Developmental Risk and Young Children’s Regulatory Strategies: Predicting Behavior Problems at Age Five

Children with early developmental delays are at heightened risk for behavior problems and comorbid psychopathology. This study examined the trajectories of regulatory capabilities and their potentially mediating role in the development of behavior problems for children with and without early developmental delays. A sample of 231 children comprised of 137 typically developing children and 94 children with developmental delays were examined during mildly frustrating laboratory tasks across the preschool period (ages 3–5). Results indicated that children with delays had greater use of maladaptive strategies (distraction, distress venting) and lower use of adaptive strategies (constructive coping) than typically developing children. For both groups, strategies had similar rates of growth across time; maladaptive strategies decreased and adaptive strategies increased. The intercept of strategy use, but not the slope, was found to mediate the relation between developmental risk and externalizing behaviors. Findings support that dysregulation, rather than the developmental risk, may be responsible for the high levels of comorbid psychopathology.     

Effects of Child Psychopathology on Maternal Depression: The Mediating Role of Child-Related Acute and Chronic Stressors

In light of recent research highlighting the potential effects of children’s behavior on mothers’ mental health, the current study examined 679 mothers and their adolescent children from a community-based sample to determine the effects of youth psychopathology on maternal depression and levels of child-related stress in mothers’ lives. It was hypothesized that the number of past clinical diagnoses in 15-year-old adolescents would predict the presence of maternal depression at youth age 15 and 5 years later, as well as more episodes of maternal depression during the follow-up period. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that increased levels of child-related stress in mothers’ lives would mediate these relationships. Regression analyses indicated that past youth diagnoses do confer risk for the presence of current and future maternal depression, as well as more episodes of maternal depression, and mediation analyses revealed that child-related acute and chronic stress were mediators of the relationship between youth diagnoses and the presence of maternal depression at follow-up. Findings suggest that increased levels of child-related objective stress in mothers’ lives are one mechanism by which children’s psychopathology affects mothers’ future risk for depression.     

Temperament,Family Environment and Anxiety in Preschool Children

This research examines the relationship between behavioural inhibition (BI), family environment (overinvolved and negative parenting, parental anxiety and parent-child attachment) and anxiety in a sample of 202 preschool children. Participants were aged between 3 years 2 months and 4 years 5 months, 101 were male. A thorough methodology was used that incorporated data from multiple observations of behaviour, diagnostic interviews and questionnaire measures. The results showed that children categorised as behaviourally inhibited were significantly more likely to meet criteria for a range of anxiety diagnoses. Furthermore, a wide range of family environment factors, including maternal anxiety, parenting and attachment were significantly associated with BI, with inhibited children more likely to experience adverse family environment factors. No interactions between temperament and family environment were found for child anxiety. However, a significant relationship between current maternal anxiety and child anxiety was found consistently even after controlling for BI. Additionally, there was some evidence of a relationship between maternal negativity and child anxiety, after controlling for BI. The results may suggest that temperament and family environment operate as additive, rather than interactive risk factors for child anxiety. This is discussed in the context of theoretical models of child anxiety and directions for future research.     

Memory for details about people: familiarity,relatedness, and gender congruency

This study examines factors that influence memory for details about people. In two experiments, subjects learned fictitious details about familiar (friends, relatives) and/or unfamiliar individuals, and were tested both immediately and after a 1-week delay. To control for a confounding between familiarity and genetic relatedness in Experiment 1, in Experiment 2 specific relationships (identical twin, first cousin, acquaintance) were assigned to unfamiliar individuals. Across experiments, retention was enhanced for familiar compared to unfamiliar individuals, for friends/acquaintances compared to relatives, for more closely than distantly related individuals, and for individuals of the opposite gender as the subject.     

Testing orofacial abilities of children who stutter: the Movement, Articulation, Mandibular and Sensory awareness (MAMS) assessment procedure

Objective

The purpose of this article is to introduce a new assessment designed to measure the orofacial abilities of children who stutter (CWS), the Movement, Articulation, Mandibular and Sensory Awareness (MAMS) Orofacial Assessment. The new instrument was developed and validated to measure orofacial abilities in a comprehensive manner.

Design

A group of 43 CWS (mean age 13.10 years, S.D. 2.10 years) and a control group of 32 fluent children (mean age 13.4 years, S.D. 2.6 years) were tested with the new tool. It was hypothesized, that (a) the MAMS is a reliable and valid instrument to measure orofacial abilities in CWS, (b) fluent children have better orofacial abilities than CWS and (c) that the therapy outcome of CWS depend on their orofacial abilities.

Results

The MAMS Orofacial Assessment proved to be a valid and reliable instrument to assess orofacial abilities. Compared with their fluent peers, CWS had significantly worse orofacial abilities. CWS with better orofacial abilities had a better prognosis for therapy outcome.

