A Pilot Randomized Trial of Community-Based Parent Training for Immigrant Latina Mothers

This paper reports on the development and piloting of the Madres a Madres (Mothers to Mothers) program, a new, community-based parent training program designed for immigrant Latina mothers and their children. Promotoras, or female community health workers of Latina background, delivered the program in a home visitation format. A total of 194 mothers and 194 focal children (87 male, 107 female) ages 7–12 were randomized to the intervention (113 mother–child dyads) or wait-list control condition (81 mother–child dyads) over the study period. Outcomes of interest were mother-reported parenting skills, broad family functioning, and child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Data collection occurred at pretest, 3-month posttest, and 9-month follow-up periods. Multilevel growth models revealed increases in intervention mothers’ reported parenting skills, family support, and family organization, and reductions in child internalizing behavior from pretest to follow-up, relative to the control condition. Outcomes did not vary by focal child age, gender, nativity status, or mother acculturative status (years in the United States). Findings are discussed in the context of future directions for research on the Madres a Madres program and on the implementation and dissemination of empirically-supported parent training practices to culturally diverse families.     

The effects of SES on infant and maternal diurnal salivary cortisol output

The present study directly compared diurnal salivary cortisol output and maternal-infant synchrony in low and high socio-economic status (SES) mother–infant dyads. Saliva cortisol samples were collected from 32 6–12-month-old infants and their mothers on the same day in the morning, afternoon and evening, and assayed for free cortisol concentration. Low-SES infants and mothers exhibited higher average salivary cortisol output, without dysregulation, compared to high-SES infants. Low-SES infants and mothers also showed reduced synchrony in cortisol output compared to high-SES infants and mothers. Results are discussed with respect to maternal sensitivity and early stress reduction interventions.     

Reliability of a Longitudinal Sequence of Scale Ratings

Reliability captures the influence of error on a measurement and, in the classical setting, is defined as one minus the ratio of the error variance to the total variance. Laenen, Alonso, and Molenberghs (Psychometrika 73:443–448, 2007) proposed an axiomatic definition of reliability and introduced the R _T coefficient, a measure of reliability extending the classical approach to a more general longitudinal scenario. The R _T coefficient can be interpreted as the average reliability over different time points and can also be calculated for each time point separately. In this paper, we introduce a new and complementary measure, the so-called R _Λ , which implies a new way of thinking about reliability. In a longitudinal context, each measurement brings additional knowledge and leads to more reliable information. The R _Λ captures this intuitive idea and expresses the reliability of the entire longitudinal sequence, in contrast to an average or occasion-specific measure. We study the measure’s properties using both theoretical arguments and simulations, establish its connections with previous proposals, and elucidate its performance in a real case study. The authors are grateful to J&J PRD for kind permission to use their data. We gratefully acknowledge support from Belgian IUAP/PAI network “Statistical Techniques and Modeling for Complex Substantive Questions with Complex Data.”     

Home-Based vs. Clinic-Based Parent–Child Interaction Therapy: Comparative Effectiveness in the Context of Dissemination and Implementation

Disruptive child behavior disorders remain a major public health issue despite the proliferation of several strong Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs) for these children and their families. This may stem from barriers to treatment facing many families in need, particularly families with low resources. Home-based treatment may be best suited for this population; however, EBPs are not always available or tested as home-based interventions. The current study compares an intensive home-based adaptation of Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) to the standard clinic-based model in the context of a statewide implementation. As part of the statewide implementation, therapists entered archival data into an online system. Data was gathered for 314 families receiving PCIT, with 181 children in clinic-based PCIT and 133 in intensive home-based PCIT. Consistent with other trials of PCIT, results of the current study indicate that both versions of the therapy were effective in reducing child-behavior problems and increasing parenting skills; however, there were marked differences in attrition. Intensive home-based participants were twice as likely to complete treatment (64.66%) compared to clinic-based participants (33.15%) despite facing more adversity. These results underscore the importance of scientifically-sound adaptations of EBPs, as well as the role of comparative effectiveness studies as a critical tool in the integrative model of intervention science.     

Pre-liver transplant psychosocial evaluation predicts post-transplantation outcomes

Psychosocial factors greatly impact the course of patients throughout the liver transplantation process. A retrospective chart review was performed of patients who underwent liver transplantation at Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center between 2002 and 2012. A composite psychosocial score was computed based on the patient’s pre-transplant evaluation. Patients were divided into two groups based on compliance, support and insight: Optimal psychosocial score and Non-optimal psychosocial score. Post-liver transplantation survival and complication rates were evaluated. Out of 100 patients who underwent liver transplantation at the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center between 2002 and 2012, 93% had a complete pre-liver transplant psychosocial evaluation in the medical record performed by professional psychologists and social workers. Post-liver transplantation survival was significantly higher in the Optimal group (85%) as compared to the Non-optimal group (56%, p = .002). Post-liver transplantation rate of renal failure was significantly lower in the Optimal group. No significant differences were observed between the groups in other post-transplant complications. A patient’s psychosocial status may impact outcomes following transplantation as inferior psychosocial grades were associated with lower overall survival and increased rates of complications. Pre-liver transplant psychosocial evaluations are an important tool to help predict survival following transplantation.     

