Socially Shared Cognition, Affect, and Behavior: A Review and Integration

In this article, we review 4 classes of models of socially shared cognition and behavior: supraindividual models, information-processing models, communication models, and social interaction models. Our review draws on research and theory in social psychology, sociology, and organization behavior. We conclude that these innovative perspectives on socially shared behavior represent a new approach to the study of groups and are distinct from traditional models of the group mind and crowd behavior. The key processes implicated in these models focus on the potency of immediate interaction, reciprocal influence processes between individuals and groups, goal-directed behavior, negotiated processing of information and ideas, and the maintenance and enhancement of social identity. This approach to socially shared understanding is not antagonistic toward the analysis of individual-level processes but rather maintains that individual-level processes are necessary but not sufficient to build a social psychology of shared understanding.

Mapping area variability in social and behavioural difficulties among Glasgow pre-schoolers: linkage of a survey of pre-school staff with routine monitoring data

BACKGROUND

Social, emotional and behavioural development in early to middle childhood impact upon many outcomes in future life and are influenced by home, neighbourhood and school environments. We used linked data to investigate differences between areas in Glasgow City in level of difficulties in pre-school age children, after consideration of demographics, including area-level deprivation.

METHODS

Pre-school education staff completed Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires (SDQ) on all children progressing to school from a local authority or partnership (local authority-funded private) pre-school in Glasgow City between 2010 and 2012. These data were linked to individual (age, gender) and area-level (deprivation) demographics from the City Council Education Services Department. Statistical models were fitted to the SDQ scores, adjusting for age, gender, area deprivation, year of school entry, pre-school establishment attended and electoral ward of residence. Correlation between neighbouring wards was incorporated to allow for clustering of scores.

RESULTS

Boys and those living in more deprived areas had higher levels of difficulties. Children aged 5.0-5.5 years had fewest difficulties, while the oldest and youngest children had similar levels of difficulties. There were no significant secular trends by year of school entry. There remained differences among areas after adjusting for these variables, with children living in some areas having fewer difficulties than would be expected based on their socio-demographic characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS

There remained differences in children's levels of difficulties between areas after adjusting for age, gender, area deprivation and year of school entry. Children in some very deprived areas had fewer difficulties than might be expected, while those in relatively affluent areas had more difficulties than expected based on their deprivation level. There may be other, unmeasured, individual- and area-level reasons for children's level of difficulties, and these require further exploration.

The Incorporation of an Advanced Donation Program Into Kidney Paired Exchange: Initial Experience of the National Kidney Registry

The continued growth of kidney paired donation (KPD) to facilitate transplantation for otherwise incompatible or suboptimal living kidney donors and recipients has depended on a balance between the logistics required for patients and the collaborating transplant centers. The formation of chains for KPD and the shipping of kidneys have permitted networks such as the National Kidney Registry (NKR) to offer KPD to patients over a transcontinental area. However, over the last 3 years, we have encountered patient requests for a more flexible experience in KPD to meet their individual needs often due to rigid time constraints. To accommodate these requests, we have developed an Advanced Donation Program (ADP) in which the donor desires to donate by a specific date, but their paired recipient has not yet been matched to a specific donor or scheduled for surgery. After obtaining careful informed consent from both the donor and paired recipient, 10 KPD chains were constructed using an ADP donor. These 10 ADP donors have facilitated 47 transplants, and thus far eight of their paired recipients have received a kidney within a mean of 178 (range 10-562) days. The ADP is a viable method to support time limited donors in a KPD network.

Comparison of referrals for lumbar spine magnetic resonance imaging from physiotherapists, primary care and secondary care: how should referral pathways be optimised?

OBJECTIVE

To compare sensitivity of pathology on imaging between referrals from primary care, physiotherapists, spinal surgeons and other secondary care providers.

DESIGN AND SETTING

A retrospective review of 200 consecutive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of patients' first presentations to radiology for MR lumbar scanning at a tertiary orthopaedic centre. A scan report was defined as positive if there was any evidence of neural compromise. Fisher's exact 2×2 contingency analyses were performed.

RESULTS

Eighty-seven (44%) scans were positive and 113 (57%) were negative. Forty-four percent of scans requested by general practitioners (GPs) were reported as positive compared with 57% of scans requested by physiotherapists. Only 40% and 20% of scans requested by specialist spinal surgeons and non-spinal team secondary care providers were positive, respectively. Physiotherapist referrals for MRI lumbar spine scans were significantly more likely to be positive compared with GPs (P=0.05), spinal surgeons (P=0.03) and others (P=0.004).

CONCLUSION

When appropriate, referrals via the extended physiotherapy service should be encouraged, rather than referrals directly from GPs. With appropriate training and in the appropriate clinical context, extended physiotherapy services could include inpatients and could accept outpatient referrals from other secondary care providers and not just from GPs; this would improve efficiency and reduce the workload of the radiology department and the spinal surgical unit.

Early parental physical punishment and emotional and behavioural outcomes in preschool children

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether there is an association between being smacked by your main caregiver in the first two years and emotional and behavioural problems at age four.

