Is depression best viewed as a continuum or discrete category? A taxometric analysis of childhood and adolescent depression in a population-based sample

The authors examined the latent structure of depression in a population-based sample of children and adolescents. Youth's self-reports and parents' reports of the youth's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) major depressive symptoms were assessed via a structured clinical interview. The authors used Meehl's (1995) taxometric procedures to discern whether youth depression is dimensional or categorical. Taxometric analyses that explicitly took into account the skewness of depressive symptoms suggested that depression is a dimensional, not categorical, construct. The dimensional structure of depression was obtained for all of the DSM-IV major depressive symptoms as well as for different domains of depression (emotional distress symptoms and vegetative, involuntary defeat symptoms), youth and parent reports, and different subsamples (i.e., boys vs. girls and younger vs. older youth).     

The association of paternal mood and infant temperament: A pilot study

Maternal depression is associated with adverse child development, but little is known about the effects of paternal depression. This pilot study estimated the prevalence of paternal depression and mood state, and assessed the relationship between paternal mood and infant temperament. The participants in the study were 98 fathers of newborn babies. Fathers were initially screened for depressed mood (Hospital anxiety and depression scale, and Edinburgh postnatal depression scale), and at 6 months parental mood, infant temperament, couple relationship quality, alcohol use, adverse life events, parenting, and demographics were recorded. Infant fussiness was analysed in relation to paternal mood and other contextual factors using multiple regression. Of the 98 fathers, 48 (49%) completed depression-screening measures. Of these 48 fathers, 4 (8%) reported depressive symptoms above the cut-off for case definition. A total of 48% (N=19) completed measures at follow-up. In the adjusted model, higher paternal depression scores, more traditional attitudes towards fathering, and increased recent life events were related to higher infant fussiness scores; and better couple relationship quality was related to lower fussiness scores. This study showed that 1 in 12 fathers had depressed mood, and lower mood was associated with negative infant temperament. Since the findings of this feasibility study were based on a small sample size the association of paternal mood and child development merits further study using a larger sample of fathers.     

Novel treatments for autistic spectrum disorders

In no area of developmental pediatric practice is there more controversy regarding the choice of treatment than related to children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). Complementary and alternative medical therapies (CAM) are often elected because they are perceived as treating the cause of symptoms rather than the symptoms themselves. CAM used for autism can be divided by proposed mechanism: immune modulation, gastrointestinal, supplements that affect neurotransmitter function, and nonbiologic intervention. Secretin as a therapy for autism is discussed as an example of how a clinical observation rapidly grew to a widespread treatment before well-designed studies demonstrated absence of effect. The plausibility for behavioral effect was not substantiated by clinical studies. CAM used for treatment of autism is examined in terms of rationale, evidence of efficacy, side effects, and additional commentary. Families and clinicians need access to well-designed clinical evidence to assist them in choice of therapies.     

Information and the memory span

Messages differing in number of symbols and symbol information load were presented tachistoscopically to 4 adult Ss, The messages were constructed by random drawing with replacement from an alphabet of 8 black form symbols and an alphabet of 32 colored form symbols. The number of symbols recalled varied as a function of alphabet; however, the information in recall was constant for all conditions. The number of symbols recalled and the information in recall was independent of message length.     

Relating social skills and social media use to consumer behavior: An investigation across the autism spectrum

In this study, we focus on the role of social functioning on consumer behavior, exploring social media use as a mediating factor. In order to facilitate our identification of social functioning competence as a factor, we increased the range by including a subgroup of respondents who identified themselves as being on the autism spectrum. Indeed, this group stood out as having difficulties in getting along with persons they interact with at school, at work and at home. We used these measures to define an individual differences index of social functioning that we call Quality of Social Functioning (QoSF). In a preliminary report, we showed that this index was predictive of social media use and its influence, with those scoring higher reacting more favorably and utilizing more of its features. In the main study, we focused on the content of social media posts by providing photos of posts that depicted either group activities or individual activities. Those scoring lower on our index gave lower ratings of posts in general, but especially for those posts depicting group activities. Results are discussed in terms of the important role of social functioning in the use of social media and its content as a vehicle for informing consumer behavior. We describe how the results of our study and related studies can be used by marketers to improve the lives of especially vulnerable consumers.     

Self-regulation as a moderator of the relation between coping and symptomatology in children of divorce

Investigated the effects of self-regulation as a moderator of the relations between coping efforts and psychological symptoms of children of divorce. The interactions of two dimensions of self-regulation (task orientation and approach-flexibility) and two dimensions of coping (active and avoidant) predicting children's postdivorce symptoms were tested using a sample of 199 divorced mothers and their children, ages 8 to 12. The approach-flexibility dimension moderated the relations of both active and avoidant coping with children's self-report of anxiety. At higher levels of approach-flexibility, active coping was negatively related to anxiety, while at lower levels of approach-flexibility, active coping was unrelated to anxiety. Avoidant coping was un-related to anxiety at higher levels of approach-flexibility, whereas at lower levels of approach-flexibility, avoidant coping was positively related to anxiety. The task orientation dimension did not interact with coping, but had direct, independent effects on children's self-report of conduct problems, depression, and parent-report of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. The implications for understanding children's coping with divorce and future directions for research are discussed.Support for this research was provided by NIMH Grants P50-MH39246 to support a Preventive Intervention Research Center at Arizona State University and 5-T32-MH18387 for Post- and Pre-doctoral Training in Prevention Research at Arizona State University. The authors thank Leona Aiken, Jane Bernzweig, and Wendy Kliewer for their contributions to this project.     

Narrative competence and constructive developmental theory: A proposal for rewriting theBildungsroman in the postmodern world

Some of the chief characteristics of the narrative psychology of Bruner, Polkinghorne, Sarbin, Freeman, Howard, and White and Epston are outlined with implications for therapy discussed. Narrative psychology is then related to some current models of adult development, including those of Kegan, Perry, Belenky, Labouvie-Vief, Levinson, Basseches, and Pascual-Leone. Types of narrative competence are discussed and an argument is made that developmental readiness for narrative must be considered if narrative approaches are going to be applied. Different types of narrative approaches are shown to be indicative of particular developmental stages. The social relativism of narrative psychology is addressed and it is argued that developmental models provide a scheme for assessing the maturity of alternative narrative constructions.     

Interval patterning and auditory gap detection

Pattern effects associated with the perception of the temporal microstructure of auditory signals were examined. Temporal changes, or gaps, were introduced into auditory interval patterns produced by a sequence of pulses. Discrimination thresholds for positive, and for negative, gaps were obtained as a function of the surrounding pattern of intervals. Gap thresholds increase with the slope of the surrounding interval pattern. Gap thresholds are smaller when the gap interval represents an extension, rather than a reversal, of the surrounding pattern. The results are in agreement with Heise and Miller’s thresholds of tonal isolation from repeated melodies, and with Mangelsdorf’s visual extrapolation thresholds of point-of-collision. The agreement of results from diverse test situations suggests a non-specifiC., general patterning effect upon discontinuity thresholds.