Parental Cognitive Errors Mediate Parental Psychopathology and Ratings of Child Inattention

We investigate the Depression‐Distortion Hypothesis in a sample of 199 school‐aged children with ADHD‐Predominantly Inattentive presentation (ADHD‐I) by examining relations and cross‐sectional mediational pathways between parental characteristics (i.e., levels of parental depressive and ADHD symptoms) and parental ratings of child problem behavior (inattention, sluggish cognitive tempo, and functional impairment) via parental cognitive errors. Results demonstrated a positive association between parental factors and parental ratings of inattention, as well as a mediational pathway between parental depressive and ADHD symptoms and parental ratings of inattention via parental cognitive errors. Specifically, higher levels of parental depressive and ADHD symptoms predicted higher levels of cognitive errors, which in turn predicted higher parental ratings of inattention. Findings provide evidence for core tenets of the Depression‐Distortion Hypothesis, which state that parents with high rates of psychopathology hold negative schemas for their child's behavior and subsequently, report their child's behavior as more severe.     

Outcome summaries of latency‐based functional analyses conducted in hospital inpatient units

Latency‐based functional analysis (FA) may be a viable alternative to the standard, rate‐based, FA when frequently evoking problem behavior is not advisable. We conducted 18 latency‐based FAs of the problem behavior of children diagnosed with autism in inpatient hospital settings and identified functional relations during 44.4% (8 of 18) of latency‐based FAs. Implications for conducting FAs of severe problem behavior are discussed.     

Violent Attitudes and Antisocial Behavior: Examining the Code of the Street’s Generalizability among a College Sample

Drawing on Elijah Anderson’s (1999) Code of the Street thesis, this study assesses the generalizability of street code attitudes. Using a sample of college students from a large Midwest university, the current study contributes to the literature by examining: (1) the generalizability of street code attitudes; (2) the correlates of street code attitudes, including various forms of strain; and (3) the predictive power of street code attitudes on criminal and non-criminal behavior. Our results reveal that street code attitudes are generalizable to college students, strain constructs are important correlates of street code attitudes, and street code attitudes are associated with criminal behavior. However, the effect of street code attitudes on criminal behavior becomes non-significant once measures of strain are included. Further, street code attitudes do not predict non-criminal behavior.     

Categorical Perception Beyond the Basic Level: The Case of Warm and Cool Colors

Categories can affect our perception of the world, rendering between‐category differences more salient than within‐category ones. Across many studies, such categorical perception (CP) has been observed for the basic‐level categories of one's native language. Other research points to categorical distinctions beyond the basic level, but it does not demonstrate CP for such distinctions. Here we provide such a demonstration. Specifically, we show CP in English speakers for the non‐basic distinction between “warm” and “cool” colors, claimed to represent the earliest stage of color lexicon evolution. Notably, the advantage for discriminating colors that straddle the warm–cool boundary was restricted to the right visual field—the same behavioral signature previously observed for basic‐level categories. This pattern held in a replication experiment with increased power. Our findings show that categorical distinctions beyond the basic‐level repertoire of one's native language are psychologically salient and may be spontaneously accessed during normal perceptual processing.     

Usability of a Smartphone Application to Support the Prevention and Early Intervention of Anxiety in Youth

Mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders are common in youth with anxiety problems being among the most prevalent, typically failing to spontaneously remit, and placing some youth at risk for additional difficulties. Mobile health (mHealth) might be a novel avenue to strengthen prevention efforts for child anxiety, since program effects are generally small. However, although a significant number of mHealth tools have been developed, few have been evaluated in terms of usability (or even clinical effectiveness). Usability testing is the first level of evaluation in responsible mHealth efforts as it is one of the main barriers to usage and adoption. As such, the objective of this research was to evaluate the usability of a smartphone application (app) corresponding to an indicated prevention and early intervention targeting youth anxiety. To accomplish this, 132 children (M_age = 9.65, 63% girls) and 45 service providers (M_age = 29.13, 87% female) rated our app along five established dimensions of usability (ease of use, ease of learning, quality of support information, satisfaction, and stigma). Findings showed that the app was highly and positively rated by youth and providers, with some variations (lower ratings when errors occurred). Path analyses also showed that system understanding was significantly related to greater system satisfaction, but that such relation occurred through the quality of support information offered by the app. Together, this has research and clinical implications as it highlights avenues for advancing youth care via mHealth usability evaluation, including prior to establishing effectiveness.     

