Psychological well‐being and day‐to‐day social interaction among older adults

A sample of 113 healthy older adults used a variant of the Rochester Interaction Record to describe the social interactions they had each day for two weeks. They also completed various measures of psychological well‐being including life satisfaction and loneliness. A series of multilevel random coefficient analyses found that life satisfaction scores were positively related to how enjoyable interactions were, how self‐assured people felt when interacting, how much control they felt they had over interactions, how responsive others were to their needs, and how socially active they were. Analyses that took participants’ marital status into account suggested, however, that interaction outcomes and life satisfaction were related only for married participants, and that these relationships were primarily due to interaction outcomes with spouses.     

Atypical development of language and social communication in toddlers with Williams syndrome

Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic disorder which results in an uneven cognitive profile. Despite superior language compared to other syndromes in the phenotypic outcome, toddlers with WS are as delayed in their language onset and early linguistic development as are toddlers with other syndromes. The cause of this delay in WS is as yet unknown. In a series of experiments, we examined whether atypical socio‐interactive precursors to language could contribute to the explanation of the late language onset and atypical developmental pathways observed in WS. Experiment 1 showed that despite superficially good social skills, toddlers with WS were only proficient at dyadic interaction. They were impaired in triadic interaction, essential for the referential uses of language, and showed none of the correlations between socio‐interactive markers and language seen in the typical controls. Experiment 2 focused on the comprehension and production of referential pointing. Again, the WS group was impaired, despite vocabulary levels higher than those of typically developing controls. Finally, Experiment 3 examined fine motor skills. The WS lack of pointing could not be explained in terms of motor impairments, since the WS toddlers were proficient at fine motor control, such as the pincer grip. Overall, our data indicate that the early stages of WS language follow an atypical pathway. The findings challenge the frequent claims in the literature that individuals with Williams syndrome have preserved linguistic and social skills.     

The behavioural treatment of sleep difficulties in children with an intellectual disability

Reinforcement, instruction giving, partner support strategies, bedtime routine, and standard extinction were taught to the parents of three boys (aged 5–10 years) with an intellectual disability and sleeping difficulties. Sleep was measured using sleep diaries and actigraphy, and daytime behaviour was monitored using diaries and direct observation. At referral, all children needed a parent present to fall asleep, two had co‐sleeping difficulties, and two had night waking difficulties. At post‐intervention, all children were falling asleep independently, co‐sleeping was eliminated for two children, and night waking was reduced in one child. An extinction burst was experienced by two children, with one family putting their child back to bed 259 times on the first night. Though one child still had night waking difficulties following intervention, actigraph recording demonstrated an improvement in his sleep quality. In addition to the children's independence, improvements were seen for sleep length, sleep latency, and morning wake time. However, improvements in daytime behaviour showed inconsistency across behaviours and settings. Improvement in sleep was maintained at a three month follow‐up. It was concluded that using extinction to address sleep problems in children with an intellectual disability is effective and approved of by parents, but any impact on daytime behaviour is equivocal. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relationship between bullying and scores on the Buss‐Perry Aggression Questionnaire among imprisoned male offenders

This study investigated the relationship between bullying and aggression among imprisoned male adult offenders. The participants were 70 imprisoned male offenders, who were classified using the Direct and Indirect Prisoner Behaviour Checklist (DIPC) as one of four ‘bully’ groups: pure bully, pure victim, bully/victim, or not involved. Participants also completed the Buss‐Perry Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), a measure of aggression and hostility. The majority of the prisoners reported behaviors indicative of bullying, with 42.9 percent classified in the bully/victim group and 12.9 percent as pure bullies. 15.7 percent of participants were classified as pure victims, while 28.6 percent did not report any involvement in bullying. Bully/victims scored higher than participants who were not involved in bullying on the Hostility scale and Total score of the AQ. A number of correlations were found between the AQ scores and number of bully behaviors perpetrated. These suggested there is an overlap between the constructs measured by the AQ and type of bullying behaviors perpetrated. The number of bullying behaviors experienced was only correlated with the Hostility scale. The results are discussed in terms of previous research and their implications for theory and practice. Aggress. Behav. 31:1–11, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

"With a little help from my friends...": the role of co-witness relationship in susceptibility to misinformation

Inaccuracies in eyewitness accounts can occur when witnesses are exposed to post-event misinformation via discussion with a co-witness. The current study examined the role of co-witness relationship by comparing the memory performance of pairs of romantic couples, friends and previously unacquainted strangers with that of individuals. Ninety-six participants viewed an event and then discussed the witnessed event with a stranger, a romantic partner or a friend. One member of each pair saw a theft take place during the witnessed event. Individual group participants did not discuss the witnessed event with anyone. Results indicate that all co-witness dyads produced less accurate recall accounts than participants who did not interact with another witness. However, witnesses who were previously acquainted with their co-witness (either in a friendship or romantic relationship) were significantly more likely to report information obtained from their co-witness that they had not seen themselves. Prior acquaintance also led to an increased number of incorrect attributions of both guilt and innocence.     

