Treatment Fidelity of a Randomized Controlled Trial for Suicidal Risk

Treatment fidelity is a crucial consideration within randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The present study relies on data from a feasibility RCT conducted with 62 treatment-seeking suicidal college students. Issues of experimental fidelity were germane in this investigation because the same clinicians provided both the experimental (the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality—CAMS) and the control (treatment as usual—TAU) care. The first aim of the current study was to determine adherence to the CAMS model within the experimental (CAMS) and control (TAU) treatment conditions. A second exploratory aim was included to examine how treatment fidelity impacted treatment outcomes (i.e., depression, suicidal ideation, hopelessness, and potential treatment moderators). The CAMS Rating Scale (CRS.3-R) was used to determine treatment adherence to the CAMS model and to ensure between-group fidelity within the trial. The CRS.3-R was completed throughout the course of care based on reviews of a selected number of video recordings of both CAMS and TAU sessions to measure treatment fidelity. Mean CRS.3-R scores revealed differences across treatment conditions such that clinicians were successfully able to provide each treatment separately without contamination. Further, higher CRS.3-R scores in CAMS sessions resulted in decreased hopelessness over the treatment period. Higher CRS.3-R scores in TAU sessions resulted in an increased likelihood of suicidal ideation and less reduction in hopelessness over the treatment period. Overall, clinicians can serve as their own controls in a RCT and levels of adherence to the CAMS model have different effects on suicidal ideation and hopelessness.

     

Relationships between cognition and literacy in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Evidence suggests that cognitive and literacy difficulties are common for children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The current systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the relationship between cognition and literacy in children with ADHD. Ten thousand and thirty-eight articles were screened against the inclusion criteria and six eligible studies were retained for final review. Where two or more studies used comparable measures of cognition and literacy, a meta-analysis of the relationship between these measures was undertaken. A narrative synthesis of all included studies was also completed. There were medium effect sizes between working memory and aspects of reading, and small effect sizes between processing speed and reading. Inhibition and attention had differential relationships with aspects of literacy with varying effect sizes. This systematic review demonstrates differential relationships between aspects of literacy and cognition in children with ADHD. Further examination of these relationships is warranted to support intervention development.     

Correlation and response relevance in sequence learning

We tested the effects of introducing a secondary sequence into the serial reaction time task. Specifically, we examined the role of correlated streams of information and response relevance. In the first experiment, the order of stimulus locations was correlated with the order of key press responses in the conventional way. A symbol-identity sequence, of a different length, was also present but no manual responses were made to it, and it was not correlated with any other stream of information. In the second experiment, two concurrent streams of location-based stimuli were presented. Both were sequenced but only one sequence required responses. Importantly, the sequences were either correlated with one another or not (same vs. different lengths). In the third experiment, the same design was used but with one sequence visual and the other auditory. In all three experiments, participants became sensitive to the sequence that required responses, and resultant knowledge was largely explicit. They were also sensitive to the sequence that did not require responses but only when it was correlated with the sequence that did, and here resultant knowledge was implicit. The findings suggest that the presence of a secondary sequence can affect learning, but only when stimuli in that sequence are integrated, through correlation, with responses made to the primary sequence.     

Human Capital Models and the Gender Pay Gap

This paper provides a commentary on the article by Lips (2012), “The Gender Pay Gap: Challenging the Rationalizations, Perceived Equity, Discrimination, and the Limits of Human Capital Models.” It provides some economic background for human capital models that try to explain gender pay gaps, and discusses the limitations of the models. It assesses some of Lips’ criticisms of the model. In contrast to Lips, the author believes that human capital theorists are generally aware of the limitations of their models, and she believes that human capital models make a valuable contribution to the literature on the gender pay gap. The author also uses her own research to illustrate how human capital variables can be combined with variables from psychology and other fields to try to understand the salary differences between men and women in specific professions. The Appendix provides a list of some 2011 and 2012 studies that examine gender differences in pay in various countries and the types of data used.     