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in College Students: A Review of the Literature

The current review presents a theory-guided review of the existing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) interventions for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in college students. Across the eight studies that investigated this topic, moderate reductions were shown in inattentive symptoms but little to no change was reported in hyperactive/impulsive symptoms. Results indicated a moderate treatment effect on self-reported quality of life and school/work functioning, yet less of an impact on GPA, response inhibition, social functioning, and executive functioning. Methodological and statistical problems and inconsistencies were noted. Since college students are emerging adults, it is likely that the optimum CBT intervention for college students with ADHD lies somewhere in between the existing clinic-based adult ADHD CBT interventions as well as the school-based adolescent ADHD psychosocial interventions. Directions for future research and recommendations for clinicians in university settings are provided in an attempt to further develop the existing college students CBT clinical research evidence base.     

A time-lagged investigation of the mediating role of person–organization fit in the relationship between leader–member exchange and employee affective organizational commitment

This study provides a new perspective on the relationship between LMX and affective organizational commitment, treating person-organization fit (P-O fit) as an explanatory mechanism and identifying co-worker support and customer recognition as moderators of the first stage of this indirect relationship. Results of a three-wave time-lagged study of survey responses obtained from 137 employees working in the retail service sector over a three-year period were consistent with the proposed model. Multiple regression and moderated mediation analyses revealed that LMX indirectly and positively predicted affective organizational commitment through its positive relationship with P–O fit, suggesting that LMX provides a means by which supervisors are able to instill organizational values in employees and/or signal the degree to which their values match those of the organization. Moreover, co-worker support and customer recognition each moderated the first stage of this indirect relationship, such that the relationship between LMX and P–O fit and, in turn, its indirect relationship with affective organizational commitment is stronger as support from co-workers or customer recognition is lacking. At high levels of co-worker support and customer recognition, LMX exhibits no significant relationship with P–O fit. Together, these results provide new explanations for how and under which conditions LMX might influence employee commitment, suggesting that LMX is particularly salient when employees are lacking other sources of relational support or recognition and that high-quality relations with co-workers and/or customers may serve to compensate for low LMX quality in shaping P–O fit and affective organizational commitment.     

Positive parenting predicts cortisol functioning six years later in young adults

Research which indicates that adverse experiences influence hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) axis functioning illustrates the social environment ‘getting under the skin’. The present study extended this literature by examining whether positive social forces within the caregiving environment can also impact cortisol functioning. We conducted a prospective investigation of over 300 youth, half of whom were White and half were Black. Attachment, bonding and parental rewards for positive behaviors were observed or reported by the youth as an 8th grader. Twelve repeated measures of salivary cortisol were examined six years later when youth were young adults (mean age 20). Race differences were explored. Stronger attachment, bonding and teen‐reported positive parenting were predictive of high waking cortisol and steeper diurnal slopes six years later. This effect was nonlinear and additive, such that youth whose social contexts were characterized by the strongest attachment, bonding and rewarding parental relationships had the highest waking cortisol. When effects were moderated by race, findings were such that links of positive parenting with HPA functioning were more consistent for White than Black youth. Findings suggest that positive aspects of the caregiving environment can also ‘get under the skin’ and these effects are additive across a range of caregiving indices. These findings dovetail with an emerging literature on the powerful role of social support for shaping the body's stress response system and are interpreted as consistent with the Adaptive Calibration Model which suggests that cortisol regulation can have adaptive significance. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/8evHXpt_TXM .     

Building Links Between Early Socioeconomic Status,Cognitive Ability,and Math and Science Achievement

The present study examined whether and how socioeconomic status (SES) predicts school achievement in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) using structural equation modeling and data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Child Care and Youth Development. The present inquiry addresses gaps in previous research linking SES and STEM achievement in high school. Results indicate that maternal education predicts the child’s early environment, which itself predicts the development of executive function (EF) and language, and thereby, STEM achievement. Moreover, children’s language ability and EF development influenced higher-order cognitive skills, such as relational reasoning, planning, and basic calculation skills. However, only relational reasoning strongly predicted high school math and science achievement, suggesting that relational reasoning, but not planning and calculation skills, was central to STEM thinking and learning.