Using pre-treatment de novo threat conditioning outcomes to predict treatment response to DCS augmentation of exposure-based CBT

BACKGROUND

Over a decade and a half of research has resulted in inconsistent evidence for the efficacy of d-cycloserine (DCS), a partial glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate agonist, for augmenting exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety- and fear-based disorders. These variable findings have motivated the search for moderators of DCS augmentation efficacy.

METHODS

In this secondary analysis of a previous randomized clinical trial, we evaluated the value of de novo threat conditioning outcomes-degree of threat acquisition, extinction, and extinction retention-for predicting treatment response to exposure-based CBT for social anxiety disorder, applied with and without DCS augmentation in a sample of 59 outpatients.

RESULTS

We found that average differential skin conductance response (SCR) during extinction and extinction retention significantly moderated the prediction of clinical response to DCS: participants with poorer extinction and extinction retention showed relatively improved treatment response with DCS. No such effects were found for expectancy ratings, consistent with accounts of DCS selectively aiding lower-order but not higher-order extinction learning.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings provide support for extinction and extinction retention outcomes from threat conditioning as potential pre-treatment biomarkers for DCS augmentation benefits. Independent of DCS augmentation, the current study did not support threat conditioning outcomes as useful for predicting response to exposure-based CBT.

Underscoring the F in FoMO: How does anxiety sensitivity contribute to fear of missing out?

Fear of missing out (FoMO) is a prevalent phenomenon associated with a range of mental health symptoms, such as depression and anxiety. To our knowledge, the question of whether FoMO can be explained by other well-known mechanistic variables-namely, loneliness, rumination, and anxiety sensitivity (AS) - has not been previously evaluated. The current study investigated the predictive power of loneliness, rumination, and AS for explaining variance in FoMO within two independent samples of undergraduate students at a large Northeastern university. Participants completed an online battery of questionnaires. In Study 1, it was found that loneliness and rumination offered significant prediction of FoMO when AS was not considered in the model; however, when these three predictors were considered together, only AS offered significant, non-redundant prediction. Study 2 revealed that both rumination and AS offered significant prediction of FoMO, with AS offering stronger unique prediction. Such findings provide a new frame for understanding the nature of the relatively new concept of FoMO, and in particular, suggest that it may be important to consider AS and rumination in future studies.

Worrying But Not Acting: The Role of Intolerance of Uncertainty in Explaining the Discrepancy in COVID-19-Related Responses

Research indicates that Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) is associated with COVID-19 emotional responses, but not necessarily with engaging in COVID-19 preventative behaviors. The current study was designed to further evaluate this discrepancy. Participants (N = 454) completed self-report forms about COVID-19 emotional responses (i.e., fear, worry, sensitivity to symptoms) and COVID-19 behavioral interference/responses (i.e., interference in daily activities, interference due to worry, and engagement in preventative behaviors). IU was positively associated with COVID-19-related emotional responses as well as two of the COVID-19-related behavioral interference/responses (i.e., interference in daily activities and interference due to worry), but negatively predicted engagement in COVID-19 preventative behaviors. Exploratory analyses revealed a significant indirect effect of IU on lower engagement in preventative behaviors through lower belief in the effectiveness of such behaviors. Thus, we further document the role of IU in statistically predicting higher distress but lower levels of adaptive health behaviors. Furthermore, we provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that these relationships may be explained by associations between IU and lower belief in the efficacy of health behaviors. Because some current analyses indicate small effect sizes, future studies should investigate IU alongside other potentially important markers.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10608-022-10321-0.

