Family Ritual and Routine: Comparison of Clinical and Non-Clinical Families

Research demonstrates that the constructive use of family rituals is reliably linked to family health and to psychosocial adjustment. This study explores the relationship between family rituals and child well-being. Two samples participated: 21 families whose adolescent was receiving psychiatric treatment and 21 families in which the adolescent was a public school student. A parent and the adolescent were individually interviewed regarding family rituals and completed standardized measures of adolescent and family functioning. Analyses demonstrated that, in addition to significant sample differences in the expected direction on measures of functioning, the non-clinical families scored significantly higher on the index of family rituality than did the treatment families; this is additional evidence that family rituals are a correlate of child well-being. Further analysis of the data pointed to “people resources” as a robust dimension in its association to adolescent functioning. The role family ritual and routine plays in defining family relationships, both within the nuclear family and with other important adults, was significantly related to clinical status. This work may point to an important, yet overlooked, dimension of family ritual life, the relational qualities of rituals and routines.     

Memory for melody: infants use a relative pitch code

Pitch perception is fundamental to melody in music and prosody in speech. Unlike many animals, the vast majority of human adults store melodic information primarily in terms of relative not absolute pitch, and readily recognize a melody whether rendered in a high or a low pitch range. We show that at 6 months infants are also primarily relative pitch processors. Infants familiarized with a melody for 7 days preferred, on the eighth day, to listen to a novel melody in comparison to the familiarized one, regardless of whether the melodies at test were presented at the same pitch as during familiarization or transposed up or down by a perfect fifth (7/12th of an octave) or a tritone (1/2 octave). On the other hand, infants showed no preference for a transposed over original-pitch version of the familiarized melody, indicating that either they did not remember the absolute pitch, or it was not as salient to them as the relative pitch.     

Relations among musical skills,phonological processing,and early reading ability in preschool children

We examined the relations among phonological awareness, music perception skills, and early reading skills in a population of 100 4- and 5-year-old children. Music skills were found to correlate significantly with both phonological awareness and reading development. Regression analyses indicated that music perception skills contributed unique variance in predicting reading ability, even when variance due to phonological awareness and other cognitive abilities (math, digit span, and vocabulary) had been accounted for. Thus, music perception appears to tap auditory mechanisms related to reading that only partially overlap with those related to phonological awareness, suggesting that both linguistic and nonlinguistic general auditory mechanisms are involved in reading.     

A taxometric analysis of the MMPI-2 Depression scales

The MMPI (Hathaway & McKinley, 1943) and MMPI-2 (Butcher et al., 2001) have long been used as measures of psychopathology. Both clinicians and researchers have noted the widespread existence of negative affectivity on the MMPI and MMPI-2 that may elevate scale scores and eclipse the tests' ability to differentiate depression from other clinical disorders. Using taxometric analyses, in this study we sought to test directly whether the MMPI-2 depression scales could differentiate patients with depressive symptoms from patients with other disorders. A large psychiatric sample (N = 2,000) was utilized and analyses were run separately for men and women. Taxometric analyses did not find a MMPI-2 Depression scale cut point that categorizes patients with depressive symptoms from other patients. Rather, these findings support previous studies finding an underlying dimensionality of depression. We discuss implications for MMPI-2 scale use and depression nosology in light of these findings.     

Infants track word forms in early word–object associations

A central component of language development is word learning. One characterization of this process is that language learners discover objects and then look for word forms to associate with these objects (Mcnamara, 1984 ; Smith, 2000 ). Another possibility is that word forms themselves are also important, such that once learned, hearing a familiar word form will lead young word learners to look for an object to associate with it (Juscyzk, 1997 ). This research investigates the relative weighing of word forms and objects in early word–object associations using the anticipatory eye‐movement paradigm (AEM; McMurray & Aslin, 2004 ). Eighteen‐month‐old infants and adults were taught novel word–object associations and then tested on ambiguous stimuli that pitted word forms and objects against each other. Results revealed a change in weighing of these components across development. For 18‐month‐old infants, word forms weighed more in early word–object associative learning, while for adults, objects were more salient. Our results suggest that infants preferentially use word forms to guide the process of word–object association.     

