The Role of Family and Teacher Support in Post-traumatic Stress Symptoms Among Palestinian Adolescents Exposed to Community Violence

Extensive research has been conducted in recent decades on the mental health consequences of Palestinians’ exposure to military and political violence. Despite the alarming rates of Palestinian youth exposure to community violence (ECV), there is a serious dearth of research on the effects of this pattern of exposure. The current study focused on the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among Palestinian adolescents as a result of their ECV. The study also examines the ability of perceived support from family and teachers to moderate the relationship between ECV and PTSD symptoms, and the involvement of demographic and socioeconomic variables in explaining this development. A sample of 1930 Palestinian secondary school students, aged 12–19, from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, answered questionnaires. Data analysis used univariate, bivariate, and multivariate methods, including SEM. The prevalence of PTSD symptoms was predicted by past year ECV, family support, teacher support, residential density, parents’ education, age, and gender. SEM analysis validated additional relationship paths between variables. Results are discussed, suggesting future research with theoretical and practical implications.     

Parenting Behaviors of Mothers and Fathers of Preschool Age Children with Internalizing Disorders

This study investigated parenting behaviors of mothers and fathers of clinically anxious preschool children (with or without depressive comorbidity) and healthy comparison children. Studies assessing children from early school age onwards have found that parental control, rejection, and inconsistent discipline are associated with the presence of children’s internalizing symptoms/disorders. Despite the scarcity of studies investigating these associations at preschool age, we assumed that findings with older children would also apply to children in this age group. In a cross-sectional study we assessed N = 176 children of preschool age (M = 5; 2 years) and both of their parents. A diagnostic interview (Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment) was conducted to determine children’s psychiatric diagnoses, yielding the following results: a group of n = 67 children with pure anxiety disorders (AD group), a group of n = 38 children with anxiety disorders with depressive comorbidity (AD/DC group), and a comparison group of n = 71 children without psychiatric disorders. Both parents completed the German extended version of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire. We evaluated maternal depressive symptoms and children’s temperament as further correlates. All variables that differed significantly between groups were entered into multinomial logistic regression analyses to test which variables predict group membership. When comparing each of the two anxiety groups with the comparison group we obtained the following results: (1) Inconsistent paternal discipline and maternal depressive symptoms increased and children’s positive affectivity decreased the probability of children of being in the AD group rather than in the comparison group. (2) Maternal overinvolvement, maternal depressive symptoms and children’s negative affectivity increased and children’s positive affectivity decreased the probability of children of belonging to the AD/DC group rather than to the comparison group. When comparing the two anxiety groups with each other, we found that inconsistent paternal discipline increased and children’s negative affectivity decreased the probability of children of being in the AD group rather than in the AD/DC group. The results suggest that paternal parenting behaviors show different associations with internalizing disorders at preschool age than maternal parenting behaviors. This underlines the importance of including fathers in the prevention and treatment of internalizing disorders at preschool age.     

Parent Programs for Reducing Adolescent’s Antisocial Behavior and Substance Use: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Two theoretically based parent training programs, delivered in real-world settings by the social services, were examined in this randomized controlled trial for effectiveness in reducing adolescents’ antisocial behavior and substance use. Two hundred and thirty-seven (237) adolescents in ages between 12 and 18 and their parents were assigned to one of two programs or to a wait-list control condition. The programs were the nine weekly group sessions program Comet 12–18 (Swedish Parent Management Training Program) and the six weekly ParentSteps (Swedish shortened version by Strengthening Families Program 10–14). Outcome measures were antisocial behavior, substance use, and delinquency, and psychosocial dysfunction. Data based on adolescents’ and parents’ ratings of the adolescents’ problem behavior at baseline and 6 months later were analyzed with repeated measures ANVOA, Logistic regression, and Kruskal–Wallis H test. The results showed that parents’ ratings of adolescents’ antisocial behaviors decreased significantly over time, but no time by group effect emerged. No program effects were found in the adolescents’ self-reported antisocial behavior, delinquency, or psychosocial functioning. A threefold risk of illicit drug use was found in both intervention groups. The results suggest that neither Comet nor ParentSteps had beneficial effects on adolescent’s antisocial or delinquent behavior, or on alcohol use. The only significant group difference found was a threefold risk of drug use in the intervention adolescents at follow-up, but for several reasons this finding should be interpreted with caution. Trial registration number: ISRCTN76141538.     

