Gender Differences in the Effects of Community Violence on Mental Health Outcomes in a Sample of Low-Income Youth Receiving Psychiatric Care

Previous research suggests that community violence impacts mental health outcomes, but much of this research has not (a) distinguished between different types of community violence, (b) examined gender differences, and (c) focused on youth living in urban poverty. The current study addresses these questions. Participants were 306 youth (23 % girls) and one parent/guardian receiving outpatient psychiatric services for disruptive behavior disorders in a large urban city. Youth and parents reported on youth’s experience of different types of community violence (being a direct victim, hearing reports, and witnessing violence), and whether violence was directed toward a stranger or familiar. Outcomes included youth externalizing, internalizing, and posttraumatic stress symptoms assessed via parent and youth reports. Being a direct victim of violence accords risk for all mental health outcomes similarly for both boys and girls. However, gender differences emerged with respect to indirect violence, such that girls who hear reports of violence against people they know are at increased risk for all assessed mental health outcomes, and girls who witness violence against familiars are at increased risk for externalizing mental health symptoms in particular. There are gender differences in violence-related mental health etiology, with implications for intervention assessment and design.     

The perception of object versus objectless motion

Wertheimer, M. (Zeitschrift für Psychologie und Physiologie der Sinnesorgane, 61:161–265, 1912) classical distinction between beta (object) and phi (objectless) motion is elaborated here in a series of experiments concerning competition between two qualitatively different motion percepts, induced by sequential changes in luminance for two-dimensional geometric objects composed of rectangular surfaces. One of these percepts is of spreading-luminance motion that continuously sweeps across the entire object; it exhibits shape invariance and is perceived most strongly for fast speeds. Significantly for the characterization of phi as objectless motion, the spreading luminance does not involve surface boundaries or any other feature; the percept is driven solely by spatiotemporal changes in luminance. Alternatively, and for relatively slow speeds, a discrete series of edge motions can be perceived in the direction opposite to spreading-luminance motion. Akin to beta motion, the edges appear to move through intermediate positions within the object’s changing surfaces. Significantly for the characterization of beta as object motion, edge motion exhibits shape dependence and is based on the detection of oppositely signed changes in contrast (i.e., counterchange) for features essential to the determination of an object’s shape, the boundaries separating its surfaces. These results are consistent with area MT neurons that differ with respect to speed preference Newsome et al (Journal of Neurophysiology, 55:1340–1351, 1986) and shape dependence Zeki (Journal of Physiology, 236:549–573, 1974).     

A Quality of Life Survey of Individuals with Urinary Incontinence Who Visit a Self-Help Website: Implications for those Seeking Healthcare Information

Urinary Incontinence (UI) affects 200 million people worldwide with annual direct costs in the US alone estimated at $16.3 billion. Those with UI have reported a decrease in general quality of life with symptoms of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, poor body image, and social stigmatization. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of collecting self-reported quality of life data in a self-selected sample of individuals who visited a website providing information, education, and management suggestions regarding UI. Participants included 374 individuals with UI who responded to a solicitation for enrollment in a “Continence Comprehensive Health and Life Assessment” survey posted on The Simon Foundation for Continence website (www.simonfoundation.org). Types of problems and events associated with UI, including social connectivity and quality of life, are discussed along with limitations of the study and implications for future research. Given that 13.01 % of respondents had not spoken to a healthcare provider about their UI symptoms, 24.73 % had never seen a healthcare professional who “specializes in bladder problems,” and 75 % said they were not currently using any active approach to managing symptoms, use of such information is discussed in terms of how to construct internet healthcare information to maximize seeking appropriate healthcare services and preparing internet-based information regarding incontinence diagnosis and treatment.     

The Wisdom of the Fool

The First Beginnings

Moorings: The People, The Place, The Event     

EFFECTS OF PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN DEVELOPING COMPETENT READERS IN FIRST GRADE

Software that teaches users to sing in tune and in rhythm while providing real-time pitch tracking was used in a study of struggling middle school readers. The software, Carry-a-Tune (CAT) was originally developed to improve singing; however, since it involves a repeated reading format, we used it to determine its effect on comprehension and reading achievement. Twenty-four students in grades 7 and 8 utilized the software program for 30 minutes, three times a week for 9 weeks. A matched control group of 24 students had a different reading experience during the same time period. The mean pretest instructional reading level for both groups was fourth grade. The mean instructional level scores for the treatment group improved significantly (7 months during the 9-week study). The matched control group students did not experience gains. Sustainability data from assessment 4 months after the study's conclusion indicated treatment students gained another 6 months. This placed them solidly in mid-fifth grade for instructional reading level. The control students, again, evidenced no significant gains.     

Mechanisms of verbal memory impairment in four neurodevelopmental disorders

Profiles of verbal learning and memory performance were compared for typically developing children and for four developmental disorders characterized by different patterns of language functioning: specific language impairment, early focal brain damage, Williams Syndrome, and Down Syndrome. A list-learning task was used that allowed a detailed examination of the process of verbal learning, recall, and recognition (California Verbal Learning Test--Children's Version). Distinct patterns of performance characterized the four disorders. These patterns were consistent with the language deficits typically seen in the disorders, with the exception of a dissociation seen in Williams Syndrome.     

Evidence for a gene-environment interaction in predicting behavioral inhibition in middle childhood

Gene-environment interactions are presumed to shape human behavior during early development. However, no human research has demonstrated that such interactions lead to stable individual differences in fear responses. We tested this possibility by focusing on a polymorphism in the promoter region of the gene for the serotonin transporter (5-HTT). This polymorphism has been linked to many indices of serotonin activity. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that an interaction between children's 5-HTT status and maternal reports of social support predicts inhibited behavior with unfamiliar peers in middle childhood. Results were consistent with this hypothesis: Children with the combination of the short 5-HTT allele and low social support had increased risk for behavioral inhibition in middle childhood.     

Are children moral objectivists? Children's judgments about moral and response-dependent properties

Researchers working on children's moral understanding maintain that the child's capacity to distinguish morality from convention shows that children regard moral violations as objectively wrong (e.g. Nucci, L. (2001). Education in the moral domain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). However, one traditional way to cast the issue of objectivism is to focus not on conventionality, but on whether moral properties depend on our responses, as with properties like icky and fun. This paper argues that the moral/conventional task is inadequate for assessing whether children regard moral properties as response-dependent. Unfortunately, children's understanding of response-dependent properties has been neglected in recent research. Two experiments are reported showing that children are more likely to treat properties like fun and icky as response-dependent than moral properties like good and bad. Hence, this helps support the claim that children are moral objectivists.