Relations Among Symptoms of Social Phobia Subtypes, Avoidant Personality Disorder, Panic, and Depression

This study's primary goal was to examine relations between symptoms of specific social phobia (SSP), generalized social phobia (GSP), avoidant personality disorder (APD), and panic and depression. Past research has suggested a single social phobia continuum in which SSP displays less symptom severity than GSP or APD. We found SSP symptoms correlated less strongly with depression but more strongly with panic relative to both GSP and APD symptoms. These findings challenge a unidimensional model of social phobia, suggesting a multidimensional model may be more appropriate. These findings also inform current research aimed at classifying mood and anxiety disorders more broadly by identifying that the different factors of fear versus distress appear to underlie different subtypes of social phobia.     

Symptoms of Specific and Generalized Social Phobia: An Examination of Discriminant Validity and Structural Relations With Mood and Anxiety Symptoms

Current models divide social phobia into specific (SSP) and generalized (GSP) subtypes and suggest strong overlap between GSP and avoidant personality disorder (APD). Meanwhile, other research suggests reclassifying anxiety and mood disorders as fear and distress disorders. To unify these separate lines of research, this study was designed to test the hypothesis that SSP is more related to fear disorders (e.g., panic and phobias), whereas GSP and APD are more related to distress disorders (e.g., depression and generalized anxiety). Confirmatory factor analysis suggested the best-fitting model had symptoms of GSP, APD, and depression loading on one factor, and symptoms of SSP, panic, and specific phobias loading on a second factor. Key components of this model were (a) the inclusion of GAD symptoms reduced model fit and (b) GSP and APD symptoms significantly predicted SSP symptoms; this is consistent with conceptualizations of individuals with both GSP and SSP reporting performance anxiety.     

A comparison of various forms of reinforcement with and without extinction as treatment for escape-maintained problem behavior

The present investigation compared the effects of reinforcing compliance with either positive or negative reinforcement for a participant who displayed escape-maintained problem behavior. The results indicated that positive reinforcement in the form of a highly preferred edible or leisure item produced higher levels of compliance and lower levels of problem behavior when compared to negative reinforcement in the form of escape from demands. In addition, an extinction procedure was unnecessary to achieve high levels of compliance.     

An exploratory examination of the associations among racial and ethnic discrimination, racial climate, and trauma-related symptoms in a college student population

In this study, we examined the association among perceptions of racial and/or ethnic discrimination, racial climate, and trauma-related symptoms among 289 racially diverse college undergraduates. Study measures included the Perceived Stress Scale, the Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Questionnaire, the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version, and the Racial Climate Scale. Results of a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that Asian and Black students reported more frequent experiences of discrimination than did White students. Additionally, the MANOVA indicated that Black students perceived the campus racial climate as being more negative than did White and Asian students. A hierarchical regression analysis showed that when controlling for generic life stress, perceptions of discrimination contributed an additional 10% of variance in trauma-related symptoms for Black students, and racial climate contributed an additional 7% of variance in trauma symptoms for Asian students.     

When planning is not enough: Fighting unhealthy snacking habits by mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII)

In two experiments a self‐regulatory strategy combining mental contrasting with the formation of implementation intentions (MCII) was tested for its effectiveness in diminishing unhealthy snacking habits. Study 1 (N = 51) showed that participants in the MCII condition consumed fewer unhealthy snacks than participants in a control condition who thought about and listed healthy options for snacks. In Study 2 (N = 59) MCII was more effective than mental contrasting or formulating implementation intentions alone and mental contrasting was found to increase perceived clarity about critical cues for unhealthy snacking. Together, these findings suggest that MCII is an effective strategy for fighting habits and that one of the underlying processes making MCII superior to implementation intentions alone may be that mental contrasting produces clarity about the critical cues for the unwanted habitual behavior. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Implementation Quality and Positive Experiences in After-School Programs

Data collected during an evaluation of a multi-site trial of an enhanced after-school program were used to relate quality of program implementation to student experiences after school. The enhanced after-school program incorporated a drug use and violence prevention component that was shown to be effective in previous research. Building on Durlak and Dupre’s (Am J Community Psychol 41:327–350, 2008) dimensions of implementation, we assessed the level of dosage, quality of management and climate, participant responsiveness, and staffing quality achieved at the five program sites. We evaluated how these characteristics co-varied with self-reported positive experiences after-school. The study illustrates how multiple dimensions of program implementation can be measured, and shows that some but not all dimensions of implementation are related to the quality of student after-school experiences. Measures of quality of management and climate, participant responsiveness, and staffing stability were most clearly associated with youth experiences. The importance of measuring multiple dimensions of program implementation in intervention research is discussed.     

Internalizing Trajectories in Young Boys and Girls: The Whole is Not a Simple Sum of its Parts

There is support for a differentiated model of early internalizing emotions and behaviors, yet researchers have not examined the course of multiple components of an internalizing domain across early childhood. In this paper we present growth models for the Internalizing domain of the Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment and its component scales (General Anxiety, Separation Distress, Depression/Withdrawal, and Inhibition to Novelty) in a sample of 510 one- to three-year-old children. For all children, Internalizing domain scores decreased over the study, although girls had significantly higher initial levels and boys had steeper declines. General Anxiety increased over the study period and, when modeled individually, girls evidenced higher initial levels and greater increases. For all children, Separation Distress and Inhibition to Novelty decreased significantly over time, while Depression/Withdrawal remained low without change. Findings from our parallel process model, in which all components were modeled simultaneously, revealed that initial levels of internalizing scales were closely associated while rates of change were less closely related. Sex differences in variability around initial levels and rates of change emerged on some scales. Findings suggest that, for one- to three-year-olds, examining scales of the internalizing domain separately rather than as a unitary construct reveals more meaningful developmental and gender variation.     

The observation of stacking-fault tetrahedra in III-V compounds

Abstract

The first observations of stacking-fault tetrahedra in ion-implanted III-V compounds are reported. The structure and orientation of the stacking-fault tetrahedra are briefly described. The tetrahedra are present in the near-surface region that recrystallized during the annealing. High-resolution images suggest that the stacking-fault tetrahedra are of the vacancy type.     

Assessing At‐Risk Youth Using the Reynolds Adolescent Adjustment Screening Inventory With a Latino Population

Factor analyses were conducted on scores from the Reynolds Adolescent Adjustment Screening Inventory (RAASI; Reynolds, 2001 ) representing at‐risk Latino youth. The 4‐factor model of the RAASI did not exhibit a good fit. However, evidence of generalizability for Latino youth was noted.