Are emotional intelligent workers also more empathic?

This paper analyzes whether emotional intelligence and self‐monitoring are related to empathy among a sample of workers in both the public and private employment sectors. Two hundred and forty‐two employees (42.5% men and 57.5% women) with a mean age of 35.21 years (SD = 10.07, range 18–61) completed a questionnaire that measured the variables of interest. The results showed that emotion regulation, a dimension of emotional intelligence, accounts for most of the variance of empathy, followed by the ability to understand emotions and the management of others' emotions. Furthermore, gender did not yield any moderator effect on the relations among emotional intelligence, self‐monitoring and empathy. We conclude that the intrapersonal aspects of emotional intelligence, in particular, emotion regulation, help explain the empathy of workers. The implications of these findings are discussed herein.     

Psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire in high‐risk groups

The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire ‐ Short Form (CTQ‐SF) is widely used to measure childhood abuse of all types. In the present study, we examined the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the instrument. The participants constituted four subsamples (n = 517): substance abusers (n = 126), psychiatric patients (n = 210), prisoners (n = 109) and adolescents in out‐of‐home placements (n = 72). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a reasonable fit of the data to the original five‐factor structure of the CTQ‐SF. Measurement invariance was found across gender and the four subsamples. It was concluded that the Norwegian version of the CTQ‐SF has acceptable psychometric properties, with good reliability and satisfactory accuracy, to assess different dimensions of childhood trauma.     

Some considerations about personality structure in child psychosis

This paper begins by describing the three main areas that can be addressed in seeking to bring about change in parent?–?infant work, and questions the extent to which a brief therapy model may be generally effective. Following a clinical example, there is a discussion of the nature of the process of change with this particular population. Drawing on ideas from Paula Heimann and others it is suggested that the ‘ghost in the nursery’ described by Fraiberg represents an ‘unassimilated object’ that may frequently be projected on to the infant but is also likely to appear elsewhere. It is argued that, especially if therapy relieves the infant of this projection, it will most often manifest its presence in the couple's relationship. In consequence, it is this relationship that should be a primary focus for our interventions, particularly as this also provides the essential context for the infant's psychological development.     

Associations between cortical thickness and general intelligence in children,adolescents and young adults

Neuroimaging research indicates that human intellectual ability is related to brain structure including the thickness of the cerebral cortex. Most studies indicate that general intelligence is positively associated with cortical thickness in areas of association cortex distributed throughout both brain hemispheres. In this study, we performed a cortical thickness mapping analysis on data from 182 healthy typically developing males and females ages 9 to 24 years to identify correlates of general intelligence (g) scores. To determine if these correlates also mediate associations of specific cognitive abilities with cortical thickness, we regressed specific cognitive test scores on g scores and analyzed the residuals with respect to cortical thickness. The effect of age on the association between cortical thickness and intelligence was examined. We found a widely distributed pattern of positive associations between cortical thickness and g scores, as derived from the first unrotated principal factor of a factor analysis of Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI) subtest scores. After WASI specific cognitive subtest scores were regressed on g factor scores, the residual score variances did not correlate significantly with cortical thickness in the full sample with age covaried. When participants were grouped at the age median, significant positive associations of cortical thickness were obtained in the older group for g-residualized scores on Block Design (a measure of visual-motor integrative processing) while significant negative associations of cortical thickness were observed in the younger group for g-residualized Vocabulary scores. These results regarding correlates of general intelligence are concordant with the existing literature, while the findings from younger versus older subgroups have implications for future research on brain structural correlates of specific cognitive abilities, as well as the cognitive domain specificity of behavioral performance correlates of normative gray matter thinning during adolescence.     

An account of the relationship between fluid intelligence and complex learning in considering storage capacity and executive attention

Although fluid intelligence and complex learning are conceptualized differently and assessed by apparently different measures, both theoretical accounts and empirical evidence suggest a relationship between the two constructs. In this study, major working memory aspects including the storage capacity and executive attention were proposed to account for the relationship between fluid intelligence and complex learning. A sample of 184 participants completed fluid intelligence and complex learning scales, as well as working memory measures that each included two or three treatment levels differing in the demands on capacity or executive control. The differences among the treatment levels provided a favorable precondition for employing fixed-links models to separate the core processes of storage capacity or executive attention from the auxiliary processes. Results indicated that both storage capacity and executive attention contributed significantly to fluid intelligence and complex learning. A further analysis showed that the two working memory aspects, particularly the storage capacity, accounted for most of the shared variance between fluid intelligence and complex learning.     

