Confirmatory factor analysis of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning (BRIEF) in children and adolescents with ADHD

The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning (BRIEF) is a parent report measure designed to assess executive skills in everyday life. The present study employed a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to evaluate three alternative models of the factor structure of the BRIEF. Given the executive functioning difficulties that commonly co-occur with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the participants included 181 children and adolescents with a diagnosis of ADHD. The results indicated that an oblique two-factor model, in which the Monitor subscale loaded on both factors (i.e., Behavioral Regulation, Metacognition) and measurement errors for the Monitor and Inhibit subscales were allowed to correlate, provided an acceptable goodness-of-fit to the data. This two-factor model is consistent with previous research indicating that the Monitor subscale reflects two dimensions (i.e., monitoring of task-related activities and monitoring of personal behavioral activities) and thus loads on multiple factors. These findings support the clinical relevance of the BRIEF in children with ADHD, as well as the multidimensional nature of executive functioning.     

Attention training improves aberrant neural dynamics during working memory processing in veterans with PTSD

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with executive functioning deficits, including disruptions in working memory (WM). Recent studies suggest that attention training reduces PTSD symptomatology, but the underlying neural mechanisms are unknown. We used high-density magnetoencephalography (MEG) to evaluate whether attention training modulates brain regions serving WM processing in PTSD. Fourteen veterans with PTSD completed a WM task during a 306-sensor MEG recording before and after 8 sessions of attention training treatment. A matched comparison sample of 12 combat-exposed veterans without PTSD completed the same WM task during a single MEG session. To identify the spatiotemporal dynamics, each group’s data were transformed into the time-frequency domain, and significant oscillatory brain responses were imaged using a beamforming approach. All participants exhibited activity in left hemispheric language areas consistent with a verbal WM task. Additionally, veterans with PTSD and combat-exposed healthy controls each exhibited oscillatory responses in right hemispheric homologue regions (e.g., right Broca’s area); however, these responses were in opposite directions. Group differences in oscillatory activity emerged in the theta band (4–8 Hz) during encoding and in the alpha band (9–12 Hz) during maintenance and were significant in right prefrontal and right supramarginal and inferior parietal regions. Importantly, following attention training, these significant group differences were reduced or eliminated. This study provides initial evidence that attention training improves aberrant neural activity in brain networks serving WM processing.     

Exploring Relationships Between Negative Cognitions and Anxiety Symptoms in Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Although cognitions are central to the conceptualization and treatment of anxiety in typically developing (TD) youth, there is scant research investigating automatic thoughts and their relationship with anxiety in youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We sought to examine the types of automatic thoughts experienced by youth with ASD and co-occurring anxiety as well as the predictive relationship of anxiety to different types of automatic thoughts in 97 children, ages 8-14 years. We also explored the relationship of automatic thoughts and intolerance of uncertainty. Consistent with prior data, there was a strong relationship between anxiety and automatic thoughts pertaining to social and physical threat. Anxiety and IU were independently associated with thoughts pertaining to personal failure which raises the hypothesis that personal failure may serve as a common pathway between anxiety, IU, and depression in ASD youth. These findings highlight the importance of assessing and treating negative cognitions in youth with ASD and anxiety.     

Predicting Response to an Internet-Delivered Parenting Program for Anxiety in Early Childhood

Previous research has identified factors related to outcome in child anxiety treatment and parent training programs for child behavior problems. However, it is unclear what factors predict outcomes in interventions delivered online to parents of young children at risk of anxiety. This study investigated predictors of child anxiety outcomes among 433 families with young children (3–6 years) who participated in a randomized controlled trial of Cool Little Kids Online, an eight-module early intervention program for child anxiety based on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Potential predictors included baseline demographic factors, child and parent mental health factors, and indicators of program use, including number of online modules completed and frequency of homework practice. Results showed that only access to a printer moderated intervention effectiveness. Printer access predicted lower child anxiety in the Cool Little Kids Online group, but had no effect on outcomes in the wait-list group. In both groups, higher levels of child anxiety symptoms, child-inhibited temperament, and poorer parent mental health at baseline predicted higher levels of child anxiety symptoms at 6-month follow-up. The amount of online program use was not related to improvements in child anxiety symptoms. However, parents who reported practicing the program skills more frequently showed greater reductions in child anxiety, and access to a printer was related to frequency of program skills practice. These findings provide empirical support for the important role of skills practice in online CBT interventions, and suggest that practicing program skills may be more important than completing the online modules.     

