In the aftermath of September 11: group interventions with traumatized children revisited

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, affected thousands of children psychologically, necessitating the mobilization of multifaceted mental health interventions in an ecological context. This paper reviews the major role of large and small group modalities in this challenging effort, with many of them based on earlier group work with child-victims of trauma.     

The relationship between age, verbal working memory, and language comprehension

A structural modeling approach was used to examine the relationships between age, verbal working memory (vWM), and 3 types of language measures: online syntactic processing, sentence comprehension, and text comprehension. The best-fit model for the online-processing measure revealed a direct effect of age on online sentence processing, but no effect mediated through vWM. The best-fit models for sentence and text comprehension included an effect of age mediated through vWM and no direct effect of age. These results indicate that the relationship among age, vWM, and comprehension differs depending on the measure of language processing and support the view that individual differences in vWM do not affect individuals' online syntactic processing.     

Prevalence of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms in 4- to 17-Year-Old Children in the General Population

The purposes of this study were (a) to estimate the prevalence of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) symptoms in the general preschool and school population; and (b) to analyze the influence of gender, age, and socioeconomic status (SES) variables on AD/HD symptoms. Out of the 80,000 preschool and schoolchildren living in Manizales, Colombia, a random sample of 540 children was selected. Two gender, three age (4- to 5-year olds, 6- to 11 -year olds, and 12- to 17-year olds), and three SES (low, middle, and high) groups were used. The 18 DSM-IV symptoms corresponding to AD/HD Criterion A were assessed on a scale of 0 (never) to 3 (almost always). All three demographic variables established statistically significant differences: AD/HD symptoms were more frequent in 6-to 11-year-old, low-SES, male participants. DSM-IV Criterion A for AD/HD was fulfilled by 19.8% of the boys and 12.3% of the girls. However, this difference was marginally significant only in the AD/HD Subtype I: Combined. It was concluded that demographic variables are significant correlates of the AD/HD diagnosis. The prevalence found in this study was higher than usually reported, even though only the symptomatic DSM-IV AD/HD criterion was analyzed. We failed to confirm the assumed AD/HD gender ratio.     

Integrity in Pastoral Counseling

This essay suggests that pastoral counseling involves a spiritual and emotional quest for wholeness. The personal quest of the pastoral counselor has a parallel impact upon the quest of those who seek his or her counsel. The essay presents the view that faith must be established in the life of the pastoral counselor in at least four areas: in community, in the use of one's spiritual gifts, in the love of mercy and the doing of justice, and in communion with God.     

Aspects of body image perception in obese and normal-weight youngsters

Perceptual and projective aspects of body image in obese youngsters (not in psychological treatment) and normal-weight youngsters 8–9 years of age and 12–13 years of age were investigated. The results indicate that perceptual distortions in estimating various body dimensions of oneself are primarily a function of age rather than weight status. The accuracy of estimating the weight of peers and an adult showed an association with the sex of the subject. No group differences were found in terms of projective aspects of body image as measured by barrier and penetration responses. This study suggests that obese youngsters in the middle childhood and entering puberty periods in comparison to normal-weight youngsters of the same age do not manifest differences in perceptual factors of body image.     

Laboratory and field interview methods for the study of shiftworkers

Gordon, Tepas, Stock, and Walsh (1979) describe the manner in which shiftworkers were selected as research subjects through the cooperation of labor union organizations. In this paper, we describe the methods used to select and orient the workers to serve in a laboratory study involving measurement of the psychophysiological correlates of sleep. Procedures used for field interviews with the same subjects are also described. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of using a multimethod (laboratory and field interview) approach to the study of shiftwork effects are detailed.