Processing speed in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, inattentive type.

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is among the most common and most often reconceptualized neurobehavioral disorders of childhood. In the most recent DSM-IV, a primarily inattentive subtype of ADHD (AD) has again been identified. This study explores the neuropsychological profile of this group of children. Eighty-two children referred for school-related problems participated. Twenty-five met criteria for AD; 52 met criteria for reading disability (RD); 9 were comorbid for RD and AD. AD children performed poorly on measures of information processing speed. Children with comorbid AD/RD were distinguishable from those with RD on speed of processing measures only. Vulnerability to information processing load may be at the root of many of the behavioral manifestations of AD.     

Forecasting “friends forever”: A longitudinal investigation of sustained closeness between best friends

Using data collected across 19 years, the chief goal of this study was to discover predictors of continued relational closeness between best friends. Participants were same‐sex and cross‐sex best friend pairs recruited from a small Midwestern college. In 1983, participants completed several tests and activities designed to assess facets of intimacy, with follow‐up studies in 1987 and 2002 measuring relational closeness. Regression analysis indicates that both manifest similarity and months of closeness in 1983 are associated with relational closeness in 2002. These results suggest that the investment of resources in the friendship and similarity between friends facilitate friendship longevity and that Kelley et al.’s (1983) conceptualization of closeness as related to interdependence is empirically robust.     

Evidence for altered Fragile-X mental retardation protein expression in response to behavioral stimulation

The Fragile-X mental retardation protein, the protein absent in Fragile-X syndrome, is synthesized near synapses upon neurotransmitter activation. Humans and mice lacking this protein exhibit abnormal dendritic spine lengths and numbers. Here we investigated Fragile-X protein levels in animals exposed to behavioral paradigms that induce neuronal morphological change. Fragile-X protein immunoreactivity was examined in visual cortices of rats reared in a complex environment for 10 or 20 days, motor cortices of rats trained on motor-skill tasks for 3 or 7 days, and either visual or motor cortices of inactive controls. Rats exposed to a complex environment for 20 days or trained for 7 days on motor-skill tasks exhibited increased Fragile-X protein immunoreactivity in visual or motor cortices, respectively. These results provide the first evidence for a behaviorally induced alteration of Fragile-X protein expression and are compatible with previous findings suggesting synaptic regulation of its expression. These results also strengthen the association of Fragile-X mental retardation protein expression with the alteration of synaptic structure.     

Processing Speed in Children With Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder,Inattentive Type

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is among the most common and most often reconceptualized neurobehavioral disorders of childhood. In the most recent DSM-IV, a primarily inattentive subtype of ADHD (AD) has again been identified. This study explores the neuropsychological profile of this group of children. Eighty-two children referred for school-related problems participated. Twenty-five met criteria for AD; 52 met criteria for reading disability (RD); 9 were comorbid for RD and AD. AD children performed poorly on measures of information processing speed. Children with comorbid AD/RD were distinguishable from those with RD on speed of processing measures only. Vulnerability to information processing load may be at the root of many of the behavioral manifestations of AD.     

Introduction: A Festschrift in Honor of Earl A. Alluisi

A battery of 10 traditional paper-and-pencil aptitude tests and a battery of 25 cognitive-components-based tests were administered to 298 men and women to investigate the common sources of variance in those batteries. Earlier confirmatory factor analyses showed each battery to have a hierarchical structure, each with a single higher order factor. The higher order factor in the paper-and-pencil battery had previously been identified as general cognitive ability, or g. The higher order factor from the cognitive-components battery had been identified as working memory. The intercorrelation of the higher order factors from the two batteries was .994, indicating that both measured g. The proportion of common variance because of g was greater in the cognitive-components battery than in the paper-and-pencil battery. The correlations between each factor based on cognitive components and g averaged .946. Despite theoretical foundations and arguments, cognitive components tests appear to measure much the same thing as traditional paper-and-pencil tests.     

Mentoring Relationship Quality and Maltreated Children's Coping

Coping strategies are believed to protect against the harmful effects of maltreatment on children's psychosocial outcomes. Caregivers are thought to be critical in helping children develop adaptive coping strategies, yet many maltreated children have poor and/or insecure relationships with their parents. A quality relationship with a caring, non‐parental adult (e.g., a mentor), however, may be one strategy to promote healthy coping among maltreated children. Children (N = 154) in this study participated in a mentoring and skill‐based program for maltreated preadolescents placed in foster care. Hierarchical regression was used to assess the association between children's reports of their relationship with their mentor at the end of the intervention and four coping strategies (i.e., Active, Support‐seeking, Avoidance, and Distraction) 6 months following the intervention, while accounting for baseline coping strategies and other demographic factors. Above and beyond the covariates, better mentoring relationship quality was associated with children's greater use of Active and Distraction coping 6‐month post‐intervention. Mentoring relationship quality was not significantly associated with children's Avoidance or Support‐seeking coping. The findings suggest that mentoring programs may be a fruitful approach to improving vulnerable children's coping skills. Healthy coping is hypothesized to protect against the harmful effects of maltreatment and to promote resilience in the face of multiple stressors (Banyard & Williams, 2007 ; Boxer & Sloan‐Power, 2013; Cicchetti & Rogosch, 2009). It remains unclear, however, how best to promote positive coping among maltreated children, who are disproportionately exposed to numerous adverse childhood experiences (Raviv, Taussig, Culhane & Garrido, 2010). Theories of coping emphasize the importance of coping socialization through quality parent–child relationships (Kliewer et al., 2006; Skinner & Wellborn, 1994 ). Unfortunately, many maltreated children are exposed to poor quality and/or inadequate caregiving (Baer & Martinez, 2006), which may place them at risk for engaging in unhealthy or inappropriate forms of coping. It is reasonable to expect that positive relationships with other non‐parental adults (e.g., mentors) would affect coping behaviors given the positive impact that quality relationships have on a myriad of emotional and behavioral child outcomes (DuBois, Portillo, Rhodes, Silverthorn & Valentine, 2011; Keller & Pryce, 2012; Thomson & Zand, 2010 ). Because children in foster care often transition in and out of schools and home environments, a quality relationship with a mentor (a consistent presence in the child's life) may be well suited to promote healthy coping strategies.     

...And some men have leadership thrust upon them.

Viewing leadership behavior as a joint function of situational factors, individual predispositions, and followers' responsive behavior, this study used 64 subjects, half of them high and half of them low in measured leadership self-concept. Half had a high and half a low stake in a group task. Each subject was twice appointed leader of a three-man group, once exposed to "followers" (experimenter's condederates,) altercasting him to lead, once to followers alter-casting him to follow. Multivariate analyses of variance showed effects of followers' behavior on profiles of a subject's behavior (when subjects were pushed to lead they led, when pushed to follow they increased socioemotional activity) and perceptions of followers. These effects were specified by leadership self-concept (little difference between groups when confronting pushy followers, more when confronting passive ones), prompting an interpretation in terms of role incongruity.