Familial risk for alcoholism and self-reported psychopathology.

Three groups of young men varying in familial alcoholism risk (high density, high risk [HDHR]; low density, high risk [LDHR]; and low risk [LR]) were compared on the 11 clinical scales of the Personality Assessment Inventory. Significant group differences were found on 9 scales, with scores of the HDHR group exceeding those of the other 2 groups. No differences were found between the LDHR and LR groups. When the proportion with pathological scores per scale was examined, significant group differences were still revealed on 7 scales. The HDHR group exceeded the other 2 groups, but the LDHR group also exceeded the LR group on several scales. These findings support the need to more finely characterize familial alcoholism risk than is provided by the typical high-risk-low-risk dichotomy. Finally, statistically controlling for normal variations in response style reduced the number of group differences, although the same patterns persisted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intuitive and empirical prototypes in childhood psychopathology.

This study examines the validity of intuitive classifications of experienced diagnosticians, that is, the empirical foundation of their intuitive prototypes. Intuitive prototypes of 10 experienced diagnosticians were collected in two tasks and were compared with the empirically based assessment system of T. M. Achenbach (T. M. Achenbach, K. C. Conners, H. C. Quay, F. C. Verhulst, & C. T. Howell, 1989). Results show that the intuitive prototypes correspond very poorly with the empirical core syndromes, instead consisting of different groups of symptoms from various core syndromes. The study also showed a low similarity between behaviors that clinicians judge as co- occurring with an incompletely specified syndrome and behaviors that empirically co-occur with that syndrome. Reasons for the difference between intuitive prototypes and empirically derived classification structures are discussed, as are consequences for diagnostic practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Common and specific features of childhood psychopathology.

This article describes a conceptual and data-analytic model for characterizing different levels of common and specific features of child psychopathology: common features, which differentiate psychopathology from normality; broadband-specific features, which differentiate internalizing problems (e.g., anxiety, somatization) from externalizing problems (e.g., aggression, hyperactivity); and narrowband-specific features, which differentiate different narrowband syndromes (e.g., anxiety from somatization, hyperactivity from aggression) within each of the broadband syndromes. As an illustration of the model, data for 6 cognitive variables (e.g., global self-worth, causal attributions) are related to 6 psychopathology domains (e.g., aggression, depression) in a sample of 204 children. It is suggested that common features may be related to severity of psychopathology, whereas specific features may be more related to differentiation of psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental alcoholism and the effects of alcohol on mediated semantic priming.

In this study, researchers tested the effects of a moderate dose of alcohol on the spread of activation of associated information in memory using a mediated semantic priming task in which target words are preceded by primes that are either unrelated or indirectly related to the target. Male and female participants with or without a parental history (PH+ and PH-, respectively) of alcoholism were administered the priming task after consuming alcohol or a placebo beverage. Among PH- individuals, alcohol constrained the spread of activation of associated information, as manifested by a reduced priming effect. In contrast, alcohol enhanced priming effects among PH+ participants, though this latter effect appears to be due to a particularly slow response among these individuals to unprimed words. Results are discussed with regard to theories of alcohol's effects on cognitive processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in childhood psychopathology: A review.

Reviews sex differences in the major categories of childhood behavior disorders most relevant to the issue of continuity between child and adult disorders. Explanations for these differences are explored with attention given to both the different experiences and the different endowments of the sexes. These differences are then compared and contrasted with sex differences in adult psychopathology. (4? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impulsivity and inhibitory control in normal development and childhood psychopathology.

Two experiments investigated the development and pathology of inhibitory control in children. Inhibitory control was investigated with the stop-signal paradigm, which is based on a formal theory of inhibition and directly measures the mechanism of inhibition. The ability to inhibit developed little after Grade 2, but subjects with attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADDH) showed deficient inhibitory control. Their deficient inhibitory control was attributable to the subgroup of ADDH subjects with pervasive hyperactivity who had a more severe inhibitory deficit than did the situational hyperactive subgroup, the normal group, and the pathological controls. These studies reflect the utility of the stop-signal paradigm as a measure of inhibitory control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between attachment, psychopathology, and childhood disability.

