Multidisciplinary Early Intervention for Preschoolers with Externalizing Behavior Problems and Language Impairment: Results from an Open Trial

Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment - The purpose of the study was to a) examine school readiness (SR) outcomes in preschoolers with externalizing behavior problems (EBPs) and...     

Treatment Response among Preschoolers with EBP: The Role of Social Functioning

The purpose of the study was to identify profiles of social functioning for preschoolers with externalizing behavior problems (EBP) and examine how profiles are predictive of response to a behavioral treatment program. 139 preschoolers with EBP participated in an 8-week Summer Treatment Program for Pre-Kindergartners (STP-PreK). Latent profiles of social functioning were created from parent and teacher rated atypicality and social skills scales, along with child performance on an emotion knowledge and hostile attribution task. Baseline and treatment outcomes included behavioral, academic, and executive functioning measures. Latent profile analyses resulted in two profiles (e.g., average and low) marked by differences in social skills, emotion knowledge and rates of atypical behaviors. Children in the low social functioning group had higher teacher rated hyperactivity and attention problems at baseline (d?=?.44 & 1.07), as well as lower IQ (d?=?.39). Children in the low social functioning group also had poorer treatment response as they had lower executive functioning scores (β?=??.17, p?< .05) at the completion of treatment. IQ moderated the association between social functioning profiles and behavioral treatment outcomes, such that lower social functioning was only associated with higher rates of attention problems for children with average IQ. Findings highlight the differential impact of social functioning in predicting treatment outcomes.     

The multiple-stimulus-without-replacement preference assessment tool and its predictive validity

This study demonstrates the use of two web-based programs, one to identify video preferences and the other to assess their reinforcing effects. We used the Multiple-Stimulus-Without-Replacement Preference Assessment Tool (MSWO PAT) to identify the video preference hierarchies of seven participants, ages 4–11 years old. We then used a customized reinforcer assessment program that arranged a concurrent-chains preparation with programmed conjugate schedules of reinforcement. Button presses emitted by participants modulated the quality (volume and opacity) of selected videos on a moment-to-moment basis, allowing us to identify the reinforcing effects of the videos in little time. The results showed that the preference assessment had predictive value for five of seven participants. We discuss the MSWO PAT, parameters that may affect the identification of preferences and the use of conjugate schedules to identify reinforcers.     

Quality of Life of Children and Adolescents with Short Stature: The Twofold Contribution of Physical Growth and Adaptive Height-Related Cognitive Beliefs

This study aimed to examine the health-related quality of life (HrQoL), coping, height-related beliefs, and social support of children/adolescents with short stature, the sociodemographic, clinical, and psychosocial variables associated with HrQoL, and the moderating role of sociodemographic and clinical variables on the associations between psychosocial variables and HrQoL. 114 Portuguese children/adolescents with short stature, aged 8–18 years old, completed the Quality of Life in Short Stature Youth questionnaire and the Satisfaction with Social Support Scale. Regression analyses explained 54% of the variance of HrQoL, with significant main effects of current height deviation and height-related beliefs, and a significant interaction effect between beliefs and diagnosis. Results suggest that a multidisciplinary therapeutic approach, not only focused on hormone treatment to boost physical growth, but also including psychosocial interventions focused on the modification of height-related beliefs, may contribute to improve the HrQoL of pediatric patients with short stature.

     

Forced treadmill exercise prevents oxidative stress and memory deficits following chronic cerebral hypoperfusion in the rat

