Advancing Our Knowledge of ADHD in Latino Children: Psychometric and Cultural Properties of Spanish-Versions of Parental/Family Functioning Measures

The lack of available Spanish versions of assessment measures contributes to insufficient research and underutilization of mental health services for Latino children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Thus, the goal of the current study was to examine the psychometric and cultural properties of several Spanish versions of parental/family functioning measures commonly used in comprehensive ADHD assessments (i.e., the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale, Alabama Parenting Questionnaire, and Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale). Participants included 68 Spanish-speaking, Latino parents in Southeast Wisconsin. In general, the Spanish translations of the measures demonstrated good reliability and validity. Furthermore, the psychometrically-sound measures were significantly related to acculturation as predicted, suggesting that the scales are not only psychometrically valid, but also culturally valid for use with Spanish-speaking, Latino families.     

Contextual Influences on Participation in Community Organizing: A Multilevel Longitudinal Study

This article reports results from a study of contextual influences on participation among people involved in congregation-based community organizing. Data are drawn from 11,538 individual participants in 115 congregations taking part in one of five local organizing initiatives in different cities over a five-year period. Analyses used 3-level longitudinal models with binary indicators of participation/non-participation in group meetings each successive year as the criterion. Time-varying predictors at level-1 included prior participation in group meetings as a control, the types of group meetings that participants attended, the number of face-to-face meetings held between each participant and organizing staff of the local organizing initiatives, and a measure of the involvement of participants' affiliation networks. At level-2, demographic information was collected for a subset of participants (N = 461) and was included in a separate model. Neighborhood compositional characteristics were examined at level-3, including median income, economic heterogeneity, and residential stability. Study results found that characteristics of organizational settings (i.e., types of group meetings attended and frequency of face-to-face contact) predicted future participation in group meetings but that individual and neighborhood-level demographic characteristics were generally not predictive of future participation in community organizing activities.     

The influence of adaptation and inhibition on the effects of onset asynchrony on auditory grouping

Onset asynchrony is an important cue for auditory scene analysis. For example, a harmonic of a vowel that begins before the other components contributes less to the perceived phonetic quality. This effect was thought primarily to involve high-level grouping processes, because the contribution can be partly restored by accompanying the leading portion of the harmonic (precursor) with a synchronous captor tone an octave higher, and hence too remote to influence adaptation of the auditory-nerve response to that harmonic. However, recent work suggests that this restoration effect arises instead from inhibitory interactions relatively early in central auditory processing. The experiments reported here have reevaluated the role of adaptation in grouping by onset asynchrony and explored further the inhibitory account of the restoration effect. Varying the frequency of the precursor in the range ± 10% relative to the vowel harmonic (Experiment 1), or introducing a silent interval from 0 to 320 ms between the precursor and the vowel (Experiment 2), both produce effects on vowel quality consistent with those predicted from peripheral adaptation or recovery from it. However, there were some listeners for whom even the smallest gap largely eliminated the effect of the precursor. Consistent with the inhibitory account of the restoration effect, a contralateral pure tone whose frequency is close to that of the precursor is highly effective at restoring the contribution of the asynchronous harmonic (Experiment 3). When the frequencies match, lateralization cues arising from binaural fusion of the precursor and contralateral tone may also contribute to this restoration.     

Perceived and capitalization support are substantially similar: implications for social support theory

Social support is typically thought to protect people from bad events, whereas capitalization support augments people's reactions to good events. Because social support and capitalization support apply to different classes of events, most theory predicts that measures of perceived support and capitalization support should be empirically distinct. We tested a new theory that hypothesizes that the main effects between perceived support and mental health do not reflect stress and coping primarily, but instead reflect ordinary, yet affectively consequential conversations and shared activities, some of which include positive events. According to this view, perceived support and capitalization support should be substantially correlated, should have similar links to other constructs, and their links to favorable affect should overlap, yet not be completely redundant. In three samples, results were consistent with the new theory, when correlations reflected social influences. When correlations reflected trait influences, perceived and capitalization support showed greater overlap.     

Age variation in the prevalence of DSM-IV disorders in cases of suicide of middle-aged and older persons in Sydney

Data concerning 127 persons aged 35 years or above who died by suicide (as determined in consecutive cases by a Sydney coroner) were analyzed. Psychological autopsy (PA) interviews were conducted in 52 cases, and details were compared with the 75 cases where data were available only from coroner's files (CF). Most characteristics of the two groups were similar, although more CF suicide victims were of Asian background and unable to speak English fluently. Consensus diagnoses were reached following detailed discussion about PA and CF cases. Logistic regression showed no significant difference between age-groups in the proportion diagnosed with major depression, which contrasts with the results of an earlier U.S. study.     

Stepfamily Education: A Case Study

Stepfamily education programs are becoming increasingly common. While research on these programs is also increasing, the extant literature tends to be quantitative and cross-sectional. To more fully understand the stepfamily education experience, this case study focuses on the perceptions, feelings, and reports of one participating couple in the Smart Steps program. The nuances and complexities of this single case highlight the sequentiality and reasons for seeking out and participating in stepfamily education. A holistic portrayal of the perceived benefits of attending is also provided, including improvements with spouse, ex-spouse, and children.     

Negative transfer in human associative learning

Models of attentional allocation in associative learning are typically structured according to one of two guiding principles: the predictiveness principle, which posits that attention is paid to cues that have reliably predicted an outcome in the past, or the uncertainty principle, which states that attention is paid to cues about which little is known. Both principles are well supported by studies of animals. However, in studies of human learning, there is very little direct empirical support for the uncertainty principle. In the study reported here, we addressed this gap by investigating negative transfer, a phenomenon that may provide unique support for the uncertainty principle. In two human learning experiments using an allergist task, we replicated the primary findings of previous research on animal learning. We believe that these data provide the first direct evidence for the uncertainty principle in human associative learning.