Investigation of the predictive influence of personal and gubernatorial politics on COVID-19 related behaviors and beliefs

Given the varied emotional and behavioral responses to the COVID-19 pandemic across the United States, further attention to the personal and societal influences on such responses is necessary. We investigated the predictive influence of personal political affiliation and the congruity of personal and governor political affiliation on COVID-19 emotional and behavioral responses, with specific attention to the influence of intolerance of uncertainty (IU) on emotional response. These factors were assessed in two studies of adults in the United States (N = 480, N = 272). We utilized a series of hierarchical linear and logistic regressions to assess predictors of 4 outcomes: (1) trust in governor's response to the pandemic, (2) COVID-19 related worry, and the (3) usage and (4) perceived efficacy of protective health behaviors (e.g., wearing a mask). Across these studies, we found that IU predicted increased COVID-19 related worry. Further, age and personal political affiliation, but not concordance with governor affiliation, predicted COVID-19 behavioral responses. These findings are discussed in relation to the potential importance of linking health messaging to personal characteristics.

Anxiety Sensitivity as a Malleable Mechanistic Target for Prevention Interventions: A Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy of Brief Treatment Interventions

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is a transdiagnostic risk factor and potential treatment target for prevention of associated psychopathology and negative health behaviors. We conducted a meta-analysis evaluating the efficacy of brief interventions in at-risk samples for reducing AS and associated clinical/behavioral outcomes (e.g., depression, alcohol use) across 28 studies (1,998 participants). AS targeted interventions, compared to control conditions, evidenced a significant moderate effect size for alleviating AS from pre- to post-treatment (d = 0.54) and approached a large effect size from pre-treatment to short-term follow-up (d = 0.78). The effect size for long-term follow-up did not reach significance (d = 0.29). For clinical/behavioral outcomes, AS interventions demonstrated significant small-to-moderate effect sizes for the three timepoints examined (d's = 0.20-0.41). Our findings help validate AS as a modifiable mechanistic target for prevention efforts.

Working memory moderates the predictive influence of distress intolerance on health-related goal attainment

High distress intolerance (DI: often assessed as anxiety sensitivity) and low working memory capacity (WMC) have each been identified as risk factors for negative health behaviors. To our knowledge, these risk factors have only been studied independently. The current study investigated both the independent and interactive effects of DI and WMC in predicting health-related goal attainment in 118 undergraduates who self-selected a health-related goal. Participants received one of three interventions: values clarification, action planning, or a combination of the two. Across these interventions, we found that DI was at the point of significance (and reflected a small effect size) for predicting goal attainment, whereas WMC was not. Further, we found that when entered into the stepwise regression model together, the interaction of WMC and DI significantly predicted goal success one week later. Specifically, for individuals scoring one standard deviation below the mean in WMC, having worse DI significantly predicted worse goal attainment one week later. We believe this study represents the first published finding of the moderation of the predictive influence of DI by WMC, and underscores the importance of evaluating how risk factors that are typically examined independently operate together.

The association between cognitive coping strategies and treatment outcomes in smokers with PTSD

OBJECTIVE

Numerous researchers have suggested that certain coping styles (e.g., maladaptive cognitive coping strategies) interfere with recovery from traumatic experiences and contribute to the onset/maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Further, given that individuals with PTSD have a high rate of smoking (e.g., Mahaffey et al., 2016) and that maladaptive coping strategies in general are associated with lower smoking quit rates, it is possible that use of maladaptive cognitive coping strategies are particularly problematic for the recovery of smokers with PTSD. The present study examined whether specific cognitive coping strategies are associated with poorer outcome among smokers with PTSD following an integrated treatment for both disorders.

METHOD

Patients with chronic PTSD and nicotine dependence (N = 142) received up to 12 sessions of smoking cessation counseling combined with varenicline or integrated prolonged exposure therapy and cessation counseling combined with varenicline. We hypothesized that greater maladaptive, and lower adaptive, cognitive coping strategies at baseline would moderate degree of improvement in smoking and PTSD outcomes through to follow-up.

RESULTS

Multilevel modeling revealed that neither maladaptive nor adaptive cognitive coping strategies moderated smoking abstinence outcomes over the course of the study (ps ≥ .271). However, greater use of catastrophizing and lower use of positive reappraisal at baseline were associated with less improvement in the hyperarousal PTSD symptom cluster over the course of the study (ps ≤ .01).

