Atlanto-axial dislocation in Down syndrome and os odontoieum. Case report and review of the literature

A case is reported of the rare coincidence of mongolism and os odontoideum in an eleven-year-old child, leading to compression myelopathy in consequence of atlantoaxial dislocation, and an overview of literature to the present time is given. Recommendations on diagnostic and prophylactic measures are offered designed to counteract as early as possible the spinal complications of atlantoaxial instability.     

Psychosocial risk and resistance factors among children with chronic illness,healthy siblings,and healthy controls

Psychosocial risk and resistance factors within the domains of parental functioning, family Stressors, and family resources were examined as predictors of psychological adjustment and physical problems in juvenile rheumatic disease patients (N=93), their healthy siblings (N=72), and demographically matched healthy controls (N=93). Family socioeconomic status and background variables showed few consistent relationships with child functioning. However, a constellation of risk and resistance factors tended to show comparable associations with functioning for patients, siblings, and controls. Higher parental depression and medical symptoms and more family Stressors, sibling problems, and burden of illness on the family predicted more problems among the patients. These relationships held when disease duration and severity were controlled. For the siblings, increased parental and patient dysfunction, more family Stressors, and less family cohesion and expressiveness were associated with more problems. Although the associations were not as strong, mothers' depression and lack of family cohesion and expressiveness also were related to more adjustment problems among the control children. These findings imply that there may be a general association between certain risk and resistance factors and childhood adaptation.This research was supported in part by NIH Multipurpose Arthritis Center Grant AM20610, NIMH Grant MH16744, and Veterans Administration Medical and Health Services Research and Development Service Research funds. Jan Gottlieb provided valuable help in all phases of the research. We appreciate the help of the staff of the Pediatric Rheumatology Clinic at Children's Hospital at Stanford and the families who participated in this study.     

Attraktivitätsänderung der Aufgabe nach Mißerfolg. Kognitive Dissonanztheorie versus Leistungsmotivationstheorie

Zusammenfassung Nach der kognitiven Dissonanztheorie steigt die Attraktivität einer Aufgabe nach Mißerfolg, wenn die Vp die Aufgabe zuvor selbst gewählt und nicht zugewiesen bekommen hatte. Nach der Leistungsmotivationstheorie ist die Attraktivitätsänderung abhängig von einer durch den Mißerfolg verursachten Verringerung der erlebten Erfolgswahrscheinlichkeit in Wechselwirkung mit der Ausprägung des überdauernden Leistungsmotivs der Vp. Ändert sich die Erfolgswahrscheinlichkeit in Richtung auf eine Höhe von 30–40%, so steigt die Attraktivität der Aufgabe für erfolgszuversichtlich motivierte Vpn und fällt ab für mißerfolgsängstlich motivierte Vpn.In einem 2×2-Versuchsplan wurde Wahl oder Zuweisung der Aufgabe mit vorwiegendem Erfolgsmotiv der Vp kombiniert. Aus einer selbsthergestellten Attraktivitätsrangfolge von 9 verschiedenen Aufgaben wählt die Vp zwischen der 5. und 6. Aufgabe eine zur Bearbeitung aus oder erhält eine der beiden fest zugewiesen. Nach Mißerfolg stellt die Vp eine erneute Attraktivitätsrangfolge der Aufgaben her.Die innerhalb und zwischen den vier Bedingungskombinationen erhaltenen Ergebnisse entsprechen zu einem größeren Teil der Leistungsmotivationstheorie als der Dissonanztheorie. In der Bedingungskombination, für die beide Theorien gegensätzliche Voraussagen machen (Wahl-Mißerfolgsmotivierte), fallen die Befunde zugunsten der Leistungsmotivationstheorie aus. Diese Theorie zeigt jedoch Schwächen in der Voraussage von Attraktivitätsänderungen unter Zuweisungsbedingungen. Die Dissonanztheorie versagt bei den Mißerfolgsmotivierten. Verbesserungen der Theoriebildung und der experimentellen Prüfung werden erörtert.

