Longitudinal Outcomes of Child Parent Psychotherapy: Response to Commentaries

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - In response to the commentaries provided by Chu et al. (2020), Harmon et al. (2020), and McMahon & Maxwell (2020) on our longitudinal...     

Ethical Behavioral Intention in an Academic Setting: Models and Predictors

This study examines the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the multidimensional ethics scale (MES). Variables from both are included to determine which ones significantly correlate with student ethical behavioral intention in an academic setting. Using a survey, responses are collected from undergraduate business students from two southwestern universities in the United States using a scenario-based approach, looking at individual situations and group situations. SmartPLS was used to assess the results for four scenarios. From the theory of planned behavior, attitude was a significant predictor of behavioral intention across all four scenarios while subjective norm was significant in one scenario. From the multidimensional ethics scale, moral equity and relativism were significant in one group scenario while moral equity and utilitarianism were each significant in an individual scenario. The findings indicate support for the use of the TPB and the MES when exploring ethics in an academic setting and for the need to study both individual and group situations. A discussion of the findings and implications is given.     

The Fisher-Pitman permutation test when testing for differences in mean and variance

The Fisher-Pitman permutation test can detect any type of difference between two samples: hence, a significant Fisher-Pitman permutation test does not necessarily provide evidence for a difference in means. It is possible, however, to test separately for differences in means and variances. Here, we present a recently proposed two-stage procedure to decide whether there are differences in means or variances that can be applied when samples may come from nonnormal distributions with possibly unequal variances.     

The emerging fragile X premutation phenotype: evidence from the domain of social cognition

Fragile X syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is caused by large methylated expansions of a CGG repeat (>200) region upstream of the FMR1 gene that results in the lack of expression of the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). Affected individuals display a neurobehavioral phenotype that includes a significant impairment in social cognition alongside deficits in attentional control, inhibition and working memory. In contrast, relatively little is known about the trajectory and specificity of any cognitive impairment associated with the fragile X premutation ("carrier-status") (approximately 55-200 repeats). Here, we focus on one aspect of cognition that has been well documented in the fragile X full mutation, namely social cognition. The results suggest that premutation males display a pattern of deficit similar in profile, albeit milder in presentation, to that of the full mutation. However, little evidence emerged for a correlation between CGG repeat length and severity of phenotypic outcomes. The findings are discussed in the context of functional neuroimaging and brain-behaviour-molecular correlates. We speculate that the deficiencies in social cognition are attributable to impairment of neural pathways modulated by the cerebellum.     

The testability of psychiatric patients in an operant conditioning situation

The Psychological Record -