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that maladaptive cognitive coping strategies are not necessarily a contraindication for overall outcomes in integrated PTSD and smoking treatment, although they may influence improvement in hyperarousal symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The potential role of anxiety sensitivity in the risk for and recovery from heart attacks: Comment on Edmondson et al. (2018)

Edmondson et al. (2018) provided a compelling account of the causes and consequences of patients' perceptions of enduring somatic threat following a heart attack or related cardiac event. The purpose of the current article is to place some of these observations in the context of research on anxiety sensitivity and its role as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, posttraumatic stress disorder, and negative health behaviors. By doing so, we hope to encourage attention to anxiety sensitivity and associated prevention-intervention strategies for at-risk cardiac patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Parental alcoholism and co-occurring antisocial behavior: prospective relationships to externalizing behavior problems in their young sons

The hypothesis that parental alcoholism and co-occurring antisocial behavior would be indirectly linked to child externalizing behavior problems through child lack of control, current levels of parent depression, family conflict, and parent-child conflict was tested using manifest variable regression analysis. Participants were a community sample of 125 families with an alcoholic father and 83 ecologically matched but nonsubstance abusing families involved in the first 2 waves of an ongoing longitudinal study (with 3 years between each wave). All families had a biological son who was 3-5 years old at study onset. Results revealed that child lack of control mediated the relation between paternal alcoholism and the son's subsequent externalizing behavior problems. Family conflict was a significant mediator of maternal and paternal lifetime antisocial behavior effects and father-son conflict mediated paternal lifetime antisocial behavior effects. Study implications are discussed within the context of parental socialization of antisocial behavior.

[Interaction between low-income mother-infant and father-infant pairs: an exploratory study.]

Twenty-nine low-income parents and their infants participated in an explanatory study about parent-infant interaction - describing the level of interaction and the similarities and differences in mother-infant and father infant pairs. The Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale, a 73-item standardized observation instrument, was used to measure interaction. Results showed that although the majority (69%) of parent-infant dyads did not demonstrate risky interactive behaviors, nearly 31% of the sample was disorganized in their interactions. Further, results showed that while both mothers and fathers were sensitive and responsive to their infants' cues, mothers were more apt to respond to their infants' distress than fathers, and infants were clearer and more responsive with their fathers than with their mothers. With this information clinicians and researchers can better understand interactions within a family context and strengthen intervention programs aimed at maintaining and improving parent-infant interactions.

Serotonergic function, behavioral disinhibition, and negative affect in children of alcoholics: the moderating effects of puberty

BACKGROUND

Serotonergic (5-HT) dysfunction has been implicated in both behavioral disinhibition and negative affect in adults. Although our group's previous work found decreased whole blood 5-HT in high versus low behavior problem children of alcoholics, some child/adolescent studies report conflicting results, and 5-HT's role in negative affect has been largely unexamined. Age-related developmental factors may play a role in these relationships.

METHODS

This report is from an ongoing prospective study of the development of risk for alcohol abuse/dependence and other problematic outcomes in a sample of families subtyped by father's alcoholism classification. The present study extends previous work and examines relationships between whole blood 5-HT and both child behavioral disinhibition (an aggression index from the Child Behavior Checklist) and negative affect (Child Behavior Checklist Anxious/Depressed scale) in offspring from 47 families (N = 45 boys and 17 girls; mean age = 10.88+/-2.03 yr).

RESULTS

The most important finding was that puberty moderated relationships between 5-HT and both behavioral disinhibition and negative affect with a relationship for pubescent children (n = 14, r = -0.54, p = 0.05: r = -0.57,p = 0.04, respectively) but no relationship for prepubescent children (n = 48, r = 0.05, p = 0.75; r = -0.15, p = 0.31, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

The moderating effects of puberty may help clarify inconsistencies in child/adolescent literature. Furthermore, there appears to be a relationship between 5-HT and negative affect which parallels that between 5-HT and behavioral disinhibition. Pubertal status may be an important variable to evaluate as a moderator in relation to the developmental context of the role 5-HT dysfunction may play in various models of behavior related to alcoholism over the early life course.

