Competence in Language at 24 Months: Relations with Attachment Security and Home Stimulation

This study explored the interrelations among attachment, home stimulation, and language development in 58 toddlers (36 medically high risk and 22 low risk) at 24 months of age. The results indicated that there were additive effects of attachment and home stimulation on language competence, especially on receptive abilities. Mothers who had established secure relationships and provided stimulating home environments had children with the highest language scores.     

Implementation of a Suicide Nomenclature within Two VA Healthcare Settings

Suicide and suicide attempts are significant issues for military, Veterans Affairs (VA), and civilian healthcare systems. The lack of uniform terms related to self-directed violence (SDV) has inhibited epidemiological surveillance efforts, limited the generalizability of empirical studies of suicide and non-lethal forms of SDV, and complicated the implementation of evidence-based assessment and treatment strategies for individuals with suicidal thoughts and/or behaviors. The Department of Veterans Affairs recently adopted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) SDV Classification System (SDVCS). This paper describes an implementation study of the SDVCS in two VA Medical Centers. The Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 19 Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC) training program for the SDVCS, including the SDVCS Clinical Tool (CT), will be discussed. Although preliminary data suggest that the CT and SDVCS are generally perceived as being acceptable and useful, further work will likely be required to facilitate widespread adoption. Potential next steps in this process are presented.     

Posttraumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and suicide attempt history among veterans receiving mental health services

History of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been found to increase risk of suicidal behavior. The association between suicide attempt history among veterans with PTSD and/or TBI was explored. Cases (N = 81) and 2:1 matched controls (N = 160) were randomly selected from a Veterans Affairs Medical Center clinical database. PTSD history was associated with an increased risk for a suicide attempt (OR = 2.8; 95% CI: 1.5, 5.1). This increased risk was present for those with and without a history of TBI. Results support incorporating PTSD history when assessing suicide risk among veterans with and without TBI.     

Family interaction and the course of adolescent psychopathology: An analysis of adolescent and parent effects

This study focused on evaluating the utility of three family measures for predicting outcome in a sample of disturbed but nonpsychotic adolescents: (a) the affective quality of the adolescents' voice tone when communicating with his/her parents; (b) the predominant affective quality of the parents' voice tones when communicating with the adolescent, and (c) the affective quality of the content of the parents' verbalizations to the adolescent. These measures were derived from 5-minute face to face discussions between parents and their disturbed adolescent. Results indicated that adolescents using positive or neutral voice tones during emotionally laden discussions with their parents tended to show relatively adequate levels of psychosocial adjustment as young adults, while adolescents using exclusively negative voice tones tended to show sufficient adjustment difficulties in early adulthood to warrant diagnoses within the extended schizophrenia spectrum. Although adolescent voice tone was associated with outcome, considering both adolescent and parent affective response led to improved prediction, with consideration of adolescent and parent variables leading to accurate prediction of outcome for 30 of the 33 sample cases.     

Effects on WAIS-III performance IQ (PIQ) and full scale IQ (FSIQ) when object assembly is substituted for each standard performance scale subtest

According to the WAIS-III Administration and Scoring Manual, Object Assembly (OA) may be substituted for any spoiled Performance subtest. This assertion has not been evaluated in a clinical sample. The present investigation reports differences that resulted in Performance IQ (PIQ) and Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) when OA replaced each of the Performance subtests. Participants were 47 referrals for neuropsychological assessment (age M = 45.98 years, SD = 9.82; education M = 13.82 years, SD = 2.78). Results indicated that OA may replace any Performance subtest without seriously altering the summary scores. Differences between the standard IQs and OA-based composites were < 2 points for PIQ and < 1 point for FSIQ. More than 90% of the OA-based composites fell within the 90% confidence limits of the corresponding IQ.     

Gender stereotypes in the expression and perception of vocal affect

This study examined the perception and expression of vocal affect for behavioral evidence of gender stereotypes. Subjects were 97% Caucasian and were asked to either identify or rate the effectiveness of vocal affect portrayals for 5 emotions (fear, anger, happiness, sadness, and neutral) as portrayed by 3 female and 3 male actors reading 2 stories with nonemotional word content. The results revealed that female judges identified fear, happiness, and sadness better than males. Male actors' portrayals were identified better than female actors' portrayals of anger and fear. Female actors received higher identification rates than male actors for portrayals of happiness. Partial support for the general hypothesis that there is behavioral evidence of stereotypic gender differences for vocal affect was obtained.A previous version of this article was presented at the 65th annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association in Chicago, IL, during April 1993.     

Making the sour sweet? Upcoming food-pellet reinforcement produces positive induction when rats press a lever for unsweetened lemon juice

Research has suggested that rats increase their response rate for a low-valued reinforcer when a high-valued reinforcer will soon be available (i.e., positive induction) because the value of the low-valued substance has increased. The present study tested if such a procedure could be used to increase rats’ responding for a non-reinforcing food. Rats pressed a lever for unsweetened lemon juice in the first half of a 50-min session and, in treatment conditions, for food pellets in the second half. Experiment 1 demonstrated that rates of responding for the lemon juice generally varied directly with the upcoming rate of food-pellet reinforcement and that responding in lemon juice-only sessions did not differ significantly from that observed during extinction. Experiment 2 demonstrated that rats consumed more lemon juice following a condition in which they were displaying positive induction than following a condition in which they only responded for lemon juice. The present results are consistent with the increase in value account of positive induction. More importantly, they may indicate that certain environmental conditions can increase food-directed behavior for a non-reinforcing food, a finding which may have implications for our understanding of eating behavior and dysfunctions (e.g., overeating).