Trait anxiety, defensiveness and selective processing of threat: an investigation using two measures of attentional bias

Attentional biases for threat were examined in a non-clinical sample (N=60), with each participant tested on both the modified Stroop colour-naming and dot probe tasks. Three groups were selected on the basis of trait anxiety and social desirability scale (SDS) scores: “low anxiety” (LA: low trait, low SDS), “repressor” (REP: low trait, high SDS) and “high anxiety” (HA: high trait, low SDS). Results from the colour-naming task suggested that high levels of defensiveness (in combination with low trait anxiety) were associated with greater avoidance of threat. The REP group showed less interference in colour-naming threat than neutral words; whereas the HA group showed increased interference due to threat words. On the dot probe task, there was a general tendency for this non-clinical sample as a whole to show avoidance of social threat relative to neutral words, but there was no bias for physical threat words. Avoidance of social threat was significant only within the REP group. No relationships were found between the measures of cognitive bias from the two tasks, suggesting different underlying mechanisms. Results are discussed in relation to previous findings and theoretical views of the effects of anxiety and defensiveness on the processing of threat.     

Social and individual determinants of infant attachment security and disorganization

The aim of this study was to assess individual and social antecedents of attachment security and attachment disorganization of infants as assessed by the Strange Situation. Observations from two longitudinal studies, with a parallel assessment schedule yielding a total sample of 88 infant-mother pairs, formed the database of the study. Newborn behavioral organization, in terms of orienting ability and regulation of state, and maternal sensitivity assessed several times during the infant's first year were used to predict the security of infant-mother attachment and the status of disorganization of attachment behavior strategies at the age of 12 months. Whereas attachment security was significantly associated only with maternal sensitivity, the status of disorganization was only predicted by newborn behavioral organization. The findings are discussed with respect to specific assumptions about individual and social contribution to the development of infant-mother attachment on the background of maternal attachment representation.     

Bullying as a group process: Participant roles and their relations to social status within the group

Bullying was investigated as a group process, a social phenomenon taking place in a school setting among 573 Finnish sixth-grade children (286 girls, 287 boys) aged 12–13 years. Different Participant Roles taken by individual children in the bullying process were examined and related to a) self-estimated behavior in bullying situations, b) social acceptance and social rejection, and c) belongingness to one of the five sociometric status groups (popular, rejected, neglected, controversial, and average). The Participant Roles assigned to the subject were Victim, Bully, Reinforcer of the bully, Assistant of the bully, Defender of the victim, and Outsider. There were significant sex differences in the distribution of Participant Roles. Boys were more frequently in the roles of Bully, Reinforcer and Assistant, while the most frequent roles of the girls were those of Defender and Outsider. The subjects were moderately well aware of their Participant Roles, although they underestimated their participation in active bullying behavior and emphasized that they acted as Defenders and Outsiders. The sociometric status of the children was found to be connected to their Participant Roles. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Does child verbal ability mediate the relationship between maternal sensitivity and later self‐regulation? A longitudinal study from infancy to 4 years

There is a need to further examine the mechanisms by which maternal sensitivity influences the development of child self‐regulation. This study investigated the role of maternal sensitivity when infants were 10 months old and child verbal ability at 18 months, in relation to various aspects of self‐regulation at 48 months, in a sample of 95 typically developing children (46.3% girls). In particular, the study examined, from a Vygotskian perspective, whether child verbal ability, as measured by receptive and expressive language, mediated the relationship between maternal sensitivity and hot and cool aspects of self‐regulation in the child. As hypothesized, maternal sensitivity predicted child verbal ability, as well as working memory, set shifting, and delay of gratification. Child receptive language predicted set shifting, inhibition, and delay of gratification. In addition, receptive language mediated the relationship between maternal sensitivity and inhibition only. Additive effects of maternal sensitivity and child receptive language in relation to set shifting were found, and a main effect of maternal sensitivity on child delay of gratification. The results add to the body of research suggesting that responsive parenting and child verbal ability are important for the development of self‐regulation, and suggest that different mechanisms may be at work for different aspects of self‐regulation.     

Rules? Role Model? Relationship? The Impact of Parents on Their Children’s Problematic Mobile Phone Involvement

Parents can influence their children’s problematic mobile phone involvement (PMPI) by engaging in parental mediation activities, such as restrictions or co-use, by being a role model, and by their general and domain-unspecific parenting style that facilitates more or less attachment security of the child. This study tested the associations between these different routes of influence—parental mediation of the mobile phone, parental PMPI, and secure child-parent attachment—with children’s PMPI. Data was acquired from a quota-sample survey with 500 children, between 8 and 14 years of age, and one of their parents. Results point to the importance of open and empathic parent-child-communication, as well as a positive relationship quality, and demonstrate the detrimental effects of parents’ own PMPI on children’s PMPI.     

Is There a Correlation Between Static and Dynamic Postural Balance Among Young Male and Female Dancers?

Aimed to investigate whether young male and female dancers have different patterns of association between static and dynamic postural balance (PB), 60 dancers from the Australian Ballet School (14–19 years old) were tested for static and dynamic PB with head and lumbar accelerometers. Monotonic relationships between static and dynamic PB were found in head movements among young female dancers in all three directions, but were found for young male dancers in the mediolateral (ML) and anteroposterior (AP) directions only. In lumbar movements, monotonic relationships were found for young female dancers in the AP direction only. Comparing head with lumbar movements in static PB, young male dancers demonstrated monotonic relationships between head and lumbar movements in all 3 directions; however, young female dancers demonstrated monotonic relationships in the AP direction only. In the dynamic measurements, both male and female dancers demonstrated monotonic relationships between head and lumbar movements for all parameters measured in the ML and vertical directions (p < .05). In conclusions, among female dancers static PB ability is correlated with their dynamic ability, whereas among male dancers, no relationship between the static and dynamic PB in the AP direction exists. Male dancers showed head and lumbar coordination in the static PB movement, but both genders manifested no head and lumbar coordination in the AP direction measured for dynamic PB.     

Mechanisms in Self-Determined Exercise Motivation: Effects of a Theory Informed Pilot Intervention

The purpose was to examine the effects of an exercise pilot intervention informed by Self-determination theory. The 64 participants were randomized into experimental and control group. The main questions were whether the intervention would influence (a) exercise level, (b) motivation quality, and (c) autonomy and competence need satisfaction. We also examined the indirect effects of self-determined motivation on exercise. Significant intervention effects were found regarding exercise level and motivation quality. Also, intervention effect on exercise was found to be mediated by motivation quality and identified regulation. The results provide interesting information about the underlying mechanisms involved in exercise behaviour change.     

Attention, spatial integration, and the tail of response time distributions in Stroop task performance

A few studies have examined selective attention in Stroop task performance through ex-Gaussian analyses of response time (RT) distributions. It has remained unclear whether the tail of the RT distribution in vocal responding reflects spatial integration of relevant and irrelevant attributes, as suggested by Spieler, Balota, and Faust (2000). Here, two colour-word Stroop experiments with vocal responding are reported in which the spatial relation between colour and word was manipulated. Participants named colours (e.g., green; say "green") while trying to ignore distractors that were incongruent or congruent words (e.g., red or green), or neutral series of Xs. The vocal RT was measured. Colour words in colour, white words superimposed onto colour rectangles (Experiment 1), and colour rectangles combined with auditory words (Experiment 2) yielded Stroop effects in both the leading edge and the tail of the RT distributions. These results indicate that spatial integration is not necessary for effects in the tail to occur in vocal responding. It is argued that the findings are compatible with an association of the tail effects with task conflict.