The course of aggression in first-grade children with and without comorbid anxious symptoms

We studied the course of aggressive behavior in an epidemiologically defined sample of first graders with and without comorbid anxious symptoms. Our primary purpose in doing so was to understand whether the stability of aggression in young children was attenuated or strengthened in the presence of comorbid anxiety. Previous studies of older children and adolescents had produced equivocal findings in this regard. Data on anxious symptoms were obtained through an interview of the children, whereas aggressive behavior was assessed through the use of a teacher interview and peer nominations. Assessments were performed in the fall and spring of first grade. In contrast to children classified as aggressive alone in the fall of first grade, boys and girls classified as aggressive and anxious in the fall of first grade were significantly more likely to be classified as aggressive in the spring in terms of teacher ratings and/or peer nominations of aggression. Thus our findings suggest that the link between early and later aggression may be strengthened in the presence of comorbid anxious symptoms, rather than attenuated. Future studies are needed to identify the mechanisms by which the course of aggression is influenced by the presence of comorbid anxiety.The writing of this paper was supported by the following National Institute of Mental Health grants: Epidemiologic Prevention Center for Early Risk Behavior (P50 MH38725); Periodic Outcome of Two Preventive Trials (1RO1 MH42968). The authors would like to thank the Baltimore Public City School System and the children and parents who participated in this study.     

Analysis of the elements of attention: A neuropsychological approach

A model for conceptualizing the components or elements of attention is presented. The model substitutes for the diffuse and global concept of attention a group of four processes and links them to a putative system of cerebral structures. Data in support of the model are presented; they are derived from neuropsychological test scores obtained from two samples, the first consisting of 203 adult neuropsychiatric patients and normal control subjects, and the second, an epidemiologically-based sample of 435 elementary school children. Principal components analyses of test scores from these two populations yielded similar results: a set of independent elements of attention that are assayed by different tests. This work presents a heuristic for clinical research in which the measurement of attention is essential.     

Shaping Medical Students' Attitudes Toward Ethically Important Aspects of Clinical Research: Results of a Randomized,Controlled Educational Intervention

The effects of research ethics training on medical students' attitudes about clinical research are examined. A preliminary randomized controlled trial evaluated 2 didactic approaches to ethics training compared to a no-intervention control. The participant-oriented intervention emphasized subjective experiences of research participants (empathy focused). The criteria-oriented intervention emphasized specific ethical criteria for analyzing protocols (analytic focused). Compared to controls, those in the participant-oriented intervention group exhibited greater attunement to research participants' attitudes related to altruism, trust, quality of relationships with researchers, desire for information, hopes about participation and possible therapeutic misconception, importance of consent forms, and deciding quickly about participation. The participant-oriented group also agreed more strongly that seriously ill people are capable of making their own research participation decisions. The criteria-oriented intervention did not affect learners' attitudes about clinical research, ethical duties of investigators, or research participants' decision making. An empathy-focused approach affected medical students' attunement to research volunteer perspectives, preferences, and attributes, but an analytically oriented approach had no influence. These findings underscore the need to further examine the differential effects of empathy-versus analytic-focused approaches to the teaching of ethics.     

Psychometric Properties and Factorial Structure of the State Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait Version (STAI-T) in Caribbean University Students

The study investigated the psychometric properties of the State Trait Anxiety Inventory—Trait Scale (STAI-T: Spielberger, 1983) in a Caribbean university student sample. Participants were 415 undergraduate students (75% female) who completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait Version (STAI-T; Spielberger, 1983), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996), the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS; Zung, 1965), the Ego Resiliecy-89 (ER-89; Block, 1989), and the Perceived Stress Scale-Ten Item Version (PSS-10; Cohen et al., 1983). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to examine the construct validity of the trait anxiety scale in terms of factor structure, convergent, discriminant, and nomological validities. CFA results revealed that a two-factor solution (trait anxiety absent and trait anxiety present) provided significantly better fit than the one-factor model of trait anxiety. There was clear evidence of convergent validity, discriminant validity, and nomological validity of the scale. Results support the psychometric adequacy of the STAI-T for use with Caribbean university students.     