Cross-sectional and prospective associations between cognitive appraisals and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms following stroke

This study examined cross-sectional and prospective associations between cognitive appraisals and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms following stroke. While in hospital, stroke patients (n=81) completed questionnaires assessing cognitive appraisals (i.e., negative cognitions about the self, negative cognitions about the world, and self-blame) and PTSD symptoms. PTSD symptoms were assessed again 3 months later when all patients had been discharged from hospital (n=70). Significant correlations were found between the time 1 measures of negative cognitions about the self and the world, but not self-blame, and the severity of PTSD symptoms measured at time 1 and at time 2. Regression analyses revealed that cognitive appraisals explained a significant amount of variance in the severity of PTSD symptoms at time 1, with negative cognitions about the self-emerging as a significant predictor. In contrast, time 1 cognitive appraisals were unable to explain additional variance in time 2 PTSD severity over and above that explained by time 1 PTSD severity. The findings therefore provide only weak support for Ehlers and Clark's cognitive model of PTSD.     

Inattention/Overactivity Following Early Severe Institutional Deprivation: Presentation and Associations in Early Adolescence

The current study examined the persistence and phenotypic presentation of inattention/overactivity (I/O) into early adolescence, in a sample of institution reared (IR) children adopted from Romania before the age of 43 months. Total sample comprised 144 IR and 21 non-IR Romanian adoptees, and a comparison group of 52 within-UK adoptees, assessed at ages 6 and 11 years. I/O was rated using Rutter Scales completed by parents and teachers. I/O continued to be strongly associated with institutional deprivation, with continuities between ages 6 and 11 outcomes. There were higher rates of deprivation-related I/O in boys than girls, and I/O was strongly associated with conduct problems, disinhibited attachment and executive function but not IQ more generally, independently of gender. Deprivation-related I/O shares many common features with ADHD, despite its different etiology and putative developmental mechanisms. I/O is a persistent domain of impairment following early institutional deprivation of 6 months or more, suggesting there may be a possible pathway to impairment through some form of neuro-developmental programming during critical periods of early development.     

Do Theory of Mind and Executive Function Deficits Underlie the Adverse Outcomes Associated with Profound Early Deprivation?: Findings from the English and Romanian Adoptees Study

Theory of Mind (ToM) and Executive Function (EF) have been associated with autism and with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and hence might play a role in similar syndromes found following profound early institutional deprivation. In order to examine this possibility the current study included a group of 165 Romanian adoptees, of whom 144 were adopted into the UK from deprived institutional settings before 43months of age, and a group of 52 within-UK adoptees, all adopted before 6months of age. Both groups were assessed at 6 and 11years. The Strange Stories task was used to assess ToM and the Stroop task was used to assess EF, both at age 11. The Romanian adoptees displayed deficits in both ToM and EF compared with the within-UK adoptee group. The degree of deficit was greater for children who had experienced more than 6months of institutional deprivation. Deficits in both domains (ToM and EF) were associated with each of the three apparently deprivation-specific problems, namely quasi-autism, disinhibited attachment and inattention/overactivity. Statistical analyses indicated a mediating role for both ToM and EF with respect to quasi-autism; possibly a partial mediating role for EF with respect to inattention/overactivity; and probably no mediating role for either ToM or EF in the case of disinhibited attachment. In conclusion, there is evidence for a possible mediating role for ToM and EF in the development of some apparently deprivation-specific difficulties in institution-reared Romanian adoptees, but neither accounts for the overall pattern of deprivation-related difficulties.     

The explicit learning of new names for known objects is improved by dexamphetamine

A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, between subjects study design (N=37) was used to investigate the effects of dexamphetamine on explicit new name learning. Participants ingested 10mg of dexamphetamine or placebo daily over 5 consecutive mornings before learning new names for 50 familiar objects plus fillers. The dexamphetamine group recognised and recalled the new names more accurately than the placebo group over the 5 days and 1 month later. Word learning success was not associated with baseline neuropsychological performance, mood, cardiovascular arousal, or sustained attention. These results may have implications for the pharmacological treatment of acquired naming difficulties.