Impaired conditional task performance in a high schizotypy population: relation to cognitive deficits

Cognitive impairments in schizophrenia have been characterized as reflecting a core deficit in the maintenance or use of task-setting cues to mediate appropriate ongoing behaviour. This analysis suggests that cognitive deficits in schizophrenia will be particularly evident when different task-setting cues dictate when different responses are required by the same stimuli. One simple task in which task-setting cues are required is a biconditional discrimination. Here we examined the performance of participants with high and low schizotypy scores (Mason, Claridge, & Jackson, 1995) on a biconditional discrimination and an otherwise equivalent, control discrimination that did not require the use of task-setting cues. Participants scoring highly on the Introvertive Anhedonia subscale (which has been allied to the negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia) performed poorly on the biconditional, but not on the control, discrimination. No other subscales demonstrated a significant influence on either biconditional or control performance.     

Structural and discriminant validity of the career factors inventory

Using a sample of 350 college students, this study examined the structural and discriminant validity of the Career Factors Inventory (CFI; Chartrand, Robbins, Morrill, & Boggs, 1990), a multidimensional measure of career indecision intended to be scored for two informational indecision components (Need for Career Information and Need for Self-Knowledge) and two personal-emotional components (Career Choice Anxiety and Generalized Indecisiveness). Results of confirmatory factor analyses and correlations revealed that: (a) the underlying structure of the CFI was similar for women and men, (b) the original four-factor model corresponding to the CFI’s scoring scheme demonstrated an excellent fit to the data, (c) a non-hierarchical two-factor model and a hierarchical model were both supported by the data, and (d) the CFI demonstrated evidence of discriminant validity. Implications for career counseling and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Psychoanalysis in conjunction with medication: a clinical research opportunity

The increasingly common practice of introducing medication into the analytic relationship is of practical and theoretical concern to analysts. Pharmacological agents and their somatic effects, it is argued, may be seen as a research equivalent to brain lesions, long favored tools in correlating brain with mind function, while psychoanalytic process data may be seen as a fine-tuned instrument for studying the subjective and emotional processes that reflect the underlying brain effect. A method of naturalistic study of psychoanalytic process both with and without a psychopharmacological agent is described and illustrated in two patients. The potential of this method for providing data useful in understanding the mechanism of action of psychoactive medications and of individual variations in response is explored. Both patients, treated with stimulant for ADHD, showed striking differences in self- and object representation, defense, affect, and cognition that correlated with analytic periods on and off the medication. The implications of these observations for understanding both the action of the medication and the fundamental functional disruptions in the condition are explored as well.     

Understanding the Sex Difference in Vulnerability to Adolescent Depression: An Examination of Child and Parent Characteristics

This study examined sex differences in risk factors associated with adolescent depression in a large sample of boys and girls. Moderation and mediation explanatory models of the sex difference in likelihood of depression were examined. Findings indicate that the factors associated with depression in adolescent boys and girls are quite similar. All of the variables considered were associated with depression, but sex did not moderate the impact of vulnerability factors on likelihood of depression diagnosis. However, negative self-perceptions in the domains of achievement, global self-worth, and physical appearance partially mediated the relationship between sex and depression. Further, girls had higher levels of positive self-perceptions in interpersonal domains that acted as suppressors and reduced the likelihood of depression in girls. These findings suggest that girls' higher incidence of depression is due in part to their higher levels of negative self-perceptions, whereas positive interpersonal factors serve to protect them from depressive episodes.     

Sex differences in landmark learning by children aged 5 to 12 years

Previous research has shown that men and boys learn routes faster and with fewer errors than do women and girls. Research with adults suggests that men use Euclidean cues when learning a route, whereas women use landmark-based strategies. The strategies used by children have received little study. In Exp. 1, 50 boys and girls, ages 5 to 12 years, were shown a map that contained only landmarks (no streets or roads) and were asked to learn a route consisting of 23 of the landmarks. The children used a pointer to trace the route on the map to a criterion of two successive trials without errors. The performance of boys and girls did not differ significantly on this route-learning task on three measures (number of trials to reach criterion, total time to reach criterion, and total number of errors). In Exp. 2, 52 boys and girls, ages 5 to 12 years, were shown the same map as in Exp. 1 and were asked to learn a route consisting of 12 landmarks. The children traced the route by picking pictures of landmarks in the correct order from a stack of cards with pictures of landmarks on them. Girls made significantly fewer errors than boys on this route-learning task in Exp. 2, and a significantly larger number of girls than boys completed the task. None of the boys in the 5- to 6-yr.-old age group learned the route. When Euclidean cues were minimized in Exp. 2, boys made more errors and took as much time as girls to reach the criterion of two successive correct trials.