The need for inclusion of psychological trauma in the professional curriculum: A call to action.

An appreciable disparity exists between the need for services by professionals with expertise in psychological trauma and the availability of these services. Despite the establishment of a solid base of scientific literature on trauma and the growing attunement of society and the media to the adverse psychological impact of traumatic events, this area has yet to be decisively incorporated into the core curriculum of graduate training in psychology and other professions. This paper provides an overview of the prevalence, scope, and impact of trauma in the general population and the current lack of adequate resources to address the psychological difficulties engendered by traumatic experiences. Existing models of trauma training are discussed, and strategies for expanding the availability of trauma training are recommended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting preschoolers' externalizing behaviors from toddler temperament, conflict, and maternal negativity.

Rarely have researchers elucidated early childhood precursors of externalizing behaviors for boys and girls from a normative sample. Toddlers (N=104; 52 girls) were observed interacting with a same-sex peer and their mothers, and indices of conflict-aggression, emotion and behavior dysregulation, parenting, and child externalizing problems were obtained. Results indicated that boys initiated more conflictual-aggressive interactions as toddlers and had more externalizing difficulties 2 years later, yet girls' (not boys') conflict-aggressive initiations at age 2 were related to subsequent externalizing problems. When such initiations were controlled for, emotional-behavioral undercontrol at age 2 also independently predicted externalizing problems at age 4. Moreover, the relation between conflict-aggressive initiations at age 2 and externalizing problems at age 4 was strongest for dysregulated toddlers. Finally, the relation between age 2 conflict-aggressive initiations and age 4 externalizing problems was strongest for those toddlers who incurred high levels of maternal negativity. These findings illustrate temperament by parenting connections in the development of externalizing problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex, temperament, and family context: How the interaction of early factors differentially predict adolescent alcohol use and are mediated by proximal adolescent factors.

Adolescent alcohol use is common and has serious immediate and long-term ramifications. While concurrent individual and context factors are robustly associated with adolescent alcohol use, the influence of early childhood factors, particularly in interaction with child sex, are less clear. Using a prospective community sample of 362 (190 girls), this study investigated sex differences in the joint influence of distal childhood and proximal adolescent factors on Grade 10 alcohol use. All risk factors and two-way early individual-by-context interactions, and interactions of each of these with child sex, were entered into the initial regression. Significant sex interactions prompted the use of separate models for girls and boys. In addition to the identification of early (family socioeconomic status, authoritative parenting style) and proximal adolescent (mental health symptoms, deviant friends) risk factors for both girls and boys, results highlighted important sex differences. In particular, girls with higher alcohol consumption at Grade 10 were distinguished by the interaction of early temperamental disinhibition and exposure to parental stress; boys with higher alcohol consumption at Grade 10 were distinguished primarily by early temperamental negative affect. Results have implications for the timing and type of interventions offered to adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trajectories of externalizing behavior from age 2 to age 9: Relations with gender, temperament, ethnicity, parenting, and rater.

Trajectories of children's externalizing behavior were examined using multilevel growth curve modeling of data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. According to ratings by both mothers and caregivers/teachers when children were 2, 3, 4, 7, and 9 years old, externalizing behavior declined with age. However, mothers rated children as higher in externalizing behavior than did caregivers and teachers. Higher levels of age 9 externalizing behavior were predicted by the following factors: child male gender (for caregiver/teacher reports only), infant difficult temperament (for children with harsh mothers only), harsher maternal attitude toward discipline, higher level of maternal depression (for maternal reports only), and lower level of maternal sensitivity (especially for boys). Caregivers and teachers reported higher levels of externalizing behavior in African American children than in European American children, increasingly so over time; mothers' ratings revealed the reverse. The declining slope of externalizing behavior was predicted by infant difficult temperament for mother reports only. Additional analyses suggested that the association between parenting and externalizing behavior was bidirectional. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interplay Between Environmental and Genetic Factors in Temperament/Personality Traits in Horses (Equus caballus).

