Gene-Environment Interactions in ADHD: The Roles of SES and Chaos

Although attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is highly heritable, emerging evidence suggests symptoms are associated with interactions between genes and the environment (GxE) during development. This study tested whether heritability of ADHD symptoms is moderated by two environmental factors: socioeconomic status (SES) and chaos (household disorganisation). A population sample of 520 twin pairs (N = 1040, 52.3% female) from 6 to 15 years completed measures of behavior and home environment. Structural equation modelling was then used to test whether environmental factors were associated with a change in the extent to which genes explain variability in ADHD symptoms. Neither chaos nor SES moderated heritability, with consistent contributions from both genes and environment indicated across socioeconomic strata and levels of chaos. This finding contrasts with those of previous research, underlining the need to replicate results in the emerging field of GxE research across different populations and statistical methods. Robust findings may assist in developing targeted interventions for genetically vulnerable individuals.     

Distance-Delivered Parent Training for Childhood Disruptive Behavior (Strongest Families™): a Randomized Controlled Trial and Economic Analysis

Disruptive behavior disorders are prevalent in youth, yet most children with disruptive behavior do not have access to timely, effective treatment. Distance-delivered service (e.g., via telephone, Internet) can overcome several barriers to care. This study tested the effectiveness of a 12-week parent training program, Strongest Families? Parenting the Active Child, delivered via written material, skill-based videos, and telephone coaching sessions, as compared to usual care in reducing child externalizing behavior. Participants were 172 primary caregivers of a 6- to 12-year-old (29% girls; M age?=?8.5 years) recruited from community children’s mental health clinics. Participants were randomized to either Strongest Families? or usual care and completed measures of child externalizing behavior, parenting practices, parent distress, and intervention services consumed at baseline and 5-, 10-, 16-, and 22-months post-baseline. Growth curve analysis showed significant reductions in externalizing behavior in both conditions over time. Improvements were significantly greater at 10 months in the Strongest Families? condition (d =?0.43). At 22 months, however, the differences were not significant and small in magnitude (d =??0.05). The intervention decreased inconsistent discipline significantly more than usual care. Parents in both conditions showed significant reductions in distress. We also conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis to assess the value for money of the Strongest Families? program versus usual care. Distance parent training is a promising way to increase access to, and reduce costs associated with, mental health care for families with a child with disruptive behavior.     

If You Are Emotionally Intelligent: The effects of customer‐related social stressors on counterproductive work behavior for front‐line service employees

Recent literature in the area of employee–customer interactions suggests that stressful encounters contribute to negative outcomes for service employees. Few studies, however, have focused on the effects of customer‐related social stressors (CSS) on counterproductive work behavior (CWB) among front‐line service employees. The researchers tested a moderated mediation model of the effects of CSS on CWB with the key objective of exploring the mediation effects of emotional exhaustion and the moderating effects of emotional intelligence on this relationship. Based on a sample of 244 call center representatives in China, the research revealed that CSS led to emotional exhaustion, which, in turn, related to CWB for service employees. Furthermore, emotional intelligence acted as a buffer on the effects of CSS on CWB via emotional exhaustion.     

Mothers as a Resource in Times of Stress: Interactive Contributions of Socialization of Coping and Stress to Youth Psychopathology

This study examined the hypothesis that maternal socialization of coping would make a differential contribution to youth depression and externalizing psychopathology depending on youths’ level of exposure to life stress. A sample of 155 youth (M age = 12.41, SD = 1.21) and their maternal caregivers completed semi-structured interviews and questionnaires in a two-wave longitudinal study over a 1-year period. Results provided evidence for two types of socialization × stress interactions—an amplification-effects model and a differential-effects model. In the context of interpersonal stress, findings supported an amplification-effects model wherein the risk and protective effects of engagement and disengagement socialization of coping emerged in youth exposed to high but not mild levels of stress. In the context of noninterpersonal stress, findings supported a differential-effects model wherein disengagement socialization of coping contributed to heightened risk among youth exposed to high stress but dampened risk among youth exposed to mild stress. This research identifies maternal socialization of coping as a noteworthy contributor to risk for youth psychopathology, and highlights the need to consider parenting × environment interactions when investigating parenting processes related to youth psychopathology.     

Teaching early braille literacy skills within a stimulus equivalence paradigm to children with degenerative visual impairments

Despite the need for braille literacy, there has been little attempt to systematically evaluate braille-instruction programs. The current study evaluated an instructive procedure for teaching early braille-reading skills with 4 school-aged children with degenerative visual impairments. Following a series of pretests, braille instruction involved providing a sample braille letter and teaching the selection of the corresponding printed letter from a comparison array. Concomitant with increases in the accuracy of this skill, we assessed and captured the formation of equivalence classes through tests of symmetry and transitivity among the printed letters, the corresponding braille letters, and their spoken names.     

THE EFFECTS OF BEHAVIORAL SKILLS TRAINING ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PICTURE EXCHANGE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

The effectiveness of a behavioral skills training (BST) package to teach the implementation of the first three phases of the picture exchange communication system (PECS) was evaluated with 3 adults who had no history teaching any functional communication system. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the training package, which consisted of a video, written and verbal instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. Results showed significant improvements relative to baseline in a short amount of training time and that skills generalized to a learner with a severe developmental disability. Skills were maintained at 1 month follow‐up for 1 participant.     

Conceptualizing and testing random indirect effects and moderated mediation in multilevel models: new procedures and recommendations

The authors propose new procedures for evaluating direct, indirect, and total effects in multilevel models when all relevant variables are measured at Level 1 and all effects are random. Formulas are provided for the mean and variance of the indirect and total effects and for the sampling variances of the average indirect and total effects. Simulations show that the estimates are unbiased under most conditions. Confidence intervals based on a normal approximation or a simulated sampling distribution perform well when the random effects are normally distributed but less so when they are nonnormally distributed. These methods are further developed to address hypotheses of moderated mediation in the multilevel context. An example demonstrates the feasibility and usefulness of the proposed methods.     

Effective leadership in salient groups: revisiting leader-member exchange theory from the perspective of the social identity theory of leadership

Two studies compared leader-member exchange (LMX) theory and the social identity theory of leadership. Study 1 surveyed 439 employees of organizations in Wales, measuring work group salience, leader-member relations, and perceived leadership effectiveness. Study 2 surveyed 128 members of organizations in India, measuring identification not salience and also individualism/collectivism. Both studies provided good support for social identity predictions. Depersonalized leader-member relations were associated with greater leadership effectiveness among high-than low-salient groups (Study 1) and among high than low identifiers (Study 2). Personalized leadership effectiveness was less affected by salience (Study 1) and unaffected by identification (Study 2). Low-salience groups preferred personalized leadership more than did high-salience groups (Study 1). Low identifiers showed no preference but high identifiers preferred depersonalized leadership (Study 2). In Study 2, collectivists did not prefer depersonalized as opposed to personalized leadership, whereas individualists did, probably because collectivists focus more on the relational self.