Comprehension of televised stories in boys with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and nonreferred boys

Two studies compared comprehension of televised stories by 7- to 12-year-old boys with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and nonreferred comparison boys. Boys watched one show with toys present and one with toys absent. Visual attention was continuously recorded, and recall was tested after each show. Across studies, visual attention was high with toys absent but decreased sharply with toys present for boys with ADHD. Groups showed similar levels of cued recall of discrete units of information regardless of differences in attention. When recall tasks and television story structure required knowledge of relations among events, the reduced attention of boys with ADHD interfered with recall. Although visual attention of comparison boys also decreased to some extent with toys present, there was no such decrement in recall. Implications of the difficulties children with ADHD have in integrated story comprehension are discussed.     

Reason,Intuition, and Social Justice: Elaborating on Parsons's Career Decision‐Making Model

Nearly a century ago, Frank Parsons established the Vocation Bureau in Boston and spawned the development of the counseling profession. Elaborating on Parsons's socially responsible vision for counseling, the authors examine contemporary perspectives on career decision making that include both rational and alternative models and propose that these models be integrated. Returning to counseling's roots in early 20th century social and political reformation movements could ultimately lead the profession to a renewed vision that comprehends career decision making and counseling as a socially situated process entailing purposeful reasoning, prudent intuition, and sustained efforts at ameliorating social injustice.     

Halo Effects in Ratings of ADHD and ODD: Identification of Susceptible Symptoms

Halo effects in the assessment of ADHD and ODD were examined. Participants were 159 undergraduate college students who rated children described as showing disruptive behaviors. Bidirectional halo effects were found. Specifically, the presence of oppositionality artificially inflated ratings of inattention and hyperactivity, and the combined presence of inattention and hyperactivity artificially inflated ratings of oppositionality. Several specific items were found to be particularly susceptible to halo effects. Due to these halo effects caution should be exercised when diagnosing multiple behavior disorders, especially with items found to be particularly susceptible. Clinical interviews conducted by mental health professionals may help distinguish between the true presence of multiple disorders and halo effects based on ratings. Future research should determine whether structured interviews conducted by mental health professionals are less susceptible to halo effects than rating scales.     

Potential Symptoms of ADHD for Emerging Adults

To identify potential diagnostic criteria for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in emerging adults using a combination of DSM-IV and Barkley, Murphy, and Fischer’s (2007) executive functioning (EF) items. Participants in ADHD and control groups self-report on: (1) the 18 DSM-IV criteria, (2) 87 Barkley et al. (2007) EF items, and (3) 10 impairment items. Factor analyses, expert ratings, and logistic regression analyses reveal two factors named Cognitive Inflexibility (CI) and Disinhibition (DI) that have potential diagnostic utility. Confirmatory factor analyses and further regression analyses reveal that specific DSM-IV items and items from CI and DI factors account for unique variance in self-reported impairment. Therefore, a 17-item set consisting of CI and DI items is proposed for further study. Reflecting the developmental nature of ADHD, a novel set of 17 items is shown to have potential diagnostic utility for emerging adults.     

Strengthening parent well‐being at the work—family interface: A German trial on workplace Triple P

This study examines the efficacy of a parenting training (Workplace Triple P (WPTP)) especially designed for the needs of employed parents. The program aims to reduce stress at the work–parenting interface by targeting family risk and protective factors and assisting parents to manage competing work and family demands. Ninety‐seven part‐ and full‐time working parents (74 mothers and 23 fathers; intervention group: n = 42 parents; waitlist‐control group n = 55 parents) from multiple organizations and multiple occupations with children between 2 and 10 years were randomly assigned to an intervention and a waitlist‐control condition. After the training, parents from the intervention condition, compared to those from the waitlist‐control condition, reported a significant reduction in individual and work‐related stress. Additionally, they reported a significant reduction in dysfunctional parenting and significant higher levels of parental and occupational self‐efficacy. Within the intervention condition all effects were maintained at the 3‐ and 6‐month follow‐up examinations. The findings support the notion that WPTP promotes parental well‐being and reduces stress at the work–parenting interface. Given that strengthening parenting skills has the potential to strengthen work, strategies to implement WPTP in organizational resources and community‐based services are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Career decidedness as a predictor of subjective well-being

Forming, pursing, and achieving life tasks constitute important determinants of subjective well-being (SWB). A principal life task for emerging adults involves deciding about career goals. Prior research indicates that depression predicts SWB and may be linked to lower levels of career decidedness. We tested whether or not career decidedness predicts SWB above and beyond the influence of depression and other personality traits. We also examined whether or not career decidedness partially mediates depression's influence on SWB when controlled for personality effects. Undergraduate students (N = 181; 65% female, 52% Asian) responded to measures of career decidedness, SWB, and personality. Results largely confirmed predictions. A partial mediator model indicated a direct relationship between decidedness and SWB not moderated by grade level, and an inverse relationship between the depression facet of neuroticism and both career decidedness and SWB. Findings further support career interventions to increase decidedness during the first year of college.     

The development of attention and response inhibition in early childhood

The goal of this study was to examine the development of attention and response inhibition from ages 5 to 7. Forty children (20 5‐year‐olds and 20 7‐year‐olds) completed four counterbalanced phases of a continuous performance task. Phase 1 was designed to measure attention without distraction, Phase 2 was designed to measure attention with distraction, Phase 3 was designed to measure attention and response inhibition without distraction, and Phase 4 was designed to measure attention and response inhibition with distraction. With regard to attention, 7‐year‐olds performed significantly better than 5‐year‐olds. This age difference was more pronounced when distraction was present. With regard to response inhibition, there were no significant age differences. These results appear to suggest that attention improves between ages 5 and 7 but response inhibition does not. However, conclusions regarding response inhibition were limited because the distraction appeared to have had too powerful an effect on the 5‐year‐olds. Implications and future directions are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Critical moments in career construction counseling

An important research need concerns identifying and describing factors that promote reflexivity and change in life-design career interventions. Career construction counseling, a primary life-design intervention, uses narrative methods in an interpersonal process of helping people design a work life through reflexive action. Using Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR), the present study examined what prompts reflexivity and change in career construction counseling. A single case analysis method involving a 24-year old Caucasian woman examined one client's experience of processes that prompted change and reflection about her current career transition. Post-counseling IPR with the client of her videotaped career construction counseling session indicated five major themes: (a) role models prompt identity reflection, (b) early recollections foster cohesion, (c) follow-up questions add depth to the story, (d) counselor as audience provides clarity and validation, and (e) career construction interview questions illuminate perspective and need for action. Results support prior research indicating the usefulness of career construction counseling for promoting reflexive action in life design.