The role of treatment expectancy in youth receiving exposure-based CBT for obsessive compulsive disorder

The purpose of this investigation was to examine correlates of parent, child, and therapist treatment expectations and their role in the exposure-based treatment of childhood obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Treatment expectations were assessed among 49 youth with primary OCD, their parents, and therapists as part of the baseline evaluation and post-treatment clinical outcomes were determined by blind evaluators. Baseline depressive symptoms, child/parent-rated functional impairment, externalizing behavior problems, number of comorbid psychiatric disorders, and a lower perception of control were associated with lower pre-treatment expectations. Parent expectation was associated with parental OCD symptoms, child depressive symptoms and child-reported impairment. Therapist expectations inversely correlated with child depressive symptoms, externalizing problems, and child-rated impairment. Pre-treatment OCD severity and prior treatment history were not linked to expectancy. Finally, higher treatment expectations were linked to better treatment response, lower attrition, better homework compliance, and reduced impairment.     

Co-rumination predicts the onset of depressive disorders during adolescence

The tendency to co-ruminate, or frequently discuss and rehash problems with peers, may serve as one mechanism in the dramatic rise in depression observed during adolescence, particularly among adolescent girls. In the current study, our goal was (a) to test the hypothesis that adolescents' levels of co-rumination would predict the onset of clinically significant depressive episodes over a 2-year follow-up and (b) to determine whether levels of co-rumination would mediate gender differences in risk for depression onset. Both hypotheses were supported. Results of survival analysis revealed that adolescents with higher levels of co-rumination at the initial assessments exhibited a significantly shorter time to depression onset. Levels of co-rumination also mediated the gender difference in time to depression onset. These results were maintained even when adolescents' baseline levels of depressive symptoms and rumination were covaried statistically. Finally, co-rumination also predicted the course of illness in terms of episode severity and duration. Results suggest that co-rumination contributes a unique risk for the development of depression in adolescents.     

Behavior Problems at 5 Years of Age and Maternal Mental Health in Autism and Intellectual Disability

We examined child behavior problems and maternal mental health in a British population-representative sample of 5 year-old children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), controlling for the presence of an intellectual disability (ID). Behavior problems were significantly higher in children with ASD with/out ID compared to typically developing children, but compared to children with ID only hyperactivity was significantly higher in children with ASD/ID. After controlling for ID and maternal mental health, the presence of ASD significantly increased the odds for hyperactivity, conduct problems and emotional symptoms. Negative maternal outcomes (serious mental illness, psychological distress, and physical health limitations) were not consistently elevated in ASD. The findings highlight the early age at which behavior problems emerge in ASD, and suggest that at this age , there may not be a clear disadvantage for maternal mental health associated with having a child with ASD in the family, over and above that conferred by child behavior problems.     

Mentoring Relationship Quality and Maltreated Children's Coping

Coping strategies are believed to protect against the harmful effects of maltreatment on children's psychosocial outcomes. Caregivers are thought to be critical in helping children develop adaptive coping strategies, yet many maltreated children have poor and/or insecure relationships with their parents. A quality relationship with a caring, non‐parental adult (e.g., a mentor), however, may be one strategy to promote healthy coping among maltreated children. Children (N = 154) in this study participated in a mentoring and skill‐based program for maltreated preadolescents placed in foster care. Hierarchical regression was used to assess the association between children's reports of their relationship with their mentor at the end of the intervention and four coping strategies (i.e., Active, Support‐seeking, Avoidance, and Distraction) 6 months following the intervention, while accounting for baseline coping strategies and other demographic factors. Above and beyond the covariates, better mentoring relationship quality was associated with children's greater use of Active and Distraction coping 6‐month post‐intervention. Mentoring relationship quality was not significantly associated with children's Avoidance or Support‐seeking coping. The findings suggest that mentoring programs may be a fruitful approach to improving vulnerable children's coping skills. Healthy coping is hypothesized to protect against the harmful effects of maltreatment and to promote resilience in the face of multiple stressors (Banyard & Williams, 2007 ; Boxer & Sloan‐Power, 2013; Cicchetti & Rogosch, 2009). It remains unclear, however, how best to promote positive coping among maltreated children, who are disproportionately exposed to numerous adverse childhood experiences (Raviv, Taussig, Culhane & Garrido, 2010). Theories of coping emphasize the importance of coping socialization through quality parent–child relationships (Kliewer et al., 2006; Skinner & Wellborn, 1994 ). Unfortunately, many maltreated children are exposed to poor quality and/or inadequate caregiving (Baer & Martinez, 2006), which may place them at risk for engaging in unhealthy or inappropriate forms of coping. It is reasonable to expect that positive relationships with other non‐parental adults (e.g., mentors) would affect coping behaviors given the positive impact that quality relationships have on a myriad of emotional and behavioral child outcomes (DuBois, Portillo, Rhodes, Silverthorn & Valentine, 2011; Keller & Pryce, 2012; Thomson & Zand, 2010 ). Because children in foster care often transition in and out of schools and home environments, a quality relationship with a mentor (a consistent presence in the child's life) may be well suited to promote healthy coping strategies.     

