Mother-child interaction and resilience in children with early developmental risk

Although prenatal and genetic factors make strong contributions to the emergence of intellectual disability (ID), children's early environment may have the potential to alter developmental trajectories and to foster resilience in children with early risk. The present study examined mother-child interaction and the promotion of competence in 50 children with early developmental delays. Three related but distinct aspects of mother-child interaction were considered: maternal technical scaffolding, maternal positive sensitivity, and mother-child dyadic pleasure. Children were classified as exhibiting undifferentiated delays at age 3, based upon performance on developmental assessments and the absence of known genetic syndromes. Mother-child interaction was assessed at age 4 through observational ratings of structured laboratory tasks, and through naturalistic home observations. ID was identified at age 5 using the dual criteria of clinically significant delays in cognitive functioning and adaptive behavior. Maternal technical scaffolding and dyadic pleasure each uniquely predicted reduced likelihood of later ID, beyond the contributions of children's early developmental level and behavioral functioning. Follow-up analyses suggested that mother-child interaction was primarily important to resilience in the area of adaptive behavior, with scaffolding and dyadic pleasure differentially associated with particular subdomains. Implications for theories of intellectual disability and for family-based early intervention and prevention efforts are discussed.     

Effects of the Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies (HELPS) Reading Fluency Program with Latino English Language Learners: A Preliminary Evaluation

The Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies (HELPS) Program was developed by integrating 8 evidence-based fluency-building instructional strategies into a structured program that can be feasibly implemented by educators. The HELPS Program has been shown in previous research to significantly improve elementary-aged students’ reading abilities, but the effects of HELPS have not been evaluated with an important and increasing sub-population of U.S. students, English language learners (ELLs). As such, the purpose of this control group comparison study was to evaluate HELPS with Latino ELLs. Findings showed that ELLs who received HELPS scored significantly higher than the control group on standardized measures of fluency and comprehension. Although this study represents an initial attempt to understand the effects of HELPS with ELLs, the findings have implications for educators and researchers who work with ELLs.     

Measuring Attitudes Toward Acceptable and Unacceptable Parenting Practices

This study investigated the properties of a new rating instrument, the Parenting Questionnaire (PQ), designed to measure attitudes about acceptable and unacceptable parenting practices. In Study 1, subject matter experts representing culturally diverse psychologists, parents, and college students were consulted to identify 110 items receiving high endorsement. In Study 2, items were administered to 1,398 undergraduate students to examine their factor structure and the effects of ethnicity and gender differences on PQ factors. In Study 3, test–retest reliability (N = 92) and convergent validity (N = 142) of the PQ factors were examined. Exploratory factor analysis revealed three factors (total of 63 items) with high internal consistencies that accounted for a moderate amount of total variance (R ² = .38). The factors were Critical Feedback (26 items), Supportive Feedback (26 items), and Physical Discipline (11 items). Significant ethnicity and gender differences were found on the three PQ factors, as well as a significant interaction between ethnicity and gender on the Supportive Feedback factor. PQ factor scores demonstrated good temporal stability, internal consistency, and convergent validity. Overall findings suggest that the PQ is a reliable, stable, and valid measure of attitudes toward parenting with three distinct factors. Future research directions with parents are discussed.     

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.     

A Review of Parenting Programs in Developing Countries: Opportunities and Challenges for Preventing Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties in Children

Many children in developing countries are at risk of emotional and behavioral difficulties, which are likely to be elevated due to the effects of poverty. Parenting programs have shown to be effective preventative strategies in high-income countries, but to date the research on their effectiveness in lower-income countries is limited. International organizations such as the World Health Organization have called for the implementation of programs to prevent behavioral difficulties through the development of stable relationships between children and their parents. The aim of the present paper was to review the literature on parenting programs in developing countries in order to identify challenges, opportunities and directions for further research. First, reports of international organizations were reviewed in order to gain a preliminary overview of the field. In a second stage, a non-systematic review was carried out. Databases were searched in order to identify empirical evaluations of parenting programs in low-income countries. Finally, a systematic review was carried out to specifically identify evaluations of programs targeting emotional or behavioral outcomes. Only one study had a strong methodology among those designed to prevent emotional and behavioral outcomes. Opportunities for further program development and research are identified.     

NONCONTINGENT REINFORCEMENT: A FURTHER EXAMINATION OF SCHEDULE EFFECTS DURING TREATMENT

We conducted 2 studies to determine whether dense and thin NCR schedules exert different influences over behavior and whether these influences change as dense schedules are thinned. In Study 1, we observed that thin as well as dense NCR schedules effectively decreased problem behavior exhibited by 3 individuals. In Study 2, we compared the effects of 2 NCR schedules in multielement designs, one with and the other without an extinction (EXT) component, while both schedules were thinned. Problem behavior remained low as the NCR schedule with EXT was thinned, but either (a) did not decrease initially or (b) subsequently increased as the NCR schedule without EXT was thinned. These results suggest that dense schedules of NCR decrease behavior by altering its motivating operation but that extinction occurs as the NCR schedule is thinned. The benefits and limitations of using dense or thin NCR schedules are discussed.     

The role of expectations in children's experience of novel events

The expectations children bring to interactions, as well as the information they receive prior to them, may be important for children's experiences of new adults. In this study, 148 children (8-13years old) reported on their expectations of adults, received one of three types of information about a new adult (positive, realistic, or control), and then "interacted" with a videotaped "controlling" adult. The effect of information type depended on children's age and prior expectations, with expectancy effects emerging in the context of positive information at the younger end of our age range and in the context of realistic information at the older end of our age range. Furthermore, the more expectations exceeded perceptions (i.e., the more disappointment), the lower children's rapport, affect, and prosocial intentions were and the more internal causal attributions they made. Results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and applied contributions.     

Effects of normal and abnormal visual experience on the development of opposing aftereffects for upright and inverted faces

We used opposing figural aftereffects to investigate whether there are at least partially separable representations of upright and inverted faces in patients who missed early visual experience because of bilateral congenital cataracts (mean age at test 19.5 years). Visually normal adults and 10-year-olds were tested for comparison. Adults showed the expected opposing aftereffects for upright and inverted faces. Ten-year-olds showed an adultlike aftereffect for upright faces but, unlike the adult group, no aftereffect for inverted faces. Patients failed to show an aftereffect for either upright or inverted faces. Overall, the results suggest that early visual input is necessary for the later development of (at least partially) separable representations of upright and inverted faces, a developmental process that takes many years to reach an adult-like refinement.