Parents’ postnatal depressive symptoms and their children's academic attainment at 16 years: Pathways of risk transmission

The aim of the study was to examine whether parents’ increased postnatal depressive symptoms predicted children's academic attainment over time and whether the parent–child relationship, children's prior academic attainment, and mental health mediated this association. We conducted secondary analyses on the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children data (12,607 mothers, 9,456 fathers). Each parent completed the Edinburgh-Postnatal Depression Scale at 8 weeks after the child's birth (predictor) and a questionnaire about the mother–child and father–child relationship at 7 years and 1 month (mediator). The children's mental health problems were assessed with the teacher version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at 10–11 years (mediator). We used data on the children's academic attainment on UK Key Stage 1 (5–7 years; mediator) and Key Stage 4 (General Certificate of Secondary Education 16 years) (outcome). We adjusted for the parents’ education, and child gender and cognitive ability. The results revealed that parents’ depressive symptoms at 8 weeks predicted lower academic performance in children at 16 years. Mothers’ postnatal depressive symptoms had an indirect effect through children's mental health problems on academic outcomes at 16 years via negative mother–child relationship, and prior academic attainment. There was a significant negative indirect effect of fathers’ postnatal depressive symptoms on academic attainment at 16 years via negative father–child relationship on child mental health. The findings suggest that the family environment (parental mental health and parent–child relationship) and children's mental health should be potential targets for support programmes for children of depressed parents.     

Behavioral extremity moderates the association between certainty in attitudes about COVID and willingness to engage in mitigation-related behaviors

People generally intend to act more on beliefs and attitudes about which they have greater certainty. However, we introduce a boundary condition to the positive association between certainty and behavioral intentions—behavioral extremity. Uncertainty about a threatening issue like COVID-19 can be disconcerting, and we propose that uncertain people cope in part through increased openness to extreme actions like accepting risky medical treatments and aggression toward those defying mitigation policies. Testing this, we compiled and analyzed all the data on certainty about COVID-19 mitigation policies and willingness to engage in mitigation-related behaviors that our lab collected during the pandemic (6 samples, 20 behaviors, Ns up to 1496). External ratings of the behaviors' extremity moderated certainty-willingness associations: whereas greater certainty was associated with increased willingness to engage in moderate behaviors (the typical result), lower certainty was associated with increased willingness to engage in extreme behaviors, especially among those worried about becoming ill.     

Adapting Parent–Child Interaction Therapy for Deaf Families That Communicate via American Sign Language: A Formal Adaptation Approach

While our field has made positive strides in adapting psychotherapeutic interventions for diverse groups of people, considerable work is still needed in this area. We present our formal adaptation procedure for parent–child interaction therapy (PCIT) with Deaf persons. This includes a review of the cultural adaptation process for psychological interventions, including PCIT, as well as an introduction to Deaf culture. Details regarding the specific adaptation of PCIT for Deaf persons are outlined. We found that the utilization of a clear framework to guide the cultural adaptation process facilitated careful consideration of the numerous linguistic and cultural variables involved, while maintaining integrity of the treatment model. While the current focus was on adapting PCIT for Deaf families who communicate via American Sign Language, this framework can also be applied to other populations and/or interventions.     

Disentangling proactive and reactive aggression in children using self-report

The distinction between proactive and reactive functions of aggression is one of the most common divisions when investigating aggression among children and adolescents. To date, self-report is the least used measurement, despite existing literature supporting the view that the best informant regarding internal processes and motives are children themselves. The main aim of this study was to examine the construct and concurrent validity of a new self-report questionnaire, which aims to disentangle acts of reactive vs. proactive aggression that are most common within the daily lives of children. We examined the self-report measure among 578 children (313 girls, 265 boys, mean age 11 years, range 9–13 years). Most children (90% boys; 85% girls) reported at least one act of aggression over the last four weeks. Furthermore, the outcomes support the two-factor structure (reactive and proactive aggression) and the questionnaire showed good concurrent and discriminant validity with measures for emotional and social functioning. This study validates the use of the self-report instrument for reactive and proactive aggression and demonstrates that children can successfully distinguish between their own motives for reactive and proactive forms of aggressive behaviours.     

When speech enhances Spatial Musical Association of Response Codes: Joint spatial associations of pitch and timbre in nonmusicians

Previous studies have shown that the effect of the Spatial Musical Association of Response Codes (SMARC) depends on various features, such as task conditions (whether pitch height is implicit or explicit), response dimension (horizontal vs. vertical), presence or absence of a reference tone, and former musical training of the participants. In the present study, we investigated the effects of pitch range and timbre: in particular, how timbre (piano vs. vocal) contributes to the horizontal and vertical SMARC effect in nonmusicians under varied pitch range conditions. Nonmusicians performed a timbre judgement task in which the pitch range was either small (6 or 8 semitone steps) or large (9 or 12 semitone steps) in a horizontal and a vertical response setting. For piano sounds, SMARC effects were observed in all conditions. For the vocal sounds, in contrast, SMARC effects depended on pitch range. We concluded that the occurrence of the SMARC effect, especially in horizontal response settings, depends on the interaction of the timbre (vocal and piano) and pitch range if vocal and instrumental sounds are combined in one experiment: the human voice enhances the attention, both to the vocal and the instrumental sounds.     