Intellectual, cognitive, and academic performance among sons of alcoholics, during the early school years: differences related to subtypes of familial alcoholism

BACKGROUND

Research on intellectual and cognitive functioning of children of alcoholics has been marked by inconsistency, with some studies unable to document deficits. This discrepancy may reflect the substantial heterogeneity found in the alcoholic population and among families of alcoholics. The current study sought to examine the effects of familial alcoholism subtypes on intellectual, cognitive, and academic performance in early school-aged sons of alcoholics.

METHODS

Subjects for the present study were 198 elementary-age boys who were participants in the larger MSU-UM Longitudinal Study. Familial alcoholism subtypes were determined based on fathers' alcoholism and antisocial personality disorder diagnoses. Intellectual functioning was measured with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R); academic achievement was measured with the Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised. In addition, Mazes and Freedom from Distractability factor scores of the WISC-R were used to assess abstract planning and attention abilities.

RESULTS

Children of antisocial alcoholics (AALs) displayed the worst IQ and academic achievement compared with children of nonantisocial alcoholics (NAALs) and controls. In addition, children of AALs displayed relatively poorer abstract planning and attention abilities compared with children from control families. Regression analyses revealed that familial alcoholism subtype continued to account for variance in child intellectual ability even when other factors were excluded.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings indicate that children from AAL families are most susceptible to relative intellectual, cognitive, and academic deficits. The study further supports the proposition that familial risk characteristics (i.e., paternal alcoholism and antisociality) may serve as effective indicators of family risk for poor intellectual outcome among offspring as early as the elementary school years.

Heterogeneity of risk aggregation for alcohol problems between early and middle childhood: nesting structure variations

We examined how family and child risk factors jointly affected stability and change in externalizing behavior over time in a prospective study of eventual alcohol use disorder. Study participants were community-recruited alcoholic and control families, and their initially preschool-aged male and female children (N = 335). Family risk varied as a function of both parental alcoholism (ALC) and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and was evaluated for both parents. Child risk was characterized by a set of risky temperament attributes pertaining to high activity, high reactivity, and low attention span. Externalizing behavior was used as the proxy indicator for later alcohol problems. For children in the high family risk group (involving current ALC in both parents or current ALC + ASPD comorbidity or both), child risk when children were 3-5 years old (Wave 1) directly predicted externalizing behavior when children were 6-8 years old (Wave 2), even when Wave 1 child risk was controlled for. In addition, parents' negative interaction with children at Wave 1 mediated the effect of child risky temperament on Wave 2 externalizing behavior. No such pattern was observed in the low family risk group, where only autostability effects were predictive of outcomes at Wave 2. The importance of nesting structure as an ingredient in the epigenesis of risk was discussed. Its particular relevance in understanding the process of risk transmission among offspring from antisocial alcoholic families was emphasized.

Early family-based intervention in the path to alcohol problems: rationale and relationship between treatment process characteristics and child and parenting outcomes

OBJECTIVE

Risk for subsequent development of alcohol problems is not uniform across the population of alcoholic families, but varies with parental comorbidity and family history. Recent studies have also identified disruptive child behavior problems in the preschool years as predictive of alcoholism in adulthood. Given the quality of risk structure in highest risk families, prevention programming is more appropriately family based rather than individual.

METHOD

A family-based intervention program for the prevention of conduct problems among preschool-age sons of alcoholic fathers was implemented to change this potential mediating risk structure. A population-based recruitment strategy enrolled 52 alcoholic families in a 10-month intervention involving parent training and marital problem solving. The study examined the interplay between parent treatment investment and parent and therapist expectations and satisfaction in predicting change in child behavior and authoritative parenting style during the program, and for 6 months afterward among the 29 families whose sustained involvement allowed these effects to be evaluated.

