Differential Genetic and Environmental Influences on Reactive and Proactive Aggression in Children

While significant heritability for childhood aggression has been claimed, it is not known whether there are differential genetic and environmental contributions to proactive and reactive forms of aggression in children. This study quantifies genetic and environmental contributions to these two forms of aggression in an ethnically diverse urban sample of 9–10 year old twins (N = 1219), and compares results across different informants (child self-report, mother, and teacher ratings) using the Reactive–Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ). Confirmatory factor analysis of RPQ items indicated a significant and strong fit for a two-factor proactive–reactive model which was significantly superior to a one-factor model and which replicated across gender as well as the three informant sources. Males scored significantly higher than females on both self-report reactive and proactive aggression, findings that replicated on mother and teacher versions of the RPQ. Asian–Americans scored lower than most ethnic groups on reactive aggression yet were equivalent to Caucasians on proactive aggression. African–Americans scored higher than other ethnic groups on all measures of aggression except caregiver reports. Heritable influences were found for both forms of aggression across informants, but while boys’ self-reports revealed genetic influences on proactive (50%) and reactive (38%) aggression, shared and non-shared environmental influences almost entirely accounted for girls’ self-report reactive and proactive aggression. Although genetic correlations between reactive and proactive aggression were significant across informants, there was evidence that the genetic correlation was less than unity in boys self reported aggression, indicating that genetic factors differ for proactive and reactive aggression. These findings provide the first evidence for varying genetic and environmental etiologies for reactive and proactive aggression across gender, and provide additional support for distinction between these two forms of aggression.     

Attentional mechanisms associated with repressive distancing

This research explores the role of attentional shift and disengagement in repressive distancing. During a target-detection task in which emotional and neutral facial expressions were used as cues, participants received performance feedback intended to elicit a negative emotional reaction that rendered the task either threatening or not threatening to self-concept. When the task was perceived to threaten self-concept, repressors distanced themselves by rapidly disengaging their attention from the facial expressions rather than by slowly shifting or not shifting their attention to the facial expressions. Attentional disengagement was accompanied by sympathetic nervous system activity suggestive of a defense response. This research provides further insight into the nature and consequences of the interplay of dispositional tendencies, situational contexts, and higher order cognitive influences in attentional behavior.     

An Examination of the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory‐3 Correctional Scale in a College Student Population

In this study, the authors examined the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory‐3 Correctional scale's sensitivity and specificity at detecting college students' illegal behaviors. Sensitivity was strong, but specificity was weak. Implications for counseling and suggestions for future research are included.     

Assessing preference in elders with dementia using multimedia and verbal pleasant events schedules

The current study compared an abbreviated oral interview version of the Pleasant Events Schedule – Alzheimer's Disease (PES‐AD) to a multimedia‐supplemented version. Both measures identified multiple preferred items and their scores were moderately correlated (r = .481). Direct observations were conducted to determine whether either of the two measures predicted subsequent engagement. For all nine individuals with dementia, items endorsed as preferred by both versions of the PES‐AD resulted in high levels of engagement and items endorsed as non‐preferred items on both measures resulted in low to moderate levels of engagement. Individuals with MMSE scores of 10 or higher had more stable and differentiated patterns of engagement than individuals with scores below 10. For individuals with higher MMSE scores, items endorsed only by the multimedia version resulted in high engagement levels (i.e., true positive) while items endorsed only on the verbal presentation resulted in low levels (i.e., false positive). Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Distress, coping, and blogging: comparing new myspace users by their intention to blog.

New Myspace.com users (N = 134, mean age 24.5 years) completed a questionnaire about their intent to blog and several psychosocial variables. Intending bloggers scored higher on psychological distress, self-blame, and venting and scored lower on social integration and satisfaction with number of online and face-to-face friends. Intending bloggers may view this activity as a potential mechanism for coping with distress in situations in which they feel inadequately linked with social supports.     

Psychosocial and Moral Development of PTSD‐Diagnosed Combat Veterans

Two related studies were conducted in order to investigate whether psychosocial and moral development appeared to have been disrupted and arrested in veterans diagnosed as having posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Study 1 was devoted to developing a measure of late adolescence, early adulthood, and adulthood stages of psychosocial development. In Study 2, a sample of 32 PTSD‐diagnosed and 32 PTSD‐free veterans participated. The PTSD‐diagnosed participants presented evidence of arrested psychosocial and moral development.     

Genetic and environmental bases of childhood antisocial behavior: a multi-informant twin study

Genetic and environmental influences on childhood antisocial and aggressive behavior (ASB) during childhood were examined in 9- to 10-year-old twins, using a multi-informant approach. The sample (605 families of twins or triplets) was socioeconomically and ethnically diverse, representative of the culturally diverse urban population in Southern California. Measures of ASB included symptom counts for conduct disorder, ratings of aggression, delinquency, and psychopathic traits obtained through child self-reports, teacher, and caregiver ratings. Multivariate analysis revealed a common ASB factor across informants that was strongly heritable (heritability was .96), highlighting the importance of a broad, general measure obtained from multiple sources as a plausible construct for future investigations of specific genetic mechanisms in ASB. The best fitting multivariate model required informant-specific genetic, environmental, and rater effects for variation in observed ASB measures. The results suggest that parents, children, and teachers have only a partly "shared view" and that the additional factors that influence the "rater-specific" view of the child's antisocial behavior vary for different informants. This is the first study to demonstrate strong heritable effects on ASB in ethnically and economically diverse samples.     

E-mail, decisional styles, and rest breaks.

E-mail is a common but problematic work application. A scale was created to measure tendencies to use e-mail to take breaks (e-breaking); and self-esteem and decisional style (vigilance, procrastination, buck-passing, hypervigilance) were used to predict the self-reported and actual e-mail behaviors of 133 participants (students and marketing employees). Individuals who were low in defensive avoidance (buck-passing) engaged in more e-mailing per week, both in time spent on e-mail and message volume. E-breakers were more likely to engage in behavioral procrastination and spent more time on personal e-mail.     

Experiencing education in the new Christian schools in the United Kingdom: listening to the male graduates

The new independent Christian schools developed by parents and evangelical churches in the United Kingdom since the late 1960s remain controversial among both Christian and secular educators. In response to this controversy, the present study traced 106 men who had graduated from these schools between 1985 and 2003 and analysed their evaluation of the education they had received in these schools within four main themes: the quality of the education, the context of Christian and moral nurture, the quality of relationships (among the pupils, with the teachers and with the wider world) and preparation received for life after leaving school. Although there were some issues of criticism, the balance of opinion among the former pupils within all four areas was generally supportive of the new independent Christian schools, which were generally perceived as having prepared them well for life.