Heart Rate Changes Accompanying Jaw Movement Pavlovian Conditioning in Rabbits: Concomitant Blood Pressure Adjustments and Effects of Peripheral Autonomic Blockade

Two experiments were conducted to ascertain the cardiovascular accompaniments of differential Pavlovian jaw movement (JM) conditioning. The first examined the blood pressure (BP) changes that accompany the tachycardiac conditioned responses (CRs) associated with JM conditioning. The BP response in all instances consisted of a depressor response that was greater to the reinforced CS+ than CS-, although the magnitude of the CR was quite small. The second experiment determined the effects of peripheral autonomic antagonists on the cardiac accelerations associated with JM conditioning. It was found that the peripheral vagal antagonist methyl scopolamine completely abolished responses to both CS+ and CS-, whereas atenolol, a beta adrenergic antagonist, augmented the response, compared to saline control injections. The JM responses were also affected by the autonomic blockades, with minimal responding occurring in the scopolamine group but slightly more JM CRs in the atenolol group, compared to saline control animals. These results suggest that the major cardiovascular response to an appetitive stimulus, which evokes JM conditioning, consists of cardiac accelerations with the BP depressor responses playing a minimal, if any, role. Moreover, these conditioned cardiac increases appear to be due solely to the release of vagal inhibition.     

Household family structure and children's aggressive behavior: A longitudinal study of urban elementary school children

The relationship between contemporary household family structures at fourth-grade and sixth-grade parent- and teacher-rated aggression was examined in an epidemiologically defined population of urban school children. The relationship between family structure and aggression varied by child gender and by parent and teacher ratings in the home and school, respectively. After taking into account family income, urban area, and fourth-grade aggressive behavior, boys in both mother—father and mother—male partner families were significantly less likely than boys in mother-alone families to be rated as aggressive by teachers. No significant relations between family structure and teacher- or parent-rated aggression were found for girls.This work was supported by the following National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) grants: Epidemiologic Prevention Center for Early Risk Behavior P50 MH38725; Periodic Outcome of Two Preventive Trials RO1 MH42968; and a Postdoctoral Training Program 2T32MH18834-06A1. The authors would like to thank the Baltimore Public City School System and the children and parents who participated. The views expressed here are those of the authors; no official endorsement by NIMH is intended or should be inferred.Address all correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Ialongo, Department of Mental Hygiene, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 624 North Broadway, Baltimore, Maryland 21205.     

Semi-automated desensitization : a controlled clinical trial

A clinical trial of semi-automated desensitization on phobic patients. Twelve received treatment with a therapist present and 12 received treatment from pre-recorded tapes. Therapy lasted a maximum of 16 weekly sessions. Assessment of progress was by means of self-ratings of phobic behaviour and more global fear ratings, made by the referring psychiatrist. Both treatments produced beneficial results. Both ratings agreed in finding no significant differences between the two methods of administration, thus confirming results from existing non-clinical trials of automated desensitization. Regardless of treatment group, agoraphobics and social phobics tended to improve less markedly, and less rapidly than simple phobics. Some implications of automated therapy for clinical practice are discussed.     

Modeling growth in boys' aggressive behavior across elementary school: links to later criminal involvement, conduct disorder, and antisocial personality disorder

The present study used general growth mixture modeling to identify pathways of antisocial behavior development within an epidemiological sample of urban, primarily African American boys. Teacher-rated aggression, measured longitudinally from 1st to 7th grade, was used to define growth trajectories. Three high-risk trajectories (chronic high, moderate, and increasing aggression) and one low-risk trajectory (stable low aggression) were found. Boys with chronic high and increasing trajectories were at increased risk for conduct disorder, juvenile and adult arrest, and antisocial personality disorder. Concentration problems were highest among boys with a chronic high trajectory and also differentiated boys with increasing aggression from boys with stable low aggression. Peer rejection was highest among boys with chronic high aggression. Interventions with boys with distinct patterns of aggression are discussed.     

Effect of first-grade classroom environment on shy behavior,aggressive behavior,and concentration problems

Investigates the effect of the first-grade classroom environment on the shy behavior, aggressive behavior, and concentration problems of 609 children in 19 East Baltimore public schools. First-grade classroom environment was assessed in terms of dominant pattern of classroom achievement and behavior. Structured teacher ratings assessed child shy behavior, aggressive behavior, and concentration problems at the end of first grade. Children in low-achieving classroom environments had significantly higher teacher ratings of shy behavior and aggressive behavior than children in mixed-achieving or high-achieving environments, even after controlling for potentially confounding child characteristics and classroom behavior environment effects. Analyses controlling for child characteristics and classroom achievement environment effects indicated that children in poor-behaving classroom environments also had significantly higher teacher ratings of shy behavior than children who were not in poor-behaving environments. Subgroup analyses indicated that repeaters in mixed-achieving environments had significantly higher levels of shy behavior compared with nonrepeaters, and repeaters in poor-behaving environments had significantly higher levels of aggressive behavior compared with nonrepeaters. Implications for prevention research are discussed.