Maternal speech style with prelinguistic twin infants

The mother–infant communicative speech of a group of mothers of 4‐month‐old first‐born twin infants was compared to the speech of a group of mothers of first‐born singleton infants. Maternal groups were matched on age, education level, mother–infant attachment status and infant gender, and maternal depression was assessed as a control variable. Maternal speech was coded for focus, content, complexity and syntax of mothers' utterances. The findings of earlier studies with toddler age twins, that maternal speech style was more directive and less infant‐focused, were replicated in this prelinguistic period of infancy. Compared to mothers of singletons, mothers of twins used less infant‐focused speech, were less responsive to their infants' cues, and attributed less agency to their infants. Mothers of twins also used fewer questions and requests but did not differ from mothers of singletons in their use of negatives and imperatives. These early differences in the language learning environments of twin and singleton infants may be due to the reduced opportunities that mothers of twins have to establish dyadic communicative routines with their infants and to familiarize themselves with their infants as interactive partners, and may have implications for the early language development of twins. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Inner-City Children Living with an HIV-Seropositive Mother: Parent–Child Relationships, Perception of Social Support, and Psychological Disturbance

Despite ongoing concern about the well-being of HIV-seronegative children living in urban poverty with a seropositive mother, very little is known about this expanding population of children. In this cross-sectional study, the psychosocial adjustment of 60 ethnic minority children 11 to 16 years of age who were living with an HIV-seropositive mother was compared with that of 108 children attending public school in the same community. Results of three multivariate analyses of covariance indicated that, after allowance for differences associated with age, gender, ethnicity, and family structure, the HIV-affected group confirmed (a) greater disturbance in the parent–child relationship, (b) less social support, and (c) greater disturbance in psychological functioning. Secondary analysis of the multivariate findings indicated that the differences were characterized primarily by (a) perception of more indifference and hostility in the mother–child relationship, (b) perception of less social support available from parents, friends, and teachers, and (c) less self-esteem. The findings suggest that HIV infection and concurrent problems may compromise parent–child relationships and perception of social support in ways that leave older, seronegative children living with an infected mother at risk for psychological disturbance.     

Family-based obesity treatment, then and now: twenty-five years of pediatric obesity treatment.

OBJECTIVE: Family-based treatments for pediatric obesity were developed over 25 years ago. Over that time, youth have become more obese and the environment more obesiogenic, which may influence efficacy of pediatric weight control. Mixed-effects regression models were used to compare the efficacy of programs initiated 20 to 25 years ago to current programs through 24-month follow-up, as well as to reanalyze 10-year outcomes of previous research using contemporary measures and analytic strategies. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: z-BMI and percent overweight. RESULTS: Results showed significant reductions over time, with no differences in z-BMI change for older versus contemporary studies. Age was a predictor of z-BMI up to 24 months, with younger children showing larger change. Mixed-effects regression models replicated previous long-term effects of family-based interventions. Gender was a predictor of long-term z-BMI change, with girls benefiting more over time than did boys. CONCLUSION: The efficacy of the family-based behavioral approach to treating pediatric obesity replicates over a 25-year period. Challenges in evaluating treatment effects over time are discussed. Ideas for studying choice of treatments that vary in effect size and for strengthening family-based behavioral treatments are noted.     

Component Integrity of Teacher Intervention Management Behavior Using a Student Self-Monitoring Treatment: An Experimental Analysis

This investigation was undertaken to determine the effects of differing levels of treatment integrity resulting from implementation of varying numbers of intervention components. The self-monitoring program was conducted over 4 weeks and targeted positive and negative classroom behaviors. The independent variable included three levels: 100% integrity, that included reward and graphing of behavior; 83.3% integrity, that included the reward component; and 66.7% integrity, that employed self-monitoring with recording only. Participants included 49 elementary school students, mean age of 10.4 years, 36.7% female, 93.9% Anglo. Results of treatment on teacher and student ratings from the Social Skills Rating System, teacher ratings from the Abbreviated Symptom Questionnaire, ratings of the child-specific target behaviors, and student frequency counts of target behaviors were analyzed using Multivariate Analyses of Variance. The changes in rating measures from pre-test to post-test did not significantly differ between groups. Students in the two more inclusive treatment programs recorded more positive behaviors.     

Identity and Constructivism:Grounding the Self in Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy

Albert Ellis' contribution to psychotherapy has been monumental, and he has argued that REBT is a philosophically based project. Especially after 1986, Ellis further argued that biological predisposition accounted for much of our tendencies toward rationality and irrationality. Further, he has called for non-rating of one's self or being (that call itself being an evaluation). We have argued, as has Ellis, for a tertium quid, character, also located in biological predisposition (ontology). Distinctions are drawn between types of constructivism (and construction), one of those foundational to REBT. We have accounted for a common sense self that can be evaluated and yet be unconditionally accepted. The self in REBT can be distinguished from roles. A reasoning self in the service of desires while allowing for LFT (DA) is preserved.     

Three stimuli for visual motion perception compared

Two arrangements yielding induced motion were used to explore the relative effectiveness of three stimulus conditions known to produce perception of motion—namely, image displacement, ocular pursuit, and object-relative displacement. In these arrangements, object-relative displacement, which resulted in induced motion, was in conflict either with ocular pursuit or with image displacement. The outcomes of these conflicts were determined by measuring the extent of induced motion. Image displacement proved more effective in competing with object-relative displacement than did ocular pursuit, which in one arrangement yielded to object-relative displacement entirely. The same pattern of results was obtained both with the usual arrangement of the moving-center type and with a stationary-center display.