Nevin's momentum

With the signing of H.R. 1256, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gained regulatory authority over the tobacco industry. A notable clause in this Act permits the FDA to regulate nicotine yields. However, they cannot completely remove this addictive constituent from tobacco products. This restriction has prompted the FDA to seek research on the threshold dose of nicotine that does not support dependence. This idea of threshold dose has led to an interesting reframing of scientific questions. For example, some researchers studying nicotine from this regulatory perspective translated the notion of an addiction threshold to a construct thought to play a role in addiction but which can be more readily operationalized. Examples include reinforcement threshold, discrimination threshold, and reinforcer‐enhancement threshold. In this Perspective Paper, we highlight the importance of behavioral pharmacology and, specifically, the experimental analysis of behavior to help establish a scientific basis for policy decisions regarding nicotine yields. Recent research, including exemplars provided herein, note vast individual differences in the effects of nicotine at a known dose. Unfortunately, the behavioral and biological factors that contribute to such individual variations remain to be understood. We believe that behavior analysts are uniquely well‐positioned to contribute to this understanding.     

A meta-analytic review of the influence of pediatric cancer on parent and family functioning.

This study used meta-analytic methods to compare the functioning of parents of children with cancer to parents of physically healthy children or normative samples. A meta-analysis using fixed effects, weighted least squares methods was conducted on 29 studies examining psychological distress and marital and family functioning among parents of children with cancer. Mothers and fathers of children newly diagnosed with cancer reported significantly greater distress than comparison samples. Mothers reported greater distress than fathers up to 12 months postdiagnosis. Mothers of children with cancer reported higher levels of family conflict than mothers of healthy children. Findings suggest that pediatric cancer impacts parents' perceptions of self- and family functioning, especially within the 1st year following diagnosis.     

Measurement of smoking outcome expectancies in children: the Smoking Consequences Questionnaire-Child.

A measure of smoking outcome expectancies was developed for children ages 7-12 years. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to determine whether a 1-, 2-, 3-, or 4-factor solution was most appropriate for the data set. CFA revealed that the 3-factor model produced the most adequate fit (Positive Reinforcement, Negative Consequences, and Weight Control). The resulting 15-item measure was named the Smoking Consequences Questionnaire-Child (SCQ-C). The fit of the 3-dimensional structure was then examined separately for 3 age groups representing young (7- to 8-year-old), middle (9- to 10-year-old), and old (11- to 13-year-old) children. Overall, the 3-factor structure fit the data well for the 3 groups. As such, we examined the relations of the 3 scales with antecedent variables for the entire sample. The Positive Reinforcement scale was associated with children's smoking behavior and having a family member or peers who smoked. The Negative Consequences scale was inversely related to having a family member or peer who smoked.     

Peer relationships and emotional well-being of children with sickle cell disease: a controlled replication.

We completed a replication study examining the social and emotional functioning of children with sickle cell disease (SCD) who have not had an overt stroke and a group of demographically similar comparison classmates based upon data from multiple informants. Relative to comparison peers, children with SCD were described by teachers as more prosocial and less aggressive. Peers described them as having fewer friends, less athletic, ill more often, and missing more school. No group differences were identified for emotional well-being. Effect size analyses indicated that this study replicated a number of findings from our previous study of children with SCD (Noll et al., 1996). Findings from both studies suggest relative psychological hardiness among children with SCD who have not had an overt stroke.     

Psychological and demographic correlates of early academic skill development among American Indian and Alaska Native youth: a growth modeling study

Research regarding the development of early academic skills among American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) students has been very limited to date. Using a nationally representative sample of AIAN, Hispanic, African American, and White children at school entry, the authors used latent growth models to estimate the associations among poverty, low parental education, living in a rural location, as well as child attitudes toward learning and internalizing/externalizing behaviors, with mathematical and reading cognitive skill development across the 1st 4 years of school. Results indicate that AIAN children entered kindergarten with scores on both mathematical and reading cognitive tests that were comparable to their peers from other ethnic groups of color. Importantly, all children who entered kindergarten with lower cognitive skill scores also acquired skills more slowly over the next 4 years. Having a positive approach to learning at the start of kindergarten was associated with cognitive skill levels at school entry nearly 1 standard deviation above the population average. Results are discussed with reference to the shared early educational profiles observed between AIAN and other children of color. These findings provide a much-needed update regarding early academic development among AIAN children.     

The BIAS map: behaviors from intergroup affect and stereotypes

In the present research, consisting of 2 correlational studies (N = 616) including a representative U.S. sample and 2 experiments (N = 350), the authors investigated how stereotypes and emotions shape behavioral tendencies toward groups, offering convergent support for the behaviors from intergroup affect and stereotypes (BIAS) map framework. Warmth stereotypes determine active behavioral tendencies, attenuating active harm (harassing) and eliciting active facilitation (helping). Competence stereotypes determine passive behavioral tendencies, attenuating passive harm (neglecting) and eliciting passive facilitation (associating). Admired groups (warm, competent) elicit both facilitation tendencies; hated groups (cold, incompetent) elicit both harm tendencies. Envied groups (competent, cold) elicit passive facilitation but active harm; pitied groups (warm, incompetent) elicit active facilitation but passive harm. Emotions predict behavioral tendencies more strongly than stereotypes do and usually mediate stereotype-to-behavioral-tendency links.