Effects of a Brief Parenting Intervention In Shelters For Mothers And Their Children Experiencing Homelessness

This study was designed to examine the effectiveness of an evidence-based parenting program—Triple P Positive Parenting Program—in shelter settings for families experiencing homelessness. The intervention has not previously been evaluated in a shelter setting, where there is a critical need for evidence-based parenting programs. Using a within-group pre- and post-intervention with 3-month follow-up design, 39 mothers residing in a shelter with a child ages 2–6 years participated. Results of this preliminary study showed positive effects of Triple P Discussion Groups. There were significant improvements in mother-reported parenting practices and child behavior across time, but no change in child maltreatment risk as measured by the Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory. Mothers rated satisfaction with the program high immediately after the group and again three weeks later. Results showed Triple P Discussion Groups are acceptable and have some positive effects for this vulnerable population in need of parenting support. We discuss implications of findings, limitations of the study (including a 33% attrition rate), and recommendations for further study.

     

The effect of delayed responding on Stroop-like task performance among preschoolers

Forty-four preschoolers completed 2 conditions of a Stroop-like procedure (e.g., saying "boat" for car and "car" for boat) that differed in whether a 3-s delay was imposed before responding. The test card was visible during the delay period for half of the children and occluded for the other children. Preschoolers' interference control was significantly improved in the delay condition. There was no difference between the two delay variants (test card visible or occluded). Children were more prone to interference as testing progressed regardless of whether the delay was present. These results suggest that delays effectively reduce interference by reducing the potency of the competing response during test trials, although memory demands may moderate the effectiveness of delays.     

Recruiting and Retaining High-Risk Adolescents into Family-Based HIV Prevention Intervention Research

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of evidence-based recruitment and retention strategies for a longitudinal, family-based HIV prevention intervention study targeting adolescents in psychiatric care by (1) determining consent rate (recruitment), rate of participation at the first intervention session (retention), and follow-up attendance rate (retention); and (2) examining socio-demographic factors, family-level processes, sexual risk-related indices, and intervention factors (i.e., treatment arm) associated with study retention. Only one-third of the families contacted ultimately enrolled in the study. 81% of those enrolled participated in the workshop and 72% attended the booster sessions with no significant differences between families on any variable based on attendance. Retention over 1?year was 85% and did not differ by treatment arm. Strategies employed were successful at retaining families once they were enrolled. Findings highlight barriers to enrollment for adolescents in psychiatric care and suggest that it may be critical to integrate HIV prevention programs within community-based mental health services in order to counteract recruitment challenges.     

Scientific Thought

Using Pritchard's technique, the frequency and duration of total disappearance of stabilized images were compared using two reporting procedures: i.e., (a) a running commentary and (b) only “off” or “on.” Two target figures were employed: a simple triangle and a five-by-five grid of squares. The incidence and duration of complete disappearance was (a) less with the commentary than with the off-on procedure and (b) less with the grid than with the triangle. Hypotheses to account for the differences are discussed.     

Reflection-Impulsivity and Locus of Control in Emotionally Disturbed Children

Impulsive and reflective emotionally disturbed children were compared on their perceived locus of control. Contrary to prediction, there were no differences in locus of control for these two groups.     

From Standardization to Adaptation: Clinical Trials and the Moral Economy of Anticipation

Hailed as the gold standard, the randomized controlled trial (RCT) occupies a hegemonic position at the top of evidence-based medicine’s hierarchy of knowledge. It is testament to the methodology’s capacity for standardization that it can so readily be spoken of in the singular: the RCT. Under what conditions, then, is it possible to speak of change in the gold standard? Since the 1950s, alternative versions of the RCT have been advocated for under the banner of ‘adaptive design’. Adaptive designs allow investigators to make pre-planned changes to a trial on the basis of accruing information while the experiment is ongoing. Initially a niche topic of methodological debate among biostatisticians, the approach is becoming widespread in mainstream drug development. A genealogical analysis exposes the discursive moves used to justify and popularize adaptation, from a focus on patient well-being and the greater good in the 1960s and 1970s, to efficiency and virtualism in the 1990s and 2000s. Changing discourses of time and patienthood have facilitated a move away from standardization as the singular logic of trials towards an appreciation of flexibility, undergirded by probabilistic methodologies. Adams et al.’s [(2009). Anticipation: Technoscience, life, affect, temporality, Subjectivity, 28, pp. 246–265] conceptual framework of anticipation illuminates this evolving moral economy of medical research, in which modes of knowledge production which claim to know the future are supplanting the traditional certainties of fixed and standardized experimental designs. Predictable uncertainty is the currency of this emerging economy, which capitalizes on computer simulation and ever more sophisticated tools of prediction to leverage credibility.     

The role of executive functions in human prospective interval timing

Human timing is thought to be based on the output of an internal clock. Whilst the functioning of this clock is well documented, it is unclear which other cognitive resources may moderate timing. Brown (2006) and Rattat (2010) suggest that the central executive of working memory may be recruited during timing. However it seems likely that the fractionated executive component processes identified by Miyake et al. (2000) and Fisk and Sharp (2004) may differentially contribute to timing performance; further exploration of this was the aim of the present study. An interference paradigm was employed in which participants completed an interval production task, and tasks which have been shown to tap the four key executive component processes (shifting, inhibition, updating and access) under single and dual-task conditions. Comparison of single and dual-task performance indicated that timing always became more variable when concurrently performing a second task. Bidirectional interference only occurred between the interval production task and the memory updating task, implying that both tasks are competing for the same executive resource of updating. There was no evidence in the current study to suggest that switching, inhibition or access was involved in timing, however they may be recruited under more difficult task conditions.     

The role of cognitive, emotional and personality factors in the experience of fatigue in a university and community sample

The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of cognitive, emotional and personality factors to the experience of fatigue severity in healthy adult individuals. Specifically, the study examined whether fatigue catastrophising and emotional distress mediated the relationships between neuroticism, general irrational and rational thoughts to fatigue severity. One hundred and eighty nine university students and community volunteers completed self-report questionnaires assessing fatigue catastrophising and symptom severity, neuroticism, general rational and irrational thoughts and emotional distress. A series of correlational and path analyses were conducted to test the study hypotheses. Neuroticism and more general negative, irrational cognitions were associated with elevated fatigue catastrophising and fatigue severity, whereas more adaptive, rational cognitions were related to lower fatigue catastrophising and fatigue severity. Both elevated fatigue catastrophising and emotional distress uniquely and simultaneously mediated the relationships between irrational and rational cognitions and neuroticism to fatigue severity. These findings demonstrate that cognitions play a role in fatigue severity. The results have implications in the assessment and treatment of fatigue disturbances in the general community.     

Sex differences in same-sex direct aggression and sociosexuality: The role of risky impulsivity

Sex differences in same-sex direct aggression and sociosexuality are among the most robust in the literature. The present article evaluated the hypothesis that both can be explained by a sex difference in the willingness to take impulsive risks. Self-report data were gathered from 3,775 respondents (1,514 female) on same-sex aggression, sociosexuality, and risky impulsivity. Risky impulsivity was higher for men than for women (d = .34) and path analysis showed it to be a common cause of same-sex aggression and sociosexuality for both sexes. However, it did not completely mediate the sex differences in same-sex aggression and sociosexuality. The results suggest that same-sex aggression and sociosexual behavior share a common psychological mechanism, but that fully explaining sex differences in aggression requires a more sensitive assay of impulsive risk and a consideration of dyadic processes.