The Value of Integration: Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Meets Ego Psychology in a Psychotherapy Group for Children

ABSTRACT

Psychotherapy integration requires us to look beyond the confines of a particular theoretical or technical approach towards other perspectives. Integrative work with children, in particular, meets the socio-emotional needs of the child while simultaneously modeling behaviors and skills. This paper presents an explicitly integrative approach to child group psychotherapy: Relationships. Individuals. Skills. Engagement (RISE) Group. We begin with an in-depth discussion of the RISE group structure illustrated by clinical examples (the “what”) followed by a review of the theory and treatment modalities that inform the approach (the “why” and “how”). The RISE group is grounded in two theoretical perspectives (psychoanalytic principles and ego psychology) and draws upon clinical techniques from multiple treatment modalities (including cognitive behavior therapy, psychodynamic play therapy and dialectical behavior therapy). Combined, the merger of these perspectives results in a multilevel intervention that forges pathways to mastery and competence within the child. Finally, we discuss the value and limitations of integration as applied to group psychotherapy for children.     

Renegotiating Identity: A Phenomenological Investigation of the College Transition for Former High School Athletes No Longer Engaged in Varsity Competition

A breadth of research has examined the influence of athletic identity on college student-athlete experiences (e.g., Harrison et al., 2011; Lally & Kerr, 2005). In addition, scholars have investigated role transition among college student-athletes at the end of their eligibility (e.g., Taylor & Ogilvie, 2001; Wylleman & Lavallee, 2004). However, despite that 97% of high school athletes will not participate collegiately (National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2016), little attention has been paid to identity renegotiation among college students who discontinued sport participation after high school. The present study was designed to fill this gap by addressing the impact of sport disengagement on former high school athletes no longer engaged in varsity competition during the first year of college. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 university freshmen at three time points: the end of the first month, the end of the first semester, and the end of the first year. Commonalities among participants’ transition experiences were identified. Findings yielded three major themes, role transition, identity renegotiation, and reflection and projection, each being facilitated by the building of camaraderie. Findings deepen current understanding of role transition and identity renegotiation and offer directions for future research related to sense of self during the college transition.     

Attributions About Achievement and Intentions About Further Study in Social Context

This project examined sources and consequences of attributions for achievement for boys and girls at co-ed (N = 663) and single-sex schools (N = 697). Overall attributions emphasised long and short term effort, over other personal (ability, liking) and social reasons (parents, teachers) or feeling good or bad on the day. Attributions were substantially similar for girls and boys, with particular variations in attributions to effort and ability at co-ed and not single-sex schools. Results suggested an illusory glow for boys more than girls in attributions to ability and effort for doing well in Mathematics and English, and traditional gender stereotyping in attributions to poor ability for not doing well in Mathematics. Results showed weak associations between attributions about effort and ability with intentions for Mathematics and English courses in senior high school. Findings suggest further research about personal and social sources of attributions in co-ed schools, and question the practical significance of attributions for achievement motivation.     

Beneficial effects of a music listening intervention on neural speech processing in 0–28-month-old children at risk for dyslexia

Familial risk for developmental dyslexia can compromise auditory and speech processing and subsequent language and literacy development. According to the phonological deficit theory, supporting phonological development during the sensitive infancy period could prevent or ameliorate future dyslexic symptoms. Music is an established method for supporting auditory and speech processing and even language and literacy, but no previous studies have investigated its benefits for infants at risk for developmental language and reading disorders. We pseudo-randomized N∼150 infants at risk for dyslexia to vocal or instrumental music listening interventions at 0–6 months, or to a no-intervention control group. Music listening was used as an easy-to-administer, cost-effective intervention in early infancy. Mismatch responses (MMRs) elicited by speech-sound changes were recorded with electroencephalogram (EEG) before (at birth) and after (at 6 months) the intervention and at a 28 months follow-up. We expected particularly the vocal intervention to promote phonological development, evidenced by enhanced speech-sound MMRs and their fast maturation. We found enhanced positive MMR amplitudes in the vocal music listening intervention group after but not prior to the intervention. Other music activities reported by parents did not differ between the three groups, indicating that the group effects were attributable to the intervention. The results speak for the use of vocal music in early infancy to support speech processing and subsequent language development in infants at developmental risk.

Research Highlights

• Dyslexia-risk infants were pseudo-randomly assigned to a vocal or instrumental music listening intervention at home from birth to 6 months of age.
• Neural mismatch responses (MMRs) to speech-sound changes were enhanced in the vocal music intervention group after but not prior to the intervention.
• Even passive vocal music listening in early infancy can support phonological development known to be deficient in dyslexia-risk.