Emotional availability and psychosocial correlates among mothers in substance‐abuse treatment and their young infants

Emotional availability (EA) was investigated among low‐income mothers enrolled in substance‐abuse treatment and their young infants (n = 21) compared with a demographically matched group of mother–infant pairs who, by self‐report, were not at risk for substance abuse (n = 27). The mother–infant dyads in the treatment group generally demonstrated poorer EA functioning than those in the comparison group, but few differences between the groups on individual dimensions of EA were significant. This finding was notable considering that mothers in treatment reported significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms and psychological stress. Treatment effects may have buffered the negative impact of depression and psychological stress on mothers' EA scores. The clinical implications of the findings are discussed as they relate to substance‐abuse‐treatment services for pregnant and parenting women.     

Cooperative selection of movements: The optimal selection model

How one selects a movement when faced with alternative ways of doing a task is a central problem in human motor control. Moving the fingertip a short distance can be achieved with any of an infinite number of combinations of knuckle, wrist, elbow, shoulder, and hip movements. The question therefore arises: how is a unique combination chosen? In our model, choice is achieved by consideration of the similarity between the task requirements and the optimal biomechanical performance of each limb segment. Two variants of the model account for the movements that are selected when subjects freely oscillate the fingertip and when they tap against an obstacle. An important feature of both is that the impulse of collision with an obstacle (as in drumming with the hand or tapping with the finger) is assumed to be controlled in part by aiming for a point beyond the surface being struck. Thus, a force-related control variable may be represented and controlled spatially.     

NONCONTINGENT PRESENTATION OF ATTENTION AND ALTERNATIVE STIMULI IN THE TREATMENT OF ATTENTION-MAINTAINED DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOR

Previous research has demonstrated that destructive behavior may be reduced through noncontingent presentation of attention when attention is identified as the stimulus responsible for behavioral maintenance. Because it may not always be possible to deliver attention in all situations, we examined the extent to which alternative stimuli that have been identified through a choice assessment would substitute for attention (the functional analysis—based reinforcer) in a noncontingent reinforcement procedure. Prior to treatment, functional analyses demonstrated that the destructive behavior of 2 clients with mental retardation was maintained by adult attention. Next, a stimulus choice assessment identified highly preferred tangible items for the 2 clients. Finally, we compared the effectiveness of two noncontingent reinforcement procedures: continuous noncontingent access to attention and continuous noncontingent access to the tangible item identified in the choice assessment. For both clients, these noncontingent reinforcement procedures reduced destructive behavior. The results are discussed in terms of the clinical implications for the treatment of destructive behavior using functional and alternative stimuli.     

THE USE OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT IN THE TREATMENT OF ESCAPE-MAINTAINED DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOR

We identified 3 clients whose destructive behavior was sensitive to negative reinforcement (break from tasks) and positive reinforcement (access to tangible items, attention, or both). In an instructional context, we then evaluated the effects of reinforcing compliance with one, two, or all of these consequences (a break, tangible items, attention) when destructive behavior produced a break and when it did not (escape extinction). For 2 clients, destructive behavior decreased and compliance increased when compliance produced access to tangible items, even though destructive behavior resulted in a break. For 1 client, extinction was necessary to reduce destructive behavior and to increase compliance. Subsequently, when the schedule of reinforcement for compliance was faded for all clients, destructive behavior was lower and fading proceeded more rapidly when compliance produced multiple functional reinforcers (i.e., a break plus tangible items or attention) and destructive behavior was on extinction. The results are discussed in terms of the effects of relative reinforcement value and extinction on concurrent operants.     

The mediating effect of age on the relationship between child behavior checklist hyperactivity scores and neuropsychological test performance

The relationship between hyperactivity and neuropsychological test performance at different age levels was examined. It was found that for young children (6 to 8 years of age, n=90), there was no significant association between hyperactivity/attentional problems (as measured by the Hyperactivity scale of the Child Behavior Checklist) and performance on neuropsychological tasks thought to contain an attentional component (WISC-R Coding, Arithmetic, and Digit Span; WRAT Arithmetic; and the Benton Visual Retention Test). However, for older children (9 to 12 years of age, n=92), there were significant and large negative correlations between CBC Hyperactivity scores and Coding, WRAT Arithmetic, and Benton VRT scores. Multiple regression analyses supported the above results (for Coding and WRAT Arithmetic), indicating that hyperactivity/inattention has a particularly deleterious effect on test performance (relative to sameage peers) as age increases.Aspects of the research reported in this article were presented at the 1987 meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society in Washington, D.C. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of William Ingram and Lisa Rosa in the data collection.     

Are mothers’ work-to-family conflict,school involvement,and work status related to academic achievement?

This study investigates a moderated mediational model whereby maternal involvement in schooling mediates the association between maternal work-to-family conflict and children’s academic achievement in early adolescence, and socioeconomic contexts interact with maternal work status to moderate this association. Participants reflect a subsample of 725 fifth graders (and their employed mothers and teachers) from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD SECCYD). Of the children in this subsample, 49.4% were female and 79.7% were White, non-hispanic. On average mothers completed 14.7 years of education (SD?=?2.4), with 75.4% of mothers completing more than a high school education. Multi-group analyses in SEM using Mplus 7.4 tested whether maternal work status would interact with core socioeconomic contexts (e.g., maternal education, child race, marital status, poverty status, work schedule, and number of children in the home) to moderate the relationship between maternal work-to-family conflict, maternal involvement in school, and academic outcomes. Results revealed partial mediation between maternal work-to-family conflict and achievement through maternal involvement in school. Our hypothesis that maternal work status would interact with other core socioeconomic contexts to moderate the relationship between maternal work-to-family conflict, maternal involvement in school, and academic outcomes was supported. We conclude that mothers’ involvement in school may be an important way in which negative outcomes of work-to-family conflict may be minimized. We also highlight the importance of situating maternal employment in a larger familial and socioeconomic context.     

A Matter of Life and Death: Understanding Continuing Bonds and Post-traumatic Growth When Young Adults Experience the Loss of a Close Friend

Young adults establish networks of friends for companionship, support, assistance, and resource exchange. Friends have been found to play an essential role in promoting young adults’ health and well-being. Yet, relatively little is known about how young adults cope with the death of a close friend. Studies of grief and bereavement in adulthood focus primarily on the death of a family member. In the present qualitative study, we examined the narrative accounts of 20 young adults (ages 21–34) to describe the prevalence and nature of continuing bonds and post-traumatic growth experiences in coping with the death of a close friend. Participants completed semi-structured interviews in which they described the circumstances of their friend’s death, the nature of their friendship, whether and how they continued their relationship with their deceased friend, and the impact of their friend’s death in their everyday lives. Overall, young adults articulated ways that they continued their relationship with the deceased friend that included personal communication, personal change, and homage activities. Post-traumatic growth experiences as a result of their friend’s death included behavioral changes and personal changes in outlook. The narratives of all participants reflected their simultaneous experience of continuing relationship ties with the deceased and a sense of personal growth as a result of their friend’s death. We report areas of overlap and distinctions between expressions of continuing bonds and post-traumatic growth in the lived experience of young adults coping with the loss of a friend. Implications of findings for future research are discussed.