Children's attachment representations: Longitudinal relations to school behavior and academic competency in middle childhood and adolescence.

A longitudinal study examined children's (N?=?108) attachment representations in relation to behavior and academic competency at school during middle childhood and adolescence. Attachment representations were assessed from children's responses to a separation story at age 7 years. At ages 9, 12, and 15, teachers rated children on four dimensions of school behavior: attention–participation, extroversion, disruptive behavior, and insecurity about self. Children's grade point average (GPA) in school was also examined. Children's attachment representations (secure vs. insecure) did not predict either disruptive behavior or extroversion, but they were significantly linked to attention–participation, insecurity about self, and GPA, with secure representations being associated with more favorable outcomes. The study controlled for social class, gender, IQ, perspective-taking ability, and prior competency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ultrastructural study of the synapses of central chromatolytic anterior horn cells in motor neuron disease

This report deals with an ultrastructural investigation of the synapses on the somata of central chromatolytic anterior horn neurons of seven patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and four patients with lower motor neuron disease (LMND) who had no upper motor neuron or corticospinal tract involvement. Specimens from 24 age-matched individuals who died of non-neurological diseases served as controls. We examined a total of 171 anterior horn neurons with central chromatolysis (51 from ALS, 42 from LMND and 78 from controls), and 174 normal-appearing anterior horn neurons as controls. The cross-sectional area, the number of synapses, and the length of active zone were significantly reduced in the chromatolytic neurons of both patients and controls as compared with normal-appearing neurons of the controls (p < 0.0001). However, regarding chromatolytic neurons, no significant differences were seen in the number of synapses, length of each individual synapse, and length of its active zone between patients and controls and also in the frequency of presynaptic alterations on the somata. There was no overall difference between ALS and LMND patients in any of these parameters. Our findings suggest that the flow of electrophysiological information from afferent fibers to the somata may be greatly impaired in central chromatolytic neurons of both control individuals and patients with motor neuron disease (MND), and that the observed synaptic alterations may reflect pathological events resulting from anterior horn neuron degeneration. It may represent a compensatory mechanism of the synapses for diminished synaptic function that synapses were relatively well preserved on the somata of central chromatolytic neurons of the MND patients as compared with those of the chromatolytic neurons of the controls despite of markedly reduced cross-sectional area in the former. It also suggests that the pathomechanism involved in central chromatolysis differs between normal individuals and patients with MND.     

Five types of personality continuity in childhood and adolescence.

This study examines 5 types of personality continuity--structural, mean-level, individual-level, differential, and ipsative--in a representative population (N=498) and a twin and sibling sample (N=548) of children and adolescents. Parents described their children on 2 successive occasions with a 36-month interval using the Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children (I. Mervielde & F. De Fruyt, 1999). There was evidence for structural continuity in the 2 samples, and personality was shown to be largely differentially stable. A large percentage had a stable trait profile indicative of ipsative stability, and mean-level personality changes were generally small in magnitude. Continuity findings were explained mainly by genetic and nonshared environmental factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Functioning thyroid masses in childhood and adolescence. Clinical, surgical, and pathologic correlations

Six girls, aged 5 to 15 years, presented with thyroid masses in otherwise nonpalpable thyroid glands and with normal serum thyroxine levels. Scintiscanning before and after TSH stimulation confirmed the presence of autonomous nodules in the four adolescents, of whom two had elevated T3 levels. Surgical exploration revealed adenomatous thyroid hyperplasia in three of the girls and papillary adenocarcinoma in the fourth. Scans in the other two girls revealed absence of the left lobe. One of them proved to have agenesis of the left lobe with enlargement of the right lobe because of lymphocytic thyroiditis. The other girl had an ectopic thyroid with chronic inflammation. A thorough diagnostic evaluation of single or multiple functioning thyroid masses in children and adolescents is essential in establishing the correct diagnosis. The possibility that carcinoma can occur in autonomous nodules as well as in hemiagenesis and ectopic thyroid tissue is discussed. An approach to the management of functioning thyroid masses in the pediatric age group is proposed.     

A longitudinal study of the relation between representations of attachment in childhood and cognitive functioning in childhood and adolescence.

