Integrating Impairments in Reaction Time and Executive Function Using a Diffusion Model Framework

Using Ratcliff’s diffusion model and ex-Gaussian decomposition, we directly evaluate the role individual differences in reaction time (RT) distribution components play in the prediction of inhibitory control and working memory (WM) capacity in children with and without ADHD. Children with (n?=?91, $ \overline{\mathrm{x}} $ age?=?10.2 years, 67 % male) and without ADHD (n?=?62, $ \overline{\mathrm{x}} $ age?=?10.6 years, 46 % male) completed four tasks of WM and a stop signal reaction time (SSRT) task. Children with ADHD had smaller WM capacities and less efficient inhibitory control. Diffusion model analyses revealed that children with ADHD had slower drift rates (v) and faster non-decision times (Ter), but there were no group differences in boundary separations (a). Similarly, using an ex-Gaussian approach, children with ADHD had larger τ values than non-ADHD controls, but did not differ in μ or σ distribution components. Drift rate mediated the association between ADHD status and performance on both inhibitory control and WM capacity. τ also mediated the ADHD-executive function impairment associations; however, models were a poorer fit to the data. Impaired performance on RT and executive functioning tasks has long been associated with childhood ADHD. Both are believed to be important cognitive mechanisms to the disorder. We demonstrate here that drift rate, or the speed at which information accumulates towards a decision, is able to explain both.     

Abused Conservative Christian Wives: Treatment Considerations for Practitioners

Through narrative, the authors explore the faith‐based challenges of a physically and emotionally abused Conservative Christian wife to illustrate her ideological assessment of agency in a violent marriage and her concerns about the religious consequences of escape. To offset religious teachings that obstruct the safety and self‐assertion of abused Conservative Christian wives, the authors offer practitioners practical, idiomatic recommendations through which clients can reassess the limitations of common religious schemas, including conceptions of wifely submission, marital permanence, infinite forgiveness, and pious suffering. The religious community's responses to abused wives, particularly those of the clergy, are also discussed.     

A COGNITIVE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON FIRST-GRADERS' CLASSIFICATIONS OF PICTURE

From the theoretical framework of cognitive anthropology based on the work of Charles Frake, this study explored children's classification systems underlying their interactions with illustrated picture storybooks in a classroom context. As a classroom participant-observer, the researcher carried out a classification task where children in a culturally diverse first-grade classroom sorted 15 picture books into piles of books having similar characteristics. It was found that the children classified books by topic, genre, author, culture, emotional response, and physical property of the book. The children's responses were placed in the context of the classroom setting. Some aspects of the children's classification systems were found to be similar to the teacher's way of categorizing books in the classroom library and also her way of classifying books in a book sorting activity.     

Preschoolers' Acquisition of Scientific Vocabulary Through Repeated Read-Aloud Events,Retellings, and Hands-On Science Activities

This study explored 3- and 4-year-old children's development of scientific vocabulary from participation in repeated interactive read-aloud events and retellings of three informational picture books about light and color, followed by hands-on science activities. Thirty-two children attending a YWCA preschool were matched by age and general vocabulary knowledge and randomly assigned to a retelling or no retelling condition. Repeated measures ANOVA of pretest and posttest scores on a free recall target vocabulary test revealed significantly higher scores for 4-year-olds, those with higher vocabulary knowledge, and those who retold the books. Children used significantly more target words across the three retellings.     

Modeling Coordination in Multiple Simultaneous Latent Change Scores

Coordination is a taxonomy of how processes change together through time. It depicts the changes of 2 or more variables in terms of the strength and consistency of their covariation, the directionality of their covariation (i.e., do increases in 1 variable correspond with increases [in-phase] or decreases [anti-phase] in the other variable), and the timing of their covariation (i.e., do both variables change at the same rate or does 1 variable change faster than the other). Current methods are able to characterize some, but not all, of these aspects of coordination and provide incomplete information as a result. This study addresses this limitation by demonstrating that multivariate Latent Change Score models can be used to fully differentiate all possible coordination patterns. Furthermore, one can then expand coordination beyond the 2-outcome case to test arrangements of underlying coordination mechanisms or patterns. Examples using 2 simultaneous Latent Change Score models and 4 simultaneous Latent Change Score models illustrate this approach within the context of adolescents and parents regulating Type 1 diabetes.     