The aim of the present study was to broach the question of the relative influence of different genetic and environmental factors on different temperament/personality traits of horses (Equus caballus). The researchers submitted 702 horses to standardized experimental tests and investigated 9 factors, either genetic or environmental. Genetic factors, such as sire or breed, seemed to influence more neophobic reactions, whereas environmental factors, such as the type of work, seemed to play a more dominant role in reactions to social separation or learning abilities. Additive effects were evident, showing how environmental factors may modulate behavioral traits. This study constitutes a first step toward understanding the relative weights of genetic factors and how the environment may intervene in determining individual behavioral characteristics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and the genetic risk for alcohol dependence.

The extent to which the genetic risk for alcohol dependence (AD) and conduct disorder (CD) and their common genetic risk overlap with genetic factors contributing to variation in dimensions of personality was examined in a study of 6,453 individuals from 3,383 adult male and female same-sex and unlike-sex twin pairs from the Australian Twin Registry. The associations between the personality dimensions of positive emotionality, negative emotionality, and AD and CD risk were modest, whereas the associations between behavioral undercontrol and AD and CD risk were substantially higher. Genetic influences contributing to variation in behavioral undercontrol accounted for about 40% of the genetic variation in AD and CD risk and about 90% of the common genetic risk for AD and CD. These results suggest that genetic factors contributing to variation in dimensions of personality, particularly behavioral undercontrol, account for a substantial proportion of the genetic diathesis for AD and most of the common genetic diathesis for AD and CD among both men and women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Holocaust trauma reconstructed: Individual, familial, and social trauma.

Psychic trauma is characterized by ego damage, regression, and relative helplessness. Following a historic catastrophe, psychic trauma with ego damage is frequently encountered as cumulative trauma. Reconstruction was essential to the understanding of an adult patient initially unaware of his holocaust trauma. When the patient was a child, he and his parents were simultaneously traumatized. Intrapsychic intergenerational psychosocial and neurobiological factors were adverse codeterminants of his cumulative trauma. Isolated affects and fragmented memories required sequential connection in the context of family, identity, and society. Reconstruction importantly contributed to ego reintegration of a lost, lacerated childhood, and to adaptive mastery of trauma and conflict. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

School performance and genetic and environmental variance in antisocial behavior at the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Antisocial behavior increases in adolescence, particularly among those who perform poorly in school. As adolescents move into adulthood, both educational attainment and the extent to which antisocial behavior continues have implications for adolescents’ abilities to take on constructive social roles. The authors used a population-representative longitudinal twin study to explore how links among genetic and environmental influences at ages 17 and 24 may be implicated in the developmental processes involved. At age 17, expression of both genetic and nonshared environmental vulnerabilities unique to antisocial behavior was greater among those with low GPA than among those with higher GPA. This suggested that maintenance of high GPA buffered the impact of both genetic and environmental influences encouraging antisocial behavior. When GPA was high, both genetic and environmental influences involved in both traits encouraged good school performance and restrained antisocial behavior. At age 24, however, correlated family environmental influences drove the association between educational attainment and antisocial behavior. Antisocial characteristics involving school performance and educational attainment that transcend generations may slot individuals into social categories that restrict opportunities and reinforce antisocial characteristics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sensory modality, temperament, and the development of sustained attention: A vigilance study in children and adults.

Applying optimal stimulation theory, the present study explored the development of sustained attention as a dynamic process. It examined the interaction of modality and temperament over time in children and adults. Second-grade children and college-aged adults performed auditory and visual vigilance tasks. Using the Carey temperament questionnaires (S. C. McDevitt & W. B. Carey, 1995), the authors classified participants according to temperament composites of reactivity and task orientation. In a preliminary study, tasks were equated across age and modality using d= matching procedures. In the main experiment, 48 children and 48 adults performed these calibrated tasks. The auditory task proved more difficult for both children and adults. Intermodal relations changed with age: Performance across modality was significantly correlated for children but not for adults. Although temperament did not significantly predict performance in adults, it did for children. The temperament effects observed in children-specifically in those with the composite of reactivity-occurred in connection with the auditory task and in a manner consistent with theoretical predictions derived from optimal stimulation theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding child-based effects on parenting: Temperament as a moderator of genetic and environmental contributions to parenting.

