Sleep disturbance and neuropsychological function in young children with ADHD

Sleep disturbance, common among children with ADHD, can contribute to cognitive and behavioral dysfunction. It is therefore challenging to determine whether neurobehavioral dysfunction should be attributed to ADHD symptoms, sleep disturbance, or both. The present study examined parent-reported sleep problems (Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire) and their relationship to neuropsychological function in 64 children, aged 4–7 years, with and without ADHD. Compared to typically developing controls, children with ADHD were reported by parents to have significantly greater sleep disturbance—including sleep onset delay, sleep anxiety, night awakenings, and daytime sleepiness—(all p ≤ .01), and significantly poorer performance on tasks of attention, executive control, processing speed, and working memory (all p < .01). Within the ADHD group, total parent-reported sleep disturbance was significantly associated with deficits in attention and executive control skills (all p ≤ .01); however, significant group differences (relative to controls) on these measures remained (p < .01) even after controlling for total sleep disturbance. While sleep problems are common among young children with ADHD, these findings suggest that inattention and executive dysfunction appear to be attributable to symptoms of ADHD rather than to sleep disturbance. The relationships among sleep, ADHD symptoms, and neurobehavioral function in older children may show different patterns as a function of the chronicity of disordered sleep.     

Parent Perspectives on the Use of Group Well-Child Care to Address Toxic Stress in Early Childhood

We sought to understand the experiences of parents who participated in Group Well-Child Care (GWCC) and Trauma-Informed GWCC (TI-GWCC). Three focus groups and design sessions with parents from either standard GWCC or TI-GWCC (N = 17) were conducted and synthesized into common themes using thematic analysis. Focus group themes included: (1) GWCC can empower parents to recognize toxic stress; (2) Parents identify ways that they role model behaviors for their child(ren); (3) Activities that facilitate reflection on attachment and anger management encourage intentional parenting practices. Our qualitative findings suggest that TI-GWCC supports the prevention of childhood adversity by creating connections between parents, helping families understand and identify toxic stress, and teaching parenting practices that mitigate stressors.     

Early—but modest—gender differences in focal aspects of childhood temperament

The best evidence for gender differences in child temperament is in the broad areas of effortful control and surgency, and to an extent negative affectivity, domains that encompass temperament dimensions of inhibitory control, activity level, and shyness. We examined the influence of child gender in a methodologically comprehensively assessed twin sample. We used mother, father, and Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB) ratings to assess temperament in 3 year-olds. Boys had higher levels of activity level and lower levels of shyness and inhibitory control than girls across all methods of assessment. Then, more rigorous testing showed that patterns of mean gender differences for opposite-sex twin pairs in our sample were very consistent with overall sample gender differences and the magnitude of these gender differences was consistent across assessment methodology. We then asked: are these more gendered dimensions of temperament associated with one another, and are associations different across gender? The answer to both questions is, yes. Shyer children have lower activity level and higher inhibitory control, and those with higher inhibitory control are less active. Gender differences did appear in the intercorrelations between parent ratings of shyness and inhibitory control with only girls showing significant associations within and across these dimensions.     

Step Three: Assessing Readiness for OAM (Older Adult Ministry)

SUMMARY

Assessing existing programs as well as the readiness of the congregation to receive new programs in the area of older adult ministry is an essential building block. An assessment of existing ministries is essential to discovering what needs to be developed. At the same time, the strengths and challenges of a congregation to develop and maintain an expanded older adult ministry is also important to assess so that starting points can be identified and needs filled. Often, the secondary gain of any congregational assessment is the ability to hear all of the voices within the congregation, help congregants to feel like they have participated in the process and to prepare them to expect something new. Tools for assessing existing programs as well as the readiness of the congregation are shared and explained.     

Feared consequences of panic attacks in panic disorder: A qualitative and quantitative analysis

Cognitions are hypothesized to play a central role in panic disorder (PD). Previous studies have used questionnaires to assess cognitive content, focusing on prototypical cognitions associated with PD; however, few studies have qualitatively examined cognitions associated with the feared consequences of panic attacks. The purpose of this study was to conduct a qualitative and quantitative analysis of feared consequences of panic attacks. The initial, qualitative analysis resulted in the development of 32 categories of feared consequences. The categories were derived from participant responses to a standardized, semi-structured question (n?=?207). Five expert-derived categories were then utilized to quantitatively examine the relationship between cognitions and indicators of PD severity. Cognitions did not predict PD severity; however, correlational analyses indicated some predictive validity to the expert-derived categories. The qualitative analysis identified additional areas of patient-reported concern not included in previous research that may be important in the assessment and treatment of PD.     

Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Arnold et al.’s Parenting Scale Across Race, Age, and Sex

We used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to investigate the factor structure of several models of Arnold et al.’s Parenting Scale [Arnold et al. (1993). Psychological Assessment, 5, 137–144] across children from various age groups and races. Participants were parents of children (ages 2–16 years) presenting to four community-based pediatric practices for routine care. Parents completed questionnaires pertaining to various aspects of parenting and child behavior problems. Results indicated that a two-factor revision proposed by Reitman et al. [(2001). Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 30, 514–524] represented the data well and better than the original three-factor structure and other two-factor models. Results from multigroup CFA analyses indicated that this factor structure did not vary across child sex, child age, and parental race. Results of validity analyses indicated that scores on both factors were related to reports of children’s behavior and parental affect and cognitions. This study was the first to use multigroup CFA procedures to demonstrate that relationships between individual items and factors of the Parenting Scale are similar for parents of children across various age groups.     

Family Influences on Treatment Refusal in School-linked Mental Health Services

This study analyzed family influences on treatment refusal in school-linked mental health services (SLMHS). Specifically, it assessed whether levels of family cohesion, conflict, and organization were related to whether a family refused to initiate recommended treatment. Children (N = 133) referred for emotional and behavioral problems and their families participated. Results indicated that (1) family environment factors explained a significant amount of variance in treatment refusal after controlling for demographic factors, (2) families of children with predominantly internalizing symptoms were at greater risk for refusing treatment than families of children with predominantly externalizing symptoms, and (3) lower level of family cohesion was an individual risk factor for refusing treatment. Incorporating an evaluation of family environment within SLMHS assessments may aid in the identification of areas wherein intervention may be beneficial in preventing treatment refusal.     

课程嵌入型表现性评定对数学问题解决影响的实验研究

课程嵌入型表现性评定是当前基础教育新课程改革倡导的重要的学生学业评价方式。以335名初中一年级学生为被试,采用为期一学年的追踪实验研究方式,探索课程嵌入型表现性评定对数学问题解决的影响效果。研究结果表明,此方式对学生的数学问题解决能力发展具有显著促进作用,且促进作用随实验进程不断增加并受到学生原有学业水平的影响。对口语报告资料的分析进一步表明,此评定方式对数学问题解决的促进作用主要体现在理解问题、元认知与问题解决策略等方面。     

Intellectual Ability and Achievement in Anxiety-Disordered Children: A Clarification and Extension of the Literature

Intellectual and achievement deficits associated with childhood anxiety disorders are of considerable controversy. Part of this controversy and inconsistency in findings appears related to methodological differences in studies: anxiety disorders are defined as occurring anywhere in the diagnostic profile (e.g., primary, secondary, or tertiary) in some studies whereas in other studies anxiety disorders are defined only when primary (excluding secondary or tertiary disorders). Results in the present study broadly parallel findings from the previous studies when the procedures inherent to each study are replicated. Through careful diagnostic assignment, it is shown that anxiety disorders are no more impairing than other psychiatric disorders in the present study. However, when compared to referred children without significant psychopathology, children with anxiety disorders show statistically and clinically significant impairment. Subsequent analyses do not suggest inattention mediates this effect. Discussion emphasizes the need to assess for and consider comorbidity in understanding these differences. A portion of these findings were presented at the 40th annual meetings of the Association for Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies (2006).     

Comparison of Tetradic WAIS-III Short Forms in Predicting Full Scale IQ Scores in Neuropsychiatric Clinic Settings

Patients from two neuropsychology clinics (n = 283) were divided into model development (n = 189) and validation samples (n = 94) with proportional representation from each clinic. Three regression based models of four WAIS-III subtests were developed and cross-validated to evaluate their FSIQ estimation accuracy: (1) an optimized stepwise regression model derived from the development sample (Comprehension, Matrix Reasoning, Similarities, and Picture Arrangement), (2) an a priori WASI based model (Similarities, Matrix Reasoning, Vocabulary, and Block Design), and (3) an a priori model with relatively rapidly administered subtests from each Index Score factor of the WAIS-III (Information, Picture Completion, Arithmetic, and Digit Symbol-Coding). The models produced good (92 to 97%) FSIQ estimation accuracy within 10 points of FSIQ with none of these models performing significantly better than another. The utility of clinical use of short form FSIQ estimation is a function of accuracy needed versus administration time reduction and ease for the patient.