Predictor Variables of PTSD Symptoms in School Victimization: A Retrospective Study with College Students

The literature has indicated that school victimization might favor the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. However, few studies have shown which variables are important in this process. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between explanatory variables (individual characteristics and aversive school experiences), and the development of PTSD symptoms, using an ordinal logistic regression model. To this end, 691 students of a public university situated in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, with a mean age of 21.1 years responded to a Brazilian version of the retrospective instrument Student Alienation and Trauma Survey–R (SATS–R). Significant variables for the regression model were age, duration of the worst school experience and subsequent discomfort, and relational and verbal violence victimization. In general, the greater the discomfort experienced by the student, the longer the duration of the worst school experience, the older the student and the more verbal and relational victimization episodes experienced, the greater the possibility of displaying clinically significant symptoms of PTSD.     

The effect of emotional faces on eye movements and attention

Using a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm, response times to a previously ignored item occurring after a target were measured. Using this procedure, it was possible to plot the time course of inhibition following target selection. Results showed that post-target distractors produce negative priming for at least 270 ms after target presentation. It is suggested that stimuli presented immediately after a target may be inhibited in order to prevent temporal binding errors. The results are discussed in relation to two selective attention paradigms: negative priming and the attentional blink.     

Empathy,estradiol and androgen levels in 9-year-old children

The aim of this study was to analyze the possible relationship between circulating hormone levels (testosterone, androstenedione and estradiol) and empathy, as well as to identify any possible gender differences in this relationship. The subjects were 123 9-year-old Caucasian children (57 boys and 66 girls). Bryant’s Empathy Index was used to measure empathy. Hormone levels were measured using an enzyme immunoassay technique in saliva samples. The Kruskal–Wallis test revealed the existence of interaction effects of estradiol-gender and testosterone-gender on empathy. Girls with low testosterone levels scored higher in Cognitive Empathy than girls with high testosterone levels. Boys with low estradiol levels scored higher in Affective Empathy than boys with high levels of this hormone. The results obtained open up new and interesting avenues of future research into the relationship between hormones and empathy in children.     

Differential Effects of Mother’s and Father’s Parenting on Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior: Child Sex Moderating

The current study examined the differential effects of maternal and paternal parenting on prosocial and antisocial behavior during middle childhood, and the moderating role of child sex. Parents of 96 boys and 107 girls (mean age?=?92.42?months, SD?=?3.52) completed different questionnaires to assess parenting and child behavior. All participants were Caucasian from south of Spain. Multiple hierarchical regressions (enter method) were performed to determine significant predictors of prosocial and antisocial behavior. The results showed that maternal and paternal hostility predicted an increase of externalizing problems in boys and girls (p?<?.001 in both sex groups). As well, Warmth/Induction of both parents predicted an increase in adaptive skills in boys and girls (p?<?.001 in both sex groups). On the other hand, differential effects of fathers’ and mothers’ parenting were found: both for boys and girls, maternal inconsistency positively predicted externalizing problems and negatively adaptive skills (p?<?.001 in both sex groups) and paternal overprotection positively predicted externalizing problems and negatively adaptive skills (p?<?.05 in both sex groups). Finally, maternal coercion negatively predicted adaptive skills in boys and girls (p?<?.05 in both sex groups); however, it increased externalizing problems only in girls (p?<?.05), whereas maternal permissiveness only increased these problems in boys (p?<?.01 in both cases). The discussion highlighted the importance of considering both parents’ and children’s sex to further knowledge of parenting styles affecting children’s behaviors.     

Stroop interference effects in partially colored Stroop words

In the Stroop task word reading is thought to be automatic since it runs without intentional monitoring and is difficult to avoid. This view has recently been challenged by observations that Stroop interference is reduced when only part of the Stroop word is colored. In this study we asked whether the extent of Stroop interference varies with the position of the colored letter(s). We observed that Stroop interference was smallest when the first letter(s) were colored and largest when either the last letter(s) or whole word were colored. On these findings we suggest that colored and noncolored parts of partially colored words are processed separately and differently, and that selection of the color dimension for explicit report entails inhibition of the to-be-ignored colored letters.     

