Parental Emotion Coaching: Associations With Self-Regulation in Aggressive/Rejected and Low Aggressive/Popular Children

This study investigated associations between maternal and paternal emotion coaching and the self-regulation skills of kindergarten and first-grade children. Participants were 54 children categorized as either aggressive/rejected or low aggressive/popular by peer reports. Findings indicated a statistical trend for fathers of low aggressive/popular children to engage in more emotion coaching than fathers of aggressive/rejected children. Paternal emotion coaching accounted for significant variance in children's regulation of attention. Maternal emotion coaching moderated the relation between children's status and regulation of emotion. Findings suggest that interventions focused on parental emotion coaching may prove beneficial for increasing the self-regulation and attention skills of children with social and conduct problems.     

Integrated Behavior Therapy for Selective Mutism: A randomized controlled pilot study

Objective

To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a novel behavioral intervention for reducing symptoms of selective mutism and increasing functional speech.

Method

A total of 21 children ages 4 to 8 with primary selective mutism were randomized to 24 weeks of Integrated Behavior Therapy for Selective Mutism (IBTSM) or a 12-week Waitlist control. Clinical outcomes were assessed using blind independent evaluators, parent-, and teacher-report, and an objective behavioral measure. Treatment recipients completed a three-month follow-up to assess durability of treatment gains.

Results

Data indicated increased functional speaking behavior post-treatment as rated by parents and teachers, with a high rate of treatment responders as rated by blind independent evaluators (75%). Conversely, children in the Waitlist comparison group did not experience significant improvements in speaking behaviors. Children who received IBTSM also demonstrated significant improvements in number of words spoken at school compared to baseline, however, significant group differences did not emerge. Treatment recipients also experienced significant reductions in social anxiety per parent, but not teacher, report. Clinical gains were maintained over 3 month follow-up.

Conclusion

IBTSM appears to be a promising new intervention that is efficacious in increasing functional speaking behaviors, feasible, and acceptable to parents and teachers.     

Stand tall,but don't put your feet up: Universal and culturally-specific effects of expansive postures on power

Previous research suggests that there is a fundamental link between expansive body postures and feelings of power. The current research demonstrates that this link is not universal, but depends on people's cultural background (Western versus East Asian) and on the particular type of expansive posture enacted. Three types of expansive postures were examined in the present studies: the expansive-hands-spread-on-desk pose (Carney et al., 2010), the expansive-upright-sitting pose (Huang et al., 2011, Tiedens and Fragale, 2003), and the expansive-feet-on-desk pose (Carney et al., 2010). Of these postures, the expansive-feet-on-desk pose was perceived by both Americans and East Asians as the least consistent with East Asian cultural norms of modesty, humility, and restraint (Study 1). The expansive-hands-spread-on-desk and expansive-upright-sitting postures led to greater sense of power than a constricted posture for both Americans and East Asians (Studies 2a–2b). In contrast, the expansive-feet-on-desk pose led to greater power activation (Study 3) and action orientation (Study 4) for Americans, but not for East Asians. Indeed, East Asians in the expansive-feet-on-desk pose showed less power activation and action orientation than Americans in this pose. Together, these findings support a basic principle of embodiment — the effects of posture depend on: (a) the type of posture, and (b) the symbolic meaning of that posture.     

Eye Metrics: An Alternative Vigilance Detector for Military Operators

Military operators in various environments such as cyber, remotely piloted aircraft, and image analysis are required to use sustained attention or vigilance for long periods. During this time they encounter lapses in attention attributable to the monotonous nature of their tasks. Mistakes during these tasks can have serious consequences. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of an eye-tracker to detect changes in vigilance performance during a simulated cyber operator task. Twenty participants performed 4 sessions of a 40-min vigilance task while wearing an eye-tracker. Blink frequency, blink duration, PERCLOS (percentage of eye closure), pupil diameter, pupil eccentricity, pupil velocity, and signal detection all had a significant change over time (p < .05) during the task. The significant change of oculometric measurements indicates oculometrics could be used to detect changes in vigilance for military operators. Future research is needed to assess real-time effects of these oculometrics on performance, especially in a real-world setting.     

Family Matters: The Role of Mental Health Stigma and Social Support on Depressive Symptoms and Subsequent Help Seeking Among African American Boys

African American adolescent boys underutilize mental health service due to stigma associated with depression. Gaining an increased understanding of how depressed, African American adolescent boys perceive their mental health needs and engage in help-seeking behaviors might play an essential role in efforts to improve their symptoms and access to care. Using a mixed-methods design, this study examined the influence of mental health stigma and social support on depressive symptoms among African American adolescent boys. Findings indicated the protective effects of social support in decreasing depressive symptoms, especially when participants experienced mental health stigma. Results also revealed the pivotal role of family social support over both professional and peer support for participants who struggled with depressive symptoms. The primacy of family support among the sample, combined with the frequent distrust of professionals and peer networks, would indicate that working with families may improve initial identification of depression among African American adolescent boys and decrease their barriers to care.     

The importance of social factors is a matter of perception

Caucasian female faces were randomly assigned to participants' in- or out-group following false feedback on a personality inventory. Participants recognised in-group faces better than out-group faces, but they showed no evidence of category-contingent opposing aftereffects. We conclude that the explanatory power of social-cognitive models will be enhanced when they are integrated with models of perceptual expertise.     

Child–Mother Attachment Security and Child Characteristics as Joint Contributors to Young Children's Coping in a Challenging Situation

Moderate challenges provide opportunities for young children to develop coping skills, yet little is known about factors related to individual differences in early coping. This study investigated child–mother attachment security (9‐point rating) assessed via a modified Strange Situation procedure, child expressive language, and child social fearfulness as contributors to coping responses among 33‐month‐old children (N = 128, 66 girls) following receipt of an empty gift box. Associations between child–mother attachment security and child coping were moderated by child characteristics. As hypothesized, greater attachment security was associated with more action towards the stressor (i.e. vocalizing about the empty box and searching for the missing gift), but only for children high on social fearfulness. Further, greater attachment security was associated with seeking more physical proximity to mothers for children low on expressive language and less physical proximity for children high on expressive language. Lastly, greater attachment security was related to more self‐distraction for children with moderate to high expressive language. Results are discussed in terms of child–mother attachment security as a psychological resource constructed over time, which the child may draw upon when confronted with a moderate non‐attachment‐related stressor. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.