Applying multiple models to predict clinicians’ behavioural intention and objective behaviour when managing children's teeth

This study used multiple theoretical approaches simultaneously to predict an objectively measured clinical behaviour. The six theoretical approaches were: The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), Common Sense Self-Regulation Model (CS-SRM), Operant Learning Theory (OLT), Action Planning (AP) and the Precaution Adoption Process (PAP), with knowledge as an additional predictor. Data on variables from these models were collected by postal survey. Data on the outcome behaviour, the evidence-based practice of placing fissure sealants, was collected from clinical records. Participants were 133 dentists (64% male) in Scotland. Variables found to predict the behaviour were: intention, attitude, perceived behavioural control, risk perception, outcome expectancies, self efficacy, habit, anticipated consequences, experienced consequences and action planning. The TPB, SCT, AP, OLT and PAP significantly predicted behaviour but the CS-SRM did not. A combined (Stepwise) regression model included only intention and action planning. Post hoc analyses showed action planning mediated effect of intention on behaviour. Taking a theory-based approach creates a replicable methodology for identifying factors predictive of clinical behaviour and for the design and choice of interventions to modify practice as new evidence emerges, increasing current options for improving health outcomes through influencing the implementation of best practice.     

Self-control depletion and sleep duration: the mediating role of television viewing

Abstract

Objective: Sleep insufficiency has been related to self-control failure: people fail to go to bed in time and end up sleep deprived. The role of state self-control in predicting bedtime and sleep duration has not yet been investigated. Based on research claiming an overlap between depleted self-control resources and fatigue, self-control depletion may foster earlier bedtimes. Conversely, self-control depletion also increases the propensity to procrastinate bedtime by giving in to the immediate gratification of late night entertainment. This study therefore looked at procrastinatory television viewing and its intermediary role in the association between state self-control and bedtime. The implications for sleep duration are examined. Design: Firstyear students (N = 234) participated in an online survey. Using Day Reconstruction Method, they charted their activities and experiences during the preceding day and subsequent bedtime behavior. Results: Self-control depletion was directly related to earlier bedtimes, which we explained by its similarity to fatigue. This was associated with longer sleep duration. Self-control depletion was indirectly related to later bedtimes because it increased the propensity to procrastinate by watching television. This was associated with shorter sleep duration. Conclusion: This study exposes a dual pathway between self-control depletion and sleep duration, whereby procrastinatory television viewing may reduce sleep duration.     

Flotation restricted environmental stimulation therapy (REST) as a stress-management tool: A meta-analysis

In this study we investigated the value of flotation Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy (REST) as a stress-management tool. We focused on the physiological effects of REST, its influence on well-being, and on performance. Twenty-seven studies published in 25 articles or book chapters were included in a meta-analysis. The total number of participants was 449, with a mean age of 29 years (ranging between 20 and 45). Sixty-four percent was male and 36% was female. The results showed that REST has positive effects on physiology (e.g., lower levels of cortisol, lower blood pressure), well-being, and performance. The pre–post mean effect size and the overall randomized control group effect size were relatively strong. This suggests that despite some limitations of the original studies, flotation REST can be a useful stress management tool in addition to or instead of other stress management tools.     

Power and Personality Perception in Real‐Life Hierarchical Relationships

The present study examined how Big Five personality ratings of the same target individuals differ as a function of the power relation between the target and the judge. Our targets were 37 employees with leadership duties from two large organizations. The targets' subordinates (N = 352), peers (N = 186), and superiors (N = 62) constituted our groups of judges. The targets and judges also provided self‐reports of personality. Subordinate judges showed higher consensus but not higher self‐other agreement than peer or superior judges. Furthermore, the targets were judged as more extraverted, more emotionally stable, less agreeable, and less open to experience by their subordinates than by their superiors. The results suggest that (i) observer consensus, but not self‐other agreement or assumed similarity varies as a function of real‐life power; (ii) the effects of power on mean trait scores are mostly congruent with the previously observed effects of power on behaviour and on stereotypes. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sustained Attention and Executive Functioning Performance in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

The aim of this study was to further refine the cognitive phenotype of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), with respect to the ability to sustain attention and executive functioning. Participants were 34 boys with ADHD (combined type) and 28 normal controls. The groups were closely matched for age and IQ. All participants were 12 years of age. Both groups performed a computerized sustained attention task and a response interference task. Measures related to speed, accuracy, and time on task were collected. We found that children with ADHD performed slower, less accurately, more impulsively, and with less stability than controls. Both groups produced more errors with increasing time on task, reflecting reduced vigilance. Importantly, no interaction with time on task was found. The overall pattern of results suggests that measures related to accuracy are more informative than measures related to speed of responding in refining the cognitive phenotype of ADHD.     