Age-related similarities and differences in monitoring spatial cognition

Spatial cognitive performance is impaired in later adulthood but it is unclear whether the metacognitive processes involved in monitoring spatial cognitive performance are also compromised. Inaccurate monitoring could affect whether people choose to engage in tasks that require spatial thinking and also the strategies they use in spatial domains such as navigation. The current experiment examined potential age differences in monitoring spatial cognitive performance in a variety of spatial domains including visual–spatial working memory, spatial orientation, spatial visualization, navigation, and place learning. Younger and older adults completed a 2D mental rotation test, 3D mental rotation test, paper folding test, spatial memory span test, two virtual navigation tasks, and a cognitive mapping test. Participants also made metacognitive judgments of performance (confidence judgments, judgments of learning, or navigation time estimates) on each trial for all spatial tasks. Preference for allocentric or egocentric navigation strategies was also measured. Overall, performance was poorer and confidence in performance was lower for older adults than younger adults. In most spatial domains, the absolute and relative accuracy of metacognitive judgments was equivalent for both age groups. However, age differences in monitoring accuracy (specifically relative accuracy) emerged in spatial tasks involving navigation. Confidence in navigating for a target location also mediated age differences in allocentric navigation strategy use. These findings suggest that with the possible exception of navigation monitoring, spatial cognition may be spared from age-related decline even though spatial cognition itself is impaired in older age.     

Predicting the use of corporal punishment: Child aggression,parent religiosity,and the BDNF gene

Corporal punishment (CP) has been associated with deleterious child outcomes, highlighting the importance of understanding its underpinnings. Although several factors have been linked with parents’ CP use, genetic influences on CP have rarely been studied, and an integrative view examining the interplay between different predictors of CP is missing. We focused on the separate and joint effects of religiosity, child aggression, parent's gender, and a valine (Val) to methionine (Met) substitution in the brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene. Data came from a twin sample (51% male, aged 6.5 years). We used mothers’ and fathers’ self‐reports of CP and religiosity, and the other parent's report on child aggression. Complete data were available for 244 mothers and their 466 children, and for 217 fathers and their 409 children. The random split method was employed to examine replicability. For mothers, only the effect of religiosity appeared to replicate. For fathers, several effects predicting CP use replicated in both samples: child aggression, child sex, religiosity, and a three‐way (GxExE) interaction implicating fathers’ BDNF genotype, child aggression and religiosity. Religious fathers who carried the Met allele and had an aggressive child used CP more frequently; in contrast, secular fathers’ CP use was not affected by their BDNF genotype or child aggression. Results were also repeated longitudinally in a subsample with age 8–9 data. Findings highlight the utility of a bio‐ecological approach for studying CP use by shedding light on pertinent gene‐environment interaction processes. Possible implications for intervention and public policy are discussed.

     

Losses Induce Consistency in Risk Taking Even Without Loss Aversion

It is posited that because of the attentional effect of losses, individuals would show more behavioral consistency in risk‐taking tasks with losses, even in the absence of loss aversion. In two studies, the consistency of risky choices across different experience‐based tasks was evaluated for gain, loss, and mixed (gain loss) tasks. In both studies, losses facilitated the consistency across tasks: the correlation between risk‐taking choices in different tasks increased when the tasks involved frequent losses. Study 2 also showed a positive effect of losses on temporal consistency. Losses increased the correlation between risk‐taking levels across two sessions that were 45 days apart. Also in Study 2, losses induced consistency between experiential risk‐taking choices and self‐reported ratings of risky behavior. In both studies, the positive effect of losses on consistency was observed even when the average participant did not exhibit loss aversion. Taken together, the results indicate that losses increase the consistency of risk‐taking behavior and suggest that this is due to the effect of losses on attention. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Negative Relations Between Pacifier Use and Emotional Competence

Research in psychology and neuroscience suggests that facial mimicry plays a causal role in understanding facial expression of emotion. Accurate understanding of facial emotion, in turn, grounds emotional development. Are pacifiers, which disrupt facial mimicry in the user, associated with compromised emotional development? We examined facial mimicry in children and found that duration of pacifier use was associated with reduced facial mimicry in boys. In two questionnaire studies of young adults, pacifier use also predicted lower perspective taking and emotional intelligence in males. Pacifier use did not predict these emotion processing skills in girls. Future confirmatory studies are proposed.     

Fruitful plans: adding targeted mental imagery to implementation intentions increases fruit consumption

Forming implementation intentions ('If I encounter situation X, then I will perform behaviour Y!') increases the probability of carrying out goals. This study tested the hypothesis that mental imagery targeting key elements of implementation intentions further increases goal achievement. The residents of a student residence were assigned the goal of consuming extra portions of fruit every day for 7 days and randomly assigned to one of four conditions: control (active rehearsal), implementation intentions, goal intention mental imagery or mental imagery targeted to the implementation intentions. Among low fruit consumers, but not high fruit consumers, fruit consumption at follow-up was higher in the targeted mental imagery group than in the other group, with the lowest fruit consumption in the control group. The findings suggest that it may be beneficial to use targeted mental imagery when forming implementation intentions.