Accuracy of Reported Community Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder

To compare community diagnoses of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) reported by parents to consensus diagnoses made using standardized tools plus clinical observation. 87 participants (85% male, average age 7.4 years), with reported community diagnosis of ASD were evaluated using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) (ADOS-2), Differential Ability Scale (DAS-II), and Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS-II). Detailed developmental and medical history was obtained from all participants. Diagnosis was based on clinical consensus of at least two expert clinicians, using test results, clinical observations, and parent report. 23% of participants with a reported community diagnosis of ASD were classified as non-spectrum based on our consensus diagnosis. ASD and non-spectrum participants did not differ on age at evaluation and age of first community diagnosis. Non-verbal IQ scores and Adaptive Behavior Composite scores were significantly higher in the non-spectrum group compared to the ASD group (104.5?±?21.7 vs. 80.1?±?21.6, p?<?.01; 71.1?±?15 versus 79.5?±?17.6, p?<?.05, respectively). Participants enrolled with community diagnosis of PDD-NOS were significantly more likely to be classified as non-spectrum on the study consensus diagnosis than Participants with Autism or Asperger (36% versus 9.5%, Odds Ratio?=?5.4, p?<?.05). This study shows suboptimal agreement between community diagnoses of ASD and consensus diagnosis using standardized instruments. These findings are based on limited data, and should be further studied, taking into consideration the influence of DSM 5 diagnostic criteria on ASD prevalence.     

Measuring well-being: A comparison of subjective well-being and PERMA

We compared Seligman’s PERMA model of well-being with Diener’s model of subjective well-being (SWB) to determine if the newer PERMA captured a type of well-being unique from the older SWB. Participants were 517 adults who completed self-report measures of SWB, PERMA, and VIA character strengths. Results from four analytic techniques suggest the factor underlying PERMA is capturing the same type of well-being as SWB. Confirmatory factor analysis yielded a latent correlation of r = 0.98 between SWB and PERMA. Exploratory structural equation modeling found two highly related factors (r = 0.85) that did not map onto PERMA and SWB. SWB and PERMA factors showed similar relationships with 24 character strengths (average correlation difference = 0.02). Latent profile analyses yielded subgroups of people who merely scored high, low, or mid-range on well-being indicators. Our findings suggest that while lower-order indicators SWB and PERMA have unique features, they converge onto a single well-being factor.     

Bidirectional Relations Between Parenting and Prosocial Behavior for Asian and European-American Emerging Adults

The current study examined bidirectional relations between parenting and prosocial behavior for both European- and Asian-American emerging adults. Participants included 297 undergraduate students (M _age ?=?19.61 at Time 1, 59% European-American) who reported on prosocial behavior toward family members, positive parenting, and negative/controlling parenting at two time points, 1 year apart. Cross-lagged models supported bidirectional relations between parenting and prosocial behavior with particular emphasis on the role of the emerging adults’ prosocial behavior on subsequent parenting. Also, the bidirectional relations between parenting and emerging adults’ prosocial behavior were different for mothers and fathers. Results varied slightly as a function of ethnicity. Discussion focuses on the implications for understanding the multifaceted nature of prosocial development in emerging adulthood.     

Predicting preferences for sex acts: Which traits matter most, and why?

Several dispositional traits have been examined in mating contexts by evolutionary psychologists. Such traits include life history strategy, sociosexuality, and the Big Five. Recently, scholars have examined the validity and predictive utility of mating intelligence, a new construct designed to capture the cognitive processes that underlie mating psychology. The current research employed a battery of dispositional traits that include all these constructs in an effort to predict preferences for different kinds of sex acts. Sexual acts vary wildly, and the ability to predict this variability may well hold an important key to underlying sexual strategies. A sample of 607 young adults (144 males and 463 females) completed measures of each of these traits as well as a measure of preference for specific sex acts (along with providing information on their sexual orientation). The traits predicted variability in preference for sex acts - with mating intelligence being the most predictive (for instance, mating intelligence was positively related to preference for vaginal intercourse across the sexes). Sex differences emerged (e.g., males show a stronger preference for anal sex than do females). Discussion focuses on (a) sex differences in preference for sex acts along with (b) why the trait variables predicted preferences in sex acts.     

The patient in the family and the family in the patient

The notion that the family is “the unit of care” for family doctors has been enigmatic and controversial. Yet systems theory and the biopsychosocial model that results when it is imported into medicine make the family system an indispensable and important component of family medicine. The challenge, therefore, is to provide a coherent, plausible account of the role of the family in family practice. Through an extended case presentation and commentary, we elaborate two views of the family in family medicine — treating the patient in the family and treating the family in the patient — and defend both as appropriate foci for care by family doctors. The practical problem that arises when the family is introduced into health care is deciding when to concentrate on the family system. The moral problems that arise concern how extensively doctors may become involved in the personal lives of their patients and families. The patient-centered clinical method provides a strategy for handling both problems. Thus, making the family a focus of care in family medicine can be justified on theoretical, practical, and moral grounds.     

Cooperative social coordination and aggression: II. Effects of sex and housing among three strains of intact laboratory rats differing in aggressiveness

Pairs of laboratory rats were rewarded with sugar solution for cooperating by means of synchronized shuttling in a rectangular chamber. Learning and performance were compared in males and females of three strains--S3, Charles River, and Wistar--ordered in terms of decreasing levels of aggressiveness. In addition, same-sex pairs of each strain were housed either together or individually. When housed together, males and females of all strains eventually cooperated at comparable levels, with rates of acquisition across strains inversely related to their aggressiveness. Individual housing, in contrast, was associated with severe deficits in males of the S3 and CR strains linked to violent fighting and prolonged freezing by animals who had previously been defeated. All other individually housed groups, including males of the Wistar strain and females of all strains, were able to cooperate, including S3 females whose violent fighting was not associated with immobility by defeated animals. In general, the majority of groups were able to cooperate despite differences in aggressiveness associated with sex, strain, and housing. Possible processes in this accommodation are discussed.