Riskanter Alkoholkonsum im Jugendalter

Binge drinking is common in adolescents. Externalizing behavior disorders, novelty seeking, lack of parental monitoring, delinquency and deviant peer affiliations are regarded as major risk factors. In the framework of a prospective longitudinal study, the specific explanatory power of these risk factors for variation in hazardous drinking behavior (here: maximum amount of alcohol drunk on one single occasion) of 15-year-olds is determined. A stepwise linear regression analysis revealed statistically significant independent contributions to the maximum amount of alcohol drunk on one single occasion for all risk factors. This implies that each of the risk factors investigated plays a unique role for adolescent binge drinking and provides clues for the conception of preventive strategies. Possible preventive measures derived from these findings are discussed.     

SEPARATE AND COMBINED EFFECTS OF VISUAL SCHEDULES AND EXTINCTION PLUS DIFFERENTIAL REINFORCEMENT ON PROBLEM BEHAVIOR OCCASIONED BY TRANSITIONS

The separate and combined effects of visual schedules and extinction plus differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) were evaluated to decrease transition‐related problem behavior of 2 children diagnosed with autism. Visual schedules alone were ineffective in reducing problem behavior when transitioning from preferred to nonpreferred activities. Problem behavior decreased for both participants when extinction and DRO were introduced, regardless of whether visual schedules were also used.     

Treating Prepartum Depression to Improve Infant Developmental Outcomes: A Study of Diabetes in Pregnancy

Whether and how the co-occurrence of depression and diabetes in pregnancy may worsen infant development has not been reported. Pregnant women with diabetes and with (n?=?34) or without (n?=?34) major depressive disorder (MDD) were followed during pregnancy and 6-months postpartum. The MDD subset received randomly assigned treatment with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) or supportive counseling (SC). Depression severity was measured with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI); infant developmental outcomes were measured with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) and its Behavior Rating Scale (BRS). Infants of women with MDD had lower BRS scores (p?=?.02). Reduction in depression scores was associated with better infant outcomes on the BSID and BRS (p values <.03). These preliminary findings suggest depression occurring in pregnant women with diabetes is associated with poorer infant development and improvement in prepartum depression is associated with improvement in measures of infant development.