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Change in attractiveness of task after failure. Cognitive dissonance theory versus achievement motivation theory

Summary According to cognitive dissonance theory, the attractiveness of a task increases after failure only when the S has chosen the task but not when it is assigned to him. Achievement motivation theory, on the other hand, states that change in attractiveness depends on a reduction in perceived probability of success, caused by failure. In addition, probabilitiy of success also interacts with the dispositional characteristics of the S's achievement motive. If probability of success increases toward a value of 30–40 per cent, then the attractiveness of the task increases for hope of success Ss but decreases for fear of failure Ss.Choice or assignment of task was combined with predominantely hope of success or fear of failure Ss in a 2×2 experimental design. The S first ranked nine different tasks in their order of attractiveness. While some Ss could further choose to work on either the fifth or sixth ranking task, other Ss were assigned either one of these tasks. A second ranking of attractiveness was obtained after a failure experience.The results, both within and between the four experimental conditions, support mainly the predictions of achievement motivation theory rather than cognitive dissonance theory. In the condition in which opposing predictions can be derived from the two theories (i.e., when choice is offered to fear of failure Ss), the results clearly favor achievement motivation theory. However, this theory is less adequate in predicting changes in task attractiveness under task assignment conditions. Dissonance theory appears to be unable to predict the behavior of the fear of failure Ss. Implications for changes in the theories and further empirial tests are discussed.

     

Comparisons of children of depressed and nondepressed parents: A social-environmental perspective

Several lines of evidence indicate that a parent's depression may be a significant health and adaptational risk factor for his or her children. In a controlled comparison, children of 133 depressed parents had significantly more symptoms of emotional, somatic, and behavioral impairment than did children of 135 nondepressed parents. Additional results suggest that the more negative milieu found among families of depressed parents was a mediator of the effects of parental depression. A social-environmental perspective helped to identify aspects of parents' functioning, family stressors, and resources that were related to children's health. Variations in these stressors and resources were strongly related to the probability of disturbance among children of depressed parents.We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Sarah Buxton, Marlene Koltin, Ruth Lederman, Roger Mitchell, and Deborah Shields in data collection and of Dani Lawler in data collection and analysis. We thank Susan Spinrad for her help in preparing this article. This work was supported in part by Veterans Administration Medical Research funds and NIAAA Grant AA02863.     

The use of self-efficacy scaling in training student clinicians: Implications for working with stutterers

A scaling technique developed by Bandura for determining an individual's personal performance expectations (self efficacy) was applied to student clinicians working with stutterers. The self-efficacy scores of clinicians conducting treatment increased significantly while the scores of clinicians without treatment experience showed no significant change. As the student clinicians gained clinical experience there appeared to be a corresponding reduction in fear and avoidance of the treatment situation. Clinician fear concerning stuttering treatment appeared to have little relation to performance in treatment as rated by supervisors. The results indicate that self-efficacy scaling may be used to indicate clinician avoidance of working with stuttering clients.     

Fast acquisition of cooperation and trust: A two-stage view of trusting behavior

Trustful behavior was defined in terms of the consecutive numbers of matching-to-sample problems worth money that each subject worked during sessions that ended in an equitable distribution. Two stages of acquisition are inherent in this definition; the first stage requires acquisition of an equitable method of distributing reinforcers (cooperation) to show that the within-session deviations (trust) from equity that develop during the second stage are temporary and are not part of an inequitable method of distributing reinforcers. Previous research has indicated that a contingency to trust is necessary to override the aversiveness of the inequity inherent in trusting and to produce consistent and maximal trust (half of the problems worked consecutively by each subject). The present experiment examined such a contingency. The trust contingency was an increased requirement for changing the direction of problem allocation. Only the subject who had been allocated a problem could change that allocation, by pulling a lever 45 or more times. On the other hand, no separate responses were required to allow the person who worked the last problem to also work the next one (passive trust). Hence, giving a problem was the only way to increase the distribution of problems to the other person and hence prevent oneself from receiving all of the reinforcers. All eight pairs of subjects cooperated from the outset. Trusting behavior developed for all four pairs exposed to the contingency to trust and expanded to maximal levels by the second session for three of the four pairs.     

Reactions to self-discrepant feedback: Feminist attitude and symbolic self-completion

Reactions to self-discrepant feedback were theoretically and experimentally investigated. The conceptual frame was provided by the theory of symbolic self-completion. Starting from the assumption that attitudes can function as central aspects of self-definition, 81 female subjects were either presented with feedback that their attitudes were unfeminist (treatment, i.e. incompleteness condition) or they received no feedback (control condition) Then they were given the opportunity for self-symbolizing by subscribing to a feminist journal. Subjects with strongly pro-feminist attitudes who were made incomplete with respect to their feminist self-definition subscribed more often and more intensively to the feminist journal than others. The results illustrate that attitudes can take on the character of self-definitions. Furthermore, reactions to self-discrepant feedback concerning a central attitude were as predicted by the theory of symbolic self-completion.