The Children's Automatic Thoughts Scale in a clinical sample: psychometric properties and clinical utility

The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties and clinical utility of the Children's Automatic Thoughts Scale (CATS; Schniering, C. A., & Rapee, R. M. (2002). Development and validation of a measure of children's automatic thoughts: The Children's Automatic Thoughts Scale. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40, 1091-1109) in a large sample of anxious youth. The participants were 891 referred children and adolescents. Participants completed the CATS and a wide range of symptom measures, and were assessed via a structured diagnostic interview. Previous community-based psychometric properties were confirmed. The scale was highly sensitive to treatment change, and showed evidence of cognitive specificity with reductions in threat and failure beliefs, but not in hostility beliefs following treatment. The CATS demonstrated good convergent validity with related anxiety and depression scales, and moderate discriminant validity was found across anxious, anxious-depressed and anxious-oppositional groups. Implications for the assessment of child anxiety, and difficulties around children "faking good" on anxiety measures are discussed.     

Where am I? Distal cues use requires sensitivity to start location change in the rat

Place learning is impaired when a single plus maze is moved between adjacent locations 33-120 cm apart. This maze translation creates distinct start locations but maintains a single goal location with respect to distal cues. Hippocampal cell recording data suggest the majority of place fields are tied to apparatus boundaries, not to distal cues, when an apparatus is moved these distances to the left or right. Thus, rats may fail to appreciate the existence of multiple start locations with respect to distal cues when the maze is moved in this way and their start location on the surface is constant. Performance on the single plus maze problem was improved when texture cues were correlated with different start locations. Place learning was supported when multiple start locations were provided on a single large surface (double plus maze), even though rats did not explore the entire surface. Place learning was also supported when random extensions were added to a double plus maze such that start locations, relative to surface boundaries, were not informative as to goal location. This outcome suggests sensitivity to multiple start locations is required for distal cue use in translational place problems.     

Evaluation of a Video Prompting and Fading Procedure for Teaching Dish Washing Skills to Adults with Developmental Disabilities

We evaluated a video prompting and fading procedure for teaching three adults with developmental disabilities to wash dishes. Video prompting involved showing video clips depicting each step of the task. All three adults reached 90–100% correct when video prompting was implemented. Following acquisition, video prompting was withdrawn, but performance deteriorated. Subsequently, a 3-step fading procedure was implemented in which the separate video clips were merged to form larger, multi-step segments of video. Performance reached 80–100% correct as the video prompts were re-applied and then faded. Performance decreased at the 3-month follow-up when prompting was removed, but stabilized at 80–90% correct when the third step in the fading sequence was reinstated. These data suggest a promising approach for fading video prompts.     

A temporal-specific and transient cAMP increase characterizes odorant classical conditioning

Increases in cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) are proposed to initiate learning in a wide variety of species. Here, we measure changes in cAMP in the olfactory bulb prior to, during, and following a classically conditioned odor preference trial in rat pups. Measurements were taken up to the point of maximal CREB phosphorylation in olfactory bulb mitral cells. Using both drug and natural unconditioned stimuli we found effective learning was associated with an increase in cAMP at the end of the conditioning trial, followed by a decrease 5 min later. This early timing of a transient cAMP increase occurred only when the odor was paired with an effective drug or natural unconditioned stimulus (US). The data support the hypothesis that the rate of adenylate cyclase activation is enhanced by pairing calcium and G-protein activation and that the timing of transient cAMP signaling is critical to the initiation of classical conditioning.     

The Role of Interest in Understanding the Career Choices of Female and Male College Students

Mismatch between college students' work goals and perceived goal affordances of physical/mathematical science careers may help explain gender differences in interest and career choice. In Study 1, the desire for interesting work was cited by most students in the sample (89% White, 6% Asian, 5% other). Compared to men, women reported interpersonal work goals more and high pay and status work goals less frequently. In Study 2, students (79% White, 12% Latino, 5% Asian, 4% other, predominantly middle class) perceived physical/mathematical science careers as less likely to afford interpersonal goals and more likely to afford high pay and status goals compared to other careers. Interpersonal goal affordances predicted greater interestingness for all careers, whereas high pay and status goal affordances predicted greater interestingness only for physical/mathematical sciences. Interestingness positively predicted likelihood of career choice.     

Institutional Constructions of Medical Stigma and Its Perception by Multiply Body-Modified Individuals Seeking Treatment

In a recent research project on the lived experience of body modifiers—identified as those with piercings, tattoos, scarification/branding, and/or suspension/hook pull experiences—the researcher documents synergistic resistance on the part of participants, and the institutional review board. This dynamic reflects a long history of problematic academic publications. The real world impact of this is felt by those bearing modification that desire health care. Discussion focuses on post-colonial methods, snowball sampling, findings of institutionally constructed medical bias, and the first known reports of stigma impacting medical care delivery for those who have body modifications.     

An Integrative Review of School-Based Mental Health Interventions for Elementary Students: Implications for Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy for children and youth experiencing mental health conditions is often overlooked in current school-based services, as the traditional role within the system is often limited to physical health issues. The purpose of this integrative review is to investigate current psychosocial interventions within school settings to understand the effects of services provided and to determine potential roles for school-based occupational therapists. The findings of this review support occupational therapists in facilitating interventions that target mental health in school settings. Psychotherapy presented the strongest evidence for reducing psychosocial symptoms in school settings.