The Heterogeneity of Truancy among Urban Middle School Students: A Latent Class Growth Analysis

This longitudinal study explores heterogeneity of middle school students by identifying subgroups of youth characterized by distinct truancy trajectories and by determining disability profiles that distinguish these subgroups. Participants comprised an entire 7th through 9th grade student population, with approximately 58,000 students, in a large urban school district. Latent class growth analysis was used to identify subgroups of truant youth. This analysis yielded five distinct truant subgroups: Very-Low (37 %), Low (43.4 %), Declining (3.3 %), Rising (12.8 %), and Chronic (3.6 %). Further, differential disability profiles were found in each subgroup with the control of demographic characteristics (i.e., gender, race/ethnicity, free/reduced lunch, Limited English Proficiency, grade, and prior school absences), students with serious emotional disturbance and learning disabilities demonstrated amplified risks of being classified in the Chronic or Rising subgroups, which show chronic or incremental upward truant trajectories over time. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for future research.     

Emotion Regulation in Relation to Emerging Adults’ Mental Health and Delinquency: A Multi-informant Approach

Relative to the merits of authoritative parenting, potential adverse outcomes are well documented for authoritarian and permissive parenting. However, conclusions are typically drawn from single informants. The ability of youths’ emotion regulation skills to mediate outcomes in emerging adults has also not been fully explored. This study investigated whether emotion regulation mediated parenting style history and potential outcomes of mental health and delinquency. Parenting style history and emerging adults’ emotion regulation ability were reported by 110 youth and their caregivers; youth reported on mental health functioning and delinquency. Emerging adults’ emotion regulation ability partially mediated the association between authoritative parenting history and mental health functioning and authoritative parenting history was indirectly related to delinquency through emotion regulation; however, based on all reporters, emotion regulation ability was not associated with authoritarian or permissive parenting style history. Results support that the merits of authoritative parenting may lie in fostering better emotion regulation skills.     

Psychometric Properties of the Power of Food Scale in a Community Sample of Preadolescents and Adolescents

The Power of Food Scale (PFS) was developed to assess hedonic hunger, or how individuals think and feel about food and eating in the absence of metabolic need. The measure was originally developed and validated in two adult samples, and recent preliminary support has been provided for the validity in a sample of preadolescents. The aim of the current study was to conduct a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the PFS in a community sample of preadolescents and adolescents to examine the psychometric properties in youth. Participants were 148 youth ages 11–18 (M = 12.85) from two Midwestern communities in the United States. Participants completed the PFS to assess for hedonic hunger. Structural equation modeling was used to conduct multiple CFAs to test varying factor structures of the PFS in preadolescents and adolescents. Results suggested that the scale was best represented by the previously established 15-item version of the measure with an aggregate domain and three subscales based on food proximity (i.e., food available, food present, and food tasted). Results from the CFA revealed that the measurement model had a close fit (RMSEA = 0.033, CFI = 0.985). Cronbach’s α for the total scale and the three subscales ranged from 0.86 to 0.95. Findings suggest that the previously established factor structure of the 15-item PFS best represents the factor structure of the measure in a community sample of preadolescents and adolescents.     

