An invariant dimensional liability model of gender differences in mental disorder prevalence: evidence from a national sample

Epidemiological studies of categorical mental disorders consistently report that gender differences exist in many disorder prevalence rates and that disorders are often comorbid. Can a dimensional multivariate liability model be developed to clarify how gender impacts diverse, comorbid mental disorders? We pursued this possibility in the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC; N = 43,093). Gender differences in prevalence were systematic such that women showed higher rates of mood and anxiety disorders, and men showed higher rates of antisocial personality and substance use disorders. We next investigated patterns of disorder comorbidity and found that a dimensional internalizing-externalizing liability model fit the data well, where internalizing is characterized by mood and anxiety disorders, and externalizing is characterized by antisocial personality and substance use disorders. This model was gender invariant, indicating that observed gender differences in prevalence rates originate from women and men's different average standings on latent internalizing and externalizing liability dimensions. As hypothesized, women showed a higher mean level of internalizing, while men showed a higher mean level of externalizing. We discuss implications of these findings for understanding gender differences in psychopathology and for classification and intervention.     

The independent effects of skin tone and facial features on Whites' affective reactions to Blacks

Research on skin tone and Afrocentric features provides evidence that people use phenotypes (visible physical characteristics) to make inferences about the degree to which stereotypes about the racial group apply to the individual (i.e., to make impressions of others). However, skin tone and Afrocentric features have been confounded in prior research on this topic. The present study examines whether facial features (lip thickness, nose width) have effects on Whites' affective reactions to Black targets, above and beyond the well-documented skin tone effect by experimentally crossing variation in facial features and skin tone. The results showed that both skin tone and facial features independently affected how negatively, as opposed to positively, Whites felt toward Blacks using both implicit and explicit measures. The findings that Whites reacted more negatively toward Blacks with darker skin tone and more prototypical facial features than toward Blacks with lighter skin tone and less prototypical facial features on the explicit measure may indicate that Whites are unaware of the negative effects that Blacks' phenotypes can have on their racial attitudes. The present study demonstrated that subtle facial features, in addition to salient skin tone, also play an important role when predicting Whites' feelings about Blacks. One implication is that it is important to raise people's awareness about the effects that Blacks' phenotypes can have on their attitudes.     

Subliminal priming and effects of hand dominance

In the masked priming paradigm, motor responses to targets are influenced by previously presented subliminal primes, and are guided by facilitatory and inhibitory mechanisms that depend on prime-target compatibility/duration. In this study, we evaluate subliminal-driven priming in right- and left-handers during unimanual as well as bimanual tasks. The data from the unimanual tasks confirmed that prime-target compatibility affects performance as a function of prime-target duration. In a bimanual setting, the preferred hand benefitted from facilitation in both handedness groups whereas the non-preferred hand showed a positive priming effect only in left-handers. This denotes that left-handers are more susceptible to response activation of either hand. In addition, inhibitory priming had a stronger effect on the non-preferred than preferred hand, independent of handedness group. Overall, the findings suggest that subliminal-driven mechanisms that assist adaptive motor behavior are sensitive not only to extrinsic (task-related) factors such as prime-target compatibility but also to intrinsic (performer-related) factors such as hand dominance. The data further provide support for handedness-specific effects in motor functions and underline a significant role of hand dominance in the control of bimanual actions.     

The perceptual span during foveally-demanding visual target localization

Foveally-induced processing load deteriorates target localization performance in vision-guided tasks. Here, participants searched for a target embedded among coded distractors. High processing load was effected by instructing some participants to use the coded distractors to guide their search for the target. Other participants (in the low processing load condition) were not apprised of the code. The experiment examined whether increased processing load alters the span of effective processing (i.e. perceptual span) by (a) reducing its size, (b) altering its shape, or (c) reducing its size and altering its shape. The results demonstrated a reduction in the size of the perceptual span, with no significant change to its shape. It is argued that when distractors are processed beyond simply rejecting them as non targets, the perceptual span shrinks with increasing processing load. The findings are discussed in contrast to a general interference theory that predicts a change in vision-guided performance without a shrinking of the perceptual span.     

The Impact of Neighborhood Factors on the Well-Being of Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence Over Time

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive social problem impacting the psychological well-being of millions of US women annually. The extant literature draws our attention to the devastating mental health effects of IPV, but largely overlooks how ecological factors may further explain survivors' well-being. This study examined how neighborhood disadvantage may contribute to survivors' compromised well-being, in addition to the abuse women experienced. Neighborhood disorder and fear of victimization significantly impacted survivors' well-being, over and above abuse. Although between-women effects of neighborhood disorder and fear were unrelated to change in women's depression or quality of life (QOL), significant within-woman effects were detected. Change in neighborhood disorder was negatively associated with change in QOL, and this relationship was fully mediated by fear. While no direct relationship between change in neighborhood disorder and depression was detected, an indirect effect through survivors' fear was revealed. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Testing orofacial abilities of children who stutter: the Movement, Articulation, Mandibular and Sensory awareness (MAMS) assessment procedure

Objective

The purpose of this article is to introduce a new assessment designed to measure the orofacial abilities of children who stutter (CWS), the Movement, Articulation, Mandibular and Sensory Awareness (MAMS) Orofacial Assessment. The new instrument was developed and validated to measure orofacial abilities in a comprehensive manner.

