Adolescent reading skill and engagement with digital and traditional literacies as predictors of reading comprehension

This study investigates the concurrent predictors of adolescent reading comprehension (literal, inferential) for fiction and non‐fiction texts. Predictors were examined from the cognitive (word identification, reading fluency), psychological (gender), and ecological (print exposure) domains. Print exposure to traditional and digital texts was surveyed using a diary method of reading habits. A cross‐sectional sample of 312 students in early (11–13 years) or middle adolescence (14–15 years) participated from a range of SES backgrounds. Word identification emerged as a strong predictor of reading comprehension across adolescence and text genres. Gender effects favouring female students were evident for reading frequency but not for reading skill itself. Reading habits also differed, and comprehension advantages were observed among females for fiction and males for non‐fiction. Age effects emerged for reading frequency, which was lower in middle adolescence. Although more time was spent on digital than on traditional texts, traditional extended text reading was the only reading habit to predict inference‐making in comprehension and to distinguish skilled from less skilled comprehenders. The theoretical and educational implications of these results are discussed.     

Acute stress disorder among civilians during a war and post-traumatic growth six years later: the impact of personal and social resources

Background and Objectives: Various studies suggest a link between stress response to a traumatic event and post-traumatic growth (PTG), but little is known about their long-term relationship. In this study, the relationship between acute stress disorder (ASD) among civilians during a war on the home front and PTG six years later was examined for the first time. Based on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, the role of personal and social resource loss and gain as moderating factors was investigated. Design and Methods: At Time 1 of the research (the Second Lebanon War in 2006), a structured questionnaire was administered to 370 civilians living within rocket range. At Time 2, 6 years later, 301 participants from Time 1 were again examined. The data analysis refers to the 301 respondents who participated at Time 2. Results: The findings indicate a significant relationship between ASD and PTG. Examination of the interaction revealed that resource gain (but not resource loss) moderates (strengthens) the relationship between the two. Conclusions: These findings are not consistent with the COR view that resource loss has a greater effect on stress responses than resource gain.     

Duty-Related Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in 911 Telecommunicators: The Roles of Childhood Trauma Exposure and Emotion-Focused Coping

A history of childhood trauma exposure has been linked to the development of posttraumatic stress symptoms in adulthood following new exposure. Unhealthy coping behaviors that could develop or be utilized in response to early trauma could lend themselves to psychological issues in adulthood. Emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies in relation to stressful duty-related situations are examined as indirect pathways through which childhood trauma exposure could be associated with duty-related posttraumatic stress symptoms in 911 telecommunicators (N = 808). Multiple mediation models revealed that 3 of the 4 emotion-focused coping strategies, but not the problem-focused strategies, functioned as significant mediators in the association between childhood exposure and duty-related posttraumatic stress symptoms. Pairwise comparisons showed that self-controlling and escape-avoidance strategies were the strongest pathways of the indirect childhood trauma exposure–posttraumatic stress symptoms association. Implications of results regarding coping in response to new traumatic events in adulthood and potential research and intervention directions are discussed.     

Why Does Disaster Recovery Work Influence Mental Health?: Pathways through Physical Health and Household Income

Disaster recovery work increases risk for mental health problems, yet the mechanisms underlying this association are unclear. We explored links from recovery work to post‐traumatic stress (PTS), major depression (MD), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms through physical health symptoms and household income in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. As part of the NIEHS GuLF STUDY, participants (N = 10,141) reported on cleanup work activities, spill‐related physical health symptoms, and household income at baseline, and mental health symptoms an average of 14.69 weeks (SD = 16.79) thereafter. Cleanup work participation was associated with higher physical health symptoms, which in turn were associated with higher PTS, MD, and GAD symptoms. Similar pattern of results were found in models including workers only and investigating the influence of longer work duration and higher work‐related oil exposure on mental health symptoms. In addition, longer worker duration and higher work‐related oil exposure were associated with higher household income, which in turn was associated with lower MD and GAD symptoms. These findings suggest that physical health symptoms contribute to workers’ risk for mental health symptoms, while higher household income, potentially from more extensive work, might mitigate risk.     

Emotion recognition in children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

There is a limited amount of research that examines social-emotional functioning in children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), and the majority of it relies on parent and teacher reports of social impairments. Because these provide broad measures of social function, they fail to elucidate the underlying specific skills with which this group of children has difficulty. The current study examines emotion-recognition abilities in children with FASD, as it plays a central role in social interaction. Participants were 22 children with diagnosed FASD (ages 8–14), and age- and gender-matched typically developing controls. Tasks included measures of emotion recognition from three nonlinguistic modalities: facial expressions, emotional tone of voice, and body positioning and movement. Participant’s parents completed measures of adaptive and behavioral function that were related to children’s performance on aspects of emotion recognition. Overall, the results show that children with FASD have more difficulties with emotion recognition than typically developing age-matched peers, but these difficulties may not be clinically significant (e.g., smaller effect size) or may be specific to the age of the individual exhibiting the emotion (i.e., child vs. adult). These results are discussed in the context of previous studies.     