RESULTS

Parent expectations at pretreatment influenced their early investment in the program, which in turn predicted child and parenting outcomes. Parent and therapist satisfaction ratings during treatment were associated with one another and with expectations that the program would continue to promote changes in their child. Parent investment was a particularly salient influence on outcome, as higher investment throughout the program was associated with improvement in child behavior and authoritative parenting at termination.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings indicate that treatment process characteristics mediate the influence of baseline parent functioning on treatment success and that treatment changes themselves predict later child outcomes.

Behavioral outcomes among children of alcoholics during the early and middle childhood years: familial subtype variations

This study examined early behavioral outcomes among young children of alcoholics (COAs) as a function of differences in subtype of paternal alcoholism. Participants were 212 children (106 girls and 106 boys, ages 3 through 8) and both of their biological parents. Families were characterized as antisocial alcoholics, nonantisocial alcoholics, and nonalcoholic controls. There were significant familial subtype group differences on parent report measures of children's total behavior problems, externalizing behavior, and internalizing behavior, and on measures of children's intellectual functioning and academic achievement. In all instances, COAs had poorer functioning than controls. In the behavior problem domain, but not for the domain of intellectual functioning, children from antisocial alcoholic families had greater problems than children from nonantisocial alcoholic families. In addition to the subtype effects, boys had higher levels of behavior problems than girls in all three areas, and older children had more internalizing problems than younger children. Maternal functioning pertaining to lifetime alcohol problem involvement and antisocial behavior also contributed to child subtype differences in internalizing behavior. Results indicate that, even at very early ages, male and female COAs are heterogeneous populations that are distinguishable by way of familial subtype membership, as well as distinguishable from their non-COA peers. Thus, findings underscore the need to consider the heterogeneity of alcoholism when looking at its effects on child development.

Overt behavior problems and serotonergic function in middle childhood among male and female offspring of alcoholic fathers

A large body of literature indicates that the serotonergic system is involved in behavioral regulation, as evidenced by the inverse relationship between impulsive aggression and serotonergic function found in adult alcoholics and nonalcoholics. However, studies of this relationship among child and adolescent offspring of alcoholics (COAs) have not previously been done. This study examines the potentially parallel relationship between behavioral dysregulation and low serotonergic function in young COAs. The relationship is of potential interest as a phenotypic marker of biological vulnerability to aggressiveness, which itself has been hypothesized to be a risk factor for later antisocial alcoholism. The present work is part of an ongoing prospective study of the development of risk for alcohol abuse/dependence and other problematic outcomes in a sample of families subtyped by the fathers' alcoholism classification. We examined the relationship between overt behavior problems in middle childhood (mean age = 10.5 +/- 1.7 years) and whole blood serotonin (5-HT) in a subsample of the offspring (N = 32 boys and 12 girls). Using a Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) index of behavioral undercontrol, we obtained results indicating that high total behavior problem (TBP) children had lower levels of whole blood 5-HT than did low-TBP children (p < 0.01). These results support the hypothesis that there is an inverse relationship between whole blood serotonin levels and behavior problems in young male and female COAs. A father's alcoholism status was not significantly related to his child's 5-HT level, i.e., the child's phenotypic expression of behavioral dysregulation was more reliably connected to serotonergic function than was paternal alcoholism.

Conceptualizing and scaling the developmental structure of behavior disorder: the Lifetime Alcohol Problems Score as an example

We contrast the current, clinically based framework for behavior disorder against a life course framework, as an alternative structure upon which to map the variations in onset and stability of clinical symptomatology known to take place in adult life. This alternative developmental framework is used as a base around which to understand known variations in rates of alcohol abuse/dependence over the life course and to review existing schemes for the evaluation of developmental variation in "caseness." From this work, it was proposed that symptom structure be regarded as a mass of greater or lesser breadth, with properties of extensiveness in time and life course invasiveness, as a function of where in the life course the symptomatology first emerged, and the degree to which the mass sustained itself in developmental time. This framework guided the construction of a time-based measure of alcohol related symptomatology, called the Lifetime Alcohol Problems Score (LAPS). The LAPS discriminated among a variety of alcohol-specific and nonalcohol-specific measures of alcohol-related difficulty, including diagnosis of alcohol dependence, having been in treatment, level of other psychopathology, and measures of family disorganization. The measure has potential applicability for prospective studies, and in estimating clinical prognosis. The utility of the paradigm as a framework within which to conceptualize the emergence, ebb, and flow of other behavior disorders is also discussed.