The degree to which child temperament moderates genetic and environmental contributions to parenting was examined. Participants were drawn from the Nonshared Environment and Adolescent Development project and included 720 sibling pairs, ages 13.5 + 2.0 years (Sibling 1) to 12.1 + 1.3 years (Sibling 2). The sample consisted of 6 sibling types: 93 monozygotic twin pairs, 99 dizygotic twin pairs, and 95 full sibling pairs from never-divorced families and 182 full-sibling, 109 half-sibling, and 130 unrelated-sibling pairs residing in stepfamilies. Composite child temperament ratings (negative emotionality, activity, shyness, and sociability) were derived from mothers' and fathers' reports. Composite parenting ratings (negativity, warmth) for mothers and fathers were generated from children's and parents' reports. Analyses indicated that at higher levels of negative emotionality and sociability, child-based genetic contributions to mothers' and fathers' negativity increased, whereas the contributions of environmental factors declined. The opposite pattern was observed for child shyness. These same characteristics had less impact on parental warmth. For fathers only, nonshared environmental contributions to fathers' warmth increased in the presence of high child activity and sociability but declined when children were very shy. Overall these findings indicate that child-based effects on negative parenting are enhanced when children demonstrate potentially challenging characteristics but are weaker in the absence of such characteristics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting the developmental course of mother-reported monitoring across childhood and adolescence from early proactive parenting, child temperament, and parents' worries.

Change in mothers' reported monitoring and awareness of their children's activities and companions across Grades 5, 6, 8, and 11 were examined with the use of latent factor growth modeling. Proactive parenting and resistant-to-control (RTC) child temperament assessed prior to kindergarten, as well as parents' worries about their children's behavior in Grades 5 and 8, were tested as factors associated with change in monitoring over time. Higher proactive parenting, lower RTC temperament, and the mounting of a successful campaign to change their children's behavior were associated with higher monitoring scores overall. Monitoring levels decreased across time, but the rate of decline was steeper among mothers with high RTC children and slower among mothers who mounted a campaign and judged it to be effective. These findings shed light on factors contributing to continuity and change across development in a key domain of parenting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperament and externalizing behavior: Social preference and perceived acceptance as protective factors.

The purpose of this study was to explore the role of social preference and perceived acceptance as moderators of the relation between child temperament and externalizing behavior. Participants included 399 children evaluated at pre-kindergarten and kindergarten assessments. Pre-kindergarten children characterized by high temperamental Surgency/Extraversion were more likely to exhibit hyperactivity and aggression in the kindergarten classroom. In addition, kindergarten perceived acceptance and social preference moderated the relation between pre-kindergarten Surgency/Extraversion and kindergarten hyperactivity for girls only. Girls who were characterized by high temperamental Surgency/Extraversion, high perceived acceptance, and low social preference were at risk for higher levels of teacher-reported and peer-nominated hyperactivity. In contrast, accurately high perceived acceptance was a protective factor for high temperamental Surgency/Extraversion. Findings are discussed in terms of risk and protective factors for externalizing behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder: A quantitative review of 25 years of research.

Meta-analyses of studies yielding sex-specific risk of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) indicated that female participants were more likely than male participants to meet criteria for PTSD, although they were less likely to experience PTEs. Female participants were more likely than male participants to experience sexual assault and child sexual abuse, but less likely to experience accidents, nonsexual assaults, witnessing death or injury, disaster or fire, and combat or war. Among victims of specific PTEs (excluding sexual assault or abuse), female participants exhibited greater PTSD. Thus, sex differences in risk of exposure to particular types of PTE can only partially account for the differential PTSD risk in male and female participants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the hierarchical structure of mood and anxiety disorders: Confirmatory evidence and elaboration of a model of temperament markers.

The authors examined D. Watson's (2005) proposed reconceptualization of the diagnostic categories for mood and anxiety disorders for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders--Fifth Edition (DSM-V) and tested an elaboration of the 2-factor (positive and negative activation) model of underlying temperament markers that incorporates A. Tellegen, D. Watson, & L. A. Clark's (1999a, 1999b) higher-order dimension of happiness-unhappiness (or demoralization; see A. Tellegen et al., 2003). In Study 1, 502 undergraduate students completed several symptom measures of mood and anxiety disorders and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (J. N. Butcher et al., 2001). Using confirmatory factor analysis, the authors replicated Watson's distress and fear disorder model. Path analyses showed that demoralization was a primary marker of distress disorders, whereas dysfunctional negative emotions was a primary marker of fear disorders. Low positive emotions was a specific marker of depression and social phobia. This 3-factor path model was associated with better fit than was a 2-factor model excluding demoralization. In Study 2, the authors replicated the findings of Study 1 using data from an archival clinical sample of 636 Veterans Affairs hospital outpatients. The authors' findings provide evidence on the important role of demoralization in mood and anxiety disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The matching of behavior rating and questionnaire personality factors.