DESIGN

Secondary analysis of data from the Growing Up in Scotland Prospective Study (GUS).

SETTING

Scotland, UK.

PARTICIPANTS

GUS birth cohort children, whose main caregiver had no concerns about their behaviour at 22 months.

EXPOSURE

Ever smacked by main caregiver in first 22 months, as measured by caregiver self-report at 22 months.

MAIN OUTCOME

Emotional and behavioural problems as measured by parental assessment and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) at 46 months.

RESULTS

Preschool children exposed to main caregiver smacking in the first two years were twice as likely to have emotional and behavioural problems as measured by parental assessment [odds ratio (OR) 2.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.9-3.2; absolute risk reduction (ARR) 17.8%, 95% CI 12.1-23.5] and SDQ (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.7-3.7; ARR 7.5%, 95% CI 3.7-11.5), as children never smacked by their main caregiver. The association remained significant after adjusting for child age and sex, caregiver age, sex, ethnicity, educational attainment and mental health status, sibling number, structural family transitions and socioeconomic status (adj. OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.8-3.2 for parental assessment and adj. OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.4-3.5 for SDQ).

CONCLUSIONS

Parental use of physical punishment in the first two years may be a modifiable risk factor for emotional and behavioural difficulties in preschool children.

Insula and orbitofrontal cortical morphology in substance dependence is modulated by sex

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Frontolimbic circuits are involved in learning and decision-making processes thought to be affected in substance-dependent individuals. We investigated frontolimbic cortical morphometry in substance-dependent men and women and determined whether morphometric measurements correlated with decision-making performance.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Twenty-eight abstinent SDI (17 men/11 women) were compared with 28 controls (13 men/15 women). Cortical thicknesses and volumes were computed by using FreeSurfer. After controlling for age and intracranial volume, group and sex effects were analyzed in 3 a priori regions of interest: the insula, orbitofrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex by using analysis of covariance. A secondary whole-brain analysis was conducted to verify region-of-interest results and to explore potential differences in other brain regions.

RESULTS

Region-of-interest analyses revealed a main effect of group on the left insula cortex, which was thinner in SDI compared with controls (P = .02). There was a group by sex interaction on bilateral insula volume (left, P = .02; right, P = .001) and right insula cortical thickness (P = .007). Compared with same-sex controls, female SDI had smaller insulae, whereas male SDI had larger insulae. Neither ACC nor OFC significantly differed across group. Performance on a decision-making task was better in controls than SDI and correlated with OFC measurements in the controls.

CONCLUSIONS

SDI and controls differed in insula morphology, and those differences were modulated by sex. No group differences in OFC were observed, but OFC measurements correlated with negative-reinforcement learning in controls. These preliminary results are consistent with a hypothesis that frontolimbic pathways may be involved in behaviors related to substance dependence.

Disruptive behaviour disorders: a systematic review of environmental antenatal and early years risk factors

Disruptive behaviour disorders (DBDs), including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD) are chronic disorders with significant overlap in aetiology and presentation. An integrative examination of environmental risk factors is lacking. Six literature searches of web-based bibliographic databases were completed to identify literature on DBDs in general and five disorders in particular: CD, ODD, ADHD, deficits of attention, motor control and perception, and reactive attachment disorder. Searches were filtered to focus on studies including diagnostic assessment, focussing on environmental risk and protective factors in the first 4 years of life. The database searches generated 9806 papers of which 47 were reviewed after filters had been applied. The evidence suggests links between a number of early life risk factors and DBDs, including prenatal cigarette smoking and alcohol use, prenatal viral illness, maternal stress and anxiety, low birthweight, peri-partum and early neonatal complications, parental stress and parenting styles in infancy, early deprivation, adoption and separation. Despite the understanding that there is sharing of risk factors between the DBDs, there has been a disproportionate focus on the role of certain risk factors at the expense of others and the field is weakened by difficulties in controlling for all potential confounding variables.

Matching parenting support needs to service provision in a universal 13-month child health surveillance visit

BACKGROUND

The Glasgow Parenting Support Framework is an intervention to support families with preschool children. It provides structured support through universal and targeted interventions. Two routine family visits by health visitors have been piloted, one involving a home assessment when the child is 13 months old.

AIMS

To establish the need for parenting support in the population at 13 months and whether or not the home assessment improved the match of service provision to need.

METHODS

Health visitors were asked to collect data on existing problems and service provision to families, the mental state of the child's principal carer, an observation of the parent-child relationship and details of management plans. Data from the Child Health Surveillance System were also used.

RESULTS

Data were obtained for 549 families. Nine families were noted to have problems in the parent-child relationship. Carers in these families had poorer mental health. In all, 20% of families had a revisit scheduled: they were also more likely to have poor mental health. All families with possible problems in the relationship had a revisit scheduled. Depression scores measured during the pilot were a significant predictor of revisiting and referral, with an odds ratio of 1.37 for every one point increase in score on the Adult Wellbeing Scale depression subscale.

CONCLUSIONS

Current service provision matches need to some extent but routine visits focused on parenting difficulties at 13 months, particularly parental depression, may help to identify families needing support who would not otherwise have received it.