Applying a traumatic stress approach to understanding PCS following pediatric mild TBI

Pediatric traumatic brain injury is a significant public health concern affecting hundreds of thousands of children each year. The majority of children who sustain traumatic brain injuries are classified as having a mild traumatic brain injury, and a subset of these children go on to experience persistent physical, cognitive, and emotional symptoms. These symptoms, known as postconcussive symptoms, can endure for months and even years after injury. The outcomes of mild traumatic brain injury are variable and not well understood for a small percentage of children who experience persistent symptoms. The current article explores the potential influence of children’s posttraumatic stress symptoms on persistent postconcussive symptoms. Despite the high incidence of posttraumatic stress symptoms after pediatric accidental injury, they have not yet been identified as an important factor for consideration in the understanding of pediatric postconcussive outcomes. The article will review the literature on posttraumatic stress and postconcussive symptoms after pediatric injury and consider neurobiological and cognitive factors to propose a model explaining a pathway through which posttraumatic stress reactions may serve as the mechanism for the expression and maintenance of postconcussive symptoms after mild traumatic brain injury. The clinical implications for the proposed relationship between posttraumatic stress symptoms and postconcussive symptoms are considered prior to the conclusion of the article, which acknowledges limitations in the current literature and provides suggestions for future research.     

The self‐regulatory role of anticipated group‐based shame and guilt in inhibiting in‐group favoritism

In three studies, we examined whether the anticipation of group‐based guilt and shame inhibits in‐group favoritism. In Studies 1 and 2, anticipated group‐based shame negatively predicted in‐group favoritism; in neither study did anticipated group‐based guilt uniquely predict in‐group favoritism. In Study 3, we orthogonally manipulated anticipated group‐based shame and guilt. Here, we found that the shame (but not the guilt) manipulation had a significant inhibitory effect on in‐group favoritism. Anticipated group‐based shame (but not guilt) promotes egalitarian intergroup behavior. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of assessment setting on the results of functional analyses of problem behavior

Analogue functional analyses are widely used to identify the operant function of problem behavior in individuals with developmental disabilities. Because problem behavior often occurs across multiple settings (e.g., homes, schools, outpatient clinics), it is important to determine whether the results of functional analyses vary across settings. This brief review covers 3 recent studies that examined the influence of different settings on the results of functional analyses and identifies directions for future research.     

“Who I Am Depends on How Fairly I'm Treated”: Effects of Justice on Self‐Identity and Regulatory Focus

Across 2 experiments, we examined motivational processes elicited by justice‐related experiences. Specifically, we examined the effects of justice on recipients' self‐identity and regulatory focus. As predicted, those who experienced unfairness had a strong individual identity and prevention focus owing to the threats of social rejection and economic exploitation communicated by unfairness. Conversely, individuals exposed to fairness had strong interdependent identities and promotion focus owing to the favorable economic and socioemotional information communicated by fairness. These effects were accentuated among participants who reported high sensitivity to injustice and internal loci of control. Our findings are important because they highlight causal associations between justice and key motivation constructs.     

Dispositional accounts of evil personhood

It is intuitively plausible that not every evildoer is an evil person. In order to make sense of this intuition we need to construct an account of evil personhood in addition to an account of evil action. Some philosophers have offered aggregative accounts of evil personhood, but these do not fit well with common intuitions about the explanatory power of evil personhood, the possibility of moral reform, and the relationship between evil and luck. In contrast, a dispositional account of evil personhood can allow that evil is explanatory, that an evil person can become good, and that luck might prevent evil persons from doing evil or cause non-evil persons to do evil. Yet the dispositional account of evil personhood implies that some evil persons are blameless, which seems to clash with the intuition that evil persons deserve our strongest moral condemnation. Moreover, since it is likely that a large proportion of us are disposed to perform evil actions in some environments, the dispositional account threatens to label a large proportion of people evil. In this paper I consider a range of possible modifications to the dispositional account that might bring it more closely into alignment with our intuitions about moral condemnation and the rarity of evil persons. According to the most plausible of these theories, S is an evil person if S is strongly disposed to perform evil actions when in conditions that favour S’s autonomy.     

Examining the components and concomitants of parental structure in the academic domain

Self-Determination Theory posits and research supports that caregiver autonomy support, involvement, and structure facilitate children’s motivation and well-being. However, to attain a comprehensive understanding of these caregiving behaviors and thus make informed practical recommendations, their key components must be identified. While a significant literature examines autonomy support and involvement, structure has been less extensively researched. This study thus attempted to provide an in-depth exploration of parental structure. Drawing from past literature, six components were identified. Seventy-five seventh and eighth graders completed semi-structured interviews and students and parents completed questionnaires assessing structure, other parenting dimensions, and motivational outcomes in the academic domain. Findings indicate that structure (a) is multi-faceted, (b) is independent from autonomy support, and (c) makes unique contributions to children’s motivation and school performance. Implications for providing facilitative contexts for children’s motivation and success as well as for future work are discussed.     

Movement duration does not affect automatic online control

Pisella et al. (2000) have shown that fast aiming movements are automatically modified on-line in response to a change in target position. Specifically, when a movement is less than 300 ms in duration the reach is completed to a target’s new location even when one never intended to respond to the target jump. In contrast, when movements are slower, the reach is completed according to instructions. At present, it is unclear if it is possible for one’s intentions to guide the initial stages of these slow movements. To determine if the intentional control mechanism can guide the initial stages of a slow aiming movement, participants aimed to targets that could jump at movement onset, with a slow and very slow movement time goal. In particular, participants were to point towards (“pro-point”) or away from (“anti-point”) the target jump, with a movement time goal of 500 or 1200 ms. Results showed that in the anti-point condition, movement trajectories first deviated in the same direction as the target jump, followed by a response in the intended (opposite) direction. This suggests that while movement outcome is controlled by the intentional system, even in these slow aiming movements the automatic system is engaged at movement onset.     

Influence of stimulus–response assignment on the joint-action correspondence effect

Sebanz et al. (Cognition 88:B11–B21, 2003) have shown that spatial correspondence effects are observed even when the two-choice reaction time task is distributed between two people, such that each person is assigned only one of two possible stimulus–response (S–R) pairings. The effect is similar to when one person is assigned and responds to both S–R pairings. These results have been taken to suggest that two people performing a complementary task co-represent each other’s response alternatives. In our experiment, we examined performance when paired participants responded to the same S–R alternative. We reasoned that co-representation would be of little advantage as the task alternatives would be the same for both participants. Correspondence effects were absent when paired participants responded to the same S–R alternative but emerged when they responded to different alternatives.     

Investigating the Moderating Role of Cultural Practices on the Effect of Selection Fairness Perceptions

Utilizing a sample of applicants to positions in a global corporation, we examined whether cultural practices moderate the effect of selection fairness perceptions on organizational attractiveness and job choice. Positive relationships were anticipated between fairness perceptions and outcomes, and performance orientation and uncertainty avoidance cultural practices were hypothesized to moderate the effects of structural and information sharing perceptions, respectively. Structural fairness perceptions were positively associated with both outcomes, but information‐sharing perceptions were significantly related only to organizational attractiveness. National variability in the effect of selection fairness perceptions was observed only for the effect of structural perceptions on organizational attractiveness. Performance orientation moderated this effect such that the strongest relationship was seen among applicants from more performance‐oriented countries.     

Integrated and Holistic Treatment Approach to PTSD and SUD: A Synergy

A review of the literature on integrated and holistic treatment approaches of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorder (SUD) diagnoses is presented. Perspectives on the etiology of PTSD‐SUD comorbidity and the inter‐relation of symptoms are explored.