A longitudinal study of temperament continuity through IBQ,TBAQ and CBQ

The aim of this work was to study the continuity of temperament in a Spanish sample (n = 60), covering the developmental stages of infancy, toddlerhood and childhood. Temperamental dimensions showed, with few exceptions, as much homotypic as heterotypic continuity as was to be expected. At the level of latent superconstructs continuity, we found that Anger and Fear followed different developmental paths and showed continuity over all the periods evaluated. Positive Affect/Regulation superconstruct showed continuity from infancy to toddlerhood. From toddlerhood, Positive Affect/Regulation showed continuity with the superconstruct of Effortful Control but not with the superconstruct of Surgency/Extraversion. At an ipsative level, we found two groups of subjects, labeled ‘nonexpressive/controlled’ and ‘noncontrolled/expressive’. Generally, these results confirm the stability of temperament in the periods analyzed and underline the importance of toddlerhood as a transitional period in the maturity of self-regulatory capabilities shown in childhood.     

Parental Attitudes,Beliefs, and Responses to Childhood Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: The Parental Attitudes and Behaviors Scale

ABSTRACT

This paper documents preliminary examination of the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Parental Attitudes and Behaviors Scale (PABS), an OCD-specific measure of parental attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral strategies related to childhood OCD. Employing a sample of 123 youth (mean age = 11.7; 59% male, 79% Caucasian) diagnosed with OCD in an outpatient child anxiety clinic, we used exploratory factor analysis to produce a 3-factor solution representing the following domains of parental responses to childhood OCD: accommodation, empowerment, and hostility/blame. These scales demonstrated adequate internal consistency and concurrent validity, providing preliminary evidence for the psychometric integrity of the PABS.     

Risk-Taking Behavior as a Mediator of the Relationship between Children's Temperament and Injury Liability

The relationship between childhood temperament, risk-taking behavior and injury liability is investigated in a sample of 209 two- to nine-year-old children using parental report. Temperament was found to be significantly related to both risk-taking behavior and the number of injuries sustained; moreover, risk-taking behavior was a significant predictor of injuries. A mediational model was tested and risk-taking behavior was found to mediate the relationship between temperament and injury liability. The implications of these findings are discussed within the context of preventive actions.     

Neurodevelopmental Disorders Across the Lifespan: A Neuroconstructivist Approach.

Objectives. To investigate neuropsychological and neurobehavioral outcome in children with arterial ischemic stroke (AIS).

Background. Childhood stroke can have consequences on motor, cognitive, and behavioral development. We present a cross-sectional study of neuropsychological and neurobehavioral outcome at least one year poststroke in a uniquely homogeneous sample of children who had experienced AIS.

Method. Forty-nine children with AIS aged 6 to 18 years were recruited from a specialist clinic. Neuropsychological measures of intelligence, reading comprehension, attention, and executive function were administered. A triangulation of data collection included questionnaires completed by the children, their parents, and teachers, rating behavior, executive functions, and emotions.

Key Findings. Focal neuropsychological vulnerabilities in attention (response inhibition and dual attention) and executive function were found, beyond general intellectual functioning, irrespective of hemispheric side of stroke. Difficulties with emotional and behavioral regulation were also found. Consistent with an “early plasticity” hypothesis, earlier age of stroke was associated with better performance on measures of executive function.

Conclusions. A significant proportion of children poststroke are at long-term risk of difficulties with emotional regulation, executive function, and attention. Data also suggest that executive functions are represented in widespread networks in the developing brain and are vulnerable to unilateral injury.     

How semantic category modulates preschool children’s visual memory

The dynamic interplay between perception and memory has been explored in preschool children by presenting filtered stimuli regarding animals and artifacts. The identification of filtered images was markedly influenced by both prior exposure and the semantic nature of the stimuli. The identification of animals required less physical information than artifacts did. Our results corroborate the notion that the human attention system evolves to reliably develop definite category-specific selection criteria by which living entities are monitored in different ways.