The size coding of responses: The size of switches and the force feedback

We aimed to understand which factors have a functional role in the size coding of responses, either the size of the switches or the force required to trigger each switch. This question is of relevance because it allows a better understanding of processes underlying action coding. In each trial, participants saw a small or large object. Depending on its colour, the participants had to press one of two switches. In the “size” condition, the response device consisted of two switches of different visual size, but both required the same amount of force. In the “force-feedback” condition, the response device consisted in two switches of identical visual size, but one switch required more force than the other. We found a compatibility effect in the “size,” not in the “force-feedback” condition, supporting that the size-coding of responses would be due to the size of the switches.     

Attachment to the Missing Object: Infidelity and Obsessive Love

In an object relations study on infidelity and obsessive love, the author observes that in relationships marked by chronic, repetitive infidelity and obsession, the lover is enamored with that which they can not have and that the psychological development of such individuals may have been traumatized by early attachment disturbances in the primary dyad. Tenacious, unsatisfying love-attachments as seen in sexual addictions and obsessional love may result from the internalization of an absent or intermittent object relationship—a morbid attachment to the missing object of infancy. Such patients often demonstrate depressive/addictive traits and schizoid defenses and typically have difficulty forming an attachment bond with the analyst, perceiving the analyst as a dangerous, rejecting agent who will recapitulate the original trauma. In the clinical case of Gretchen, the author uses Winnicott's (1960) concept of holding to create a progressive therapeutic bond, as toxic resistant forces are gradually resolved.     

On the nature of international sales and sales management research: a social network–analytic perspective

This research uses a combination of text mining, co-word analysis, and social network analysis (SNA) to review 132 international sales and sales management (ISSM) articles published between 1980 and 2017. The study provides a unique view of the past and future of ISSM research and provides three principal contributions. First, from a social network–analytic perspective, it offers a unique examination of the ways ISSM research topics are interconnected, as reflected by keyword network structure. Second, by conducting SNA across two periods (1980–1999 and 2000–2017) and examining the changes in network centrality measures, the study offers initial insights into the evolving nature of the ISSM literature. Third, the study reports keyword network disconnections (i.e., structural holes) to propose a fruitful agenda for future ISSM research. Taken together, this research offers a current perspective of the ISSM research domain's evolving nature.     

Bien-être,satisfaction au travail et conflit travail–famille : une perspective centrée sur l’influence du leadership

This research investigates the relationship between well-being, work satisfaction, work–family conflict and leadership, based on hierarchical status. Regression analysis confirmed that leadership can predict a significant part of work satisfaction and well-being variation. The most significant results suggest that transformational leadership is related with higher satisfaction and laissez-faire leadership with lower satisfaction. Results showed no significant contribution of leadership on work–family conflict score variation. These results provide evidence that management styles should be considered to increase well-being and employees satisfaction.     

Evaluating the influence of approaching vehicles on pedestrian’s visual patterns and crossing behaviors at an uncontrolled crosswalk

The visual behaviors and movement characteristics of pedestrians are related to their surrounding potential safety hazards, such as approaching vehicles. This study primarily aimed to investigate the visual patterns and walking behaviors of pedestrians interacting with approaching vehicles. Field experiments were conducted at two uncontrolled crosswalks located at the Cuihua and Yanta roads in Xi’an, China. The visual performance of pedestrians was assessed using the eye tracking system from SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI). Moreover, motion trajectories of the pedestrians and approaching vehicles were obtained using an unmanned aerial vehicle. Subsequently, the visual attributes and movement trajectories of pedestrians and motion trajectories of approaching vehicles were statistically analyzed. The results showed that approaching vehicles distracted the fixation of crossing pedestrians significantly, and occupied 29.5% of the total duration of fixation; that is, pedestrians always directed more fixation points to the approaching vehicles compared to other stimuli. As a vehicle approached, pedestrians’ fixation shifted from other areas of interest to the vehicle. Moreover, an increase in the velocity of the vehicle and a closer distance between pedestrian and the vehicle resulted in an increase in the pedestrians’ duration of fixation on the approaching vehicle, and they implemented more saccades. Furthermore, approaching vehicle’s velocity and distance between pedestrian and approaching vehicle are not significantly associated with pedestrian’s movement attributes. These findings provide insights into the crossing behavior of pedestrians during pedestrian-vehicle interactions, which could assist future researchers and policy makers.