The effects of task instructor status on prospective memory performance in preschoolers

The present study applied a 2 × 2 experimental design to assess prospective memory (PM) development across preschool age and to examine the effect of task instructor status (researcher vs. significant other) on PM performance in 80 preschool children. Participants were required to name pictures (ongoing task [OT]), and to remember to refrain from naming but instead give a different response to certain target cues (PM task). Although the OT was of comparable difficulty for both age groups (as indicated by no performance differences), results still indicated significantly higher PM performance in 5-year-olds than in 3-year-olds, confirming the age-related increase of PM capacities between 3 and 5 years. Furthermore, results showed a performance-enhancing effect of significant others as task instructors on both age-groups. Post-hoc analysis revealed that 3-year-olds instructed by a significant other still performed marginally worse than 5-year-olds instructed by a researcher, underlining the finding that substantial changes of PM capacities take place during early childhood.     

Squaring the round: An unusual progressive graphomotor impairment with post‐mortem findings

Investigations of neurodegenerative disorders may reveal functional relationships in the cognitive system. C.S. was a 63‐year‐old right‐handed man with post‐mortem confirmed Pick's disease with a range of progressive impairments including non‐fluent aphasia, speech, limb, oculomotor, and buccofacial apraxia, but mostly intact intelligence, perception, orientation, memory, semantics, and phonology. During progression, agrammatism in writing with impairments in syntactic comprehension emerged in parallel with an unusual graphomotor deficit in drawing and writing, with an increasing deterioration of graphic short‐term memory. We investigated C.S.'s graphomotor deficit longitudinally using tests of writing and drawing on letters, words, and sentences and drawing to command and copying. We also tested C.S.'s short‐term graphemic buffer experimentally. Analysis showed deficits on selective aspects of graphomotor implementation of writing and drawing, mainly affecting the production of circles and curves, but not short straight lines in drawing and writing, and graphomotor short‐term memory, which paralleled impairments of written syntax and syntactic comprehension. We believe this to be the first detailed analysis of such an unusual progressive impairment in graphomotor production, which may be related to problems with agrammatic agraphia and impairments affecting shared components of cognition reflecting damage to shared neural networks. Alternatively, they may simply reflect the effects of coincidental damage to separate mechanisms responsible for aspects of writing, drawing, and syntactic processing. Longitudinal investigations of emerging deficits in progressive conditions like C.S.'s provides an opportunity to examine the progressive emergence of symptoms in an individual with multiple progressive impairments as they appear and examine putative relationships between them.     

Evaluation of executive functions in children and adolescents with familial Mediterranean fever

The aim of the present study was to investigate neuropsychological test performance in children and adolescents with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). A total of 88 children and adolescents aged 8 to 17 years were included, 52 with FMF and 36 healthy controls. After the participants were administered the Children Depression Inventory (CDI) and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), they completed the battery tests of the Central Nervous System Vital Signs (CNSVS), a neurocognitive test battery, via computer. The battery calculates seven domain scores (Memory, Psychomotor Speed, Processing Speed, Reaction Time, Complex Attention, Executive Function, and Cognitive Flexibility) and a summary score (Neurocognition Index [NCI]). A statistically significant difference between the FMF and control groups was found in six out of seven domains, where the scores of the participants with FMF were found to be significantly lower than those of the control participants (p < .05). Although the mean Reaction Time score of the participants with FMF was found to be lower than that of the control participants, the finding was not statistically significant (p > .05). The mean CDI and SCARED scores of the participants with FMF were found to be significantly higher than those of the control participants (p < .05). Low scores in the Processing Speed and Psychomotor Speed domains of the CNSVS were significantly correlated with higher SCARED scores (r = ?.37, p = .01). Impaired cognitive functions should be taken into consideration in children and adolescents with FMF when assessing and managing this population.     

Clinical Cancer Genetics Disparities among Latinos

The three major hereditary cancer syndromes in Latinos (Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer, Familial Adenomatous Polyposis and Lynch Syndrome) have been shown to exhibit geographic disparities by country of origin suggesting admixture-based disparities. A solid infrastructure of clinical genetics geared towards diagnosis and prevention could aid in reducing the mortality of these cancer syndromes in Latinos. Currently, clinical cancer genetic services in Latin America are scarce. Moreover, limited studies have investigated the mutational spectrum of these cancer syndromes in Latinos resulting in gaps in personalized medicine affecting diagnosis, treatment and prevention. The following commentary discusses available genotype and clinical information on hereditary cancer in Latinos and highlights the limited access for cancer genetic services in Latin America including barriers to genetic testing and alternatives for providing better access to genetic services. In this review, we discuss the status of clinical genetic cancer services for both US Latinos and those Latinos living in Latin America.     

Development of a coping with stress scale for a non-western population of children and adolescents

Background and objectives: In the related literature numerous instruments have been developed to measure children and adolescents’ coping with stress. Considering the cultural differences in individuals’ choice for coping strategies, along with the limitations of the existing measures of coping for children and adolescents (e.g., being derived from coping measures developed for adults; unrepresentative samples with limited age range, etc.), the current study aimed to construct a self-report coping scale for a non-western population of children and adolescents.

Design and methods: The study design included both qualitative and quantitative methodology. Three consecutive studies were conducted for the development and validation of the Children and Adolescents’ Coping with Stress Scale (CACSS), a self-report measure assessing coping strategies of children and adolescents aged from 9 to 18 in response to self-identified stressors.

Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses resulted in a 61-item CACSS with 10 factors. The scale appears to have a clear factor structure; sufficient temporal stability; and good convergent, discriminant, and construct validity.

Conclusions: By addressing limitations of existing coping scales, CACSS is believed to contribute to the literature as a developmentally appropriate and multidimensional tool.     

The Observation of Child Behavior During Parent-Child Interaction: The Psychometric Properties of the Crowell Procedure

The observation of child behavior has to be made in ecologically valid contexts. Parent-child interaction was thought to be the most suitable context, since empirical evidence displayed strong associations with children’s behavioral outcomes, psychopathology, social relationships and well-being. Using clinical data from 137 caregiver-child dyads, the main goal of the current study was to test the psychometric properties of an adapted version of the Crowell Procedure among preschoolers. Despite the interest that the Crowell Procedure has aroused, its psychometric properties remain relatively under-documented. This research aimed to study (1) the association between parental and child behavior, (2) the discriminant properties of the Crowell Procedure between preschoolers with a clinical level of externalizing behavior and non-clinical children and (3) the correlation between the Crowell Procedure and a behavioral checklist. The results support the consistency of both tasks and scales, the discriminant properties, external validity and fidelity of the coding system. The Crowell Procedure can therefore be used as an observational paradigm to assess both child and parent behavior in clinical and research contexts. The discriminant analyses revealed that the procedure was effective at differentiating children displaying a clinical level of externalizing behavior from normally developing ones.     

A Pilot Study of Fragile X Syndrome Screening in Pregnant Women and Women Planning Pregnancy: Implementation,Acceptance, Awareness,and Geographic Factors

We report herein results of a study performed in the Balearic Islands which had the following goals: 1) Determine the proportion of pregnant or non-pregnant women planning pregnancy, who would choose to undergo a screening test for Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), if it is accompanied by the appropriate information; 2) Assess satisfaction and any increase in stress among women who participate in screening; 3) Collect epidemiological information about the incidence of the disease in our population; and 4) Collect demographic and health history data and assess participants’ awareness of the disease. Screening was performed on 3,731 pregnant and non-pregnant women of childbearing age and the results indicate: a very high voluntary rate of participation; a high level of self-reported satisfaction and low levels of stress because of the test; a very high incidence of premutation (1/106) in our population; and a low level of awareness about the existence of FXS (25 %). Additional findings indicate no significant correlation between self-reported health history and premutation detection, and the high premutation incidence does not seem to be specific to the indigenous Balearic population. Based on these results, we discuss the pros and cons of an implementation of preconception and pregnant women screening for FXS within a public health screening program.     

Factors related to the comorbidity between oppositional defiant disorder and anxiety disorders in preschool children

Background and objectives: The aim of the study is to identify factors related to comorbid oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and anxiety disorders (ADs). Design: A sample of 622 children was assessed longitudinally at 3 and 5 years of age. Methods: At baseline, there were 310 boys (49.8%), most participants were of Caucasian–white ethnicity (89.1%) and attended to public school (64.0%), and families’ socioeconomic status was 64.3% medium-high, 14.1% medium and 20.5% medium-low. Children diagnosed with ODD and/or AD were selected: n?=?103 at 3 years of age (44 ODD, 42 AD and 17 ODD?+?AD) and n?=?106 at 5 years of age (31 ODD, 60 AD and 15 ODD?+?AD). Results: High levels of the child’s negative affectivity and the mother’s aggressive behavior (versus AD), and high scores in the father’s psychopathology measurements (versus ODD) were related to the presence of comorbid ODD?+?AD at 3 years of age. High scores in approach-positive anticipation, fears (only in boys, in girls the reverse effect occurred) compared to ODD and AD independently and aggressive behavior (versus AD), and low scores for smiling and laughter (versus ODD only and AD only) were predictive of comorbidity at the 5 years of age. Conclusions: Temperament traits may be a common factor in explaining longitudinal ODD?+?AD comorbidity.     

Between Homohysteria and Inclusivity: Tolerance Towards Sexual Diversity in Sport

The small number of openly gay or lesbian people in top-flight sport raises the question about whether sporting or social context makes it easy or difficult for these sportspeople to come out. There are studies conducted in the UK and USA using the theory of homohysteria but the scarcity of studies in Spain on this subject, added to the lack of a tool with which to measure tolerance towards sexual diversity in sport, has led us to write this paper in which we analyze the suitability of a new tool for classifying the metacognitive profiles of two samples from different cultures, relative to the concept of homohysteria. This correlational study involved 879 men and women aged 16–78 (M = 28.45 years; SD = 13.08) living in either Spain or the United Kingdom, who were actively participating in or following sport of some kind. Results show that the new instrument has adequate construct validity and high reliability (Alpha = .95), facilitating the measurement of two dimensions of tolerance towards non-heteronormative sexualities in sport: non-rejection and acceptance. Results point to three metacognitive profiles in terms of fit of the level of tolerance in these two dimensions: low, high, and partial. Findings show high levels of both dimensions of tolerance in the UK, and higher percentages of partial tolerance in Spain, underlining the importance of cultural contexts and policies which may affect people’s levels of tolerance. We conclude that a pseudo-inclusive climate exists in Spanish society today.