Comparison between two continuous performance tests for identifying ADHD: Traditional vs. virtual realityEjecución continua para la detección del TDAH: pruebas tradicionales frente a la realidad virtual

Background/Objective: Continuous Performance Tests (CPTs) have demonstrated validity when differentiating children with ADHD from healthy controls. However, these CPTs have limitations such as low ecological validity. New CPTs based on the use of Virtual Reality (VR) have appeared as supposedly improved methods for assessing ADHD. This study aims to compare the discriminant value of attentional variables produced by a VR CPT (Aula Nesplora) with that of variables from a traditional CPT (Test of Variables of Attention; TOVA) for identifying ADHD. Method: A total of 338 children aged between 6 and 16 years old (M = 10.84, SD = 3.01) participated in the study: 31.95% correspond to the inattentive presentation, 15.38% to the impulsive-hyperactive presentation, 22.78% to the combined presentation, and the remaining 29.88% correspond to children without ADHD. Results: Results indicated that Aula Nesplora predicts ADHD presentations better than TOVA. It also differentiates better between ADHD and non-ADHD students. Conclusions: These findings show the potential advantages of using virtual reality in ADHD assessment, as it facilitates the diagnosis of ADHD and the differentiation of its presentations in a realistic environment.     

Temperament and Behavioral Problems in Young Children: the Protective Role of Extraversion and Effortful Control

This study examines the relationships between temperament traits (negative affectivity, extraversion and effortful control) and children’s externalized and internalized behavioral problems. The sample was composed of 424 children from the ages of 3–6 years old (60% male). Use of a hierarchical regression analysis revealed direct and interactive effects. Specifically, reactive temperamental traits were found to predict behavioral problems in children: negative affect tended to increase externalizing problems, and extraversion tended to decrease internalizing problems. The regulative temperament trait (“effortful control”) negatively predicted both internalizing and externalizing problems. To explore moderating effects, post‐hoc analyses were conducted using the Johnson–Neyman technique with Hayes’s PROCESS. Our analyses revealed that high levels of negative affect (characterized in our study by a higher load of anger or frustration than of fear or sadness) makes a significant and strong contribution to internalizing problems when effortful control reaches its highest levels. Thus, our results endure the protective role of extraversion as preventing the emergence of internalizing problems, and the protective role of effortful control as preventing the emergence of both, internalizing and externalizing, problems. The results also alert to the potential risk of a combination between high levels of effortful control and high levels of negative affect. Overall findings are discussed with regard to previous and future research.     

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,differential diagnosis with blood oxygenation,beta/theta ratio,and attention measures

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the disorders causing the greatest impact, conditioning academic learning, quality of concentration, and capacity for self-regulation and control. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (DSM-IV-TR) establishes the most commonly accepted criteria for diagnosis (Inattentive: ADHD-I, Hyperactive/impulsive: ADHD-HI, and Combined: ADHD-C), but currently, diverse studies disagree about whether to address it as a continuum with different degrees of intensity (subtype structure) or as specific disorders (counterposed profiles). Prior research has tested the hypothesis of differential categories with performance measures and cortical activation. The goal proposed herein is to confirm these results, incorporating a new measure, near-infrared hemoencefalography (nir-HEG), in order to control cortical activation through levels of blood oxygenation. For this purpose, we used a sample of 205 children between 8 and 13 years (105 control group, 28 with ADHD-I, 35 with ADHD-HI, and 37 with ADHD-C), administering a continuous performance test (TOVA), quantified electroencephalogram (Q-EEG), and nir-HEG. Results reflect the counterposed profiles hypothesis instead of the degrees of intensity, although the latter is more habitual and generalized.     

Dissociating object- and response-based components of negative priming through effects of practice

The negative priming (NP) effect is the slowing of responses to an imperative stimulus (probe) that has recently been ignored (prime). Prevailing accounts of the phenomenon attribute it to a variety of causes, all centered on a representation of the stimulus event itself. However, we argue that the most commonly used NP paradigms confound stimulus- and response-based factors. In two experiments, we demonstrate the importance of response factors in producing NP and show clear empirical dissociations between object- and response-centered NP when studying their time courses over extended practice. When distractors compete for a response (response-based), the NP effect is both more robust and more resistant to the effects of practice. On the other hand, when prime distractors do not compete for response (object-based), they yield weaker NP effects that disappear with practice. We conclude that the NP effects shown in the most common procedures are produced by a combination of distinct factors that tend to act in the same direction.