A Comparison of Phonological Awareness Skills in Early French Immersion and English Children

This 2-year study examined the effects of early second language exposure on phonological awareness skills. Syllable, onset-rime and phoneme awareness skills of 72 anglophone children attending English or French immersion programs in primary and grade 1 were investigated. Three-way mixed ANOVAS revealed the following effects and interactions. In terms of grade effect, grade 1 students performed significantly better than primary students on phoneme and onset-rime tasks. A stimulus language effect was observed for the three levels of phonological awareness. All children performed better on English tasks than on French ones. Interaction effects of stimulus language by program were revealed for phoneme as well as syllable tasks. Posthoc analyses revealed that French students performed better on English phoneme and syllable tasks than on French, while English students performed better than French immersion students on French syllable tasks. Correlational analyses revealed significant relationships between reading and phoneme and onset-rime phonological awareness tasks regardless of program of instruction (English, French immersion) or language of reading test (English, French). Syllable awareness was only significantly correlated with the French non-word reading task for the French immersion students.     

The Mediation Effect of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms on the Relationship of Intimate Partner Violence and IFN-γ Levels

Background: Women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) report greater stress and negative health consequences than nonabused women. Although an association between psychological stress and altered immune function has been shown, IPV studies have not investigated this relationship. Objective: This study explored the association of IPV with mental health symptoms and an immune marker to determine if posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms mediate the effect of IPV on pro-inflammatory (IFN-γ) cytokine levels. Methods: A cross-sectional, comparative design was used to compare 62 women with IPV and 39 nonabused women. Results: Mean IFN-γ values were higher in abused women and in women with current PTSD symptoms. There were no significant relationships with potential confounding variables that could provide an alternative explanation for the increase in production of proinflammatory cytokines. Conclusions: PTSD symptoms mediate the association between IPV and IFN-γ levels and may partially explain the association of mental health symptoms with physical health sequelae in IPV.     

Speechreading skill and visual movement sensitivity are related in deaf speechreaders

Individual speechreading abilities have been linked with a range of cognitive and language-processing factors. The role of specifically visual abilities in relation to the processing of visible speech is less studied. Here we report that the detection of coherent visible motion in random-dot kinematogram displays is related to speechreading skill in deaf, but not in hearing, speechreaders. A control task requiring the detection of visual form showed no such relationship. Additionally, people born deaf were better speechreaders than hearing people on a new test of silent speechreading.     

Psychopathic traits in adolescent offenders: an evaluation of criminal history, clinical, and psychosocial correlates

Although a large body of research has established the relevance of psychopathy to adult offenders, its relevance to adolescent offenders is far less clear. The current study evaluated the clinical, psychosocial and criminal correlates of psychopathic traits in a sample of 226 male and female incarcerated adolescent offenders. According to an 18-item version of the Psychopathy Checklist-Youth Version (PCL-YV; Forth, Kosson, & Hare, 2003), only 9.4% exhibited a high level of psychopathic traits (PCL-YV>/=25). Consistent with past research, higher PCL-YV scores were positively associated with self-reported delinquency and aggressive behavior and were unrelated to emotional difficulties. Although higher PCL-YV scores were associated with the experience of physical abuse, the only psychosocial factor to predict PCL-YV scores was a history of non-parental living arrangements (e.g. foster care). In terms of criminality, a violent/versatile criminal history was positively associated with psychopathic traits. However, PCL-YV scores were unrelated to participants' official criminal records for total, non-violent, violent, and technical violation convictions. In conclusion, the data partially support the construct validity of psychopathy with adolescent offenders, but some inconsistencies with prior adult and adolescent psychopathy research were evident. These issues are discussed.     

Sex offenders and actuarial risk assessments: ethical considerations

When assessing the recidivism risk of previously convicted sex offenders, the relevant ethical standards and practice guidelines obligate psychologists to acknowledge numerous limits related to their data and conclusions. For the actuarial instruments used in these assessments, the highest rates of classification accuracy are associated with greater specificity compared with sensitivity. Selecting cut-off scores to maximize sensitivity results in an inordinate frequency of false positive classifications. Attempts at maximizing specificity create an undesirable frequency of false negative classifications.Unfortunately, adjusted actuarial assessment cannot remedy these problems created by the sensitivity-specificity tradeoff. As an unstandardized procedure, the accuracy of adjusted actuarial assessment is severely limited. Consequently, civil proceedings for previously convicted sexual offenders rely on assessments of very limited accuracy. Undertaking these assessments, therefore, may be inconsistent with relevant ethical standards and practice guidelines.     

Adult attachment,the transition to parenthood,and depressive symptoms

Testing a model suggested by J. Bowlby (1988), this study investigated how a personal vulnerability (attachment ambivalence) interacts with perceptions of deficient spousal support before and during a major life stressor (the transition to parenthood) to predict pre-to-postnatal increases in depressive symptoms. Highly ambivalent women who entered parenthood perceiving either less support or greater anger from their husbands experienced pre-to-postnatal increases in depressive symptoms at 6 months postpartum. The associations between these 2 prenatal interaction terms and pre-to-postnatal increases in depressive symptoms were mediated by perceptions of declining spousal support across the transition period. Moreover, for highly ambivalent women, the association between prenatal and postnatal depression scores was mediated by perceptions of the amount of support available from their husbands.     

Sociotropy and autonomy: an examination of interpersonal and work adjustment

One-hundred and sixty-five undergraduate students completed measures of sociotropy, autonomy, and adjustment. Autonomy was associated with poor social adjustment but was not associated with work role adjustment. Sociotropy failed to evidence a significant relation with work role or social adjustment. In past research, autonomy has primarily been theorized to contribute to depression when achievement needs are not met. Our results raise the possibility that autonomy may be linked to depression through the pathway of low social support and interpersonal difficulties. In addition, the results suggest that sociotropic individuals may not have objectively poor social adjustment despite their concerns regarding this area. Likewise, autonomous individuals may not have better or worse work adjustment despite their efforts to achieve.     

An ER-fMRI investigation of morphological inflection in German reveals that the brain makes a distinction between regular and irregular forms

The hypothesis that morphological processing is supported by a mental dictionary of stored entries plus a set of mental computations based on rules is examined using event-related fMRI. If a rules-plus-memory model () reflects the actual organization of the language faculty, two distinct patterns of brain activation should be observed for production of German irregular and regular noun and verb inflections. If a connectionist alternative to the rules-and-memory model (, and many others since), which seeks to explain the production of both irregular and regular forms within a single associative memory mechanism, is correct, there should be no neural differentiation between German regular and irregular inflection. The results we report support the existence of substantially differing patterns of activation for regulars vs. irregulars, an outcome that is consistent with the two-component rules-plus-memory account.     

Diagnostic status and symptomatic behavior of hard-to-manage preschool children in middle childhood and early adolescence

Followed 2 cohorts of hard-to-manage preschool children and comparison children without early problems to middle childhood and early adolescence. Children with early problems, especially problems that were still evident at school entry, were more likely to meet diagnostic criteria for an externalizing diagnosis at follow-up. Hard-to-manage children in Cohort 1 with problems that persisted from ages 3 through 9 years were much more likely to meet diagnostic criteria at age 13 than children whose early problems were less stable in elementary school. Similarly, hard-to-manage boys in Cohort 2 whose problems persisted at age 6 were more likely to meet criteria for an externalizing diagnosis at age 9 than hard-to-manage boys whose problems appeared less stable at age 6. Across cohorts, children with persistent problems had higher levels of symptoms and more varied symptoms at ages 3 and 4 and over the course of development.