Childhood Adversity and the Continued Exposure to Trauma and Violence Among Adolescent Gang Members

This study investigates interfaith groups from across the United States to understand how these religious settings may serve as mediating structures to facilitate individual political action. Based on a multilevel modeling analysis with 169 individuals from 25 interfaith groups, we found that core activities of the group, such as group members sharing community information (e.g., announcing upcoming events, political meetings, community issues) or sharing religious information (e.g., educating members about their religion) positively and negatively predicted individual political action as a result of group participation, respectively. Moreover, a sense that the interfaith group served as a community to work for local change, but not trust within the group, predicted political action as a result of group participation. However, this effect for a sense the group served as a community to work for local change was stronger and more positive as the degree of community information sharing in the group increased. These results show that a core activity of sharing community information may enhance the ability of a group to mediate political action. Overall, these findings demonstrate the potential role of interfaith groups to mediate political action, and show the importance of considering both individual and group characteristics when understanding these religious settings. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.     

Effectiveness of a Multiple Family Group Intervention for Juvenile First Offenders in Reducing Parent Stress

Parenting practices are major influences on incidents of juvenile delinquency. Stress experienced by parents of children with behavioral problems is a leading contributor to parenting practices. We investigated the extent to which parental stress was reduced by participation in an established multiple group family intervention, the Family Solutions Program, developed to reduce recidivism among juvenile offenders. We also examined parent stress by gender, ethnicity, dropout rates, intervention benefits at 3-month follow-up, single- versus two-parent households, and across dimensions of family functioning and parent-adolescent communication. Parents reported greater levels of parent stress than non-clinical parents prior to intervention. Parental stress did diminish in response to intervention, but not until follow-up to intervention completion. No differences were found on initial parent stress level between completers and non-completers of the intervention or between parent stress and gender or ethnicity of the parent; however, single-parent household was associated with significantly higher levels of parent stress. Family functioning was significantly negatively correlated with parental stress. Finally, open communication between juvenile first offenders and their parents improved significantly in response to the intervention both at post-intervention and at follow-up.     

Body temperature as a conditional response measure for pavlovian fear conditioning

On six days rats were exposed to each of two contexts. They received an electric shock in one context and nothing in the other. Rats were tested later in each environment without shock. The rats froze and defecated more often in the shock-paired environment; they also exhibited a significantly larger elevation in rectal temperature in that environment. The rats discriminated between each context, and we suggest that the elevation in temperature is the consequence of associative learning. Thus, body temperature can be used as a conditional response measure in Pavlovian fear conditioning experiments that use footshock as the unconditional stimulus.     

Collegiate heavy drinking prospectively predicts change in sensation seeking and impulsivity

Recent models of alcohol use in youth and young adulthood have incorporated personality change and maturation as causal factors underlying variability in developmental changes in heavy drinking. Whereas these models assume that personality affects alcohol use, the current prospective study tested the converse relation. That is, we tested whether, after accounting for the effect of traits on drinking, collegiate heavy drinking in turn predicted individual differences in change in alcohol-related aspects of personality. We also examined whether affiliation with heavy-drinking peers better accounted for this relation. Following a cohort of recent high school graduates (N=1,434) through the college years, we found evidence for transactional relations between heavy drinking and changes in impulsivity and sensation seeking. Both traits predicted increases in heavy drinking, but more important, heavy drinking predicted increases in sensation seeking and impulsivity. In final models, social influences did not underlie the effect of heavy drinking on increases in sensation seeking and impulsivity. The results of this investigation suggest that collegiate heavy drinking may negatively and pervasively impact a wide range of behaviors because of its effect on personality change.     

Influences of APOE ε4 and expertise on performance of older pilots

Little is known about how APOE ε4-related differences in cognitive performance translate to real-life performance, where training and experience may help to sustain performance. We investigated the influences of APOE ε4 status, expertise (FAA pilot proficiency ratings), and their interaction on longitudinal flight simulator performance. Over a 2-year period, 139 pilots aged 42-69 years were tested annually. APOE ε4 carriers had lower memory performance than noncarriers (p = .019). APOE interacted with Expertise (p = .036), such that the beneficial influence of expertise (p = .013) on longitudinal flight simulator performance was more pronounced for ε4 carriers. Results suggest that relevant training and activity may help sustain middle-aged and older adults' real-world performance, especially among APOE ε4 carriers.     

MPS II: Adaptive Behavior of Patients and Impact on the Family System

Mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPS II), also known as Hunter syndrome, is a chronic and progressive X-linked lysosomal disease that mainly affects males. It occurs in 1 in every 65,000 to 1 in 132,000 births. There are two distinct forms of the disease based on age of onset and clinical course: mild and severe. MPS II affects many organ systems including the nervous, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and respiratory systems. Complications can include vision problems, progressive hearing loss, thickened and elastic skin, mental impairment, and enlarged liver and spleen. We herein focus on the adaptive behavior of individuals with MPS II, and the impact of MPS II on the family system. Outcomes from the Vineland-II Adaptive Behavior Scales showed that the MPS II patient sample experienced significantly lower functioning in communication, daily living skills, socialization, and motor skills compared to normative data. Patients with severe MPS II were found to have significantly lower adaptive functioning in all domains, as compared to those with mild MPS II. Length of time on ERT had no significant relationship to adaptive functioning. Results from the Peds QL Family Impact Module indicated that families of patients with MPS II experienced a lower overall health-related quality of life and overall lower family functioning (including lower emotional and cognitive functioning) than those with chronic illnesses residing in an inpatient setting.