Does community violence exposure moderate the associations between maternal spanking and early child behavior problems?

A robust research literature links parental spanking with negative behavioral outcomes for children, however, it remains unclear whether conditions in the community may moderate the associations between spanking and behavior problems in early childhood. In the current study, we examined whether community violence exposure moderated the associations of maternal spanking with externalizing and internalizing behavior problems of young children. The sample used in this study was urban families and their children ages 3–5 (n = 2,472). We used fixed effects regression models, which yield stronger statistical control for baseline behavior problems, selection bias, and omitted variables bias. Mother's spanking was associated with elevated levels of both externalizing (β = .037, p < .001) and internalizing (β = .016, p < .001) behavior problems. Community violence exposure also predicted higher levels of externalizing (β = .071, p < .01) and internalizing (β = .043, p < .05) behavior problems. Community violence exposure did not moderate the associations between maternal spanking and behavior problems. Professionals working with families should promote the use of nonphysical disciplinary practices, regardless of the level of violence and crime in the community in which the family resides.     

Insensitivity to reward shifts in zebrafish (Danio rerio) and implications for assessing affective states

Animal Cognition - Theory and empirical findings predict that individuals in a negative affective state are more sensitive to unexpected reward loss and less sensitive to unexpected reward gain...     

Paternal—baby responsiveness and involvement

This paper searches the literature for evidence of paternal responsiveness to and involvement with infants. The emerging picture of paternal involvement in human and subhuman species and in different cultural settings is one of great variability. No support is found for an hormonal explanation of the assumption that females are more responsive to babies than males are. It is suggested that sensitivity is a consequence rather than a precursor of involvement with infants. The distinction between paternal capacity and performance is emphasized and the discrepancy attributed to sex-stereotyping pressures.     

The nature of intrusive memories after trauma: the warning signal hypothesis

Individuals who had experienced a range of different traumas were asked to describe the quality and content of their intrusive memories. Visual intrusions were the most common, and thoughts were uncommon. Intrusion quality varied little with type of trauma. Intrusive memories commonly consisted of stimuli that were present immediately before the traumatic event happened or shortly before the moments that had the largest emotional impact (i.e., when the meaning of the event became more traumatic). It is suggested that intrusive memories are about stimuli that through temporal association with the trauma acquired the status of warning signals, i.e., stimuli that if encountered again would indicate impending danger. This explains why intrusive memories are accompanied by a sense of serious current threat. The warning signal hypothesis may be useful in guiding therapists in identifying the moments with the largest emotional impact that will need reprocessing in treatment, and in educating patients about the nature of reexperiencing symptoms.     

Do boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder have positive illusory self-concepts?

One hundred ninety-five boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were compared with 73 comparison boys (M = 9.83 years, SD = 1.30) on self-perceptions relative to a teacher-rated criterion. Emphasis was placed on ADHD subgroup comparisons according to level of aggression, academic achievement, and depression compared with control boys. Consistent with the authors' prediction, ADHD boys overestimated relative to teacher report, more than did controls, in the scholastic competence, social acceptance, and behavioral conduct domains. Examination of discrepancy scores (child rating - teacher rating) by comorbidity subgroups suggested that aggressive and low-achieving ADHD boys tended to overestimate their competence the most in the domains in which they were the most impaired. Results are discussed in terms of prior literature on "positive illusions" in ADHD children.     

Atypical depression: enhanced right hemispheric dominance for perceiving emotional chimeric faces

Two studies compared hemispatial bias for perceiving chimeric faces in patients having either atypical or typical depression and healthy controls. A total of 245 patients having major depressive disorder (MDD) or dysthymia (164 with atypical features) and 115 controls were tested on the Chimeric Faces Test. Atypical depression differed from typical depression and controls in showing abnormally large right hemisphere bias. This was present in patients having either MDD or dysthymia and was not related to anxiety, physical anhedonia, or vegetative symptoms. In contrast, patients having MDD with melancholia showed essentially no right hemisphere bias. This is further evidence that atypical depression is a biologically distinct subtype and underscores the importance of this diagnostic distinction for neurophysiologic studies.     

Relation of maximal ankle dorsiflexion angle and passive resistive torque to passive-elastic stiffness of ankle dorsiflexion stretch

The maximal passive ankle dorsiflexion angle and the maximal passive resistive torque at this angle were measured for 81 women 20 to 84 years of age and correlated with the passive-elastic stiffness (stiffness) of an ankle dorsiflexion stretch. Pearson correlation coefficients and multiple regression analyses were used to examine whether the two clinical measurements could predict ankle stiffness. The maximal passive resistive torque showed a moderate correlation with stiffness in the full stretch range (r = .69) and high correlation with stiffness in the last half of the full stretch range (r = .84). The maximal dorsiflexion angle showed a low correlation with stiffness in the full stretch range (r = .27) and in the last half of the full stretch range (r = .36). The maximal passive resistive torque and the dorsiflexion angle together accounted for 54% of the stiffness variance in the full stretch range and 76% of the stiffness variance in the last half of the full stretch range. Thus, the clinical measurements of the maximal passive dorsiflexion angle and the maximal passive resistive torque were directly and significantly related to the ankle dorsiflexion passive-elastic stiffness and good predictors of stiffness in the last half of the passive ankle dorsiflexion stretch.