Utility of personality measurement of clinic patients with insomnia

An assessment study examining the relationship between sleep quality and personality style in individuals presenting to a sleep clinic with symptoms of insomnia was conducted. The protocol entailed standard clinical interviews conducted by a board certified sleep physician and licensed clinical psychologist. Participants were then assessed using a standard interview and the Millon Clinical Multi-axial Inventory III (MCMI-III) A follow-up appointment was conducted to provide interpretation and treatment recommendations from the interview and testing data. The results from a review of 210 cases are presented in terms of their sleep quality and dominant MCMI-III patterns. Preliminary multivariate analyses indicated two common profiles that correspond to the presentation of insomnia symptomology. These clusters were termed "avoidant" and "anxious" profiles, accordingly. Item content analyses were conducted via the Noteworthy Item classification in the MCMI-III manual to determine the viability of a category determined by the authors called Sleep Behavior Preoccupation. Of this sample 17% fit into the category.     

Language-specific and universal influences in children's syntactic packaging of Manner and Path: a comparison of English, Japanese, and Turkish

Different languages map semantic elements of spatial relations onto different lexical and syntactic units. These crosslinguistic differences raise important questions for language development in terms of how this variation is learned by children. We investigated how Turkish-, English-, and Japanese-speaking children (mean age 3;8) package the semantic elements of Manner and Path onto syntactic units when both the Manner and the Path of the moving Figure occur simultaneously and are salient in the event depicted. Both universal and language-specific patterns were evident in our data. Children used the semantic-syntactic mappings preferred by adult speakers of their own languages, and even expressed subtle syntactic differences that encode different relations between Manner and Path in the same way as their adult counterparts (i.e., Manner causing vs. incidental to Path). However, not all types of semantics-syntax mappings were easy for children to learn (e.g., expressing Manner and Path elements in two verbal clauses). In such cases, Turkish- and Japanese-speaking children frequently used syntactic patterns that were not typical in the target language but were similar to patterns used by English-speaking children, suggesting some universal influence. Thus, both language-specific and universal tendencies guide the development of complex spatial expressions.     

Normality and impairment following profound early institutional deprivation: a longitudinal follow-up into early adolescence

Longitudinal analyses on normal versus impaired functioning across 7 domains were conducted in children who had experienced profound institutional deprivation up to the age of 42 months and were adopted from Romania into U.K. families. Comparisons were made with noninstitutionalized children adopted from Romania and with nondeprived within-U.K. adoptees placed before the age of 6 months. Specifically, the validity of the assessment, the degree of continuity and change in levels of functioning from 6 to 11 years, and the factors in the pre- and postadoption environment accounting for heterogeneity in outcome were examined. Pervasive impairment was significantly raised in children experiencing institutional deprivation for > or =6 months of life, with a minority within this group showing no impairment. There was no additional significant effect of duration of deprivation beyond the 6-month cutoff, and few other predictors explained outcome. The pattern of normality/impairment was mainly established by 6 years of age, with considerable continuity at the individual level between 6 and 11 years. The findings are discussed in terms of the possibility of a sensitive period for development.     

Prospective associations of co-rumination with friendship and emotional adjustment: considering the socioemotional trade-offs of co-rumination

Co-ruminating, or excessively discussing problems, with friends is proposed to have adjustment tradeoffs. Co-rumination is hypothesized to contribute both to positive friendship adjustment and to problematic emotional adjustment. Previous single-assessment research was consistent with this hypothesis, but whether co-rumination is an antecedent of adjustment changes was unknown. A 6-month longitudinal study with middle childhood to midadolescent youths examined whether co-rumination is simultaneously a risk factor (for depression and anxiety) and a protective factor (for friendship problems). For girls, a reciprocal relationship was found in which co-rumination predicted increased depressive and anxiety symptoms and increased positive friendship quality over time, which, in turn, contributed to greater co-rumination. For boys, having depressive and anxiety symptoms and high-quality friendships also predicted increased co-rumination. However, for boys, co-rumination predicted only increasing positive friendship quality and not increasing depression and anxiety. An implication of this research is that some girls at risk for developing internalizing problems may go undetected because they have seemingly supportive friendships.     