Multiple context mere exposure: Examining the limits of liking

Recent evidence suggests that increased liking of exposed stimuli—a phenomenon known as the mere exposure effect—is dependent on experiencing the stimuli in the same context at exposure and test. Three experiments extended this work by examining the effect of presenting target stimuli in single and multiple exposure contexts. Target face stimuli were repeatedly paired with nonsense words, which took the role of contexts, across exposure. On test, the mere exposure effect was found only when the target face stimuli were presented with nonsense word cues (contexts) with which they had been repeatedly paired. The mere exposure effect was eliminated when exposure to target face stimuli with the nonsense word cues (contexts) was minimal, despite the overall number of exposures to the target face being equated across single- and multiple-context exposure conditions. The results suggest that familiarity of the relationship between stimuli and their context, not simply familiarity of the stimuli themselves, leads to liking. The finding supports a broader framework, which suggests that liking is partly a function of the consistency between past and present experiences with a target stimulus.     

The Political Consequences of Combat: Post‐Traumatic Stress and Political Alienation Among Vietnam Veterans

On average, veterans are more civically and politically engaged than civilians. Previous research on the effects of military service, however, did not account for differences in veterans’ combat experiences. Using survey data from a representative sample of Vietnam veterans, this study presents evidence that veterans who were exposed to severe combat trauma and veterans who exhibited attitudes and fears associated with post‐traumatic stress had significantly lower levels of political efficacy and trust. The negative consequences of combat exposure and post‐traumatic stress are not mitigated when veterans have quality social support or when they seek professional counseling. These findings inform political psychology and hold implications for claims regarding the empowering influence of service in the U.S. military, increased political engagement, in particular. Among Vietnam veterans, exposure to severe combat trauma and post‐traumatic stress were both associated with reduced political efficacy and trust.     

On the development and mechanics of delayed matching-to-sample performance

Despite its frequent use to assess effects of environmental and pharmacological variables on short-term memory, little is known about the development of delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) performance. This study was designed to examine the dimensions and dynamics of DMTS performance development over a long period of exposure to provide a more secure foundation for assessing stability in future research. Six pigeons were exposed to a DMTS task with variable delays for 300 sessions (i.e., 18,000 total trials; 3,600 trials per retention interval). Percent-correct and log-d measures used to quantify the development of conditional stimulus control under the procedure generally and at each of five retention intervals (0, 2, 4, 8 and 16-s) individually revealed that high levels of accuracy developed relatively quickly under the shorter retention intervals, but increases in accuracy under the longer retention intervals sometimes were not observed until 100-150 sessions had passed, with some still increasing at Session 300. Analyses of errors suggested that retention intervals induced biases by shifting control from the sample stimulus to control by position, something that was predicted by observed response biases during initial training. These results suggest that although it may require a great deal of exposure to DMTS prior to obtaining asymptotic steady state, quantification of model parameters may help predict trends when extended exposure is not feasible.     

Functional analysis and treatment of inappropriate sexual behavior

The results of a functional analysis showed that inappropriate sexual behaviors exhibited by a 9-year-old boy who had been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury were maintained by positive reinforcement in the form of social attention. An intervention consisting of functional communication training and extinction resulted in reduced levels of inappropriate sexual behaviors.     

Transcultural validation and reliability of the Spanish version of the behaviour of young novice drivers scale (BYNDS) in a Colombian young driver population

The overrepresentation of young drivers in road crashes, and the fatalities and injuries arising from those crashes, is an intractable problem around the world. A plethora of research has led to the development and application of a range of research tools, including self-report survey instruments. One such instrument, the five-factor Behaviour of Young Novice Driver Scale (BYNDS), was developed in an Australian young driver population, and has recently been validated in a New Zealand young driver population. The current study aimed to validate the BYNDS in a Colombian young driver population, the first application of the instrument in a developing country. Translation from English to Spanish, and back translation from Spanish to English, in addition to culturally-appropriate modifications (such as changing ‘right hand side’ to ‘left hand side’) resulted in a Spanish version of the BYNDS (BYNDS-Sp). The BYNDS-Sp was administered to a sample of 392 young drivers aged 16–24 years (n = 353 aged 19–24 years) with a valid driver’s licence. An exploratory factor analysis revealed a six factor structure using 40 of the original 44 BYNDS-Sp items, accounting for 58.5% of the variance in self-reported risky driving behaviour. Ninety-three percent of participants reported having ready access to their own vehicle (42% owned their own vehicle), with Colombian young drivers most likely to report driving at night and on the weekend. The majority of participants reported driving in excess of posted speed limits (e.g., only one third of participants reported never driving 10–20 km/h over the speed limit), and driving in response to their mood (e.g., only one third of participants reported they never drove faster if in a bad mood). As such, the BYNDS-Sp can reveal patterns of problematic behaviours (such as risky driving exposure), in addition to specific behaviours of concern (such as carrying passengers at night, and driving when tired), guiding the development and implementation of interventions targeting the risky driving behaviour of young drivers in Colombia. In addition, the BYNDS-Sp can be used as a measure of intervention success if used as a baseline and as a follow-up tool. Further research can investigate the utility and applicability of the BYNDS-Sp in other Spanish-speaking countries, such as Spain and Mexico.