Treatment of resistance to change in children with autism

“Resistance to change” represents a core symptom of autism that we conceptualized and assessed as resulting in part due to factors known to govern free‐operant choice. During a free‐choice baseline, participants chose between problematic, resistive responses and an appropriate alternative response. During the asymmetrical‐choice condition, we delivered their most highly preferred item if the participant chose the alternative response (i.e., differential reinforcement of alternative behavior [DRA]). During the guided‐ (Experiment 1) and singular‐ (Experiment 2) choice conditions, we prompted participants to choose the alternative response and then delivered their most highly preferred item (i.e., DRA with escape extinction). All participants learned to tolerate (Experiment 1) or choose (Experiment 2) the alternative response when we combined DRA with escape extinction. After exposure to escape extinction, two participants showed strong maintenance effects with DRA alone. We discuss these finding relative to the effects of DRA and escape extinction on resistance to change.     

Organizations Behaving Badly: Antecedents and Consequences of Uncivil Workplace Environments

The present study investigated the relationship between employees’ perceptions of five characteristics emphasized in their work organization (i.e., individualism, hostile interaction styles, competition, hierarchical governance, and email reliance) and the occurrence of incivility in that context. We also examined how perceptions of uncivil environments, in turn, related to personal experiences of workplace incivility and negative outcomes for targets. The proposed model was examined in two samples of university faculty. Study 1 tested the model with three organizational characteristics (individualism, hostile interaction styles, and competition) and three outcomes (job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and physical health) in a sample of faculty from a wide range of departments at a large Southern university. The second study investigated two additional organizational characteristics (hierarchical governance and email reliance) and an additional outcome (psychological distress) in a nationwide sample of law faculty. Results demonstrated that all but one of the characteristics (email reliance) related to perceptions of an uncivil workplace environment; uncivil environment perceptions, in turn, predicted personal experiences of incivility and negative occupational and health outcomes.     

Supervisor Support and Organizational Commitment: The Role of Work–Family Conflict,Job Satisfaction,and Work–Life Balance

Building on conservation of resources theory and social exchange theory, the author examined the relationship between supervisor support and organizational commitment through work–family conflict, work–life balance, and the job satisfaction of employees working in the financial sector in Australia. The study comprised 305 employees recruited through an online survey. Results indicate that supervisor support is negatively related to work–family conflict. In turn, work–life balance and job satisfaction are negatively linked to work–family conflict. The results further show that both work–life balance and job satisfaction are positively related to organizational commitment. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as limitations, are discussed.     

Marital Conflict as a Mediator of the Longitudinal Connections between Maternal Emotional Distress and Early Adolescent Maladjustment

In this study, we examined the longitudinal relations among maternal emotional distress, marital conflict, and early adolescent externalizing behaviors and internalizing symptoms during the transition to adolescence. 3 years of self-report data were collected from 136 married mothers and their children, beginning when the children were in 5th grade. Structural equations modeling with latent variables were conducted to examine the nature and directionality of paths between constructs. For mothers, results indicated that marital conflict mediated the relation between prior maternal emotional distress and subsequent early adolescent externalizing behaviors and internalizing symptoms. For early adolescents, a mediating pattern was seen only for externalizing behaviors. In testing the reverse pattern of effects for mothers, marital conflict mediated the relation between prior early adolescent externalizing behaviors and subsequent maternal emotional distress whereas only an indirect pattern of effects existed for internalizing symptoms. Thus, we identified dynamic patterns of familial relations that accounted for the diminished well-being of both early adolescents and their mothers, suggesting that prevention and intervention work during the transition to adolescence should focus on multiple components of family functioning.     

Relationship-contingent self-esteem and the ups and downs of romantic relationships

Relationship-contingent self-esteem (RCSE) emerges from perspectives on authenticity, need fulfillment, and relationship functioning and is an unhealthy form of self-esteem that depends on one's relationship. Four studies provided evidence of convergent, discriminant, incremental, and predictive validity for RCSE. Study 1 tested associations between RCSE and several conceptually related and unrelated constructs in multiple samples. In Study 2, the authors employed an event-contingent diary procedure to examine reports of self-esteem as a function of everyday relationship events. The association between event valence and changes in self-esteem became stronger with RCSE, and this interaction remained controlling for several parallel interactions by other constructs. Study 3 employed an interval-contingent diary procedure and found support for a mediation model in which the moderating role of RCSE largely occurred through momentary emotions, which in turn predicted momentary self-esteem. Study 4 sampled couples and found that partners who were both higher in RCSE felt more committed but not more satisfied or close.     

The Assessment of Marital Adjustment with Muslim Populations: A Reliability Study of the Locke–Wallace Marital Adjustment Test

The Muslim population is growing rapidly throughout the world and a sizable population of 6–8 million Muslims is estimated in North America alone. This population deals with a vast array of issues, including marital adjustment. Nevertheless, the marriage and family literature lacks the research needed to facilitate therapeutic treatment with Muslim couples adequately. Marital adjustment assessments that are commonly utilized have been tested on predominantly Anglo-American or Caucasian couples. The present study is a preliminary investigation of the Locke–Wallace marital adjustment test’s (LWMAT) reliability when administered to married, Muslim-American people.     

Neural Correlates of Reward Processing in Adolescents With a History of Inhibited Temperament

ABSTRACT— Functional imaging data were acquired during performance of a reward-contingency task in a unique cohort of adolescents (ages 14–18 years) who were characterized since infancy on measures of temperamental behavioral inhibition. Neural activation was examined in striatal structures (nucleus accumbens, putamen, caudate) with a known role in facilitating response to salient reward-related cues. Adolescents with a history of behavioral inhibition, relative to noninhibited adolescents, showed increased activation in the nucleus accumbens when they believed their selection of an action would affect reward outcome. Neural responses did not differ between the two groups when participants made a prespecified response that they knew would result in reward or when they produced random motor responses that they knew would not be rewarded. These results link inhibited temperament and perturbed neural responses to reward-contingency cues.     

A Comparison of Behavioral Parent Training Programs for Fathers of Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Few behavioral parent training (BPT) treatment studies for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have included and measured outcomes with fathers. In this study, fathers were randomly assigned to attend a standard BPT program or the Coaching Our Acting-Out Children: Heightening Essential Skills (COACHES) program. The COACHES program included BPT plus sports skills training for the children and parent-child interactions in the context of a soccer game. Groups did not differ at baseline, and father ratings of treatment outcome indicated improvement at posttreatment for both groups on measures of child behavior. There was no significant difference between groups on ADHD-related measures of child outcome. However, at posttreatment, fathers who participated in the COACHES program rated children as more improved, and they were significantly more engaged in the treatment process (e.g., greater attendance and arrival on time at sessions, more homework completion, greater consumer satisfaction). The implications for these findings and father-related treatment efforts are discussed.     

The Effects of Contact on Sexual Prejudice: A Meta-Analysis

A meta-analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between contact and sexual prejudice. A quantitative synthesis with 83 effect sizes from 41 articles, using mostly samples from the United States, showed a significant negative relationship between contact and sexual prejudice. Among six possible moderators tested (type of sexual prejudice scale used, correlational versus experimental studies, attitudes toward lesbians versus gay men, publication year, quality of study, and where study was conducted), three were shown to significantly moderate the relationship between contact and sexual prejudice. The relationship between contact and sexual prejudice varied as a function of the type of sexual prejudice measure used, the target group toward which the prejudicial attitudes were assessed, and where the study was conducted.