Internal and External Validity of Sluggish Cognitive Tempo and ADHD Inattention Dimensions with Teacher Ratings of Nepali Children

The objective was to evaluate the validity of sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) and ADHD-inattention (IN) symptoms in children from Nepal. Teachers rated SCT, ADHD-IN, ADHD-hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), anxiety, depression, academic impairment, social impairment, and peer rejection dimensions in 366 children (50 % girls) in first through sixth grades (M _age?=?9.35, SD _age?=?1.96) on two separate occasions separated by 4-weeks. Seven of the eight SCT symptoms and all nine ADHD-IN symptoms showed convergent validity (substantial loadings on their respective factors) and discriminant validity (higher loadings on their respective factor than the alternative factor) at both time-points. Across all three separate analyses (assessment 1, assessment 2, and from assessment 1 to assessment 2), higher SCT scores were associated with lower ADHD-HI scores and higher depression, academic impairment, and social impairment scores after controlling for ADHD-IN while higher ADHD-IN scores were associated with higher ADHD-HI, ODD, academic impairment, and peer rejection scores after controlling for SCT. Also, as hypothesized, SCT scores were not related to ODD scores after controlling for ADHD-IN. The study provides the first evidence for the internal and external validity of the SCT dimension relative to the ADHD-IN dimension with teacher ratings of children from Nepal, thereby increasing the validity of the SCT construct beyond North America, Western Europe, South America, and South Korea.     

Photographic Assessment of Change in Trichotillomania: Psychometric Properties and Variables Influencing Interpretation

Although photographic assessment has been found to be reliable in assessing hair loss in Trichotillomania, the validity of this method is unclear, particularly for gauging progress in treatment. The current study evaluated the psychometric properties of photographic assessment of change in Trichotillomania. Photographs showing hair loss of adults with Trichotillomania were taken before and after participating in a clinical trial for the condition. Undergraduate college students (N?=?211) rated treatment response according to the photos, and additional archival data on hair pulling severity and psychosocial health were retrieved from the clinical trial. Photographic assessment of change was found to possess fair reliability (ICC?=?0.53), acceptable criterion validity (r?=?0.51), good concurrent validity (r?=?0.30–0.36), and excellent incremental validity (ΔR ²?=?8.67, p?<?0.01). In addition, photographic measures were significantly correlated with change in quality of life (r?=?0.42), and thus could be considered an index of the social validity of Trichotillomania treatment. Gender of the photo rater and pulling topography affected the criterion validity of photographic assessment (partial η ²?=?0.05–0.11). Recommendations for improving photographic assessment and future directions for hair pulling research are discussed.     

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Teaching Package Utilizing Behavioral Skills Training and In Situ Training to Teach Gun Safety Skills in a Preschool Classroom

There are a number of different safety threats that children face in their lives. One infrequent, but highly dangerous situation a child can face is finding a firearm. Hundreds of children are injured or killed by firearms each year. Fortunately, behavioral skills training (BST) and in situ training (IST) are effective approaches for teaching a number of different skills, including safety skills. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a teaching package for preschool teachers to learn to conduct BST to teach safety skills. Following teacher-implemented BST, the experimenter completed in situ training and supplemental instructions. A multiple baseline across subjects design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of this teaching package implemented by the teacher and experimenter with five preschoolers. Five children demonstrated the skills following IST and additional reinforcement or time out. The use of additional reinforcement, as well as treatment fidelity are discussed.     

The Empirical Argument Against Virtue

The virtues are under fire. Several decades’ worth of social psychological findings establish a correlation between human behavior and the situation moral agents inhabit, from which a cadre of moral philosophers concludes that most moral agents lack the virtues. Mark Alfano and Christian Miller introduce novel versions of this argument, but they are subject to a fatal dilemma. Alfano and Miller wrongly assume that their requirements for virtue apply universally to moral agents, who vary radically in their psychological, physiological, and personal situations; I call this the ‘content problem.’ More troubling, however, the content problem leads to what I call the ‘structural problem:’ Alfano and Miller each structure their argument against the virtues as a modus tollens argument and, owing to the breadth of the content problem, each must constrain their argument with a ceteris paribus clause. But the ceteris paribus clause precludes each argument’s validity. More important, however, the resulting conception of virtue implicitly endorsed by Alfano and Miller holds that virtues are idealized models; but since idealized models do not even purport accurately to describe (much of) the world, neither novel version of EAV gains any empirical traction against the virtues. The upshot is an old story whose moral has yet, within the empirical study of the virtues, adequately to be internalized: it is imperative that the empirical observation of character traits proceed via longitudinal studies.