Prevalence of ADHD and comorbid disorders among elementary school children screened for disruptive behavior

In the context of a school-based prevention of conduct disorder program, 7,231 first- through fourth-grade children were screened for cross-setting disruptive behavior. Frequencies of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders and patterns of comorbidity were assessed. We also examined the association of psychiatric diagnosis with child and parent characteristics to determine differential risk based on diagnostic subgroups. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD) were the most frequent diagnoses. Mood and anxiety disorders were infrequent as single diagnoses. Patterns of comorbidity demonstrated that both externalizing and internalizing disorders commonly cooccurred with ADHD. More severe degrees of psychopathology and psychosocial risk accrued to the subgroup of youths with ADHD plus a comorbid externalizing disorder.This study was supported by grant MN-46584 from the National Institute of Mental Health.     

Frequency and duration of hierarchy item exposure in a systematic desensitization analogue

Little is known regarding the importance of stimulus presentation variables in desensitization. A repeated measures factorial research design was utilized to investigate the role of hierarchy item frequency and duration in a desensitization analogue. Two frequency levels (1 and 3) and three total duration levels (3,12 and 30 sec) were combined to form six treatment groups; an additional no-treatment control group was also used. Results in both overt behavioral and subjective fear response modes suggest that single exposures are preferable, but that this preference is localized primarily in the longer total duration range. Long single exposures to hierarchy items yielded the greatest and most persistent changes in both response modes. It is suggested that clinicians utilize item presentations of this sort to determine their efficacy in actual therapy conditions. Choice of technique for assessing change and the utility of analogue studies are also briefly discussed.     

The “false consensus effect”: An egocentric bias in social perception and attribution processes

Evidence from four studies demonstrates that social observers tend to perceive a “false consensus” with respect to the relative commonness of their own responses. A related bias was shown to exist in the observers' social inferences. Thus, raters estimated particular responses to be relatively common and relatively unrevealing concerning the actors' distinguishing personal dispositions when the responses in question were similar to the raters' own responses; responses differing from those of the rater, by contrast, were perceived to be relatively uncommon and revealing of the actor. These results were obtained both in questionnaire studies presenting subjects with hypothetical situations and choices and in authentic conflict situations. The implications of these findings for our understanding of social perception phenomena and for our analysis of the divergent perceptions of actors and observers are discussed. Finally, cognitive and perceptual mechanisms are proposed which might account for distortions in perceived consensus and for corresponding biases in social inference and attributional processes.     

Treatment of nocturnal headbanging by behavior modification techniques: a case report

The application of behavior modification techniques to the alleviation of maladaptive behavior occurring during the waking state is well documented (Bandura, 1969; Franks, 1969). Recently, several case studies have been reported which demonstrate the successful extension of behavior modification techniques such as the desensitization procedure to the modification of sleep state maladaptive behavior, e.g. recurrent nightmares (Cautela, 1968; Geer and Silverman 1966; Silverman and Geer, 1968) and sleep walking (Clement, 1969). The present case study illustrates that other sleep state maladaptive behavior, in this case nocturnal headbanging, is amenable to the same behavior modification techniques which are used to modify maladaptive behavior during the waking state. Case background     

On the determination of redundancies in sociometric chains

The use of a matrix to represent a relationship between the members of a group is well known in sociometry. If this matrix is raised to a certain power, the elements appearing give the total number of connecting paths between each pair of members. In general, some of these paths will be redundant. Methods of finding the number of such redundant paths have been developed for three- and four-step chains by Luce and Perry (3) and Katz (2), respectively. We have derived formulas for the number of redundant paths of five and six steps; and in addition, an algorithm for determining the number of redundant paths of any given length.The research leading to this paper was supported by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.