Calibrating for Comorbidity: Clinical Decision-Making in Youth Depression and Anxiety

Comorbidity in clinical youth populations is more the rule than the exception, yet few established guidelines exist to help practicing clinicians manage complex diagnostic profiles. The current paper reviews efforts within the treatment development literature to handle comorbidity in depressed and anxious children and adolescents, including single-target, modular-based, and transdiagnostic interventions. Two case studies are presented to describe how comorbid anxiety and depression are managed within two different evidence-based single-target interventions. A third case is presented to introduce a novel individual behavioral activation therapy (IBAT) designed to address co-occurring depression and anxiety by targeting a single maintaining mechanism (avoidance) that underlies both disorders. Implications for clinical decision-making (assessing complex clinical profiles in practice, prioritizing treatment goals, selecting interventions from a broad evidence base) are discussed.     

Bicultural Effects on the Creative Potential of Chinese and French Children

This study examined possible bicultural effects on creative potential of children in four groups of Chinese and French children in Hong Kong and Paris. An international battery of widely used divergent measures (Wallach-Kogan Creativity Tests; WKCT) and newly constructed divergent-plus-integrative measures (Evaluation of Potential Creativity; EPoC) was established for assessment. Study 1 showed that most measures of WKCT and EPoC were reasonably high in reliability and they had expected correlations with the fluency scores of some subtests of Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Study 2 found some interestingly mixed bicultural effects favoring verbal divergent responses for French children and graphic integrative responses for Chinese children. Compared with Paris-French children, the bicultural Hong Kong-French children had significantly higher scores in figural fluency, figural flexibility, and figural uniqueness of WKCT (requiring only verbal divergent responses) but significantly lower scores in the graphic divergent-exploratory measure of EPoC. Compared with Hong Kong-Chinese children, the bicultural Paris-Chinese children had significantly higher scores in the graphic convergent-integrative measure of EPoC, but significantly lower scores in verbal fluency, verbal flexibility, figural fluency, figural flexibility, figural uniqueness, and figural unusualness of WKCT. Implications of the mixed bicultural effects in relation to the diverse creativity measures and children groups are discussed.     

Acuity of the approximate number system and preschoolers’ quantitative development

The study assessed the relations among acuity of the inherent approximate number system (ANS), performance on measures of symbolic quantitative knowledge, and mathematics achievement for a sample of 138 (64 boys) preschoolers. The Weber fraction (a measure of ANS acuity) and associated task accuracy were significantly correlated with mathematics achievement following one year of preschool, and predicted performance on measures of children's explicit knowledge of Arabic numerals, number words, and cardinal value, controlling for age, sex, parental education, intelligence, executive control, and preliteracy knowledge. The relation between ANS acuity, as measured by the Weber fraction and task accuracy, and mathematics achievement was fully mediated by children's performance on the symbolic quantitative tasks, with knowledge of cardinal value emerging as a particularly important mediator. The overall pattern suggests that ANS acuity facilitates the early learning of symbolic quantitative knowledge and indirectly influences mathematics achievement through this knowledge.     

Using HLM to Explore the Effects of Perceptions of Learning Environments and Assessments on Students’ Test Performance

The study examines the role that perceptions or impressions of learning environments and assessments play in students’ performance on a large-scale standardized test. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to test aspects of the Learning Errors and Formative Feedback model to determine how much variation in students’ performance was explained by students’ and school principals’ perceptions of learning environments and assessments. Results from sequential HLM testing indicated that students’ but not principals’ perceptions explained a significant, although modest, amount of the total variation in students’ test performance. These results suggest that when students perceive learning environments to be safe and valuable, and positive assessment activities to be taking place, they tend to perform better on standardized tests than when they perceive learning environments and assessment activities otherwise. These findings provide a rationale for investigating the variables that can help improve students’ perceptions in order to enhance their test performance.     

基本需要满足对游戏满意度的影响:沉醉感和积极情绪的序列中介作用

为探讨基本需要满足对游戏满意度的影响及其作用机制,研究采用基本需要满足问卷、沉醉感问卷、积极情感量表和游戏满意度问卷对286名网络游戏玩家进行调查。结果发现:(1)基本需要满足、沉醉感、积极情绪和游戏满意度之间两两显著正相关;(2)基本需要满足对游戏满意度不仅有直接预测作用,还能通过三条间接路径影响游戏满意度:沉醉感的中介作用;积极情绪的中介作用;沉醉感和积极情绪的链式中介作用。结论:基本需要满足不仅对游戏满意度有直接影响,还能通过沉醉感和积极情绪的序列中介作用影响游戏满意度。     

错误再认的双加工机制——兼作信号检测论的分析

采用DRM范式,通过对预警、呈现时间以及再认时间压力的同时操纵,深入探索错误记忆的产生机制.实验结果发现:(1)编码阶段的预警提示可使再认判断的标准趋于严格,从而降低错误记忆效应;(2)提取阶段的再认时间压力可显著降低被试对关键诱饵与学过项目的区分能力,进而提高错误记忆效应;(3)预警提示在无时间压力时要比有时间压力时更有效降低错误再认.该结果证实在记忆信息的提取阶段存在双加工过程,激活与监测的双加工在错误记忆产生过程中存在对抗式的交互作用.当监测过程在编码和提取两个阶段均受到易化时,策略性的控制过程最有效;当监测过程受阻时,将导致激活的效应更明显.     

Biculturalism amongst ethnic minorities: Its impact for individuals and intergroup relations

This review article offers an integration of acculturation, biculturalism, and intergroup relations research. Additionally, it argues that bicultural identities can be more accurately conceptualised as a third, hyphenated cultural identity (e.g., Chinese‐Australian), in addition to one's ethnic and the dominant national identity. In doing so, this article proposes that hyphenated cultural identities may be personally meaningful for many ethnic minorities and discusses the function of hyphenated cultural identification for individuals and society. Given the relevance of bicultural identification, it is argued that recognising and understanding a hyphenated cultural identity is fundamental to ethnic minorities' wellbeing, as well as improving the quality of intergroup relations in multicultural societies, such as Australia.     

Racial/Ethnic Identity,Gender‐Role Attitudes,and Multicultural Counseling Competence: The Role of Multicultural Counseling Training

Researchers and practitioners have been pursuing how to enhance counselors' multicultural counseling competencies (MCC). With a sample of 460 counselors, the author examined whether multicultural training changed the relationship between (a) racial/ethnic identity and MCC and (b) gender‐role attitudes and MCC. The author found significant interaction effects of (a) racial/ethnic identity and multicultural training and (b) gender‐role attitudes and multicultural training on multicultural knowledge but not on multicultural awareness.