Peer victimization through a trauma lens: Identifying who is at risk for negative outcomes

Peer victimization is a chronic stressor that occurs within the context of peer interactions and has been robustly associated with numerous negative psychological and social adjustment problems. Although increased frequency of peer victimization has been linked to psychosocial problems, few researchers have studied the role of duration and pervasiveness of victimization (i.e., number of places it occurs). The objective of this study was to examine how frequency, duration, and pervasiveness of peer victimization are associated with youth adjustment. Canadian adolescents (N = 879), ages 12–18 completed an online survey about experiences with peer victimization. Youth also answered questions about internalizing problems, distress, relationship quality with family, friends, and adults in their school and community, as well as academic functioning. Data were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression modeling. Both duration and pervasiveness of peer victimization were predictive of increased internalizing problems, distress, relationship problems, and academic difficulties. Duration and pervasiveness of peer victimization were identified as important factors to consider when predicting youth psychosocial adjustment. By asking questions about these situational factors, parents, teachers, and healthcare providers may more effectively identify youth who are at risk for experiencing mental health problems associated with peer victimization.     

Measurement of nontargeted problem behavior during investigations of resurgence

Resurgence occurs when a previously extinguished behavior reemerges once a more recently reinforced behavior is placed on extinction. Previous research has suggested that nontargeted responses within the same response class recur alongside target-response resurgence (e.g., da Silva, Maxwell, & Lattal, 2008; Lieving, Hagopian, Long, & O'Connor, 2004). The purpose of this two-experiment investigation was to examine target response resurgence while simultaneously measuring the occurrence of nontargeted responses. Three children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder who displayed multiple topographies of problem behavior participated. In Experiment 1, a three-phase resurgence procedure was conducted and all three participants displayed target-response resurgence accompanied by the emergence of nontargeted forms of problem behavior. These findings were replicated in Experiment 2 using a 30-min assessment procedure. The implications of these findings as they pertain to the treatment of severe problem behavior and utility of a brief relapse assessment are discussed.     

Gender Differences in Aggression: The Role of Status and Personality in Competitive Interactions

Southwest US undergraduates (78 female, 72 male) were tested in a laboratory aggressive behavior paradigm involving noise blasts participants could use against another (bogus) same-sex competitor in a point-earning task. Status of the competitor (low vs. high) and expectation to meet the competitor (meet vs. no meet) were experimentally manipulated. A significant gender × aggression proneness × status interaction indicated that aggression-prone men were more likely to aggress against a high status competitor, while aggression-prone women were more likely to aggress against a low status competitor. Interactions of narcissism and sensation seeking with gender and anticipated meeting indicated that men but not women high in these personality traits were more likely to aggress, but only towards competitors they anticipated meeting.     

Gender Differences in Correlates of Homophobia and Transphobia

A scale of prejudice against transgender individuals was developed, validated, and contrasted with a homophobia measure in 153 female and 157 male US college undergraduates. For both sexes, transphobia and homophobia were highly correlated with each other and with right-wing authoritarianism, religious fundamentalism, and hostile sexism, but aggression proneness was predictive of transphobia and homophobia only in men. Benevolent sexism and rape myth acceptance were more predictive of transphobia and homophobia in women than men. With homophobia partialled out, authoritarianism, fundamentalism, and aggression proneness no longer predicted transphobia for men, but authoritarianism, fundamentalism, benevolent sexism, and rape myth acceptance continued to predict transphobia in women. Discussion focused on gender differences in issues that drive prejudice against transgender and homosexual individuals.     

Do deficits in mindfulness underlie borderline personality features and core difficulties?

The current study investigated whether deficits in mindfulness (the awareness, attention, and acceptance of the present moment) can account for variability in borderline personality (BPD) features and characteristic difficulties in emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, and impulsivity. Structural equation modeling and hierarchical regressions were utilized to examine the associations of trait mindfulness with BPD features, interpersonal problem-solving, impulsive and passive emotion-regulation strategies, and neuroticism in a sample of young adults (N = 342). As hypothesized, mindfulness was related inversely to BPD features and core areas of difficulty, and these associations continued even when controlling for neuroticism. Additionally, mindfulness deficits continued to predict borderline features even when interpersonal effectiveness, passive and impulsive emotion-regulation, and neuroticism were controlled. It is concluded that deficits in mindfulness may be integral to BPD features. Difficulties with attention, awareness, and acceptance of internal and external experience appear to explain borderline pathology even when controlling for problems with negative affectivity, behavioral dyscontrol, and emotional and interpersonal dysfunction--which have been described as definitional of this disorder. Thus, attention to mindfulness deficits may enhance clinical formulation of BPD symptomatology, as well as provide a vital component of effective BPD treatment.     

The road to two theorems of logic

Work on how to axiomatize the subtheories of a first-order theory in which only a proper subset of their extra-logical vocabulary is being used led to a theorem on recursive axiomatizability and to an interpolation theorem for first-order logic. There were some fortuitous events and several logicians played a helpful role.     

Using Profile Analysis via Multidimensional Scaling (PAMS) to identify core profiles from the WMS-III

Profile Analysis via Multidimensional Scaling (PAMS) is a procedure for extracting latent core profiles in a multitest data set. The PAMS procedure offers several advantages compared with other profile analysis procedures. Most notably, PAMS estimates individual profile weights that reflect the degree to which an individual's observed profile approximates the shape and scatter of latent core profiles. The PAMS procedure was applied to index scores of nonreplicated participants from the standardization sample (N = 1,033) for the Wechsler Memory Scale--Third Edition (D. Tulsky, J. Zhu, & M. F. Ledbetter, 2002). PAMS extracted discrepant visual memory and auditory memory versus working memory core profiles for the complete 16- to 89-year-old sample and discrepant working memory and auditory memory versus working memory core profiles for the 75- to 89-year-old cohort. Implications for use of PAMS in future research are discussed.     

Variations in Psychological Profile Among Children with Recurrent Abdominal Pain

This study was designed to determine whether distinct subgroups of children with recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) could be identified based on patterns of psychological functioning. Two hundred and eighty-three children (ages 8–17 years), and a primary caretaker, completed the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC) during the initial evaluation of RAP at a pediatric gastroenterology clinic. Cluster analysis of BASC scores supported a 3-cluster solution, with fair agreement observed between parents and children on cluster assignment. Approximately half of the sample identified no significant psychological problems. A small percentage (13%) evidenced intense and broad-based psychological problems, while the remainder (35–45%) indicated relative elevations in anxiety only. Cluster membership did not vary systematically by age, gender, race, or functional gastrointestinal disorder diagnosis. Distinct psychological profiles appear to exist for children with RAP. Targeting treatments to these profiles may improve the effectiveness and efficiency with which health professionals address pediatric abdominal pain. This study was supported in part by a grant from the Hall Family Foundation. Portions of this work were presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association in July 2004 (Honolulu, HI) and at Digestive Diseases Week in May 2004 (New Orleans, LA).