Conclusions

The new instrument is a reliable and valid tool to measure orofacial abilities and MAMS distinguishes CWS and controls. Orofacial abilities are one set of factors that influence therapy outcome for CWS.Educational objectives: The reader will get an overview over of the literature on orofacial abilities in people who stutter and will learn about and be able to (1) describe different characteristics of orofacial abilities, (2) use the MAMS Orofacial Assessment in the diagnostic process for CWS and for research purposes, and (3) interpret the results of the MAMS to use them for therapy planning.     

Violent, nonviolent, and substance-related offending over the life course in a cohort of males and females treated for substance misuse as youths

Most studies on adolescent offending heterogeneity are based on general population samples, and few include individuals with substance misuse or look specifically at substance-related offending. It is also unclear how offender subtypes develop after young adulthood or how offending heterogeneity varies between genders. This study aimed to identify subgroups of offending among adolescents with misuse problems and to examine associations with offending in adulthood. The study included 1,992 females and males that consulted a clinic for adolescents with misuse problems between 1968 and 1971. Latent Class Analyses were conducted to identify subgroups based on violent and nonviolent offending before age 20. Participants were then followed until age 50 and reexamined regarding violent, nonviolent, and substance-related crimes. Associations between subgroups before age 20 and subgroups age 21-50 were examined. Before age 20, three subgroups were identified among the females and six among the males. Males were more specialized in their offending and demonstrated higher levels of offending. Results pointed to both stability and decrease of violent and nonviolent offending, and to the emergence of substance-related offending in adulthood in both genders. The connection between substance-related crimes and general delinquency in adulthood among individuals treated for substance misuse suggests that interventions should also address substance misuse for reducing the overall volume of crime. This study also highlights the importance of including females in research on offending heterogeneity.     

Cue interactions in flavor preference learning: a configural analysis

Four experiments showed that the preference normally established to a neutral flavor cue that was paired with maltodextrin was attenuated when that cue was conditioned in compound with another flavor--overshadowing. Furthermore, two experiments showed that the preference for a neutral flavor conditioned as part of a compound was further attenuated if the other element in that compound was separately paired with the reinforcer--blocking. These results stand in contrast to a number of previous compound flavor preference conditioning experiments, which have not revealed reliable cue competition effects. These discrepant findings are discussed in terms of the effects of within-compound associations and a configural perspective on potentiation. Modeling of this configural perspective predicts that a compound of two separately trained cues will elicit a similar response to the individual cues themselves--absence of summation. Two experiments confirmed this prediction.     

The dynamics of disruption from altered auditory feedback: Further evidence for a dissociation of sequencing and timing

Three experiments were designed to test whether perception and action are coordinated in a way that distinguishes sequencing from timing (Pfordresher, 2003). Each experiment incorporated a trial design in which altered auditory feedback (AAF) was presented for varying lengths of time and then withdrawn. Experiments 1 and 2 included AAF that resulted in action-effect asynchronies (delayed auditory feedback) during simple tapping (Experiment 1) and melody production (Experiment 2). Asynchronous AAF immediately slowed production; this effect then diminished rapidly after removal of AAF. By contrast, sequential alterations of feedback pitch during melody production (Experiment 3) had an effect that varied over successive presentations of AAF (by increasing error rates) that lasted after its withdrawal. The presence of auditory feedback after withdrawal of asynchronous AAF (Experiments 1 and 2) led to overcompensation of timing, whereas the presence of auditory feedback did not influence performance after withdrawal of AAF in Experiment 3. Based on these results, we suggest that asynchronous AAF perturbs the phase of an internal timekeeper, whereas alterations to feedback pitch over time degrade the internal representation of sequence structure.     

Breaking habits with implementation intentions: a test of underlying processes

Implementation intentions specifying the replacement of a habitual response with an alternative response in a critical situation can overrule habits. In three experiments the cognitive effects of such counterhabitual implementation intentions were investigated. Results showed that implementation intentions eliminated the cognitive advantage of the habitual means in the "horse race" with the alternative response. That is, in the control condition, the habitual means was more accessible than the alternative means on encountering the critical situation, but this was no longer the case when implementation intentions were formulated. However, the cognitive advantage of the habitual means was not immediately replaced by an automatic activation of the alternative means. This suggests that formulating counterhabitual implementation intentions increases individuals' flexibility to choose which behavior to perform in the critical situation but that actual behavior will depart from their habits only to the extent that individuals have strong alternative goal intentions.     

Competences and occupational standards for systemic family and couples therapy

This article reports on the recent government initiative of 2007–2010 to delineate, for the major forms of psychological therapy, expected professional standards of practice and conduct in workplaces (the national occupational standards) and to specify expected levels of competent practice (the competences). The article focuses on the processes and outcomes of this initiative for systemic therapy and its clinical and political relevance. The rationale, research and consultation processes by which these formulations were achieved are described and the outcomes of the work are reported. We also discuss their wider implications, including the various ways in which these achievements might be used and their potential value for the field of systemic family and couples therapy.