Ayodhya and the Hindu resurgence

It is usually accepted that although cosmological references in the early Pali Buddhist texts refer metaphorically to meditative states of mind, they should at the same time be understood as referring in literal terms to an externally existent cosmos. Because the ontological status of the cosmos appears to be tangential to what the Buddha taught, however, it is not clear that this literal interpretation is appropriate. From a study of the early textual material, this paper suggests that an alternative understanding of the cosmos is more compatible with the Buddha's teachings.     

Therapeutic Assessment With an Adolescent: Choosing Connections Over Substances

This case study provides an in-depth example of a comprehensive therapeutic assessment with an adolescent (TA–A) and his parents. The TA–A addressed parental concerns about their son's drug experimentation as well as the adolescent's own private questions about his distinctiveness from others, all set against a backdrop of ongoing parental conflict and poor communication. The TA–A process and how it is specifically tailored to balance the needs of adolescents and their parents is discussed. Subsequently, each step of TA–A is illustrated through the case study. Research findings at the conclusion of the assessment and at follow-up indicated significant decreases in internalizing symptomology and school problems, increases in self-esteem and self-reliance, and improved family functioning as reported by the adolescent. At follow-up, the father spoke of developing a more assertive parenting approach and successful follow-through on recommendations. This case study provides a template for clinicians interested in conducting TA–A.     

Family emotion expressivity,emotion regulation,and the link to psychopathology: Examination across race

Research has established links between parental emotion socialization behaviours and youth emotional and psychological outcomes; however, no study has simultaneously compared these relations for White, Black, and Asian individuals. In this study, emerging adults identifying as White (n= 61), Black (n= 51), or Asian (n= 56) retrospectively reported on parents’ emotion socialization behaviours during childhood, existing emotion regulation (ER) skills, and current psychopathology symptoms. Asian participants reported fewer positive displays of emotions in their families during childhood than White and Black participants. Despite this difference, low expression of positive emotions in families during childhood did not relate to negative outcomes for Asian participants but was linked for White and Black participants. Overall, Asian participants reported more difficulties with ER than Black or White participants, and relations between ER difficulties and psychopathology varied by racial group. The findings emphasize the need to consider race when conducting research on emotion functioning with families and highlight emotion dysregulation as a potential treatment target for White, Black, and Asian individuals.     

Randomized,placebo-controlled trial of cognitive-behavioral therapy alone or combined with sertraline in the treatment of pediatric obsessive–compulsive disorder

Background

To examine the efficacy of sequential sertraline and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) treatment relative to CBT with pill placebo over 18 weeks in children and adolescents with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD).

Methods

Forty-seven children and adolescents with OCD (Range = 7–17 years) were randomized to 18-weeks of treatment in one of three arms: 1) sertraline at standard dosing + CBT (RegSert + CBT); 2) sertraline titrated slowly but achieving at least 8 weeks on the maximally tolerated daily dose + CBT (SloSert + CBT); or 3) pill placebo + CBT (PBO + CBT). Assessments were conducted at screening, baseline, weeks 1–9, 13, and 17, and post-treatment. Raters and clinicians were blinded to sertraline (but not CBT) randomization status. Primary outcomes included the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale, and response and remission status. Secondary outcomes included the Child Obsessive Compulsive Impact Scale–Parent/Child, Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised, Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children, and Clinical-Global Impressions-Severity.

Results

All groups exhibited large within-group effects across outcomes. There was no group by time interaction across all outcomes suggesting that group changes over time were comparable.

Conclusions

Among youth with OCD, there was no evidence that sequentially provided sertraline with CBT differed from those receiving placebo with CBT.

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier

NCT00382291.     

Characteristics and Effectiveness of an Intensive Military Outpatient Treatment Program for PTSD

This study describes the characteristics and global effectiveness of treatment of a military intensive outpatient treatment program for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Thirty-nine military personnel completed treatment outcome questionnaires. Results showed a statistically significant reduction in depression and PTSD symptoms after the participants completed 3 weeks of intensive outpatient therapy. The findings have clinical and research implications for the length, intensity, and focus of PTSD treatment.