Differences in immediacy between traditional and nontraditional students

Reported differences between 83 traditional and 44 nontraditional college students on immediacy were nonsignificant.     

Choice as an Intervention to Improve Behavior: A Review of the Literature

In recent years, choice making has been evaluated as an intervention for people with disabilities. This review examines applied research during the past two decades using choice as a distinct intervention or as part of an intervention package. Fourteen studies published between 1975 and 1996 were identified that implemented choice as an intervention to increase or decrease a target behavior. These studies applied choice-making in the following three broad areas: (a) vocational or domestic activities; (b) academic activities; and (c) leisure, recreational, or social activities. All of the studies indicated that choice-making procedures resulted in behavioral improvements with some, if not all of the participants.     

Do Children’s Attributions Mediate the Link Between Parental Conditional Regard and Child Depression and Emotion?

Both parental conditional regard for academics and depressogenic attributions are related to detrimental psychological outcomes for children. Here we examine associations among parental conditional negative regard, child depressogenic attributions, child depressive symptoms, and emotion reactivity in children between the ages of 8 and 12, as well as whether children’s self-reported and behavioral attributions for negative events mediate associations between parental conditional negative regard for academics with children’s depressive symptoms and emotion reactivity. In Study 1 (N?=?108, M _age ?=?9.73, 50 male), children’s self-reported attributions for hypothetical events mediated the link between parental conditional negative regard and child depressive symptoms. In Study 2 (N?=?104, M _age ?=?10.28, 54 male), children attempted an impossible puzzle task while their skin conductance level was monitored, after which they completed an interview that was coded for spontaneous attributions for failure. Children’s spontaneous attributions mediated the link between parental conditional negative regard and child emotion reactivity, but not depressive symptoms. Findings suggest that children’s attributions may be a mechanism through which parental conditional negative regard is related to children’s depressive symptoms and emotion reactivity during a performance challenge. These results have implications for developmental models of depression risk and potential areas for clinical interventions with both children and their parents.     

Racial/Ethnic Differences in Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in Adolescents

The prevalence of most adult psychiatric disorders varies across racial/ethnic groups and has important implications for prevention and intervention efforts. Research on racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence of internalizing and externalizing symptoms and disorders in adolescents has been less consistent or generally lacking. The current study examined the prevalence of these symptom groups in a large sample of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in which the three major racial/ethnic groups in the U.S. (White, Black, and Hispanic/Latino) were well-represented. Hispanic females reported experiencing higher levels of depression, anxiety, and reputational aggression than other groups. Black males reported the highest levels of overtly aggressive behavior and also reported higher levels of physiologic anxiety and disordered eating than males from other racial/ethnic groups. Hispanic females also exhibited higher levels of comorbidity than other racial/ethnic groups.     

The Children's Attributional Style Interview: Developmental Tests of Cognitive Diathesis-Stress Theories of Depression

This paper presents an initial assessment of the Children's Attributional Style Interview (CASI), a newly designed measure for assessing attributional style in young children (age 5 and up). The CASI was used to conduct prospective tests of the reformulated helplessness (L. Y. Abramson, M. Seligman, & J. Teasdale, 1978) and the integrated hopelessness/self-esteem (G. I. Metalsky, T. E. Joiner, Jr., T. S. Hardin, & L. Y. Abramson, 1993) theories of depression in a sample of 147 5–10-year-old children. For comparison, the same tests were also conducted with the Children's Attributional Style Questionnaire-Revised (CASQ-R; N. J. Kaslow & S. Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991), a commonly used measure for assessing attributional style in older children (age 8 and up). The CASI evidenced support of the reformulated helplessness theory and partial support of the integrated hopelessness/self-esteem theory. The CASI also demonstrated good internal consistency. Thus, our findings provide initial support for the CASI as a methodologically sound measure of attributional style for children as young as 5 years old. Although preliminary, our findings also suggest possible developmental differences in how attributional style interacts with self-esteem and negative life stress. The CASI should prove to be a useful tool in furthering the understanding of the origins and development of attributional style in childhood, as well as its contribution to the understanding of the development and prevention of depressive symptomatology in children.     

Television news and elderly persons.

Previous studies concerning elderly people have examined either use of all media by older adults or their depiction in television entertainment programs. What has been overlooked has been television news and its effects on elderly people. Careful research is needed to gauge this.     

Early family context and development of adolescent ruminative style: moderation by temperament

We know very little about the development of rumination, the tendency to passively brood about negative feelings. Because rumination is a risk factor for many forms of psychopathology, especially depression, such knowledge could prove important for preventing negative mental health outcomes in youth. This study examined developmental origins of rumination in a longitudinal sample (N=337; 51% girls) studied in preschool (ages 3? and 4? years) and early adolescence (ages 13 and 15 years). Results indicated that family context and child temperament, assessed during the preschool period, were risk factors for a ruminative style in adolescence. Specifically, early family contexts characterised by over-controlling parenting and a family style of negative-submissive expressivity predicted higher levels of later rumination. These associations were moderated by children's temperamental characteristics of negative affect and effortful control. Further, the interaction of these temperament factors exerted an additional influence on later rumination. Implications for prevention and intervention efforts are discussed.     

Sensitivity of children's behavior to probabilistic reward: effects of a decreasing-ratio lottery system on math performance

Probabilistic reward has been shown to affect children's choice behavior in game-like activities. We examined the effects of a lottery system containing progressively lower exchange ratios on children's completion of math problems. Two of the 3 children completed problems above baseline levels until the chance of exchange dropped to 25%. This study describes a potentially useful method for examining reinforcement schedules in applied settings and extends previous research on probabilities of reinforcement.     

Getting Out of Rumination: Comparison of Three Brief Interventions in a Sample of Youth

Rumination, passively and repetitively dwelling on and questioning negative feelings in response to distress, is a risk factor for the development of psychopathology, especially depression. The ruminative process is difficult to stop once it has begun. The present studies focused on strategies that may help youth disengage from ruminative states. In Study 1, we validated a technique for inducing distress and measuring state rumination. Twenty-six participants (mean age?=?12.21; 62?% girls) underwent a negative mood induction followed by either a rumination or distraction induction. In Study 2, we examined the utility of three different brief interventions for stopping the ruminative process. One hundred-two youth (mean age?=?11.51; 64?% girls) underwent a negative mood induction followed by a rumination induction. Following this, participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions designed to help them out of the ruminative state (distraction, problem-solving, or mindfulness). In Study 1, participants in the rumination condition reported significantly higher levels of state rumination compared to those in the distraction condition. In Study 2, both distraction and mindfulness helped reduced state rumination compared to problem-solving. Taken together, these data suggest that even a brief period of distraction or mindfulness is helpful in getting youth out of a ruminative state. Clinical implications might include the potential use of mobile device applications to help alleviate rumination.