Increased Error-Related Brain Activity in Six-Year-Old Children with Clinical Anxiety

Anxiety disorders are the most frequently diagnosed form of psychopathology in children and often result in chronic impairment that persists into adulthood. Identifying neurobehavioral correlates of anxiety that appear relatively early in life would inform etiological models of development and allow intervention and prevention strategies to be implemented more effectively. The error-related negativity (ERN), a negative deflection in the event-related potential at fronto-central sites approximately 50 ms following the commission of errors, has been consistently found to be larger among anxious adults. The current study sought to extend these findings to even younger individuals: the ERN was elicited by a Go/NoGo task in 48 six year-old children with a clinical anxiety disorder assessed by diagnostic interview and 48 age-matched controls. In addition to child anxiety disorder, the ERN was examined in relation to maternal history of anxiety disorder, which was previously related to a smaller ERN. Anxious children were characterized by a larger (i.e., more negative) ERN and maternal history of anxiety disorder was associated with a smaller ERN. Thus, the relationship between an increased ERN and clinical anxiety is evident by age 6, and this effect appears independent from an opposing influence of maternal anxiety history on the ERN. These findings support the ERN as a promising neurobehavioral marker of anxiety, and implications are discussed.     

Anxiety, Sensory Over-Responsivity, and Gastrointestinal Problems in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience high rates of anxiety, sensory processing problems, and gastrointestinal (GI) problems; however, the associations among these symptoms in children with ASD have not been previously examined. The current study examined bivariate and multivariate relations among anxiety, sensory over-responsivity, and chronic GI problems in a sample of 2,973 children with ASD enrolled in the Autism Treatment Network (ages 2–17 years, 81.6 % male). Twenty-four percent of the sample experienced at least one type of chronic GI problem (constipation, abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, and/or nausea lasting three or more months). Children with each type of GI problem had significantly higher rates of both anxiety and sensory over-responsivity. Sensory over-responsivity and anxiety were highly associated, and each provided unique contributions to the prediction of chronic GI problems in logistic regression analyses. The results indicate that anxiety, sensory over-responsivity and GI problems are possibly interrelated phenomenon for children with ASD, and may have common underlying mechanisms.     

Goal conflict, goal striving, and psychological well-being

Although goal conflict is an important part of classic and contemporary theories of motivation, the correlates of goal conflict are not well understood. We identify and distinguish conflicting and facilitating goals, and assess relations with goal attainment and psychological well-being in a short-term, prospective study design. Results from multilevel models demonstrated that individuals with greater conflict were less successful in attaining their goals, but the goals they failed attain were not necessarily the ones in conflict. People who experienced goal conflict tended to be ruminative and hesitant, and reported greater levels of negative affect and increases in depression, anxiety, and psychosomatization. People who experienced goal facilitation reported greater levels of positive affect, life satisfaction, and successful goal attainment. This study identifies several implications of holding conflicting and facilitating goals, but also points to a theoretical inconsistency pertaining to goal conflict. Namely, conflicting goals may not be inherently less attainable than nonconflicting goals. We argue that distinguishing between goal- and person-level factors is essential for understanding goal striving.     

Satisfaction pursuing approach and avoidance goals: Effects of regulatory fit and individual temperaments

Going beyond previous studies on satisfaction in pursuing approach versus avoidance goals, the current study is the first to examine individual satisfaction in pursuing approach and avoidance goals as determined by regulatory fit between type of goal and type of strategy. Specifically, the present study shows that people with approach goals have greater satisfaction when they use an approach strategy rather than an avoidance strategy. People with avoidance goals have greater satisfaction when they use an avoidance strategy rather than an approach strategy. In addition, we explored how individual differences in the Behavioral Activation System and the Behavioral Inhibition System influenced reactions to approach and avoidance goals and strategies.     

The seriousness of crime: A study of popular morality

This article reports the findings from a study that explored how lay people determine the seriousness of criminal offenses. While previous research on this topic has assumed that the perceived seriousness of crimes was primarily determined by differences in physical injury and economic loss, the results of this study indicate that offense seriousness is also affected by judgments subjects make about intent, motive, purpose, “fair play”, and “real harm”.     