Articulating subtype differences in self and relational experience among alcoholic men using structural analysis of social behavior

L. Benjamin's (1984) structural analysis of social behavior (SASB) system was used as the organizing framework within which to characterize the phenomenology of self and other relationship experience among subtypes of alcoholic men. Within the context of a community-based study of psychopathology, groups of antisocial alcoholic (AAL), nonantisocial alcoholic (NAAL), and nonalcoholic (control) men completed ratings of their introject (self-concept) and spousal experience. Group differences in demography and psychopathology provided strong support for subtype variations among alcoholic men that could not be attributed to global differences in adaptive functioning. SASB data showed consistency in circumplex ordering across the groups in ratings of self-experience and in ratings of the spousal relationship. AAL men were the most self-neglecting, blaming, and least trusting, and control men were the most relationally connected, with NAAL men falling in between. Despite the importance of the subtyping distinction, in some areas, alcoholism, regardless of subtype, was the core differentiating factor.

The role of family influences in development and risk

Various influences in the family environment contribute to children of alcoholics' (COAs') risk of developing alcoholism and other mental health problems. These risk factors include alcohol-specific influences, which selectively predict alcohol problems, and alcohol-nonspecific influences, which predict a variety of mental health problems. Alcohol-specific family influences include modeling of parental drinking behavior, development of alcohol expectancies, and the family's ethnic background. Parental psychopathology, the family's socioeconomic status, and general family psychopathology are examples of alcohol-nonspecific risk factors, which increase the COA's risk of behavior disorders as well as of alcoholism. The families of COA's who are at highest risk for alcoholism and other mental health problems are characterized by the aggregation of numerous alcohol-specific and alcohol-nonspecific risk factors.

Articulating subtype differences in self and relational experience among alcoholic men using structural analysis of social behavior

L. Benjamin's (1984) structural analysis of social behavior (SASB) system was used as the organizing framework within which to characterize the phenomenology of self and other relationship experience among subtypes of alcoholic men. Within the context of a community-based study of psychopathology, groups of antisocial alcoholic (AAL), nonantisocial alcoholic (NAAL), and nonalcoholic (control) men completed ratings of their introject (self-concept) and spousal experience. Group differences in demography and psychopathology provided strong support for subtype variations among alcoholic men that could not be attributed to global differences in adaptive functioning. SASB data showed consistency in circumplex ordering across the groups in ratings of self-experience and in ratings of the spousal relationship. AAL men were the most self-neglecting, blaming, and least trusting, and control men were the most relationally connected, with NAAL men falling in between. Despite the importance of the subtyping distinction, in some areas, alcoholism, regardless of subtype, was the core differentiating factor.

Early intervention in the path to alcohol problems through conduct problems: treatment involvement and child behavior change

A program for the prevention of conduct problems among preschool-age sons of alcoholic fathers was implemented to interrupt what is likely to be a major mediating factor in the development of alcoholism in later years. A population-based sample of 42 families participated in a 10-month intervention involving parent training and marital problem solving. Differences in treatment outcome were examined, with the expectation that level of treatment involvement--entailing both level of participation and level of investment--would account for variability in child outcome at termination. Significant changes in positive and negative child behaviors were observed only within the group of families who completed the program and where the mothers demonstrated a higher level of treatment investment. When pretreatment child, parent, and family predictors of child behavior change were accounted for, subsequent analyses identified maternal treatment investment as a significant predictor of child outcome.

