Child-Related Interparental Conflict in Infancy Predicts Child Cognitive Functioning in a Nationally Representative Sample

While associations between exposure to marital conflict and child development have been documented extensively in middle childhood and adolescence, few studies have examined the developmental consequences of conflict exposure in infancy. Moreover, those that have examined marital conflict in infancy tended to focus on consequences of conflict exposure on infants’ attachment security, and various aspects of infants’ physiological and emotion regulation. Virtually nothing is known about the longitudinal links between exposure to interparental conflict in infancy and later cognitive development. Using longitudinal data on a subsample of infants (N = 6,019) and their parents who participated in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), this study examined links between the frequency of interparental conflict at 9 months and child cognitive development 15 months later. Combining data from parent interviews, birth certificates, in-home assessments of child cognitive development, and videotaped parent–child interactions, results showed significant negative associations between the frequency of child-related interparental conflict at 9 months of age and child cognitive ability at 24 months. The negative association reflects a direct effect that was not mediated by parental support or child attachment security measured at 24 months. Associations were calculated while considering children’s prior cognitive functioning (at 9 months), and a wide range of child, parent and household characteristics.     

Representation of object orientation in children: Evidence from mirror-image confusions

Although many cognitive functions require information about the orientations of objects, little is known about representation or processing of object orientation. Mirror-image confusion provides a potential clue. This phenomenon is typically characterized as a tendency to confuse images related by left–right reflection (reflection across an extrinsic vertical axis). However, in most previous studies the stimuli were inadequate for identifying a specific mirror-image (or other) relationship as the cause of the observed confusions. Using stimuli constructed to resolve this problem, Gregory and McCloskey (2010) found that adults’ errors were primarily reflections across an object axis, and not left–right reflections. The present study demonstrates that young children's orientation errors include both object–axis reflections and left–right reflections. We argue that children and adults represent object orientation in the same coordinate-system format (McCloskey, 2009), with orientation errors resulting from difficulty encoding or retaining one (adults) or two (children) specific components of the posited representations.     

Agreeableness,conscientiousness, and psychoticism: Distinctive influences of three personality dimensions in adolescence

Researchers have suggested that the psychoticism (P) personality dimension of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire may be largely redundant with the agreeableness (A) and conscientiousness (C) constructs of the five‐factor model. Little research has examined the distinctiveness of these constructs. We utilized a multi‐wave, multi‐method design to examine the ability of C, A, and P to uniquely predict a number of important outcomes amongst high school students. A total of 778 students (391 males, 387 females; mean age 15.41 years.) completed personality measures in Grade 10. Self‐reported self‐esteem, social support, health‐related behaviours, religious values as well as teachers' assessments of students, were collected 1 and 2 years later. A, C, and P were distinctive in their ability to predict these outcomes, after controlling for gender and socio‐economic status as well as Grade 10 extraversion, openness, and neuroticism. The individual P items explained unique variance over and above that explained by A and C. It was concluded that P is not merely the opposite of A and C. Implications for interventions are raised.     

Exploring Patterns of Relationship Between Trauma Symptomization and Family Constellation: Implications for Working With Trauma Presentations in Systemic Practice

ABSTRACT

This paper presents findings from research investigating trauma symptomization in children with prior trauma experiences from intact families (n = 32) compared with those from non-intact families (n = 32). Using a mixed method approach, a file audit of an Australian child/youth mental health service database was undertaken. Statistical analysis identified a significant relationship (p = < 0.05) of high numbers of trauma symptoms (NTS) for children from non-intact families, and low NTS for children from intact families. This finding indicates that children from intact families manage trauma better in terms of reduced symptomization. Other key patterns of relationship were identified and implications for systemic practice explored.     

