Validity of the Sluggish Cognitive Tempo Symptom Dimension in Children: Sluggish Cognitive Tempo and ADHD-Inattention as Distinct Symptom Dimensions

This study examined the validity of the sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) symptom dimension in children. Ten symptom domains were used to define SCT (i.e., (1) daydreams; (2) attention fluctuates; (3) absent-minded; (4) loses train of thought; (5) easily confused; (6) seems drowsy; (7) thinking is slow; (8) slow-moving; (9) low initiative; and (10) easily bored, needs stimulation). Teacher ratings of 366 children (ages 5 to 13 with 56 % girls) along with parent ratings of 703 children (ages 5 to 13 with 55 % girls) indicated that SCT symptom domains one to eight showed convergent validity (i.e., substantial loadings on the SCT factor) and discriminant validity with the ADHD-IN dimension (i.e., higher loadings on the SCT factor than the ADHD-IN factor). Higher scores on this eight-symptom measure of SCT predicted lower levels of academic and social competence even after controlling for ADHD-IN and ADHD-HI. In addition, higher SCT scores still predicted higher anxiety/depression scores after controlling for ADHD-IN and ADHD-HI. Higher SCT scores also predicted lower ADHD-HI scores after controlling for ADHD-IN and anxiety/depression while higher ADHD-IN and anxiety/depression scores predicted higher ADHD-HI scores after controlling for SCT and anxiety/depression or ADHD-IN. SCT also showed a unique negative relationship with ODD while ADHD-IN and anxiety/depression showed unique positive relationships with ODD. This new measure of the SCT dimension was meaningfully independent from the ADHD-IN and anxiety/depression dimensions and suggests that such an SCT dimension may signify a distinct presentation of ADHD or a different (if highly comorbid) disorder altogether.     

Parents of children with Down Syndrome: Do resilience and social support matter to their experience of carer stress?

The study investigated personal resilience influences on the relationship between social support and parenting-stress among parents of children with Down syndrome (DS) in a Nigerian sample. One hundred and ninety three parent-carers of children with DS participated in the study (mothers?=?59%; mean age?=?46.47, age range?=?21 to 67, SD?=?10.42). The parent-carers responded to the measures of parenting-stress, perceived social support, and resilience. The result of the moderated multiple linear regression showed that parents with high social support and resilience have lower level of parenting-stress. Higher personal resilience significantly moderated the relationship between social support and parenting-stress so that parent-carers with low level of social support and higher personal resilience had lower level of parenting-stress. Resilience and social support oriented therapy appears to have efficacy for helping parent-carers of children with DS to manage their stress arising from raising such children.     

Assessing the Validity of Data Synthesis Methods to Estimate Religious Populations

The present study tests the validity of a data synthesis approach to population estimates of religiously defined groups. This is particularly important in places like the United States, where there is no definitive source of official data on its population's religious composition, and researchers must rely on costly, large‐scale surveys, or congregational membership studies. Each approach has limitations, especially for estimation of small religious groups and for estimation within small geographic areas. Without official statistics, the degree of bias in estimates is unknown. Data synthesis, specifically Bayesian multilevel estimation with poststratification, offers a useful alternative that maximizes the utility of data across all sources to estimate multiple groups from the same sources of data. This method also facilitates comparison of groups. This study provides evidence of the validity of the approach by synthesizing data from Canada, a country that includes questions about religious identification in its national census.     

Gender Differences in Escapist Uses of Sexually Explicit Internet Material: Results from a German Probability Sample

The intensity of using sexually explicit internet material (SEIM) is contingent on users’ gender. However, gender differences in the motivations for watching SEIM have not yet been comprehensively explored. Drawing on a representative survey of German internet users, we therefore analyze how women and men use SEIM to satisfy escapist needs. Lower life satisfaction, the lack of a committed relationship, and feelings of loneliness contribute to predicting the frequency of using SEIM among men. Loneliness likewise fosters the consumption of SEIM among women, yet the effect is less pronounced. For female internet users, consumption of SEIM even increases in committed relationships and rather indicates a comparably high level of life satisfaction than dissatisfaction with life circumstances. Gender hence substantially moderates the connection between need structures and the consumption of SEIM.     

Multisource Network and Latent Variable Models of Sluggish Cognitive Tempo,ADHD-Inattentive,and Depressive Symptoms with Spanish Children: Equivalent Findings and Recommendations

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Multisource network and latent variable models were used to examine the construct validity of sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) symptoms relative to...     

