Linked lives: the intergenerational transmission of antisocial behavior

There is a strong assumption of intergenerational continuity in behavior patterns, including antisocial behavior. Using a 3-generation, prospective study design, we examine the level of behavioral continuity between Generation 2 (G2) and Generation 3 (G3), and the role of economic disadvantage and parenting behaviors as mediating links. We estimate separate models for G2 fathers and G2 mothers. Data are drawn from the Rochester Youth Development Study, a longitudinal study begun in 1988 during G2's early adolescence (n = 1,000), which has collected prospective data on G2, their parents (G1), and now their G3 children. Results show that intergenerational continuity in antisocial behavior is evident, albeit somewhat modest. Parenting styles and financial stress do play a mediating role, although their effects vary by G2's gender. In general, adolescent delinquency plays a larger role in linking the generations for G2 fathers, whereas parenting behaviors and financial stress play a larger role for G2 mothers.     

Social anxiety and interpersonal perception: a social relations model analysis

Cognitive models of social phobia posit that an individual's negative beliefs about the way he or she is perceived by others (metaperceptions) are a core feature of the disorder. The social relations model () was used to analyze interpersonal perception data collected following unstructured social interactions in 62 socially anxious (SA) and 62 not socially anxious (NSA) individuals. Using this model, the interpersonal perceptions were analyzed to evaluate whether pathological levels of social anxiety are associated with self-perceptions, metaperceptions, and perceptions from others. SA participants saw themselves negatively and believed others saw them negatively. Although seen as more nervous by others, SA participants were not seen as less likeable. A mediational model demonstrated that the negative metaperceptions of SA individuals were more a function of their own self-perceptions than the negative perceptions of others. These findings were not attributable to depressive symptoms. Implications for theory and treatment of social phobia are discussed.     

An Effectiveness Open Trial of Internet-Delivered Parent Training for Young Children With Conduct Problems Living in Regional and Rural Australia

There is accumulating evidence for the efficacy of online parent management training (PMT) programs to improve conduct problems in young children, and findings have been used to support the potential of online programs to close the research-to-practice gap in underserved rural settings. However, to date, no study has evaluated the effectiveness of online PMT under real-world conditions; that is, delivered by community practitioners as part of services-as-usual to families residing in rural communities. This has resulted in a critical lack of evidence supporting the capacity of online PMT to ameliorate actual geographical disparities in service accessibility. Accordingly, the current study evaluated effectiveness and engagement outcomes of Internet-delivered Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (I-PCIT) delivered from a community-based early childhood clinic to rural consumers. Participants were 27 mothers and their 1.5- to 4-year-old child with conduct problems (M age = 3.02, SD = 0.73) living in regional and rural New South Wales, Australia. Parent-rated and observed child conduct problems and observed parenting behaviors were assessed pre and post I-PCIT, and treatment attrition, parental satisfaction with treatment, and homework compliance provided indicators of treatment engagement. Results of linear mixed and marginal models indicated that I-PCIT produced significant improvements in parent-reported and observed child conduct problems and observed parenting behaviors, with “small” to “very large” effect sizes (ds = 0.3-1.4). Treatment retention was adequate (63%), and treatment-completing parents reported high treatment satisfaction and good homework compliance. Findings provide preliminary evidence for the real world effectiveness of I-PCIT, supporting its capacity to narrow the research-to-practice gap. Findings suggest a role for I-PCIT in a stepped care model of remote treatment for childhood conduct problems in Australia.     

The Role of Parent-Child Interaction in Community-Based Youth Relationship Education

This study sought to answer whether there is an association between parent-adolescent relationship processes and adolescents' awareness of unhealthy relationships. Adolescent awareness of unhealthy relationships was measured using a retrospective pre/post survey after participation in a relationship education (RE) program that has been adapted for use with youth. Supportiveness in the parent-child relationship was measured at pre-test. The sample consisted of 6984 adolescents aged 11–18. The sample was fairly representative of the areas from which it was drawn: 54% European American, 36% African American. Results revealed significant improvement in awareness of unhealthy relationships after program participation. Greater supportiveness predicted greater change in the outcome. This suggests that RE programs targeted at youth should specifically inform parents of goals so that they may be reinforced in parents' interactions with their adolescents.     

Pre- and Postintervention Factor Analysis of the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale

The effects of a bystander education intervention program on the factor structure underlying a rape myth acceptance scale were examined using exploratory factor analyses on secondary data. The Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale was administered to college students at a northwestern university both before (n = 363) and after (n = 352) receiving a bystander education program. Results from exploratory factor analyses showed changes in the factor structure from pretest to posttest. This suggests some instability in the factor structure of the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale. These pre–post intervention differences in the rape myth acceptance factor structure suggest researchers use caution in using and interpreting scores based on the IRMA without regard to participants’ prevention program status.     

The effect of providing choices on skill acquisition and competing behavior of children with autism during discrete trial instruction

Discrete trial instruction was carried out for three students with autism. An alternating treatments design was implemented. In one condition, teachers chose the reinforcers to be used and the order in which programs were conducted. In a second condition, students chose the order of programs and the reinforcers to be used. Speed of skill acquisition and the presence of competing behavior such as tantrums, aggression, escape attempts or idiosyncratic noncompliance responses were measured. Speed of skill acquisition did not differ between the two conditions, but competing behavior was markedly reduced during student choice conditions. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of differential training procedures on linked perceptual class formation

When the stimuli in one perceptual class (A') become related to the stimuli in another perceptual class (B'), the two are functioning as a single linked perceptual class. A common linked perceptual class would be the sounds of a person's voice (class A') and the pictures of that person (class B'). Such classes are ubiquitous in real world settings. We describe the effects of a variety of training procedures on the formation of these classes. The results could account for the development of naturally occurring linked perceptual classes. Two perceptual classes (A' and B') were formed in Experiment 1. The endpoints of the A' class were called anchor (Aa) and boundary (Ab) stimuli. Likewise, the anchor and boundary stimuli in the B' class were represented as Ba and Bb. In Experiment 2, the A' and B' classes were linked by the establishment of one of four cross-class conditional discriminations: Aa-->Ba, Aa-->Bb, Ab-->Ba, or Ab-->Bb. Results were greatest after Aa-->Bb training, intermediate after Aa-->Ba and Ab-->Ba training, and lowest after Ab-->Bb training. Class formation was influenced by the interaction of the anchor/boundary values and the sample/comparison functions of the stimuli used in training. Experiment 3 determined whether class formation was influenced by different sets of two cross-class conditional discriminations: Aa-->Ba and Ab-->Bb, or Aa-->Bb and Ab-->Ba. Both conditions produced equivalent results. Similarities were attributable to the use of anchor stimuli as samples and boundary stimuli as comparisons in each training condition. Finally, the results afterjoint Aa-->Ba and Ab-->Bb training were much greater than those produced by summing the results of Aa-->Ba training alone and Ab-->Bb training alone. This same synergy was not observed after joint Aa-->Bb and Ab-->Ba training or either alone.