Deviance among professionals: The case of unnecessary surgery

This paper conceptualizes unnecessary surgery as a form of professional deviance and seeks to conduct a substantial review of the literature on the subject from that perspective. Borrowing from the very nature of professions, one may define deviance among professionals in terms of violating the public service norm. The role that expertise plays in establishing what conduct is deviant is illustrated. The effects of professional autonomy on observing and measuring deviance are explored. Finally, the research findings on unnecessary surgery are summarized. The resulting patterns suggest that applying more traditional theories of deviance to account for the phenomenon may be fruitful.     

Competitive Processes in Cross‐Situational Word Learning

Cross‐situational word learning, like any statistical learning problem, involves tracking the regularities in the environment. However, the information that learners pick up from these regularities is dependent on their learning mechanism. This article investigates the role of one type of mechanism in statistical word learning: competition. Competitive mechanisms would allow learners to find the signal in noisy input and would help to explain the speed with which learners succeed in statistical learning tasks. Because cross‐situational word learning provides information at multiple scales—both within and across trials/situations—learners could implement competition at either or both of these scales. A series of four experiments demonstrate that cross‐situational learning involves competition at both levels of scale, and that these mechanisms interact to support rapid learning. The impact of both of these mechanisms is considered from the perspective of a process‐level understanding of cross‐situational learning.     

The Broaching Attitudes and Behavior Survey (BABS): An Exploratory Assessment of Its Dimensionality

The continuum of broaching behavior is a conceptual framework explicating how counselors broach or have explicit discussions about racial, ethnic, and cultural factors with their clients during treatment ( Day‐Vines et al., 2007 ). Counselors can assume 5 particular broaching orientations: avoidant, isolating, continuing/incongruent, integrated/congruent, and infusing. The authors operationalized the continuum of broaching behavior using the Broaching Attitudes and Behavior Scale and found support for a 4‐factor model of broaching behavior. El espectro de comportamiento de abordamiento es un marco conceptual que explica cómo los consejeros abordan o tienen discusiones específicas sobre factores raciales, étnicos y culturales con sus clientes durante el tratamiento ( Day‐Vines et al., 2007 ). Los consejeros pueden asumir 5 orientaciones de abordamiento particulares: evasiva, aislante, continua/incongruente, integrada/congruente e infundida. Los autores operativizaron el espectro de comportamiento de abordamiento usando la Escala de Actitudes de Abordamiento y Comportamiento y hallaron respaldo para un modelo del comportamiento de abordamiento de 4 factores.     

Self-determination and functional persuasion to encourage physical activity

This research advances a novel approach to promoting physical activity, based on the principle of functional matching in persuasion, and the self-concordance (SC) of people's motivations for physical activity. We propose that SC establishes a positive or negative orientation toward the challenge inherent in physical activity, and that the maximum yield of participation will be achieved by communications that appeal to each orientation. In two studies, we compared how messages emphasizing challenge versus available social support would influence recipients’ self-reported practices of physical activity and attitudes toward a physical activity setting. As hypothesized, these messages had differential effects for recipients whose pursuit of physical activity varied in SC, such that favorable outcomes were more reliably associated with challenge-oriented messages among respondents higher in SC versus support-oriented messages among respondents lower in SC. The findings suggest the merits of using self-regulatory, compared with object- or personality-based, constructs and measures to indicate psychological functions of ongoing health-related behaviors.     

Toward the re‐enchantment of psychotherapy: Stories as container

Abstract

Storytelling by a therapist to clients may serve to increase clients’ ability to bear pain, to increase self‐complexity, and expand clients’ senses of the allowable. A model delineating the therapeutic impact of therapist storytelling in psychotherapy is proposed. Stories may change clients’ selves so that they may accommodate traumatic experiences and internal complexity. Stories increase clients’ capacity to tolerate painful experience and therefore serve as a container of tragic life experiences. The artistry of therapeutic story selection is defined as choosing stories consonant with clients’ strengths, rather than with the nature of the trauma. The power of story‐listening to alter consciousness in pleasant ways (storystoned) increases its usefulness as an intervention that is neither anxiety provoking nor re‐traumatizing.