Dimensional Latent Structure of Early Disruptive Behavior Disorders: A Taxometric Analysis in Preschoolers

Although disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) are used as a distinct categorical diagnosis in clinical practice, they have repeatedly been described as having a dimensional structure in taxometric analyses. In the current study the authors analyzed the latent status of disruptive behaviors (DB) in a large sample (N?=?2,808) of German preschool children (2–6 years old, mean age 53.7 months, SD?=?13.5, 48.4% girls). The Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI) as well as the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were used to compile indicators of the DB core dimensions (Temper Loss, Aggression, Noncompliance, and Low Concern for others). Three widely used taxometric methods (a) MAXEIG, (b) MAMBAC, and (c) L-Mode were applied. Simulation data were created to evaluate the Comparison Curve Fit Index values (CCFIs), which were below 0.45, supporting a dimensional solution. Hence, in the current study the latent structure of DB in preschoolers encompassed differences in degree rather than kind. Researchers and practitioners should be mindful of the dimensional latent status of DB in theory building, assessment, classification, and labeling.     

Parental Divorce and the “Switching” of Religious Identity

This article examines the impact of parental divorce on the likelihood that an individual has changed their religious identify. Using data from the National Survey of Family and Households, we use a theoretical framework of family structure and community ties to test the hypothesis that religious mobility is more likely among children of divorce compared to those from intact families. Distinguishing between parental divorce in childhood and parental divorce in adulthood allows us to assess the impact of parental divorce on religious socialization. For individuals raised as either moderate Protestant, conservative Protestant or Catholic, parental divorce increases the likelihood of both switching to another religion and apostasy. The impact of divorce is particularly strong for Catholics and conservative Protestants, who are, in general, less likely to be religious mobile. These findings add religious disaffiliation to the set of likely sequelae of parental divorce. In addition, the results of the study highlight the need to consider the relationship between family structure and religious processes in a community context.     

What Is the Buzz About Iconicity? How Iconicity in Caregiver Speech Supports Children's Word Learning

One cue that may facilitate children's word learning is iconicity, or the correspondence between a word's form and meaning. Some have even proposed that iconicity in the early lexicon may serve to help children learn how to learn words, supporting the acquisition of even noniconic, or arbitrary, word–referent associations. However, this proposal remains untested. Here, we investigate the iconicity of caregivers’ speech to young children during a naturalistic free-play session with novel stimuli and ask whether the iconicity of caregivers’ speech facilitates children's learning of the noniconic novel names of those stimuli. Thirty-four 1.5-2-year-olds (19 girls; half monolingual English learners and half bilingual English-Spanish learners) participated in a naturalistic free-play task with their caregivers followed by a test of word-referent retention. We found that caregivers’ use of iconicity, particularly in utterances in which they named the novel stimuli, was associated with the likelihood that children learned that novel name. This result held even when controlling for other factors associated with word learning, such as the concreteness and frequency of words in caregiver speech. Together, the results demonstrate that iconicity not only can serve to help children identify the referent of novel words (as in previous research) but can also support their ability to retain even noniconic word-referent mappings.     

Paradoxical sleep deprivation impairs acquisition, consolidation, and retrieval of a discriminative avoidance task in rats

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) for 96 h on the learning/memory processes in rats submitted to the plus-maze discriminative avoidance task (PM-DAT), which simultaneously evaluates learning, memory, anxiety and motor function. Four experiments were performed in which rats were submitted to: (1) post-training and pre-test PSD; (2) post-training or pre-test PSD; (3) pre-training PSD or pre-training paradoxical sleep (PS) rebound (24 h) and (4) pre-test PSD rebound. Concerning Experiment I, post-training and pre-test PSD induced memory deficits, an anxiolytic-like behavior and an increase in locomotor activity. In Experiment II, both post-training PS-deprived and pre-test PS-deprived groups showed memory deficits per se. However, only the pre-test PS-deprived animals presented anxiolytic-like behavior and increased locomotor activity. In Experiment III, pre-training PS-deprived rats showed learning and memory deficits, anxiolytic-like behavior and increased locomotor activity. A 24h-sleep recovery period after the PSD abolished the learning and memory deficits but not anxiety and locomotor alterations. Finally, sleep rebound did not modify acquisition (Experiment III) and retrieval (Experiment IV). This study strengthened the critical role of paradoxical sleep (but not sleep rebound) in all the phases of learning and memory formation. In addition, it suggests that PSD effects on acquisition and consolidation do not seem to be related to other behavioral alterations induced by this procedure.     

The influence of functional social support on executive functioning in middle-aged African Americans

Social support has a positive influence on cognitive functioning and buffers cognitive decline in older adults. This study examined the relations between social support and executive functioning in middle-aged adults. A community-based sample of African Americans completed the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List, a measure of functions of social support, and two measures of executive functioning, the Stroop Color and Word Test and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Hierarchical regression analyses were used to explore the hypothesis that different facets of perceived social support influence performance on measures of executive functioning. After controlling for age, gender, and education, social support facets including belonging support, self-esteem support, appraisal support, and tangible support were significant predictors of Stroop performance. In addition, tangible support significantly predicted WCST performance. These findings add to previous literature on social support and cognition; however, findings for middle-aged adults are unique and suggest that social support has a positive influence on some executive functions in African Americans prior to old age.     

Stuttering treatment control using P300 event-related potentials

Positron emission tomography studies during speech have indicated a failure to show the normal activation of auditory cortical areas in stuttering individuals. In the present study, P300 event-related potentials were used to investigate possible effects of behavioral treatment on the pattern of signal amplitude and latency between waves. In order to compare variations in P300 measurements, a control group paired by age and gender to the group of stutterers, was included in the study. Findings suggest that the group of stutterers presented a significant decrease in stuttering severity after the fluency treatment program. Regarding P300 measurements, stutterers and their controls presented results within normal limits in all testing situations and no significant statistical variations between pre and post treatment testing. When comparing individual results between the testing situations, stutterers presented a higher average decrease in wave latency for the right ear following treatment. The results are discussed in light of previous P300 event-related potentials and functional imaging studies with stuttering adults.Educational objectives: The reader will learn about and be able to describe the: (1) use of P300 event-related potentials in the study of stuttering; (2) differences between stuttering and non-stuttering adults; and (3) effects of behavioral fluency treatment on cerebral activity in stuttering speakers.     

Authoritarianism and arranged marriage in Bangladesh and Korea

The relationships between authoritarianism and attitudes about arranged marriage were studied in Bangladesh and Korea. According to regression analyses (N = 417), authoritarianism was positively related to support for arranged marriages in closed-ended and open-ended responses. Authoritarianism was also negatively related to open-ended discussions about the importance of love in selecting a partner and in the importance of emotional connection in establishing a relationship. Replicating prior results from the US on women, authoritarianism was related to desires to marry individuals who were gender-typed, traditional, and with narrow interests. Despite some differences in patterns of relationships due to gender and country of origin, the findings support the general hypothesis that authoritarians are invested in maintaining the traditions of their culture.     

Approximate entropy used to assess sitting postural sway of infants with developmental delay

Infant sitting postural sway provides a window into motor development at an early age. The approximate entropy, a measure of randomness, in the postural sway was used to assess developmental delay, as occurs in cerebral palsy. Parameters used for the calculation of approximate entropy were investigated, and approximate entropy of postural sway in early sitting was found to be lower for infants with developmental delay in the anterior-posterior axis, but not in the medial-lateral axis. Spectral analysis showed higher frequency features in the postural sway of early sitting of infants with typical development, suggesting a faster control mechanism is active in infants with typical development as compared to infants with delayed development, perhaps activated by near-fall events.