Basic Language Skills and Young Children's Understanding of Causal Connections During Storytelling

The current study examined the role of basic language skills for individual differences in preschoolers’ understanding of causal connections. Assessments of basic language skills, expressive vocabulary, phonological processing, and receptive language comprehension were examined in relation to the production of causal connections in a storytelling task, at two time periods. Similar to previous cross-sectional research, children's causal connections increased over six months. As hypothesized, expressive vocabulary and phonological processing predicted causal connections at Time 1. Six months later, only phonological processing predicted causal connections. Results provide new information regarding the significance of basic language skills for early narrative skills.     

Inspection times, the change task, and the rapid-response selection task

Three experiments are reported, which are based upon the Wason four-card selection task inspection time paradigm, in which subjects solve computer-presented trials while using a mouse to indicate the card currently under consideration. Evans (1996) had shown that selected cards were inspected for longer than non-selected cards, and this was taken as support for the existence of pre-conscious heuristic processes that direct attention towards relevant aspects of a problem. However, Roberts (1998b) suggested that this inspection time effect is artefactual, due to task format induced biases. Experiment 1 utilized a "change" task: Cards were presented either as selected or not selected, and subjects changed these where necessary. This demonstrated an association between card selection and inspection time independently of one between the act of response and inspection time. Experiment 2 utilized a standard selection task, but subjects either responded within 2 s of each card presentation, or made selections with no time pressure. The curtailment of thinking time increased matching behaviour—more cards matching the terms in the rules were selected—and was replicated in Experiment 3 using a within-subjects design. Overall, the data support Evans' heuristic-analytic framework albeit with some caveats.     

Cumulative trauma,emotion reactivity and salivary cytokine levels following acute stress in healthy women

Background and Objectives: To better understand how trauma leads to poor health, this study examined whether cumulative trauma and emotion reactivity contribute to pro- (IL-1β) and anti-inflammatory (IL-10) salivary cytokine levels after stress.

Design: Seventy-three women, screened to be physically and mentally healthy, completed an acute stress paradigm and measures of lifetime trauma exposure.

Method: Saliva was collected 10?min before (i.e., baseline) and 35?min after the onset of a 10-min stressor. State negative and positive emotion were measured at baseline and post-stress.

Results: Most participants reported exposure to at least one trauma, with a mean of five. Cumulative trauma was associated with higher post-stress IL-1β and IL-1β/IL-10, but not with IL-10 or changes in emotion. Declines in positive emotion correlated with greater post-stress IL-1β.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that both cumulative trauma exposure and positive emotion have implications for salivary cytokine responses to acute stress. The inclusion of healthy women strengthens internal validity, and increases confidence that observed associations between trauma and salivary cytokine responses can be attributed to trauma, rather than to confounding health problems. This study adds to the growing literature examining how trauma may connect to cytokines, and ultimately, poor health.     

Battered Woman Syndrome Questionnaire (BWSQ) Subscales: Development,Reliability, and Validity

ABSTRACT

The current study describes the development and evaluation of the reliability and validity of four components of a comprehensive assessment designed for the purpose of identifying women who manifest symptoms due to an intimate partner violence (IPV) relationship: The Battered Woman Syndrome Questionnaire (BWSQ). More specifically, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the factor structure, validity, temporal stability and internal consistency of four instruments for measuring current functioning of IPV survivors; (a) Interpersonal relationship (BWSQ-IR), (b) Sexual Dysfunction (BWSQ-SD), (c) Body Image (BWSQ-BI), and (d) Post-Traumatic Stress Checklist (BWSQ-PTSC). Overall, results indicate the BWSQ subscales have good temporal stability and internal consistency. Exploratory factor analysis of the four subscales indicate that each has a unidimensional factor structure. Internal consistency was high for each of the subscales. A two-way mixed effects model, intraclass correlation was used to demonstrate a high degree of test-retest reliability. Convergent and discriminant validity was demonstrated by comparing each subscale with the Revised Adult Attachment Scale (AAS), the Derogatis Interview of Sexual Functioning – Sexual Response (DISF-SR), the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS) and the Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI). The four instruments demonstrate sound psychometric properties as standalone measures as well as subscales of the BWSQ.     

Using message framing to motivate HIV testing among low-income, ethnic minority women.

This study compared the effectiveness of 4 videotaped educational programs designed to motivate HIV testing among low-income, ethnic minority women. Four hundred eighty women were assigned randomly to watch one of 2 gain-framed or 2 loss-framed videos. Consistent with prospect theory, participants' perceptions of the certainty of the outcome of an HIV test moderated the effects of framing on self-reported testing behavior 6 months after video exposure. Among participants who reported being certain of the test's outcome, those who saw a gain-framed video reported a higher rate of testing than those who saw a loss-framed message. Among women who perceived the outcome of HIV testing as relatively uncertain, gain- and loss-framed videos led to similar rates of self-reported testing, with some advantage for the loss-framed message.