The Panel Study on American Religion and Ethnicity: Background, Methods, and Selected Results

Surveying 2,610 respondents, the Panel Study of American Religion and Ethnicity is a nationally representative in-home survey of the noninstitutionalized U.S. adult population. The survey is designed to (a) focus primarily on religion and spirituality (with over 200 questions on these topics), (b) include multiple other modules (such as health, family relationships, and social ties), (c) oversample African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics, and (d) follow the same respondents over time. We describe the main design features of the survey, present some characteristics of the sample, and provide basic findings. It is our hope that these data will foster more research and contribute to a better understanding of the role and meaning of religion in the contemporary United States .     

Using Behavioral Parent Training to Treat Disruptive Behavior Disorders in Young Children: A How-to Approach Using Video Clips

This article describes the application of a behavioral parent training program, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), in the treatment of behavior disorders in young children. PCIT is unique in that it works with both the child and parent in treatment and it focuses on improving the parent-child relationship as a means to improving parent and child behaviors and interactions with each other. A case illustration is provided and video components are included to highlight the procedures and concepts used in PCIT.     

Liar, liar: internet faking but not frequency of use affects social skills, self-esteem, social anxiety, and aggression.

Misuse of the Internet can affect various aspects of children's social lives. It was predicted that children who misrepresent themselves on the Internet would have less well-developed social skills, lower levels of self-esteem, and higher levels of social anxiety and aggression. The frequency of Internet use was also assessed. Students aged 11-16 years were recruited for the study from classes after obtaining consent. Questionnaires included a query of Internet behaviors, the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters Appropriate Social Skills and Inappropriate Assertiveness subscales, Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, and the Social Anxiety Scale for Children-Revised. It was found that children who reported the most faking behavior on the Internet (e.g., pretending to be older) had poorer social skills, lower levels of self-esteem, higher levels of social anxiety, and higher levels of aggression. Frequency of use, however, did not affect these factors in the current study.     

Interracial contact and racial constancy: A multi-site study of racial intergroup bias in 3–5 year old Anglo-British children

This paper examined the influence of interracial contact and racial constancy on the racial intergroup bias of young Anglo-British children. This multi-site study was conducted in areas of Great Britain that varied in terms of racial diversity. The study also investigated whether preschool children express bias on positive, but not negative, valence attributions. Anglo-British children (N = 136) between 3 and 5 years of age with different levels of interracial contact undertook a racial stereotype attribution measure and three tasks to assess racial constancy. Significantly more racial bias was shown towards the African Caribbean-British compared to the Asian-British or Oriental-British racial out-groups. As predicted, only children in racially mixed areas failed to show discrimination in favor of the white in-group on both the positive and negative trait attributions. In addition, higher racial constancy was related significantly to greater racial intergroup bias. These findings suggest that racial intergroup bias amongst 3–5 year old children may be reduced through the promotion of interracial contact, because at this age children are already beginning to develop racial constancy.     

Age-related differences in emotion matching are limited to low intensity expressions

Multi-label tasks confound age differences in perceptual and cognitive processes. We examined age differences in emotion perception with a technique that did not require verbal labels. Participants matched the emotion expressed by a target to two comparison stimuli, one neutral and one emotional. Angry, disgusted, fearful, happy, and sad facial expressions of varying intensity were used. Although older adults took longer to respond than younger adults, younger adults only outmatched older adults for the lowest intensity disgust and fear expressions. Some participants also completed an identity matching task in which target stimuli were matched on personal identity instead of emotion. Although irrelevant to the judgment, expressed emotion still created interference. All participants were less accurate when the apparent difference in expressive intensity of the matched stimuli was large, suggesting that salient emotion cues increased difficulty of identity matching. Age differences in emotion perception were limited to very low intensity expressions.