A review of evidence leads the author to chalenge the assertion that a one-to-one matching of behavior rating and questionnaire factors has been proved. Many of the technical, statistical, and psychological issues involved are discussed. The author recommends the development of a single questionnaire which can be scored in terms of either a self-perception-factor or in terms of a behavior factor criterion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validating female psychopathy subtypes: Differences in personality, antisocial and violent behavior, substance abuse, trauma, and mental health.

Recent empirical investigations utilizing male prisoners have begun to validate clinical conceptualizations of primary and secondary psychopathy subtypes. We extended this literature by identifying similar psychopathic subtypes in female prisoners on the basis of personality structure using model-based cluster analysis. Secondary psychopaths (n = 39) were characterized by personality traits of negative emotionality and low behavioral constraint, an early onset of antisocial and criminal behavior, greater substance use and abuse, more violent behavior and institutional misconduct, and more mental health problems, including symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and suicide attempts. Primary psychopaths (n = 31) exhibited few distinguishing personality features but were prolific criminals especially in regards to nonviolent crime, and exhibited relatively few mental health problems despite substantial exposure to traumatic events. The results support alternative etiological pathways to antisocial and criminal behavior that are evident in personality structure as well as gender similarities and differences in the manifestation of psychopathic personalities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trajectories of social withdrawal from grades 1 to 6: Prediction from early parenting, attachment, and temperament.

From 1,092 children in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, the authors identified 3 trajectory patterns of social withdrawal from teacher reports in Grades 1-6: a normative consistently low group (86%), a decreasing group (5%) with initially high withdrawal that decreased, and an increasing group (9%) with initially low withdrawal that increased. Prediction models supported the role of early dysregulated temperament, insensitive parenting, and attachment. Preschool shy temperament was a specific pathway to decreasing withdrawal, and poor inhibitory control was a specific pathway to increasing withdrawal. Children on the increasing pathway were more lonely, solitary, and were excluded by peers. Results suggest differentiated pathways to varying trajectories of social withdrawal and highlight the importance of identification of longitudinal patterns in relation to risk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fatigue following traumatic brain injury: Frequency, characteristics, and associated factors.

Objectives: To document the frequency, characteristics, and factors associated with fatigue following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Design: Survey methodology and multivariate statistical design. Setting: Rehabilitation center and community. Participants: 452 participants aged 16 years and over with minor to severe TBI who answered a questionnaire measuring diverse aspects of fatigue as well as different dimensions of psychological distress, pain, and sleep quality. Measures: Proportion of participants reporting being significantly fatigued. Validated measures of fatigue, sleep quality, and psychological distress. Results of a logistic regression analysis. Results: Significant fatigue was reported by 68.5% of participants. Mental fatigue was the most prominent type of fatigue, followed by physical fatigue. Fatigue was present even several years following the accident and had many perceived impacts on day-to-day function. Factors associated with fatigue were a shorter time since injury; being on long-term disability leave; and higher levels of sleep problems, cognitive disturbances, and anxiety. Conclusion: Fatigue is a prevalent problem after TBI that requires more clinical and scientific attention because it probably has important repercussions on the quality of rehabilitation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment deficits, personality structure, and PTSD.

Comments on an article by P. Verhaeghe and S. Vanheule (see record 2006-00627-003). The question surrounding etiological factors informing the emergence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to preexisting personality deficits is explored in relation to recent advances in understanding the indissolubility between attachment pathology and developmental trauma. Universal generalizations regarding the causal relation between structural self-deficits and the emergence of PTSD remain suspended. The nature of traumatic representation continues to be a contested area of empirical and theoretical debate, the consequences of which may inevitably inform clinical technique. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)