Modeling longitudinal change in the language abilities of children with autism: parent behaviors and child characteristics as predictors of change

The objective of the current study was to evaluate the patterns of longitudinal change in the language abilities of 28 children with autism during early and middle childhood. Results from fitting a series of multilevel models showed that children's rate of language growth was independently predicted by (a) children's responsiveness to others' bids for joint attention and (b) parents' responsiveness to their children's attention and activity during play. Both predictive relations could not be explained by initial variation in global developmental characteristics, such as IQ, mental age, or language abilities. These findings support a social?pragmatic view on language acquisition, which emphasizes the collaborative process through which children and their parents negotiate shared meaning.     

Parent-child relationship, temperament, and physiological reactions to fear-inducing film clips: further evidence for differential susceptibility

Recent studies have supported the intriguing hypothesis that highly reactive infants are most susceptible to the effect of parenting. This study replicates and extends an earlier study on 4-year-olds concerning higher susceptibility of more fearful children to the quality of their relationships with their mothers, as shown by their physiological reactions to fear-inducing film clips. Two groups of children (4- and 7-year-olds) were shown the same fear-inducing and neutral film clips. During the film clips, their skin conductance and heart rate variability were measured. Both 4- and 7-year-olds responded to the fear-inducing film clips with increases in skin conductance and decreases in heart rate variability. A secure relationship affected the reactivity to fearful stimuli in temperamentally more fearful children but not in less fearful children irrespective of children's ages. Our findings add to the growing literature showing that children high in negative emotion are more susceptible to positive as well as negative rearing influences for better and for worse.     

Teleconferencing model for forensic consultation, court testimony, and continuing education

A medical center-based forensic clinic that provides the necessary comprehensive consultation, continuing education, court testimony, and clinical services through an applied model of teleconferencing applications is addressed. Telemedicine technology and services have gained the attention of both legal and clinical practitioners, examining trends and models of health care for underserved populations, and identifying where consultation with a team of professionals may benefit service providers in rural communities. The contribution offered herein provides an understanding of the history of the development of the clinic, a theoretical model that has been applied to a clinical forensic program that employs telepsychiatry services, and the ethical and malpractice liability issues confronted in using teleconferencing services. This model is examined through a child and adolescent forensic evaluation clinic. The goals of this model are offered, as are a number of applications within the broad spectrum of services utilizing telemedicine. Finally, changing patterns are addressed in clinically based health-care delivery for criminal justice, social services, and forensic mental health.     

For Better and For Worse: Differential Susceptibility to Environmental Influences

ABSTRACT— Evidence that adverse rearing environments exert negative effects particularly on children presumed "vulnerable" for temperamental or genetic reasons may actually reflect something else: heightened susceptibility to the negative effects of risky environments and to the beneficial effects of supportive environments. Building on Belsky's (1997, 2005) evolutionary-inspired proposition that some children are more affected—both for better and for worse—by their rearing experiences than are others, we consider recent work on child vulnerability, including that involving measured genes, along with evidence showing that putatively vulnerable children are especially susceptible to both positive and negative rearing effects. We also consider methodological issues and unanswered questions in the differential-susceptibility equation.     

Autism,Attachment and Parenting: A Comparison of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder,Mental Retardation,Language Disorder,and Non-clinical Children

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have severe and pervasive impairments in the development of social interaction, which may affect the attachment relationship with their parents and may have an impact on parenting. In the current investigation 89 families with young children (mean age 26.5 months) were involved, who were diagnosed as ASD, mentally retarded (MR), or language delayed (LD), or part of a non-clinical comparison group. Attachment security was observed with the Brief Attachment Screening Questionnaire, and several parental self-report questionnaires assessed the parenting style, parental efficacy, parental experiences of daily hassles, social support, and psychological problems. Children with ASD were rated as less secure compared to the other clinical and normal comparison groups. Parents of non-clinical children reported higher levels of authoritative parenting than parents in the ASD group and in the total clinical group, and they also received less social support. Parents of children with ASD coped remarkably well with the challenges of raising a child with ASD.     