85 Icelandic children (41 girls and 44 boys) participated in a study on the relations among attachment representations (AREP), self-confidence (SEC), and cognitive functioning (COF) in childhood and adolescence. AREP and SEC were assessed at age 7 on the basis of children's responses to a separation story and observations made by independent observers. COF was measured at ages 7, 9, 12, 15, and 17 yrs based on a battery of Piagetian tasks assessing concrete and formal reasoning. Children with a secure attachment representation were favored in their cognitive performance in childhood and adolescence. Children with an insecure–disorganized attachment representation were particularly disadvantaged on deductive reasoning tasks. SEC played a significant but varying role in mediating the effects of AREP on COF. The study controlled for IQ and attention difficulties. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A multimethod examination of the stability of depressive symptoms in childhood and adolescence.

In an 8-wave, 2-cohort longitudinal study, children and adolescents were followed from the fall of 5th grade to the spring of 8th grade. Participants (N = 1,269), their parents, and peers completed reports of depressive symptoms at 6-month intervals. The use of a 2-group latent variable autoregressive model to examine the stability of depressive symptomatology revealed several trends. First, the 6-month stability of depressive symptoms was high for boys and girls. Second, the stability of depressive symptomatology was lower between the spring of 6th grade and the fall of 7th grade than during any other point in the study. Finally, the stability of depressive symptoms did not differ with respect to gender. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of response evaluation and decision (RED) and antisocial behavior in childhood and adolescence.

Using longitudinal data on 585 youths (48% female; 17% African American, 2% other ethnic minority), the authors examined the development of social response evaluation and decision (RED) across childhood (Study 1; kindergarten through Grade 3) and adolescence (Study 2; Grades 8 and 11). Participants completed hypothetical-vignette-based RED assessments, and their antisocial behaviors were measured by multiple raters. Structural equation modeling and linear growth analyses indicated that children differentiate alternative responses by Grade 3, but these RED responses were not consistently related to antisocial behavior. Adolescent analyses provided support for a model of multiple evaluative domains of RED and showed strong relations between aggressive response evaluations, nonaggressive response evaluations, and antisocial behavior. Findings indicate that RED becomes more differential (or specific to response style) and is increasingly related to youths' antisocial conduct across development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Chordoma in childhood and adolescence. A clinicopathologic analysis of 12 cases

Chordoma is a distinctly uncommon neoplasm in the first two decades of life. To characterize further its clinicopathologic features in this age group, we studied 12 chordomas from six males and six females (age range, 1 month to 20 years at diagnosis), with a mean age of 6 years. Six tumors arose in the clivus, four in the cervical or thoracic vertebrae, and two in the lumbar and sacrococcygeal areas. The clinical presentations reflected the location. Histologically, six cases were classic chordomas; the remaining six had atypical or nonclassic features of a round cell or spindle cell tumor. Immunohistochemical stains for vimentin and cytokeratin were positive in all cases tested, whereas epithelial membrane antigen was detected in 11 examples, and S100 protein reactivity was noted in nine lesions. The tumors were uniformly nonreactive for glial fibrillary acidic protein and carcinoembryonic antigen. Electron microscopy in six cases demonstrated large primitive cells with attenuated cell junctions, whorls of cytoplasmic filaments, vacuoles, and glycogen aggregates. Ten children had died of tumor at intervals of 3 weeks to 4.5 years after diagnosis and treatment. Lung, lymph nodes, and other organs were the distant metastatic sites in seven cases. These findings imply that chordomas in children are more variable histologically and may pursue a more aggressive clinical course than their adult counterpart. Immunohistochemical studies are particularly helpful in the differentiation of atypical chordomas from other round and spindle cell neoplasms.     

Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence: Problems, progress, and potential in theory and research.