Early intervention in the path to alcohol problems through conduct problems: treatment involvement and child behavior change

A program for the prevention of conduct problems among preschool-age sons of alcoholic fathers was implemented to interrupt what is likely to be a major mediating factor in the development of alcoholism in later years. A population-based sample of 42 families participated in a 10-month intervention involving parent training and marital problem solving. Differences in treatment outcome were examined, with the expectation that level of treatment involvement--entailing both level of participation and level of investment--would account for variability in child outcome at termination. Significant changes in positive and negative child behaviors were observed only within the group of families who completed the program and where the mothers demonstrated a higher level of treatment investment. When pretreatment child, parent, and family predictors of child behavior change were accounted for, subsequent analyses identified maternal treatment investment as a significant predictor of child outcome.

Alcohol schema acquisition in preschoolers: differences between children of alcoholics and children of nonalcoholics

Cognitive schemas provide the structure within which children organize their knowledge and beliefs about the use of alcohol. The development of schemas about alcohol should be affected both by age and parental patterns of alcohol use. We examined differences in alcohol schema development among 139 male children of alcoholics (COAs) and 82 controls [children of nonalcoholics (NCOAs)] utilizing the Appropriate Beverage Task as an indicator of these processes. Overall, the vast majority of the sample identified at least one alcoholic beverage from photographs, even at age 3. COAs were more likely to identify at least one alcoholic beverage. With age controlled, COAs were better able to identify specific alcoholic beverages and correctly identified a larger number of alcoholic beverages. There was a trend for these children of alcoholic men to attribute more alcoholic beverage use to male adults than NCOAs. Moreover, differences in these children's attributions of alcoholic consummatory behavior were predicted by their parents' current consumption levels. Results provide evidence that alcohol schemas are detectable in early childhood and are more common in children from alcoholic homes. Discussion focuses on the potential relevance of these risk attributes to the development of more fully formed alcohol expectancies and to the later emergence of alcohol-related difficulty.

Pathways into risk: temperament and behavior problems in three- to five-year-old sons of alcoholics

Evidence suggests that a child with a difficult temperament, reared in an alcoholic family, is at high risk for the development of behavior problems that antedate the emergence of antisocial behavior, alcoholism, and coactive psychopathology. However, the causal linkage between difficult temperament and problem behavior in childhood, and antisociality and alcohol abuse in adulthood is far from certain, in part because few studies assess emergent behavior patterns in young children of alcoholics. In this study, we investigated the temperament-behavior problem relationship in 191 3- to 5-year-old boys, 149 of whom were being reared in high-risk alcoholic, low socioeconomic environments. Boys were classified as high in problem behavior or not based on standardized clinical cut-off scores for Total Behavior Problems from the Child Behavior Checklist. Results indicated that boys rated in the clinical range for total behavior problems exhibited more characteristics of difficult temperament than boys who were not rated in the clinical range. Parents of the boys in the clinical group had significantly more alcohol-related problems, higher levels of antisociality, and significantly lower levels of socioeconomic status, income, and education. Results are consistent with the supposition that the difficult temperament-behavior problem relationship flourishes in the context of an antisocial, alcoholic family environment.

Parent-child interactions in alcoholic and nonalcoholic families

A community-recruited sample of alcoholic and nonalcoholic families was videotaped in a standardized play task involving parents and their preschool-aged sons. Microanalyses revealed that alcoholic families had lower dyadic synchrony, that parents were viewed as less able to engage their children, and that the coders liked the control parents and children more. Variations in the parent-child interactions are discussed.

Time spent with child and parental agreement about preschool children's behavior

Although there is a common core of agreement in parental perceptions of their preschool-age sons' problem behavior, perceptions of 107 parents became more concordant as fathers increased the amount of time they spent with their sons. At least within the context of a sample who were at risk for developing abuse of alcohol or other substances and antisocial behavior, fathers who spent less time with their sons perceived them to be less troubled than mothers perceived them to be.