Analyzes the literature on 3 aspects of attachment—neurobiological influences, interpersonal and intrapersonal factors, and societal factors—in the psychological development of chronically disabled children. Evidence suggests that neurochemical substances such as cortisol and brain biogenic amine systems reciprocally interact with psychological and psychosocial factors to influence attachment. Interpersonal and intrapersonal factors such as temperamental characteristics of children, severity and type of disability, and family influences interact in the process of attachment. Social perceptions and prejudices about the disabled individual increase parental stress, and diminish parental involvement and resources, which are necessary for attachment. These 3 processes are powerful and interrelated forces in child development, with potential to modify social competence, neurological development, and psychosocial adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aggression and psychopathology in childhood firesetters: Parent and child reports.

Compared hospitalized disturbed children between 5 and 13 yrs of age identified as firesetters (n?=?31) and nonfiresetters (n?=?32) on several dimensions of aggressiveness and psychopathology. The Ss and a parent (mother or female guardian) were interviewed separately. The parent completed the Child Behavior Checklist, the Hostility-Guilt Inventory derived from the Buss-Durkee Hostility-Guilt Inventory, and an interview for aggression. The 2 aggression measures were also administered to the Ss. The study permitted separation of the influence of firesetting from a diagnosis of conduct disorder in contributing to the symptoms evinced by the Ss. Results indicate that firesetters engaged in more delinquent and antisocial behaviors than nonfiresetters. Firesetters also evinced social skills deficits and a broad range of aggressive behaviors beyond their primary symptom. These results were obtained even when analyses were restricted to Ss who were diagnosed as conduct disordered. The findings elaborate on the clinical picture of firesetting children and suggest that firesetting may emerge late in a sequence of antisocial symptoms involving more extreme overt and covert acts. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Albee's just society: Radical prevention of childhood psychopathology.

Claims that G. W. Albee (see record 1987-02131-001) adequately defined 3 basic premises of those who oppose psychopathology through social change and offers suggestions about why liberalism in this context is problematic. The present author contends that radical initiatives are necessary for major social change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of aging, organicity, alcoholism, and functional psychopathology on WAIS subtest profiles.

Used multivariate ANOVA to examine the independent effects of several factors (age, diagnosis, sex, race, and socioeconomic status) on WAIS subtest patterns. A total of 414 psychiatric patients were studied, including 29 with organic brain syndrome and 29 alcoholics. A discriminant function contrasting organic brain syndromes with lesser functional psychiatric disorders was defined. Alcoholic patients were found to occupy a position close to the organic brain syndrome group on that continuum. Aging was associated with deficits in specific subtests, whereas the organic brain syndrome pattern involved more generalized deficits. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Zurich Study. XXIV. Structural and emotional aspects of childhood and later psychopathology

This study investigated the effect of different etching times on the retention of fissure sealants in second primary and first permanent molars. Eighty-four children with a total of 144 second primary molars and 264 first molars were included in the study. Etching times of 15, 30, 45 and 60 seconds were used. The fissure sealants were evaluated at 6 and 12 months. The results showed that the overall retention rate of fissure sealants in second primary molars was 73.0% at 6 months and 64.7% at 12 months, whereas in first permanent molars the retention rates were 60.7% at 6 months and 44.1% at 12 months respectively. There was no significant difference in the retention of fissure sealants either on second primary molars or on first permanent molars at a 6- and 12-month follow-up with the different etching times. It was concluded that the different etching times did not appear to affect the retention of fissure sealants on the first permanent molars or second primary molars. It might therefore be prudent to etch the teeth for a much shorter period than conventionally recommended.     

Parental corporal punishment predicts behavior problems in early childhood.

Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (Research Triangle Institute, 2002), this study examined the impact of corporal punishment (CP) on children's behavior problems. Longitudinal analyses were specified that controlled for covarying contextual and parenting variables and that partialed child effects. The results indicate that parental CP uniquely contributes to negative behavioral adjustment in children at both 36 months and at 1st grade, with the effects at the earlier age more pronounced in children with difficult temperaments. Parents and mental health professionals who work to modify children's negative behavior should be aware of the unique impact that CP likely plays in triggering and maintaining children's behavior problems. Broad-based family policies that reduce the use of this parenting behavior would potentially increase children's mental health and decrease the incidence of children's behavior problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infancy parenting and externalizing psychopathology from childhood through adulthood: Developmental trends.

Developmental models and previous findings suggest that early parenting is more strongly associated with externalizing problems in early childhood than it is in adolescence. In this article, the authors address whether the association of poor-quality infancy parenting and externalizing problems “rebounds” in adulthood. Poor-quality infancy parenting was associated with externalizing problems at kindergarten and first grade (mother report) as well as at 23 and 26 years (self report). Infancy parenting was not significantly associated with either mothers’ or youths’ reports of externalizing problems at 16 years. These findings are consistent with the notion that poor-quality infancy parenting is a risk factor for externalizing problems in developmental periods for which externalizing behavior is most deviant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental bonding and current psychological functioning among childhood sexual abuse survivors.

The relation between perceived parental bonding to maternal and paternal primary caregivers and current psychological functioning was examined among an adult female sample (n?=?78) of child sexual abuse survivors (CSASs). Although CSASs revealed significantly poorer psychological adjustment than non-CSASs, high paternal care was significantly associated with better psychological functioning among CSASs. These data are discussed in the context of attachment theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Familial risk factors to oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder: Parental psychopathology and maternal parenting.

In a sample of 177 clinic-referred children (aged 7–13 yrs), an association was found between a diagnosis of conduct disorder (CD) and several aspects of family functioning: maternal parenting (supervision and persistence in discipline) and parental adjustment (paternal antisocial personality disorder and paternal substance abuse). Children with oppositional defiant disorder were intermediate to families of children with CD and clinic control children on all variables, but differed from control children only in having a higher rate of paternal substance abuse and paternal antisocial personality disorder (APD). When both parental APD and deviant maternal parenting were entered into 2?×?2 logit-model analyses predicting CD, only parental APD was significantly associated with CD, and no interactions between parental adjustment and maternal parenting were found. The importance of these findings for understanding the etiology of CD and for disentangling correlated risk factors in future studies is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anxiety disorders of childhood, Implications for adult psychopathology

Although the exact path of acquisition remains incompletely understood, research supports the association between anxiety disorders in children and psychopathologic conditions in adults. This article addresses this relationship; reviews findings on the temperamental profile and behavioral inhibition, which may be an early identifiable childhood predictor of later anxiety disorders; and discusses the importance of early intervention.     

Learning and psychopathology.

Experiments concerning the learning of abnormal human Ss are reviewed. The review includes discussion of how persons with particular types of psychopathology learn different kinds of tasks as well as the reasons suggested for the learning phenomena found. (73 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Culture and psychopathology.

"In my opinion, the major contribution of anthropology to symptomatology is the opportunity it offers for reducing the ethnocentrism of the diagnostician… . The fact is that most distinctions between the fundamental symptomatological concepts in psychiatry have implicit or explicit social or cultural reference… . It follows that a valid diagnosis cannot be based on symptomatology alone, but must be derived from a study of the psychodynamics of the individual's patient in relation to his social and cultural milieu… . It is obvious that the content of a syndrome is influenced by the patient's culture… . Finally, the culture influences the individual's perception of a situation." The author's points are illustrated by material drawn from case studies. 45 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and psychopathology.

The author outlines a biometric model for analysis of behavior on 5 major levels of activity: physiological, sensory, perceptual, psychomotor, and conceptual. The tests and the technique are described and evaluated. 47 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)