Joint Attention and Attachment in Toddlers with Autism

Joint attention is often referred to as a triadic relation between self, other and object. Young children with autism show deficiencies in the use of joint attention behaviors. Individual differences may be expected, and they may be determined by the children’s cognitive development or the characteristics of the relationship of the child with the caregiver. Although most joint attention skills develop under the age of three, most studies of joint attention in children with autism involved children older than 3 years of age, due to difficulties in diagnosing autism under this age. In this study we investigated joint attention behaviors of 78 young children (mean age 25.7 months, SD 6.1) with autism spectrum disorders (n = 20), other developmental delays (n = 18), and typically developing children (n = 40). Following the pertinent literature and confirmed by factor analysis, two types of joint attention behaviors were distinguished, Basic Joint Attention (BJA) and Associated Joint Attention (AJA). We found that cognitive delays and autistic symptoms—but not attachment insecurity or disorganization—were related to less joint attention. Already at the age of 2 years, children with more autistic symptoms show less joint attention, even after controlling for developmental level.     

Relation between adverse psychosocial risks, assessed by means of the DECORE Multidimensional Questionnaire, and deficient occupational health

This paper describes our search for the possible relationship between workers' health and quality of life and several psychosocial risks: Cognitive demands, Control, Rewards and Organizational support. These psychosocial risks were assessed by means of the DECORE Multidimensional Questionnaire, which provides five scores, one for each factor, plus a global score. Workers' health was assessed with the following variables: job satisfaction, stress perception, fatigue perception, medical leave, occupational accidents, and disease. 614 workers from various business sectors were examined. Results show that workers who feel more fatigued, stressed, and less satisfied perceive their work environment more adversely. Similar results were obtained for workers who went on medical leave, had an occupational accident, or suffered from disease.     

Eating disorder pathology among overweight treatment-seeking youth: clinical correlates and cross-sectional risk modeling

Preliminary research suggests that pediatric overweight is associated with increased eating disorder pathology, however, little is known about which overweight youth are most vulnerable to eating disorder pathology. We therefore investigated 122 overweight treatment-seeking youth to describe eating disorder pathology and mental health correlates, and to identify psychopathological constructs that may place overweight youth at increased risk for eating disorder pathology. Youth participated in a comprehensive assessment of eating disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, general psychopathology, and risk variables involving semi-structured clinical interviews and self- and parent-report questionnaires prior to the initiation of weight-loss treatment. Ten youth met criteria for an eating disorder, and over one-third endorsed recent binge eating. Eating disorder pathology was associated with depressive and anxious symptoms (p's<0.001). Structural equation modeling indicated increased negative affect, teasing experience, and thin-ideal internalization, and decreased perfectionism were associated with increased eating disorder pathology. Findings corroborate earlier work indicating that eating disorder pathology is elevated and clinically significant in overweight treatment-seeking youth, bolstering the need for mental health assessment of such individuals. Cross-sectional modeling proposed key variables that relate to eating disorder pathology in overweight treatment-seeking youth, which following prospective replication, may inform the development of effective interventions for overweight and eating disorders.     

Emotional,Cognitive, Behavioral,and Temperament Characteristics of High-Empathy Children

Recent research has suggested that individual differences in young children's capacity for empathy and altruism has heritable components and may be related to early temperament. These individual differences, like other human capacities such as intelligence, may be distributed normally. Thus, high-empathy children may exhibit cognitive, emotional, and behavioral precocity in empathic and altruistic responding, and begin expressing these capacities early in life. Twenty-seven 2- to 8-year-old (M = 53 months), primarily Euro-American high-empathy children (10 male) were identified by childcare center staff. Ethnographically oriented interviews of their mothers provided detailed accounts of the children's empathic and altruistic responding in everyday interactions at home and school. As a group, the children were described as emotionally positive, especially sociable individuals whose empathic and altruistic responses were highly spontaneous, occurred more frequently, and differed from peers in depth, intensity, and persistence. Parallels were drawn between these capacities and temperamental dispositions for self-regulation and emotional reactivity. Limitations of the methodology and directions of future research are discussed.     

Training and practice of school psychologists in reading assessment and intervention

A national sample of school psychologists was randomly surveyed to assess (1) training practices in reading assessment and intervention, (2) their involvement with reading-disabled students, (3) the degree of importance they place on knowledge of assessment and remediation of reading problems, and (4) their perceptions of their expertise in these latter areas. The results revealed major discrepancies between preparation and job responsibilities. The respondents indicated (1) that they had received limited training in reading, (2) that 77% of referrals involved reading problems, (3) that they frequently made reading recommendations, but felt they lacked adequate expertise, and (4) that they supported the need for more expertise in reading. The implications for training and practice are discussed.