Impact of fathers' alcoholism and associated risk factors on parent–infant attachment stability from 12 to 18 months

This study examined short‐term attachment stability and sought to identify predictors of stability and change within a sample characterized by fathers' alcoholism. Results suggest moderate stability of attachment classifications (60% for mothers, 53% for fathers) from 12 to 18 months. Higher paternal and maternal alcohol symptoms, maternal depression, and maternal antisocial behavior were found in families with stable insecure mother–infant attachment compared to those who were stable secure. Mother–infant stable insecurity was associated with higher levels of maternal negative affect expression during play. Father–infant stable insecurity was associated with lower levels of paternal positive affect expression and decreased sensitivity during play. Stable insecure children also had higher levels of negative affect during parent–infant interactions and higher negative emotionality during other episodes compared to stable secure children. Results indicate that infants who were insecure at both time points had the highest constellation of family risk characteristics.     

Using logistic regression to estimate delay-discounting functions.

The monetary choice questionnaire (MCQ) and similar computer tasks ask preference questions in order to ascertain indifference, the perceived equivalence of immediate versus larger delayed rewards. Indifference data are then fitted with a hyperbolic function, summarizing the decline in perceived value with delay time. We present a fitting method that estimates the hyperbolic parameter k directly from survey responses. Binary preferences are modeled as a function of time (X2) and a transformed reward ratio (X1), yielding logistic regression coefficients beta 2 and beta 1. The hyperbolic parameter emerges as k = beta 2/beta 1, where the logistic predicted p = .5 (the definition of indifference). The MCQ was administered to 1,073 adolescents and was scored using both standard and logistic methods. The means for In(k) were similar (standard, -4.53; logistic, -4.51), and the results were highly correlated (rho = .973). Simulated MCQ data showed that k was unbiased, except where beta 1 > or = -1, indicating a vague survey response. Jackknife standard errors provided excellent coverage.     

Verbal memory abilities of children with brain tumors.

Several critical neuroanatomical structures and pathways for memory performance are located in the third ventricle region. This led us to predict that verbal memory abilities would be more impaired in children treated for third ventricle tumors compared to those treated for cerebellar tumors. Archival data was obtained from 24 pediatric patients with third ventricle region tumors and 18 pediatric patients with cerebellar tumors. Neuroradiological verifications of tumor involvement and hydrocephalus severity (i.e., Evans Index) on preoperative scans and MRIs proximal to the time of the neuropsychological evaluation were conducted. The potential confounds of hydrocephalus severity, seizure medication, age, radiation treatment, and chemotherapy were addressed. Verbal IQ was comparable between tumor groups and in the Average range. The third ventricle region group performed significantly worse on list learning and delayed list recall compared to the cerebellar group. Their mean performance was in the clinically impaired range on both trials. The third ventricle region tumor group performed better than the cerebellar tumor group on Digit Span, a basic repetition, attention span task. These findings support the hypothesis that pediatric patients with third ventricle region brain tumors are more likely to be impaired on verbal recall tasks compared to pediatric patients with cerebellar brain tumors. In contrast, patients who were treated for cerebellar tumors were more impaired on the basic repetition, attention span task compared to patients who were treated for third ventricle tumors. Future studies should examine the specific neuroanatomical structures and pathways that are damaged and may influence differential cognitive impairments in children.     

Merleau‐Ponty and Nagarjuna: relational social ontology and the ground of ethics

Through a comparative analysis of the key ontological notions in Merleau‐Ponty and Nagarjuna, I develop a relational social ontology that is grounded in their respective implicit and explicit ethics. Both thinkers take heed of our being‐in‐the‐world; this is evident in their views on intersubjective sociality and language. Recognizing the limitations in these views points us toward a greater understanding of the meaningfulness of our situated existences. In this vein, I propose a number of ideas to guide the work of comparative philosophy.     

Electrophysiological correlates of rapid auditory and linguistic processing in adolescents with specific language impairment

Brief tonal stimuli and spoken sentences were utilized to examine whether adolescents (aged 14;3-18;1) with specific language impairments (SLI) exhibit atypical neural activity for rapid auditory processing of non-linguistic stimuli and linguistic processing of verb-agreement and semantic constraints. Further, we examined whether the behavioral and electrophysiological indices for rapid auditory processing were correlated with those for linguistic processing. Fifteen adolescents with SLI and 15 adolescents with normal language met strict criteria for displaying consistent diagnoses from kindergarten through the eighth grade. The findings provide evidence that auditory processing for non-linguistic stimuli is atypical in a significant number of adolescents with SLI compared to peers with normal language and indicate that reduced efficiency in auditory processing in SLI is more vulnerable to rapid rates (200ms ISI) of stimuli presentation (indexed by reduced accuracy, a tendency for longer RTs, reduced N100 over right anterior sites, and reduced amplitude P300). Many adolescents with SLI displayed reduced behavioral accuracy for detecting verb-agreement violations and semantic anomalies, along with less robust P600s elicited by verb-agreement violations. The results indicate that ERPs elicited by morphosyntactic aspects of language processing are atypical in many adolescents with SLI. Additionally, correlational analyses between behavioral and electrophysiological indices of processing non-linguistic stimuli and verb-agreement violations suggest that the integrity of neural functions for auditory processing may only account for a small proportion of the variance in morphosyntactic processing in some adolescents.