Cumulative risk disparities in children's neurocognitive functioning: a developmental cascade model

The current longitudinal study examined the role of cumulative social risk on children's theory of mind (ToM) and executive functioning (EF) across early development. Further, we also tested a cascade model of development in which children's social cognition at 18 months was hypothesized to predict ToM and EF at age 4.5 through intermediary language skills at age 3. We then examined whether this developmental mechanism varied as a function of social risk status. Participants were 501 children recruited when they were newborns, at which point eight psychosocial risk factors were assessed and combined into a metric of cumulative social disadvantage. Families were followed up at 18 months, at which point four social‐cognitive skills were assessed using developmentally sensitive tasks: joint attention, empathy, cooperation, and self‐recognition. Language was measured at age 3 using a standardized measure of receptive vocabulary. At age 3 and 4.5, EF and ToM were measured using previously validated tasks. Results showed that there were notable cumulative risk disparities in overall neurocognitive skill development, and these effects became more differentiated over time. Support was also found for a developmental mechanism wherein the effect of social cognition at 18 months on ToM and EF in the preschool period operated specifically through children's receptive language ability at age 3. This pathway functioned similarly for children with both low‐ and high‐risk backgrounds. These results extend previous findings by documenting the role of cumulative social disadvantage on children's neurocognition and the pathways that link key neurocognitive abilities across early development.     

Profiles of Rater Dis/Agreement within Universal Screening in Predicting Distal Outcomes

Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment - The success of a comprehensive and integrated school mental health system is dependent on data to inform decision-making. Universal screening...     

Differential parenting and children's behavioral problems: curvilinear associations and mother-father combined effects

In this study the associations between mothers' and fathers' differential parenting and children's oppositional and emotional problems were examined. A curvilinear relationship between differential parenting and children's outcomes was hypothesized, as well as the combined effect of mothers' and fathers' parenting. Data came from a community sample of 599 two-parent families with multiple children per family and were analyzed using a cross-classified multilevel model. Results showed that both family average parenting and differential parenting explained unique variance in children's outcomes. The curvilinear hypothesis was supported for oppositional behavior but not for emotional problems. The effects of mother and father positivity were found to be additive for both family average parenting and differential parenting, but for negativity there was evidence for multiplicative effects.     

Toward Reducing Risk for Eating Disorders and Obesity in Latina College Women

The efficacy of 2 computer‐based programs was tested with Latina college women (N= 64). Compared with participants in the control group, intervention participants improved their motivation to eat fruits and vegetables (F&V; p= .042) and to participate in physical activity (p= .023) and significantly increased their F&V intake (pre‐ to posttest, p < .001; pre‐follow‐up, p= .002). Body dissatisfaction improved at a trend level (p= .055). Some modest effects of computer‐based programs were found.     

Justification magnets

The main message of Philosophy of Science after Feminism is twofold: that philosophy of science needs to locate science within its wider societal context, ceasing to analyze science as if it existed in a social/political/economic vacuum; and correlatively, that philosophy of science needs to aim for an understanding of scientific rationality that is appropriate to that context, a scientific rationality that integrates the ethical with the epistemic. The ideal of socially responsible science that the book puts forward, in fact, maintains that sound social values as well as sound epistemic values must control every aspect of the scientific research process, from the choice of research questions to the communication and application of results. And it is this that raises troubling questions for Matt Brown, Hugh Lacey, and Libby Potter. In this paper I attempt to answer their questions and make explicit exactly what is in the offing if I succeed.     

Book reviews

Gunnel Borgegard, Olav Fanuelsen, Christine Hall (ed.), The Ministry of the Deacon, 2. Ecclesiological Explorations (Uppsala: Nordic Ecumenical Council, 2000), 91–85564–10–9, 285 pp.

Dennis M. Doyle, Communion Ecclesiology (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2000) 1–57075–327‐X, ix + 195 pp.

Nicholas M. Healy, Church, World and the Christian Life: Practical‐Prophetic Ecclesiology. Cambridge Studies in Christian Doctrine 7 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 0–521–78650–9 (pbk), 199 pp.     

Variability in photos of the same face

Psychological studies of face recognition have typically ignored within-person variation in appearance, instead emphasising differences between individuals. Studies typically assume that a photograph adequately captures a person’s appearance, and for that reason most studies use just one, or a small number of photos per person. Here we show that photographs are not consistent indicators of facial appearance because they are blind to within-person variability. Crucially, this within-person variability is often very large compared to the differences between people. To investigate variability in photos of the same face, we collected images from the internet to sample a realistic range for each individual. In Experiments 1 and 2, unfamiliar viewers perceived images of the same person as being different individuals, while familiar viewers perfectly identified the same photos. In Experiment 3, multiple photographs of any individual formed a continuum of good to bad likeness, which was highly sensitive to familiarity. Finally, in Experiment 4, we found that within-person variability exceeded between-person variability in attractiveness. These observations are critical to our understanding of face processing, because they suggest that a key component of face processing has been ignored. As well as its theoretical significance, this scale of variability has important practical implications. For example, our findings suggest that face photographs are unsuitable as proof of identity.     

Evidence-Based Strategies Improve Assessment of Pediatric Bipolar Disorder by Community Practitioners

The misdiagnosis of pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD) has become a major public health concern. Would available evidence-based assessment (EBA) strategies help improve diagnostic accuracy, and are clinicians willing to consider these strategies in practice? The purpose of the present study was to document the extent to which using an EBA decision tool--a probability nomogram--improves the interpretation of family history and test data by clinicians and to examine the acceptability of the nomogram technique to clinicians. Over 600 clinicians across the US and Canada attending continuing education seminars were trained to use the nomogram. Participants estimated the probability that a youth in a clinical vignette had bipolar disorder, first using clinical judgment and then using the nomogram. Brief training of clinicians (less than 30 minutes) in using the nomogram for assessing PBD improved diagnostic accuracy, consistency, and agreement. The majority of clinicians endorsed using the nomogram in practice. EBA decision aids, such as the nomogram, may lead to a significant decrease in overdiagnosis and help clinicians detect true cases of PBD.     

Contribution of Peer Deviancy Training to the Early Development of Conduct Problems: Mediators and Moderators

Three variables were tested as moderators of the relationship between peer deviancy training and child antisocial behavior in a longitudinal study of 267 boys and girls from ages 5.3 to 9.3 years. Deviancy training was directly measured by observation of the discourse and play of children with same-gender classmates. Peer deviancy training was significantly related to multi-setting child antisocial behavior from ages 5.3 to 9.3 years. Child impulsivity, poor parental discipline, and peer rejection were all significant moderators of that relationship, even in the context of their direct association with trajectories of antisocial behavior and after controlling for deviant peer affiliation. These moderator effects appeared to be associated with children's increased sensitivity to peer modeling and reinforcement of deviant discourse and play. Not all children are equally affected by peer deviancy training, and an array of intervention strategies are described that may serve to protect children from deviant peer influence.