Audiovisual integration in noise by children and adults

The aim of this study was to investigate the development of multisensory facilitation in primary school-age children under conditions of auditory noise. Motor reaction times and accuracy were recorded from 8-year-olds, 10-year-olds, and adults during auditory, visual, and audiovisual detection tasks. Auditory signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of 30-, 22-, 12-, and 9-dB across the different age groups were compared. Multisensory facilitation was greater in adults than in children, although performance for all age groups was affected by the presence of background noise. It is posited that changes in multisensory facilitation with increased auditory noise may be due to changes in attention bias.     

Intervening in the Lives of Youth with Complex Behavioral Health Challenges and Their Families: The Role of the Wraparound Process

Wraparound is an individualized, team-based service planning and care coordination process intended to improve outcomes for youth with complex behavioral health challenges and their families. In recent years, several factors have led wraparound to become an increasingly visible component of service systems for youth, including its alignment with the youth and family movements, clear role within the systems of care and public health frameworks, and expansion of the research base. In this paper, we provide a review of the place of the wraparound process in behavioral health, including a discussion of the opportunities it presents to the field, needs for further development and research, and recommendations for federal actions that have the potential to improve the model’s positive contribution to child and family well-being.     

Responses to a virtual reality grocery store in persons with and without vestibular dysfunction.

People with vestibular dysfunction often complain of having difficulty walking in visually complex environments. Virtual reality (VR) may serve as a useful therapeutic tool for providing physical therapy to these people. The purpose of this pilot project was to explore the ability of people with and without vestibular dysfunction to use and tolerate virtual environments that can be used in physical therapy. We have chosen grocery store environments, which often elicit complaints from patients. Two patients and three control subjects were asked to stand and navigate in VR grocery stores while finding products. Perceived discomfort, simulator sickness symptoms, distance traveled, and speed of head movement were recorded. Symptoms and discomfort increased in one subject with vestibular dysfunction. The older subjects traveled a shorter distance and had greater speed of head movements compared with young subjects. Environments with a greater number of products resulted in more head movements and a shorter distance traveled.     

Emotional Processing Theory (EPT) and Exposure Therapy for PTSD

Emotional processing theory developed by E. B. Foa and M. J. Kozak (1986) has informed the conceptualization of anxiety disorders and the development of effective treatments for these disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This article presents a summary and update of emotional processing theory as it applies to the treatment of PTSD, data in support of this theory, and clinical examples of how the theory can be used to assist in the treatment of clients with PTSD. Common difficulties confronted during exposure therapy for PTSD, including underengagement and overengagement, are discussed in the context of emotional processing theory and suggestions for how to manage these difficulties are presented.     

Replication of the Self-Concept and Identity Measure (SCIM) Among a Treatment-Seeking Sample

Identity distress occurs within a variety of psychiatric conditions. Reliable tools for assessing identity-related functioning among clinical populations are greatly needed. The Self-Concept and Identity Measure (SCIM) is a brief self-report scale designed to assess healthy and disturbed identity dimensions. This measure has been validated within normative but not treatment-seeking samples. The present study used an a priori confirmatory approach to replicate the SCIM’s factor structure among disadvantaged women enrolled in treatment for chemical dependence (N = 216). The original three-factor structure and item loadings generally replicated within this diagnostically diverse, significantly impaired sample. Higher SCIM scores were also associated with other problems, such as emotion dysregulation and depression. Results support the SCIM’s use and scoring with clinical populations.     

The role of early care and education in addressing early childhood trauma

Young children's experience of trauma is associated with a wide range of adverse events and circumstances, including abuse and neglect, domestic violence, loss of a parent, and community violence. Policymakers and practitioners are increasingly aware that trauma during the first few years of life is especially widespread, and there is growing interest in new ways to support these young children and their families. Many young children who experience trauma attend early care and education (ECE) programs, and these settings offer important opportunities to promote their well‐being. This paper examines strategies currently being implemented in ECE to address early childhood trauma. The paper first examines research on how trauma affects young children's development, ECE environments, and society. We then describe the unique needs of young, traumatized children and features of trauma‐informed care that can address their needs, along with emerging interventions and supports that can be incorporated into or linked with ECE settings as part of a trauma‐informed approach. We conclude with a discussion of future directions for ECE and trauma research, policy, and practice, bearing in mind both the promise of new approaches and a limited evidence base to date.     

Lay (Mis)Perceptions of Sexual Harassment toward Transgender,Lesbian, and Gay Employees

Sex Roles - LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer-identified) employees commonly experience sexual harassment at work. The perceptions of lay observers of this harassment, such as...     

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: HOW AND WHY WOMEN BECOME AND REMAIN ENGAGED IN COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP

This research examines women's narratives regarding the experiences that lead to becoming, sustaining, and challenging active community leaders. Seventeen women neighborhood leaders, age 28 to 73 years, completed in-depth interviews. Qualitative thematic content analyses identified prominent themes in participants' responses that were subsequently linked to a generativity framework. Analyses revealed that leaders reported circuitous rather than linear paths of emerging community participation and growing up among others who demonstrated an ethos of care in informal as well as formal community practices. Women's initial community engagement was most often in response to invitations to address community needs. Both communal and agentic rewards and challenges to community involvement were identified. Based upon the findings, strategies for promoting and sustaining women's community leadership are identified.     

Relationships, communication, and career in the parent-adolescent projects of families with and without challenges

Parent-adolescent joint actions that address the adolescent’s future were examined for their connection to the parent-adolescent relationship and communication goals and the steps taken to reach those goals. Nineteen parent-adolescent dyads, from families with and without family challenges such as chronic illness, unemployment, or divorce, identified a joint project that represented of goal-directed actions undertaken by the parents and adolescent together. Each dyad’s project was followed for a six-month period and data analyzed using the action-project method. Three groups of projects pertinent to career, the parent-adolescent relationship and communication emerged from the data: projects that were wholly concerned with the parent-adolescent relationship, projects that shifted from career development goals and actions to explicit relationship goals and actions, and projects in which parent-adolescent communication was used as a means to facilitate career and other developmental goals. The family challenges were evident in the construction of these projects as goals, ways to steer the projects, or reflected in the meaning attached to them.