Predictors of behavior problems in three-year-old sons of alcoholics: early evidence for the onset of risk

We investigated risk factors in a population-based sample of alcoholic (father) and comparison families with 3-year-old sons. Alcoholic and comparison parents did not differ in socioeconomic status (SES), education, years married, family size, or cognitive functioning. Antisocial behavior and depression were significantly greater in alcoholic parents. High risk children were more impulsive than comparison children, but there were no differences in developmental age, IQ, or behavior problems. A higher percentage of high-risk children were rated in the extreme clinical range for behavior problems than were comparison children. For alcoholic families, mothers' ratings of their children's total behavior problems, externalizing behavior problems, and internalizing behavior problems were predicted by mothers' lifetime alcohol problems, current depression, and family SES. Father variables failed to predict children's behavior problems. Maternal variables were stronger predictors of their 3-year-old sons' problem behaviors than were paternal variables.

The Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health: historical context and contemporary status

The Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health (MAIMH), incorporated in 1977, traces its origins to a clinical training program directed by Selma Frailberg. However, MAIMH also was a natural reaction to the Zeitgeist of the 1970s which emphasized clinical intervention, applied research, and interdisciplinary collaboration to resolve the problems associated with infancy. MAIMHs activities focus on training and education, professional publications, attention to social issues, continuing education, and promotion of infant mental health organizations internationally. All of MAIMH's activities are guided by its central purpose which is to promote the optimal development of infants and their families.

Bimanual hand writing in right-handed and left-handed stutterers and nonstutterers

Right-handed stutterers performed more poorly with their nondominant hand when writing digits and letters bimanually, and also made more nondominant hand mirror reversals than did nonstutterers. Left-handed stutterers and nonstutterers differed only in the incidence of mirror reversals with the nondominant hand. The results support the hypothesis that disorganization in the integration of left- and right-hemisphere inhibitory and excitatory processes may be an integral component of stuttering.

Lateral cradling preferences in men and women: results from a photographic study

Photographs of men and women holding infants were analyzed for side of holding. Of the photographs of women, a significant majority (63%) showed left-side holding, consistent with previous reports. In contrast to these same reports, however, men also showed a left-side preference and by the same margin.

Teenage and older mothers and their infants: a descriptive comparison

A multivariate comparison of the childbearing and childbearing experiences of teenage and older mothers was undertaken to investigate factors assumed to be responsible for developmental deficits experienced by children born to teenage mothers. The two groups of mothers and infants were compared on demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, pregnancy and delivery experiences, neonatal status, maternal attitudes, infant temperament, and mother-infant interaction variables. The two groups were found to be quite similar on most of the variables studied. The present findings challenge much of the extant literature on teenage pregnancy and point out the need for a more detailed and objective examination of teenage childbearing and childbearing.

Development of articulatory competence in mentally retarded children

Mentally retarded children participated in a verbal stimulation program developed at the Institute for Psychophysiological and Speech Disorders, Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Intensive home therapy was associated with an increase in articulatory competence in both moderately and profoundly retarded children. The development of articulation differed between retardate groups as well as with the sequence of normal phonological production. The results suggest that the order in which wounds are introduced into the therapeutic program may be a critical factor in the over-all development of competent articulation.

Interstimulus interval in classical pupillary conditioning

Classical pupillary conditioning to CS-UCS intervals of 1.5, 6, and 9 sec. was studied in adult human beings. There was no evidence of uniform conditioning in any experimental group. Nevertheless, one or more Ss did condition in each experimental group. There was no evidence of conditioning in either control group (0-sec. SI).

Time perception and conditioning an autonomic response in human infants

Conditioning of the autonomically regulated pupillary reflex was studied in young human infants, Sound as a CS was not effective for conditioning the pupillary reflex. Both time and time plus sound were effective CSs for establishing both conditioned pupil dilation and constriction. The results indicate a capacity in young human infants for accurately perceiving the passage of short intervals of time.