Design

A group of 43 CWS (mean age 13.10 years, S.D. 2.10 years) and a control group of 32 fluent children (mean age 13.4 years, S.D. 2.6 years) were tested with the new tool. It was hypothesized, that (a) the MAMS is a reliable and valid instrument to measure orofacial abilities in CWS, (b) fluent children have better orofacial abilities than CWS and (c) that the therapy outcome of CWS depend on their orofacial abilities.

Results

The MAMS Orofacial Assessment proved to be a valid and reliable instrument to assess orofacial abilities. Compared with their fluent peers, CWS had significantly worse orofacial abilities. CWS with better orofacial abilities had a better prognosis for therapy outcome.

Conclusions

The new instrument is a reliable and valid tool to measure orofacial abilities and MAMS distinguishes CWS and controls. Orofacial abilities are one set of factors that influence therapy outcome for CWS.Educational objectives: The reader will get an overview over of the literature on orofacial abilities in people who stutter and will learn about and be able to (1) describe different characteristics of orofacial abilities, (2) use the MAMS Orofacial Assessment in the diagnostic process for CWS and for research purposes, and (3) interpret the results of the MAMS to use them for therapy planning.     

The Stammering Information Programme: a Delphi study

Purpose

To find out what information children, parents and education staff feel would be important to know to support a child who stutters in the educational environment, in order to develop appropriate resources.

Method

A Delphi study was carried out to seek the opinions of experts about the information to include. A structured six stage process was completed in order to gain consensus within four expert panels: children who stutter (CWS) aged 7-11 (n = 25); young people who stutter aged 12-18 (n = 27); parents of children and young people who stutter aged 2-18 (n = 67); and members of the education workforce (n = 35).

Results

In response to the questions, 538 statements were generated across the four expert panels, categorised and reduced to 276. Of the 154 rating questionnaires sent out, 99 were returned (64.2% response rate). The top 32 statements, which were those most highly rated and with the greatest consensus, were retained to inform the resources.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates the value of including service users when devising materials aimed for the benefit of CWS. The methodology employed ensured that ideas, perceptions and needs were representative of a range of people who experience stuttering from different perspectives. The results indicated that each expert panel had different priorities of what should be included. The resulting resources may therefore be considered to have high content validity and would be predicted to meet the needs of those who require them.Educational Objectives: The reader will be able to (1) define the Delphi Approach (2) discuss the development of a user led resource for raising awareness about stuttering.     

Velocity-based motion categorization by pigeons

To examine if animals could learn action-like categorizations in a manner similar to noun-based categories, eight pigeons were trained to categorize rates of object motion. Testing 40 different objects in a go/no-go discrimination, pigeons were first trained to discriminate between fast and slow rates of object rotation around their central y-axis. They easily learned this velocity discrimination and transferred it to novel objects and rates. This discrimination also transferred to novel types of motions including the other two axes of rotation and two new translations around the display. Comparable tests with rapid and slow changes in the objects' size, color, and shape failed to support comparable transfer. This difference in discrimination transfer between motion-based and property-based changes suggests the pigeons had learned motion concept rather than one based on change per se. The results provide evidence that pigeons can acquire an understanding of motion-based actions, at least with regard to the property of object velocity. This may be similar to our use of verbs and adverbs to categorize different classes of behavior or motion (e.g., walking, jogging, or running slow vs. fast).     

ADHERENCE TO DISCRETE‐TRIAL INSTRUCTION PROCEDURES BY RURAL PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders may not attempt treatment, even when effective treatment options are available. Little is known about how to improve frequency of attempts to implement treatment (‘treatment adherence’). We provided 32 rural parents of young children with autism spectrum disorders with either written or video training materials about how to implement discrete‐trial instruction and compared parental adherence between the written (control) and video (experimental) groups. Parents who received video instructions adhered to the training procedures to a significantly greater extent than did parents who received written instructions, suggesting that instruction format is a predictor of training success. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The eternal yearning

Parker Palmer defines spirituality as ‘the eternal yearning to be connected with something larger than our own egos’ (2003, 121). This yearning is an innate human need that transcends age, culture, ethnicity and belief. Despite deficit assumptions about young people, they are drawn to this need to surmount the ego and contribute to something larger than their own wants and needs. Two counter stories of young people involved in social activism outline how this is achieved. These are stories of contribution, compassion, empathy and understanding. Implications for schools are outlined including the range of learning that social activism inspires.