Movement abnormalities and the progression of prodromal symptomatology in adolescents at risk for psychotic disorders

The link between movement abnormalities and psychotic disorders is presumed to reflect common neural mechanisms that influence both motor functions and vulnerability to psychosis. The prodromal period leading to psychotic disorders represents both a viable point for intervention and a developmental period that, if studied, could shed light on etiology; however, no published studies have examined the temporal progression of this link. A group with high levels of prodromal symptomatology (i.e., adolescents with schizotypal personality disorder [SPD]; n = 42) and both psychiatric controls (with other personality disorders or conduct disorder [OD]; n = 30) and nonpsychiatric controls ([NC]; n = 49) were recruited. Videotapes of structured psychiatric interviews were coded for movement abnormalities by raters blind to participants' diagnostic status, and follow-up assessments were conducted 1 year later. Controlling for psychotropic medications, the authors found that adolescents with SPD exhibited significantly more motor abnormalities in the face and upper body than did OD and NC controls. At baseline, movement abnormalities were positively correlated with the severity of positive, negative, and total prodromal symptoms. Within the SPD group, baseline movement abnormalities predicted symptom severity 1 year later. Movement abnormalities represent an early risk indicator that may be predictive of later symptom severity and potentially of psychosis onset.     

Vicarious traumatization and secondary traumatic stress: A research synthesis∗

Vicarious traumatization (VT) refers to harmful changes that occur in professionals’ views of themselves, others, and the world, as a result of exposure to the graphic and/or traumatic material of their clients. Secondary traumatic stress (STS) refers to a set of psychological symptoms that mimic post-traumatic stress disorder, but is acquired through exposure to persons suffering the effects of trauma. Numerous studies have sought to identify correlates of both VT and STS, yet there still exists a lack of conceptual clarity in the literature about VT, STS, and the related constructs of burnout and compassion fatigue. This has made it difficult to use the literature to inform practice and training. This study clarifies the definitions of VT and STS and uses levels of evidence analysis to synthesize the research findings to date. Originally planned as a meta-analysis, the study was re-designed as methodological issues in the literature became apparent that would call into question the validity of a meta-analysis. The current method of analysis documents the degree of evidence for the most commonly researched factors that have been researched as possible contributors to the development of both VT and STS, synthesizing the findings of published research and dissertations written in the English language from 1994–2003. Findings indicate that persuasive evidence exists for personal trauma history, reasonable evidence for perceived coping style, and some evidence for supervision experiences, as important predictors of VT. Persuasive evidence for amount of exposure to trauma material and reasonable evidence for personal trauma history are indicated as important in the development of STS. Limitations of the current study and directions for further research are discussed.     

When appearance concerns make women look bad: Solo status and body image concerns diminish women’s academic performance

Women entering male-dominated fields often find themselves the only women present, i.e., they experience solo status. Solo status diminishes women’s performance when women are negatively stereotyped in the testing domain (Inzlicht & Ben-Zeev, 2000) or when the performance is public (Sekaquaptewa & Thompson, 2002). Because women experience greater body image concerns than men and underperform when these concerns are high (Fredrickson, Roberts, Noll, Quinn, & Twenge, 1998), body image concerns may also cause diminished performance in solo women. Women were given a stigmatized (i.e., heavy) or neutral appearance (via a manipulated photograph), then tested as either solos or non-solos. Results showed that women performed more poorly when given a stigmatized appearance and placed under solo status compared to when only one of these factors were present. Social identity threat concerns (Steele, Spencer, & Aronson, 2002) mediated the solo status effect on performance for women given a stigmatized appearance.     

Further development of measures of early math performance for preschoolers

The purpose of this study was to examine the progress monitoring and screening accuracy for a set of curriculum-based measures (CBM) of early mathematics skills. Measures included counting objects, selecting numbers, naming numbers, counting, and visual discrimination. Measures were designed to be administered with preschoolers in a short period of time using a developmentally appropriate format, and to constitute minimal disruption to the classroom routine. Previous research indicated that each of these measures produced scores with acceptable consistency across alternate forms on consecutive days. Scores yielded on the experimental probes correlated moderately, in most cases, with two commonly used standardized measures (i.e., the Brigance Screens and TEMA-2). Performance on the probes also correlated with teacher rankings and ratings of child performance. In the present study, data were collected in two phases. In the first phase, a cohort of children were administered the early math measures in spring of preschool and were followed into winter of kindergarten where they were administered kindergarten CBM probes to examine the degree to which performance in preschool (as measured by the early math probes) could predict performance on similar tasks in kindergarten. Second, risk criteria were examined and compared to identification by the Brigance Screens. These analyses provided data about the potential accuracy of the probes for screening. In the second phase, sensitivity of the probes to performance differences was examined by comparing mean performance on the probes of preschoolers and kindergartners. The lowest-performing children were provided with seven intervention sessions to examine the degree to which probes could detect growth resulting from intervention. Directions for future research and implications for practice are discussed.