Progress and issues in the study of coping with stress during childhood and adolescence are reviewed. Definitions of coping are considered, and the relationship between coping and other aspects of responses to stress (e.g., temperament and stress reactivity) is described. Questionnaire, interview, and observation measures of child and adolescent coping are evaluated with regard to reliability and validity. Studies of the association of coping with symptoms of psychopathology and social and academic competence are reviewed. Initial progress has been made in the conceptualization and measurement of coping, and substantial evidence has accumulated on the association between coping and adjustment. Problems still remain in the conceptualization and measurement of coping in young people, however, and aspects of the development and correlates of coping remain to be identified. An agenda for future research on child–adolescent coping is outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Functional analysis of the sensory motor pathway of resistance reflex in crayfish. I. Multisensory coding and motor neuron monosynaptic responses

The in vitro preparation of the fifth thoracic ganglion of the crayfish was used to analyze the connections supporting the monosynaptic reflex responses recorded from the depressor motor neurons (Dep MNs). Dep MNs are directly connected by the release-sensitive afferents from a proprioceptor, the coxo-basipodite chordotonal organ (CBCO), which is released by upward movements of the leg. Sine-wave movements, applied to the CBCO strand from the most released position, allowed us to stimulate the greatest part of release-sensitive CBCO fibers. Systematic intracellular recordings from all Dep MNs performed in high divalent cation saline allowed us to determine the connections between CBCO afferents and their postsynaptic Dep MNs: it highlighted the sequential activation of the different Dep MNs involved in the monosynaptic reflex. The convergence of different sensory afferents onto a given Dep MN, and the divergence of a given sensory afferent onto several Dep MNs illustrates the complexity of the sensory-motor reflex loops involved in the control of locomotion and posture. Electrophysiological experiments and simulations were performed to analyze the mechanisms by which Dep MNs integrate the large amount of sensory input that they receive. Paired intracellular recording experiments demonstrated that postsynaptic response shapes characteristic of both phasic and phaso-tonic afferents could be induced by varying the presynaptic firing frequency, whatever the postsynaptic Dep MN. Compartment model simulations were used to analyze the role of the sensory-motor synapse characteristics in the summation properties of postsynaptic MN. They demonstrated the importance of the postsynaptic compartment geometry, because large postsynaptic compartments allowed to generate greater excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) summations than small ones. The results presented show that velocity information is the most effective to elicit large compound EPSPs in MNs. We therefore suggest that the negative feedback reflex is mainly based on the detection of leg movements.     

Synovial sarcoma of childhood and adolescence. Report of the German CWS-81 study

BACKGROUND: Synovial sarcoma is the third most common pediatric soft tissue tumor. It requires an aggressive approach to achieve a cure. However, optimal treatment modalities adapted to disease extension and histologic variants have not been determined because there is little information about prospectively treated patients. METHODS: A multicenter trial for soft tissue sarcomas (Protocol CWS 81) was conducted in West Germany between 1981-1985, and 31 patients with synovial sarcoma were registered. Treatment included multiagent chemotherapy and irradiation after initial tumor excision or biopsy. The male-female ratio in this group was 1:1.6 with a median age of 14 years (range, 1-19 years). The median follow-up time after diagnosis was 101 months (range, 77-131 months). RESULTS: The overall event-free survival (EFS) for patients with synovial sarcoma was 74.2% at 5 years. Group I-II tumors had a significantly better prognosis than those in Group III-IV (EFS at 5 years 84.4% and 58.3%, respectively; P = 0.024). Small tumors (< 5 cm) responded better than larger tumors (> or = 5 cm; EFS, 93% versus 58%; P = 0.029). Synovial sarcoma involved the extremities in 28 patients who had a better outcome compared with those with extremity rhabdomyosarcoma in this study (EFS for Group I-IV was 82% versus 24%, P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The results appeared superior to previous experience using radical surgery alone and suggested that after initial, nonmutilating surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy, and irradiation contributed to the improved long-term survival.     

Convoys of social support in childhood and early adolescence: Structure and function.

Little is known about social networks in childhood, and even less is known about the networks of ethnically diverse children. Interviews were conducted with 333 African-American, Anglo/European-American, and Hispanic-American public school children in Grades 1–2, 4–5, and 8–9. The research was based on the social convoy model (R. L. Kahn and T. C. Antonucci, 1980), in which social networks are viewed as dynamic hierarchic structures affording the provision of support across the life span. An adapted convoy mapping procedure evidenced good test–retest reliability at all ages, and convoy support measures were associated with self-concept and teacher-rated sociability and mood. For all ethnic groups, the results reflect the significance of close family relations across age, an increase in involvement with extended family in middle-childhood, and the emergent role of peers as support providers in adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental aspects of gender role flexibility and traditionality in middle childhood and adolescence.

