Peer Rejection and Friendships in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Contributions to Long-Term Outcomes

Even after evidence-based treatment, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with poor long-term outcomes. These outcomes may be partly explained by difficulties in peer functioning, which are common among children with ADHD and which do not respond optimally to standard ADHD treatments. We examined whether peer rejection and lack of dyadic friendships experienced by children with ADHD after treatment contribute to long-term emotional and behavioral problems and global impairment, and whether having a reciprocal friend buffers the negative effects of peer rejection. Children with Combined type ADHD (N?=?300) enrolled in the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (MTA) were followed for 8 years. Peer rejection and dyadic friendships were measured with sociometric assessments after the active treatment period (14 or 24 months after baseline; M ages 9.7 and 10.5 years, respectively). Outcomes included delinquency, depression, anxiety, substance use, and general impairment at 6 and 8 years after baseline (Mean ages 14.9 and 16.8 years, respectively). With inclusion of key covariates, including demographics, symptoms of ADHD, ODD, and CD, and level of the outcome variable at 24 months, peer rejection predicted cigarette smoking, delinquency, anxiety, and global impairment at 6 years and global impairment at 8 years after baseline. Having a reciprocal friend was not, however, uniquely predictive of any outcomes and did not reduce the negative effects of peer rejection. Evaluating and addressing peer rejection in treatment planning may be necessary to improve long-term outcomes in children with ADHD.     

Existing Challenges Associated with Offering Prenatal Genetic Diagnosis in an Arab Society in the Sultanate of Oman

The incidence of congenital anomalies and/or genetic disorders in the Omani population has reached figures greater than double the global statistics. Preference for consanguineous unions together with the fact that termination of pregnancy in Muslim communities are largely avoided, have been highlighted as contributing factors. This overview identifies a third significant aspect contributing to the elevated rate of genetic disorders in the Omani population. Namely, a lack of services that are able to offer termination of pregnancy for severe congenital anomalies, to requesting parents. In this report we select an unusual case of a family at risk for two distinct genetic disorders - 6q micro-deletion and unbalanced products of conception attributed to a balanced parental translocation involving chromosome 3 and 13, to portray and examine the current situation faced by Omani couples interested in prenatal diagnosis for termination of pregnancy. Additional challenges and pitfalls to developing a prenatal diagnostic service as part of the genetic service in Oman are discussed.     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF FALSE‐POSITIVE OUTCOMES DURING FUNCTIONAL ANALYSES OF PROBLEM BEHAVIOR

False‐positive outcomes of functional analyses exist when exposure to the consequences in a condition strengthens a relation that did not previously exist. Two functional analyses (aggression and spitting) were conducted with a child with an intellectual disability. High rates of problem behavior occurred immediately in the attention condition of the functional analysis across response topographies, suggesting a clear functional response class. However, rates of aggression and spitting increased in the demand condition, following the initial block of sessions, indicating the possible creation of a novel contingent relation for spitting. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Development and Validation of a Family Wellbeing Index for Hong Kong Chinese Families

Journal of Child and Family Studies - Family wellbeing is studied worldwide. However, there is a dearth of studies on the wellbeing of families in Chinese societies such as Hong Kong, nor is there...     

Around the world,adolescence is a time of heightened sensation seeking and immature self‐regulation

The dual systems model of adolescent risk‐taking portrays the period as one characterized by a combination of heightened sensation seeking and still‐maturing self‐regulation, but most tests of this model have been conducted in the United States or Western Europe. In the present study, these propositions are tested in an international sample of more than 5000 individuals between ages 10 and 30 years from 11 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, using a multi‐method test battery that includes both self‐report and performance‐based measures of both constructs. Consistent with the dual systems model, sensation seeking increased between preadolescence and late adolescence, peaked at age 19, and declined thereafter, whereas self‐regulation increased steadily from preadolescence into young adulthood, reaching a plateau between ages 23 and 26. Although there were some variations in the magnitude of the observed age trends, the developmental patterns were largely similar across countries.     

Changes in Defensiveness and in Affective Distress Following Inpatient Treatment of Eating Disorders: Rorschach Comprehensive System and Self-Report Measures

Our objective in this study was to develop a Chinese version of the Responses to Stress Questionnaire (RSQ; Connor-Smith, Compas, Wadsworth, Thomsen, and Saltzman, 2000) and to evaluate its reliability and validity. The Chinese (C) RSQ (RSQ–C) exhibited moderate internal consistency and moderate test–retest reliability. Results of the confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the fit of a 3-factor model of voluntary coping and a separate 2-factor model of involuntary responses to stress were acceptable for the Chinese university sample. With regard to predictive validity, the Primary and Secondary Control Engagement Coping factors were associated with lower levels of depressive and anxious symptoms, whereas the Disengagement, Involuntary Engagement, and Involuntary Disengagement Coping factors were associated with higher levels of such symptoms.     

Agreement and similarity in self-other perceptions of moral character

We surveyed well-acquainted dyads about two key moral character traits (Honesty–Humility, Guilt Proneness), as well as several other individual differences. We examined self-other agreement, similarity, assumed similarity, and similarity-free agreement (i.e., self-other agreement controlling for similarity and assumed similarity). Participants projected their own level of moral character onto their peers (i.e., moderately high assumed similarity), but were nonetheless able to judge moral character with reasonable accuracy (moderately high self-other agreement and similarity-free agreement), suggesting that moral character traits can be detected by well-acquainted others. Regardless of reporting method, Honesty–Humility and Guilt Proneness were correlated with delinquency, unethical decision making, and counterproductive work behavior, suggesting that unethical behavior is committed disproportionately by people with low levels of these character traits.     

The Role of Attachment Style and Depression in Patients with Hepatitis C

Patients infected with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) commonly suffer from the triad of depression, pain and fatigue. This symptom triad in HCV is likely influenced by additional psychological and interpersonal factors, although the relationship is not clearly understood. This retrospective study aimed to characterize the relationship between attachment style and depressive and physical symptoms in the HCV-infected population. Over 18 months, 99 consecutively referred HCV infected patients were assessed with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Fatigue Severity Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-15 for physical symptoms and the Relationship Questionnaire for attachment style. An ANOVA was used to identify differences between attachment styles and Pearson correlations were used to evaluate the association between depression, fatigue and physical symptoms. Approximately 15 % of patients in the sample had a fearful attachment style. Patients with fearful attachment style had significantly higher depressive symptoms compared to a secure attachment style (p = .025). No differences in physical and fatigue symptoms were observed between attachment styles. Further, HDRS scores were significantly associated with fatigue scores (p < .001) and physical symptoms (p < .001), reinforcing the relationship between these symptom domains in HCV-infected patients. Although depressive, physical and fatigue symptoms are inter-related in HCV-infected patients, our study results suggest that only depressive symptoms were influenced by the extremes of attachment style. Screening of relationship styles may identify at-risk HCV-infected individuals for depression who may have difficulty engaging in care and managing physical symptoms.