Physical activity impacts functional recovery following stroke in humans, however its effects in experimental animals submitted to chronic cerebral hypoperfusion have not been investigated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic potential of exercise, as assessed by cognitive activity in the Morris water maze and the brain oxidative status, through measurement of macromolecules damage, TBARS levels and total cellular thiols, as well as antioxidant enzymes in hippocampus, striatum and cerebral cortex. Adult male Wistar rats were submitted to the modified permanent bilateral occlusion of the common carotid arteries (2VO) method, with right common carotid artery being first occluded, and tested 3 months after the ischemic event. The effects of three different exercise protocols were examined: pre-ischemia, post-ischemia and pre+post-ischemia. Physical exercise consisted of sessions of 20-min, 3 times per week during 12 weeks (moderate intensity). Rats were submitted to cognitive assessment, in both reference and working spatial memory and after the last testing session were sacrificed to have oxidative stress parameters determined. Hypoperfusion caused a significant cognitive deficit in both spatial water maze tasks and this effect was reversed in rats receiving exercise protocol post and pre+post the ischemic event. Moreover, forced regular treadmill exercise regulated oxidative damage and antioxidant enzyme activity in the hippocampus. These results suggest that physical exercise protects against cognitive and biochemical impairments caused by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion.     

Neurological subtle signs and cognitive development: A study in late childhood and adolescence

Introduction and Aim: Neurological subtle signs (NSS) are often observed during the neurological examination of children and tend to disappear with age. Their persistence into late adolescence or young adulthood has been related to psychiatric and neurocognitive disorders. To provide a better understanding of their functional basis, a longitudinal correlational study with neurocognitive measurements was performed.

Method: We conducted multiple regression and correlation analyses of NSS with demographic and cognitive measures on a subset of 341 healthy children (56% males), taking part in a longitudinal dental study. Participants, whose ages ranged between 11–15 years, at first evaluation, undertook yearly, during 5 years, a 6-item NSS exam (producing a total score ranging between 0–18) and a comprehensive battery of neurocognitive tests. Effects of age, gender, IQ, and 7 neurocognitive factors on NSS were analyzed.

Results: Over the years, NSS scores correlated consistently with selective attention (Stroop test), motor speed (finger tapping), and visuomotor speed (pegboard speed).

Discussion: These results suggest that the disappearance of NSS in late childhood and adolescence occurs primarily in parallel with the development of motor and visuomotor functions and secondarily in relation to higher order functions such as selective attention (Stroop) and executive control (B-A Trails difference).     

Treinta y cinco años del pensamiento divergente: teoría de la creatividad de Guilford

Resumen

Se analiza cómo ha evolucionado el concepto de pensamiento divergente en la teoría de Guilford. Las primeras definiciones en el año 50 dentro del marco del «Proyecto de Investigación de Aptitudes» postulan una serie de rasgos distintivos para el pensamiento divergente que luego serían objeto de confirmación o refutación a partir de los estudios factoriales.

Dentro del modelo de la «Estructura del Intelecto» de Guilford, se ha ido delimitando la importancia de tales rasgos modificando la definición inicial de algunos, como la sensibilidad a los problemas que, aunque fue concebida como un factor de evaluación, finalmente su definición factorial es de una aptitud de conocimiento; rechazando la importancia de otros para la creatividad, como los factores de análisis y síntesis o, finalmente potenciando otros que inicialmente tuvieron menor consideración, como las aptitudes para las transformaciones que, son consideradas por Guilford como una contribución tan importante para la creatividad como la producción divergente.     

Quest for optimum human population per nation

The world is being saturated with population to a point where its life‐support systems may be in danger of losing their ability to maintain environmental stability. Thus, there is an urgent need for scientists and decision makers to develop working models in which information about the population, resource exhaustion, and pollution of each nation is contained. The criteria for determining optimum human population are reviewed, and a bionomic model that incorporates the complex web of economic and political systems within an ecological framework is presented to solve the problem of how large a population each nation should have.     

Emotions,narrative and change

There is a wide agreement that emotions are central to the evaluation and understanding of change processes in psychotherapy. Unfortunately, most of the debate on the role of emotions has been influenced by the reductionist view of ‘psychophysiological symbolism’ (Averill 1996). We defend the position that, in order to understand their role in psychotherapy fully, we need to move in the direction of a more complex view of emotions. This paper presents a view of emotionsas social constructed phenomena operating via language and narrative. We present research suggesting that these narratives may be an essential process for understanding psychological disorders, how these disorders are developed and, finally, how they can be changed.