Music and Video as Distractors for Boys with ADHD in the Classroom: Comparison with Controls,Individual Differences,and Medication Effects

This study examined the effects of music and video on the classroom behavior and performance of boys with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and examined the effects of 0.3 mg/kg methylphenidate (MPH). In one study, 41 boys with ADHD and 26 controls worked in the presence of no distractor, music, or video. Video produced significant distraction, particularly for the boys with ADHD, and MPH improved the performance of boys with ADHD across distractor conditions.There were individual differences in response to the music such that some boys were adversely affected and others benefited relative to no-distractor.In a second study, music and MPH were assessed in an additional 86 boys with ADHD to examine further the music results. In the presence or absence of music, MPH improved performance relative to placebo. Similar individual differences were found as in Experiment 1.     

Parasite prevalence and the distribution of intelligence among the states of the USA

In this study, we tested the parasite-stress hypothesis for the distribution of intelligence among the USA states: the hypothesis proposes that intelligence emerges from a developmental trade-off between maximizing brain vs. immune function. From this we predicted that among the USA states where infectious disease stress was high, average intelligence would be low and where infectious disease stress was low, average intelligence would be high. As predicted, we found that the correlation between average state IQ and infectious disease stress was ? 0.67 (p < 0.0001) across the 50 states. Furthermore, when controlling the effects of wealth and educational variation among states, infectious disease stress was the best predictor of average state IQ.     

F?rderung der Gesundheit und der psychosozialen Selbstwirksamkeit bei Langzeitarbeitslosen

Background

The development of appropriate preventive measures aimed at the promotion of psychosocial capabilities and health behavior is based on the recognition that unemployment is associated with many physical, psychological and social problems.

Objective

A group program ??promotion of health and psychosocial self-efficacy in long-term unemployed?? was developed and investigated with respect to the effectiveness by a study group at the Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine of the University of Rostock. The study was part of a project funded by the European Social Fund (ESF).

Methods

During the period from October 2009 to April 2010 the group program was implemented in 5 different groups and the sample included a total of 35 persons. To examine the effectiveness of the program the participants had to complete standardized questionnaires at the beginning and at the end of the program. Information as to what extent the unemployed suffer from mental stress was collected via the brief symptom inventory (BSI; Franke 2000). The questionnaire on resources and self-management skills (FERUS; Jack 2007) was applied to analyze the capabilities and the self-management skills of the participants.

Results

The unemployed subjects reported lower levels of aggressiveness and paranoid thinking (distrust) after their participation in the program. Regarding the self-management skills the participants improved their coping skills, self-instructions skills and also felt more hopeful with regard to their current environment and the future.

Conclusions

A systematic support of unemployed people regarding coping with the psychosocial problems associated with unemployment seemed to be important. The use of low structured group programs is a good possibility to implement them in different contexts with relatively few resources.     

Predicting Training Success with General Mental Ability,Specific Ability Tests,and (Un)Structured Interviews: A meta‐analysis with unique samples

Several meta‐analyses combine an extensive amount of research concerned with predicting training success. General mental ability is regarded as the best predictor with specific abilities or tests explaining little additional variance. However, only few studies measured all predictors within one sample. Thus, intercorrelations were often estimated based on other studies. Moreover, new methods for correcting range restriction are now available. The present meta‐analyses used samples derived from a German company in which applicants for different apprenticeships were tested with an intelligence structure test, specific ability tests as well as a structured and an unstructured interview. Therefore, intercorrelations between different assessment tools did not have to be estimated from other data. Results in the final examination, taking place at least 2 years after the original assessment, served as criterion variable. The dominant role of general mental ability was confirmed. However, specific abilities were identified that can be used as valuable additions. Job complexity moderated some of the relationships. Structured interviews were found to have good incremental validity over and above general mental ability. Unstructured interviews, on the other hand, performed poorly. Practical implications are discussed.     

