Attachment,self-esteem,and psychomotor development in extremely premature children at preschool age

The aim of the study was to evaluate concomitantly self-esteem and model of attachment to the mother in extremely premature (24–28 weeks of gestation) and full-term children, in relation to the child's variables (neonatal condition, gender, cognitive development) and family variables (family adversity, socioeconomic status). Forty-two extremely premature and 27 fullterm children were assessed at 5 years 9 months. For the premature children, neonatal status and developmental quotient (DQ) at 18 months were also obtained. Premature and fullterm children did not differ in attachment and self-esteem categories. For all subjects, IQ at 5 years 9 months differed significantly across self-esteem categories. Seventy percent of premature children who showed a decrease in IQ from 18 months to 5 years 9 months had a negative self-esteem. In the premature group, DQ at 18 months was lower for the children that were categorized at 5 years 9 months with nonsecure attachment to the mother. Attachment appeared sensitive to early neuromotor impairments, and self-esteem to the developmental level at the time of the evaluation.     

Applying Self‐Determination Theory to the Prediction of Distress and Well‐Being in Gay Men With HIV and AIDS1

Self‐determination theory (Deci & Ryan. 1985. 1991) was used to predict psychological well‐being and distress in 48 gay men with HIV. 39 AIDS patients. and 38 HIV‐negative control participants. Participants listed 10 to 15 personal strivings and identitied their reasons for engaging in each striving. Multiple regression analyses revealed that introjection (engaging in strivings because of an internal sense of obligation or necessity) was associated with increased distress. especially among HIV‐ and AIDS participants. Introjection also predicted decreased well‐being. Integration (engaging in strivings because they are personally valued and meaningful) was positively related to well‐being. Adjustment to a life‐threatening illness is influenced by individuals' feelings of autonomy; that is. the extent to which they believe themselves to be the source of their actions.     

Emotions and self‐esteem as indicators of somatic complaints in children

The literature on somatic complaints in children without a clear physical medical cause often demonstrates connections with various psychological factors, such as negative emotions and problems handling them, poor self‐image, and coping potential. We entered these elements into a structural model to elucidate the relationships among them and tested it on 330 children (mean age 10 years and 9 months). The results showed that mood balance contributed most to the prediction of self‐reported somatic complaints. Moreover, mood (in combination with anxiety and depression problems) had an indirect impact on children's somatic complaints by influencing self‐esteem. The influence and position of coping was less clear. The results are discussed in terms of the ‘symptom perception theory’. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cognitive control in children: stroop interference and suppression of word reading

The development of cognitive control and its relation to overcoming Stroop interference was assessed in a sample (N= 65) of elementary-school children. Subjects alternately performed Stroop color-naming trials and word-reading trials. In separate blocks, the colored Stroop items were non-color words (incongruent condition) or rows of asterisks (neutral condition). Younger children showed both larger Stroop interference in error rates and a greater slowing of word reading in the incongruent condition compared with older children. We conducted analyses of response time distributions that assessed the degree of word-reading suppression applied by younger and older children. Surprisingly, these analyses indicated that younger children engaged in stronger suppression than older children. We propose that greater Stroop interference among younger children is not due to lack of ability to suppress word reading, but instead is the result of a failure to consistently maintain the task set of color naming.     

Investigating social functioning after early mild TBI: the quality of parent–child interactions

The young brain is particularly vulnerable to injury due to inherent physiological and developmental factors, and even mild forms of traumatic brain injury (mTBI) can sometimes result in cognitive and behavioural difficulties. Despite the high prevalence of paediatric mTBI, little is known of its impact on children's social functioning. Parent–child relationships represent the centre of young children's social environments and are therefore ideal contexts for studying the potential effects of mTBI on children's social functioning. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of parent–child interactions after mTBI using observational assessment methods and parental report. The sample included 130 children (18–60 months at recruitment) divided into three groups: children with uncomplicated mTBI (n = 47), children with orthopaedic injury (OI, n = 27), and non‐injured children (NI, n = 56). The quality of parent–child interactions was assessed 6 months post‐injury using the Mutually Responsive Orientation (MRO) scale, an observational measure which focuses on the dyadic nature of parent–child exchanges, and the Parental Stress Index questionnaire (Parent‐Child Dysfunctional Interaction (PCDI) domain). Significant differences with medium effect sizes were found between the mTBI group and the NI group on the MRO, but not between the OI group and the other two groups. PCDI scores did not differ across groups, suggesting that observational measures may be more sensitive to changes in parent–child interactions after TBI. The current findings have implications for children's post‐injury social development and highlight the importance of monitoring social outcomes even after minor head injuries.     

Behavioral performances in participants with phonological dyslexia and different patterns on the N170 component

Adults with phonological dyslexia and controls performed a lexical decision task while ERPs were recorded in the occipitotemporal pathway. Based on N170 durations, two subgroups were formed: dysl1 showing longer N170 durations and dysl2 showing normal N170 durations. While the dysl1 subgroup had poorer accuracy for infrequent words and pseudo-words, the dysl2 group responded more slowly than controls to pseudo-words. N170 amplitudes were larger in the left hemisphere for controls irrespective of items. In the dysl1 subgroup, N170 amplitudes were larger in the left hemisphere than the right for words but not for pseudo-words, a sign of hemispheric compensation, while in the dysl2 subgroup signs of bilateralization were observed. Moreover, in the dysl1 subgroup, P100 amplitudes were smaller than controls. These results indicate different behavioral profiles of dyslexics with different patterns of P100 and N170 components. The ERP changes may be due to different behavioral strategies employed by each subgroup, logographic in dysl2 and phonological in dysl1.     

Natural kind and entitative beliefs in relation to prejudice toward mental disorders

Mental health campaigns often promote biogenetic beliefs to reduce stigma, but their effectiveness may vary across disorders. Our study (N = 127) examined two components of essentialist beliefs—entitative (i.e., characterizing groupness) and natural kinds (i.e., biogenetic)—about two stigmatized mental disorders (schizophrenia, alcoholism) as well as a somatic disorder (Parkinson's disease), and their relation to prejudice. The three disorders significantly differed in natural kind beliefs (Parkinson's highest, then schizophrenia, and alcoholism lowest) and prejudice (alcoholism highest, then schizophrenia, and Parkinson's lowest), but not entitative beliefs. Entitative beliefs, however, was a stronger predictor of prejudice against schizophrenia than natural kind beliefs even after controlling for social dominance orientation and prior contact. Implications for anti‐stigma efforts and strategies are discussed.