Parenting Dimensions and Internalizing Difficulties in Italian and U.S. Emerging Adults: The Intervening Role of Autonomy and Relatedness

The present study examined the associations between emerging adults’ perceived parental psychological control and autonomy support, and their autonomy, relatedness and internalizing difficulties in Italy and the U.S. The participants included 494 Italian and 414 U.S. college students, between 18 and 28 years of age (Mean = 21.58, SD = 2.18). Our findings showed that dependency-oriented psychological control had no significant direct associations with autonomy, relatedness or internalizing difficulties. Moreover, the association between parental autonomy support and internalizing problems was fully intervened by autonomy and relatedness, whereas the association between achievement-oriented psychological control and anxiety and depressive symptoms was partially intervened by autonomy and relatedness. Finally, although parental psychological control and autonomy support had similar effects on maladjustment across the two countries, relatedness appeared to play a more central role as an intervening variable for anxiety in the Italian group than in the U.S. group. Overall, our findings highlighted the importance of examining parents’ contributions to emerging adults’ internalizing problems via autonomy support and psychological control across cultures.     

Initial validation of self-reported trajectories in military veterans

Previous research suggests that functioning after potentially traumatic events tends to follow discrete trajectories. This research is limited in that longitudinal data can be difficult to collect. The aim of the current study was to examine self-reported trajectories in military veterans using an online survey. Consistent with longitudinal work, those who reported chronic distress reported higher symptoms of PTSD and Depression, higher negative affect, lower social support, and less satisfaction with life than those on a resilient trajectory. Two change trajectories demonstrated intermediate scores on relevant measures. These results provide support for a retrospective method to assess trajectories of posttrauma functioning.     

Trait interpersonal vulnerability attenuates beneficial effects of constructive criticism on failure responses

The extant literature on interpersonal criticism suggests that relative to destructive criticism, constructive criticism significantly minimizes the injurious psychological aftermath people experience after failure. However, we propose the possibility that for some people, these psychological benefits of constructive criticism are less apparent. Specifically, we hypothesized that for people high in trait interpersonal vulnerability, a construct marked by maladaptive cognitive‐emotional responses in interpersonal contexts and/or by dysfunctional relational concerns, effects of constructive (vs. destructive) criticism on reduced maladaptive appraisals will diminish, and this diminution of reduced maladaptive appraisals will predict downstream effects on worsened post‐failure mood. An experiment had a college sample (N = 349) complete four instruments represented under an interpersonal vulnerability construct (IVC). Next, participants imagined failing in various domains and receiving subsequent feedback from emotionally important others. Feedback type was manipulated to typify either destructive criticism or constructive criticism. Finally, participants provided ratings of maladaptive appraisals and post‐failure mood. Latent variable path modelling supported hypotheses. Effects of constructive (vs. destructive) criticism on reduced maladaptive appraisals (namely, shame proneness) diminished as IVC increased, which predicted worsened post‐failure mood. Findings have implications for multidisciplinary theoretical perspectives relevant to interpersonal vulnerability and offer practical considerations for clinicians working with vulnerable clients.     

Perception of managers’ influence depending on status,power, and company performance

This research examines others’ perception of the influence of managers working in successful or unsuccessful companies who possess or lack status (to be respected by others) and power (control of valued resources). Study 1 shows that high‐status managers were judged as more influential in the firm than their low‐status peers, regardless of the company's situation. Study 2 finds that in a context of economic uncertainty, a manager with high status and power is perceived to be more capable of affecting the firm. The effect of power seems to be secondary since when a manager has low status, having high power does not significantly benefit the influence attributed to him or her. Furthermore, dominance (assertive behavior), not warmth, mediated the relationship between status and the attributed influence. Overall, these findings confirm that status is a very potent source of social influence, status and power are distinct constructs with different effects, and dominance rather than warmth is a key personal dimension linked to successful leadership.     

Metacognitive scaffolding boosts cognitive and neural benefits following executive attention training in children

Interventions including social scaffolding and metacognitive strategies have been used in educational settings to promote cognition. In addition, increasing evidence shows that computerized process‐based training enhances cognitive skills. However, no prior studies have examined the effect of combining these two training strategies. The goal of this study was to test the combined effect of metacognitive scaffolding and computer‐based training of executive attention in a sample of typically developing preschoolers at the cognitive and brain levels. Compared to children in the regular training protocol and an untrained active control group, children in the metacognitive group showed larger gains on intelligence and significant increases on an electrophysiological index associated with conflict processing. Moreover, changes in the conflict‐related brain activity predicted gains in intelligence in the metacognitive scaffolding group. These results suggest that metacognitive scaffolding boosts the influence of process‐based training on cognitive efficiency and brain plasticity related to executive attention.     

Genetic and environmental influences on early literacy skills across school grade contexts

Recent research suggests that the etiology of reading achievement can differ across environmental contexts. In the US, schools are commonly assigned grades (e.g. ‘A’, ‘B’) often interpreted to indicate school quality. This study explored differences in the etiology of early literacy skills for students based on these school grades. Participants included twins drawn from the Florida Twin Project on Reading (n = 1313 pairs) aged 4 to 10 years during the 2006–07 school year. Early literacy skills were assessed with DIBELS subtests: Oral Reading Fluency (ORF), Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF), Initial Sound Fluency (ISF), Letter Naming Fluency (LNF), and Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF). School grade data were retrieved from the Florida Department of Education. Multi‐group analyses were conducted separately for subsamples defined by ‘A’ or ‘non‐A’ schools, controlling for school‐level socioeconomic status. Results indicated significant etiological differences on pre‐reading skills (ISF, LNF, and PSF), but not word‐level reading skills (ORF and NWF). There was a consistent trend of greater environmental influences on pre‐reading skills in non‐A schools, arguably representing ‘poorer’ environmental contexts than the A schools. Importantly, this is the case outside of resources linked with school‐level SES, indicating that something about the direct environment on pre‐reading skills in the non‐A school context is more variable than for A schools.     

Factor structure and aetiological architecture of the BRIEF: A twin study

Executive function is a broad construct that encompasses various processes involved in goal‐directed behaviour in non‐routine situations (Banich, 2009). The present study uses a sample of 560 5‐ to 16‐year‐old twin pairs (M = 11.14, SD = 2.53): 219 monozygotic twin pairs (114 female; 105 male) and 341 dizygotic twin pairs (136 female, 107 male; 98 opposite sex) to extend prior literature by providing information about the factor structure and the genetic and environmental architecture of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF; Gioia et al., 2000, Child Neuropsychol., 6, 235; Gioia et al., 2000, Behavior rating inventory of executive function, Lutz, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources), a multifaceted rating scale of everyday executive functions. Phenotypic results revealed a 9‐scale, 3‐factor model best represents the BRIEF structure within the current sample. Results of the genetically sensitive analyses indicated the presence of rater bias/contrast effects for the Initiate, Working Memory, and Task‐Monitor scales. Additive genetic and non‐shared environmental influences were present for the Initiate, Plan/Organize, Organization of Materials, Shift, and Monitor and Self‐Monitor scales. Influences on Emotional Control were solely environmental. Interestingly, the aetiological architecture observed was similar to that of performance‐based measures of executive function. This observed similarity provided additional evidence for the usefulness of the BRIEF as a measure of ‘everyday’ executive function.