Explored developmental patterns of gender traditionality and flexibility in 479 Ss across middle childhood and early and late adolescence and assessed the correlates of gender flexibility at these 3 developmental periods. Gender flexibility was differentiated into 2 dependent variables: self-related gender preferences and attitudes toward others. Varying theoretical developmental trends have been posited with regard to gender flexibility, but relationships obtained between age and gender flexibility were mostly positive. Several negative relationships, however, underscored the complexity of gender-related responses. Most variables assessed contributed significantly and cumulatively to the prediction of gender flexibility; socialization variables proved to be the strongest predictors of all 3 developmental levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of bullying and victimization in childhood and adolescence: A meta-analytic investigation.

Research on the predictors of 3 bully status groups (bullies, victims, and bully victims) for school-age children and adolescents was synthesized using meta-analytic procedures. The primary purpose was to determine the relative strength of individual and contextual predictors to identify targets for prevention and intervention. Age and how bullying was measured were also considered as moderators. From an original pool of 1,622 studies conducted since 1970 (when research on bullying increased significantly), 153 studies were identified that met criteria for inclusion. A number of common and unique predictors were found for the bully status groups. The implications of the meta-analytic findings for future research on bullying and victimization prevention and intervention are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

H.M. revisited: relations between language comprehension, memory, and the hippocampal system

Three studies tested the claim that H.M. exhibits a "pure memory deficit" that has left his ability to comprehend language unimpaired relative to memory-normal controls. In Study 1, H.M. and memory-normal controls of comparable intelligence, education, and age indicated whether sentences were ambiguous or unambiguous, and H. M. detected ambiguities significantly less often than controls. In Study 2, participants identified the two meanings of visually presented sentences that they knew were ambiguous, and relative to controls, H.M. rarely discovered the ambiguities without help and had difficulty understanding the first meanings, experimenter requests, and his own output. Study 3 replicated these results and showed that they were not due to brain damage per se or to cohort effects: Unlike H.M., a patient with bilateral frontal lobe damage detected the ambiguities as readily as young and same-cohort older controls. These results bear on two general classes of theories in use within a wide range of neurosciences and cognitive sciences: The data favor "distributed-memory theories" that ascribe H.M.'s deficit to semantic-level binding processes that are inherent to both language comprehension and memory, over "stages-of-processing theories," where H.M.'s defective storage processes have no effect on language comprehension.     

Review of Affective disorders in childhood and adolescence: An update.

Reviews the book, Affective disorders in childhood and adolescence: An update edited by Dennis P. Cantwell and Gabrielle A. Carlson (1983). Accounts of affective disorders among children and adolescents have become increasingly more apparent in the literature in recent years. This book is largely an attempt on the part of its editors, Dennis P. Cantwell and Gabrielle A. Carlson, to acknowledge this growing trend. In particular, Cantwell and Carlson state as their main goal a desire to collect in one place much of what is known about depression and mania in children and adolescents. Overall, it may be stated that this book is a valuable addition to the literature. In addition to calling attention in a systematic fashion to the growing body of information pertinent to depression in children and adolescents, the text communicates the need for further research that may serve to clarify many of the questions that remain unanswered at the present time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Chemical constituents in roots of Ampelopsis sinica (Miq.) W.T. Wang

Six compounds were isolated from the roots of Ampelopsis sinica and identified as lupeol, beta-sitosterol, daucosterol, catechin, sucrose and palmitic acid on the basis of spectroscopic. Lupeol is found in Ampelopsis genus for the rirst time.     

The development of verbal memory in childhood and adolescence: Findings from the Munich Longitudinal Study.

The authors assessed developmental changes in verbal memory from the beginning of elementary school to late adolescence on the basis of data from the Munich Longitudinal Study. Major issues concern the stability of individual differences in strategy use as well as interrelationships among different components of verbal memory and the impact of educational context on verbal memory development. Long-term stability of strategic memory was low to moderate in late childhood and adolescence. Interrelations among the verbal memory components were also moderate and did not change much over time. Unexpectedly, no impact of educational context was found. Overall, individual differences in verbal memory performance develop very early in life and are relatively unaffected by differences in educational experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)