at the American Association on Mental Deficiency Region IV Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 2, 1975.