Impulsivity and Suicidality in Adolescent Inpatients

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents, and impulsivity has emerged as a promising marker of risk. The present study tested whether distinct domains of impulsivity are differentially associated with suicide ideation, plans, and attempts. Adolescents (n?=?381; boys?=?106, girls?=?275) aged 13–19 years (M?=?15.62, SD?=?1.41) were recruited from an acute, residential treatment program. Within 48 h of admission to the hospital, participants were administered structured clinical interviews assessing mental health disorders and suicidality. Following these interviews, participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing symptom severity and impulsivity. Consistent with past research, an exploratory factor analysis of our 90-item impulsivity instrument resulted in a three-factor solution: Pervasive Influence of Feelings, Feelings Trigger Action, and Lack of Follow-Through. Concurrent analysis of these factors confirmed hypotheses of unique associations with suicide ideation and attempts in the past month. Specifically, whereas Pervasive Influence of Feelings (i.e., tendency for emotions to shape thoughts about the self and the future) is uniquely associated with greater suicidal ideation, Feelings Trigger Action (i.e., impulsive behavioral reactivity to emotions) is uniquely associated with the occurrence of suicide attempts, even after controlling for current psychiatric diagnoses and symptoms. Exploratory gender analyses revealed that these effects were significant in female but not male adolescents. These findings provide new insight about how specific domains of impulsivity differentially increase risk for suicide ideation and attempts. Implications for early identification and prevention of youth suicide are discussed.     

Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Help for an Eating Disorder: The Role of Stigma and Anticipated Outcomes

This study examined the relationship between self‐stigma, anticipated risks and benefits associated with seeking counseling, and attitudes toward seeking counseling among college students with disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. The results of hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that self‐stigma and the anticipated risks and benefits significantly predicted attitudes toward counseling for people with disordered eating. In addition, self‐stigma had a stronger relationship with men's attitudes toward counseling than with women's, and anticipated benefits had a stronger relationship with women's attitudes toward counseling than with men's.     

Delivery of internet treatment for compulsive hoarding (D.I.T.C.H.)

This study tested the effectiveness of an existing private online CBT-based group intervention designed to help people with hoarding. Web-group participants were hypothesized to show more improvement in hoarding symptoms over time compared to those placed on a naturalistic waitlist. This web-based self-help group (N = 106 members, N = 155 waitlisted) includes a formal application process and requires that participants post action steps and progress at least once monthly. Members have access to educational resources on hoarding, cognitive strategies, and a chat-group. Potential research participants were invited to complete an anonymous web-based survey about their hoarding behaviors and clinical improvement on five occasions (3 months apart). The sample was mainly middle-aged, female and White. Regression analyses show that Recent members reported greater improvement and less clutter at 6 months (than Waitlist). Long-term members reported milder hoarding symptoms than Recent ones, suggesting benefits from group participation over time. All members showed reductions in clutter and hoarding symptoms over 15 months. Less posting activity was associated with greater hoarding severity. Online CBT-based self-help for hoarding appears to be a promising intervention strategy that may extend access to treatment. Evaluating the benefits of internet self-help groups is critical given growing popularity of and demand for web-based interventions.     

Behavioural group therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder in Norway. An open community-based trial

The aim of the current study was to test the effectiveness of ERP-based 12 weeks group therapy for OCD patients in a community-based, general Norwegian outpatient clinic. The sample consisted of 54 patients diagnosed with OCD. The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S) were administered before treatment, after treatment and at 3- and 12-month follow-ups. Analyses with mixed models for repeated measurements showed that group behavioural therapy offered to OCD patients significantly improved ratings of obsessive-compulsive symptoms, depression and anxiety. These improvements were maintained at 3- and 12-month follow-ups and an additional reduction in obsessive-compulsive symptoms was observed from post-treatment to 3-month follow-up. However, the delayed effect of therapy was no longer present at 12-month follow-up. The results also revealed that the patients had a lower chance for an increased outcome category (e.g. from unchanged to improved or recovered) with high scores on STAI-S at the given observation times (post-treatment, 3- and 12-months follow-ups). Depressive symptoms (BDI) at post-treatment and follow-ups had no significant influences on the three categories of outcome for OCD. In conclusion, the results indicate that behavioural group therapy can successfully be delivered to patients with considerable comorbidity in a real world setting conducted by therapists with limited training in the CBT.     

Quantity,not quality: the relationship between fluid intelligence and working memory capacity

A key motivation for understanding capacity in working memory (WM) is its relationship with fluid intelligence. Recent evidence has suggested a two-factor model that distinguishes between the number of representations that can be maintained in WM and the resolution of those representations. To determine how these factors relate to fluid intelligence, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis on multiple number-limited and resolution-limited measures of WM ability. The results strongly supported the two-factor model, with fully orthogonal factors accounting for performance in the number-limited and resolution-limited conditions. Furthermore, the reliable relationship between WM capacity and fluid intelligence was exclusively supported by the number factor (r=.66), whereas the resolution factor made no reliable contribution (r=−.05). Thus, the relationship between WM capacity and standard measures of fluid intelligence is mediated by the number of representations that can be simultaneously maintained in WM, rather than by the precision of those representations.