Reality in science

One way in which to address the intriguing relations between science and reality is to work via the models (mathematical structures) of formal scientific theories which are interpretations under which these theories turn out to be true. The so-called ‘statement approach’ to scientific theories—characteristic for instance of Nagel, Carnap, and Hempel—depicts theories in terms of ‘symbolic languages’ and some set of ‘correspondence rules’ or ‘definition principles’. The defenders of the oppositionist non-statement approach advocate an analysis where the language in which the theory is formulated plays a much smaller role. They hold that foundational problems in the various sciences can in general be better addressed by focusing on the models these sciences employ than by reformulating the products of these sciences in some appropriate language. My model-theoretic realist account of science lies decidedly within the non-statement context, although I retain the notion of a theory as a deductively closed set of sentences (expressed in some appropriate language). In this paper I shall focus—against the background of a model-theoretic account of science—on the approach to the reality-science dichotomy offered by Nancy Cartwright and briefly comment on a few aspects of Roy Bhaskar's transcendental realism. I shall, in conclusion, show how a model-theoretic approach such as mine can combine the best of these two approaches.     

Adolescent alcohol use in context: the role of parents and peers among African American and European American youth

African American youth are less likely to use alcohol than their European American counterparts; however, the greater consequences of use for African American youth highlight the need for greater research attention to this group. Two social contexts that have been linked with adolescent alcohol use are parents and peers, yet these studies have rarely included African American youth or failed to examine potential racial differences. This study examined the main and interactive effects of parents and peers, as well as the moderating role of race on alcohol use, in African American and European American rural adolescents (n=71) identified as at high-risk for alcohol use. Contrary to study hypotheses, however, parents were not a more robust moderator for African American than European American youth. Clinical implications for prevention and intervention programming for both African American and European American youth are discussed.     

Imitation of hierarchical structure versus component details of complex actions by 3- and 5-year-olds

We investigated developmental changes in the level of information children incorporate into their imitation when a model executes complex, hierarchically organized actions. A total of 57 3-year-olds and 60 5-year-olds participated, watching video demonstrations of an “artificial fruit” box being opened through a complex series of nine different steps. Half of each sample observed the same nine steps performed through either of two different, hierarchically organized procedures, whereas half witnessed differing component action details. Children were found to imitate at both levels but were more likely to copy at the higher hierarchical level than at the level of specific action details. Fidelity to hierarchical organization, but not to the imitation of specific detail, increased with age. However, variation in imitativeness across children at one of these levels did not predict imitativeness at the other level.     

Screening for borderline personality disorder in outpatient youth

Young people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) commonly seek help but often go unrecognized. Screening offers a means of identifying individuals for more detailed assessment for early intervention and for research. AIMS: This study compared the McLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder (MSI-BPD), Borderline Personality Questionnaire (BPQ), the BPD items from the International Personality Disorder Examination Screening Questionnaire and the BPD items from the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II disorders (SCID-II) Personality Questionnaire. METHOD: 101 outpatient youth (aged 15-25 years) completed the screening measures and were interviewed, blind to screening status, with the SCID-II BPD module. The screening measures were readministered two weeks later to assess test-retest reliability. RESULTS: All four instruments performed similarly but the BPQ had the best mix of characteristics, with moderate sensitivity (0.68), the highest specificity (0.90), high negative predictive value (0.91) and moderate positive predictive value (0.65). Compared to the other three instruments, the BPQ had the highest overall diagnostic accuracy (0.85), a substantially higher kappa (0.57) with the criterion diagnosis, the highest test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.92) and the highest internal consistency (alpha = 0.92). The only clear difference to emerge in the Receiver Operator Curve (ROC) analysis was that the BPQ significantly outperformed the MSI (p = 0.05). CONCLUSION: Screening for BPD in out-patient youth is feasible but is not a replacement for clinical diagnosis.     

Increasing well-being through teaching goal-setting and planning skills: results of a brief intervention

Many factors are known to be associated with psychological well-being. However, it is much less clear whether those factors actually cause well-being and, hence, whether there is any practical value in trying to manipulate those factors to increase well-being. The proposed study addresses both the theoretical and practical issues by testing the effectiveness of an empirically-derived, brief psychological intervention to increase well-being in a non-clinical, unselected sample. The intervention focused on developing goal setting and planning (GAP) skills, which are known to be linked to well-being, potentially have widespread effects, and are amenable to intervention. Within a quasi-experimental design, participants received three, 1-h, group sessions (Study 1) or completed the programme individually in their own time (Study 2). Those taking part in the intervention, both individually and in a group, showed significant increases in subjective well-being, compared to their respective control groups not receiving the intervention. The results provide preliminary support for the view that (a) goal setting and planning skills have a causal link to subjective well-being and (b) that such skills can be learned to enhance well-being.