Belief in conspiracy theories: The influence of uncertainty and perceived morality

In the present research, we examined people's tendency to endorse or question belief in conspiracy theories. In two studies, we tested the hypothesis that the perceived morality of authorities influences conspiracy beliefs, particularly when people experience uncertainty. Study 1 revealed that information about the morality of oil companies influenced beliefs that these companies were involved in planning the war in Iraq, but only when uncertainty was made salient. Similar findings were obtained in Study 2, which focused on a bogus newspaper article about a fatal car accident of a political leader in an African country. It is concluded that uncertainty leads people to make inferences about the plausibility or implausibility of conspiracy theories by attending to morality information. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Understanding suicidal behaviour in young people referred to specialist CAMHS: a qualitative psychoanalytic clinical research project

A qualitative psychoanalytic clinical research project using a post-Kleinian contemporary approach was undertaken by a team of seven qualified and experienced child psychotherapists working in community Tier 3 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). A number of referred young people who deliberately harmed themselves or attempted suicide, who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and consented to participate, were offered an extended individual and family assessment. Grounded Theory analysis of the qualitative data led to the formulation of the Truth Danger Theory. Typical situations in which suicidal behaviour occurred were identified, including intergenerational confusion, neglect, physical and/or sexual abuse within the family, Oedipal conflict, maternal depression and families in which there was a chronically ill sibling. We found that there was a marked disparity between the young person's experience of relationships in the family and the family's own account of their situation, a fractured reality. This can be reflected in an incongruence in the young person's presentation, which may be misleading when assessing risk. The young person feels him/herself to be in a dead end from which there seems to be no escape. Self-harm, for some, contains this impossible dilemma (albeit pathologically) but when it does not, suicide may seem the only option. The Truth Danger Theory provides explanations and predictions for suicidal behaviour and has implications for clinical practice.     

Motor, Emotional, and Cognitive Empathy in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Conduct Disorder

It is unclear which aspects of empathy are shared and which are uniquely affected in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and conduct disorder (CD) as are the neurobiological correlates of these empathy impairments. The aim of this systematic review is to describe the overlap and specificity of motor, emotional, and cognitive aspects of empathy in children and adolescents with ASD or CD. Motor and cognitive empathy impairments are found in both ASD and CD, yet the specificity seems to differ. In ASD facial mimicry and emotion recognition may be impaired for all basic emotions, whereas in CD this is only the case for negative emotions. Emotional empathy and the role of attention to the eyes therein need further investigation. We hypothesize that impaired motor and cognitive empathy in both disorders are a consequence of lack of attention to the eyes. However, we hypothesize major differences in emotional empathy deficits between ASD and CD, probably due to emotional autonomic and amygdala hyper-responsivity in ASD versus hypo-responsivity in CD, both resulting in lack of attention to the eyes.     

Economic Disadvantage and Young Children’s Emotional and Behavioral Problems: Mechanisms of Risk

This study aimed to establish potential mechanisms through which economic disadvantage contributes to the development of young children’s internalizing and externalizing problems. Prospective data from fetal life to age 3 years were collected in a total of 2,169 families participating in the Generation R Study. The observed physical home environment, the provision of learning materials in the home, maternal depressive symptoms, parenting stress, and harsh disciplining practices were all analyzed as potential mediators of the association between economic disadvantage and children’s internalizing and externalizing problem scores. Findings from structural equation modeling showed that for both internalizing and externalizing problems, the mechanisms underlying the effect of economic disadvantage included maternal depressive symptoms, along with parenting stress and harsh disciplining. For internalizing but not for externalizing problem scores, the lack of provision of learning materials in the home was an additional mechanism explaining the effect of economic disadvantage. The current results suggest that interventions that focus solely on raising income levels may not adequately address problems in the family processes that emerge as a result of economic disadvantage. Policies to improve the mental health of mothers with young children but also their home environments are needed to change the economic gradient in child behavior.     

Response Timing Accuracy as a Function of Movement Velocity and Distance

In two experiments, patterns of response error during a timing accuracy task were investigated. In Experiment 1. these patterns were examined across a full range of movement velocities, which provided a test of the hypothesis that as movement velocity increases, constant error (CE) shifts from a negative to a positive response bias, with the zero CE point occurring at approximately 50% of maximum movement velocity (Hancock & Newell, 1985). Additionally, by examining variable error (VE), timing error variability patterns over a full range of movement velocities were established. Subjects (N = 6) performed a series of forearm flexion movements requiring 19 different movement velocities. Results corroborated previous observations that variability of timing error primarily decreased as movement velocity increased from 6 to 42% of maximum velocity. Additionally, CE data across the velocity spectrum did not support the proposed timing error function. In Experiment 2, the effect(s) of responding at 3 movement distances with 6 movement velocities on response timing error were investigated. VE was significantly lower for the 3 high-velocity movements than for the 3 low-velocity movements. Additionally, when MT was mathematically factored out. VE was less at the long movement distance than at the short distance. As in Experiment 1, CE was unaffected by distance or velocity effects and the predicted CE timing error function was not evident.