Locating eating pathology within an empirical diagnostic taxonomy: Evidence from a community-based sample.

Existing structural models of psychopathology need to be expanded to include additional diagnostic constructs beyond mood, anxiety, substance use, and antisocial behavior disorders. The goal of this study was to locate eating disorders within a hierarchical structural model of psychopathology that is anchored by broad Internalizing and Externalizing factors. Participants were female adolescent twins (N = 1,434) from the Minnesota Twin Family Study. The authors compared the fit of 4 models in which eating disorders (a) defined their own diagnostic class, (b) represented a subclass within Internalizing, (c) formed a subclass within Externalizing, and (d) were allowed to cross-load on both Internalizing and Externalizing. In the best fitting model, eating disorders formed a subfactor within Internalizing. These findings underscore the value of developing more comprehensive empirically based models of psychopathology to increase researchers' understanding of diverse mental disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extended time on academic assignments: Does increased time lead to improved performance for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder?

Researchers examined the impact of an extended time accommodation on appropriate classroom behavior and rate of work completion for 33 children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants received standard (30 min) or extended (45 min) time to complete seatwork in a within-subject, crossover design study. Appropriate behavior (i.e., rule-following behavior) and rate of problems completed accurately per minute were compared across conditions. Children completed significantly more problems correctly per minute when given standard time compared with extended time; however, no difference in appropriate behavior was found between the two conditions. Appropriate behavior over time was examined by segmenting each condition into time intervals. Analyses indicated that children's appropriate behavior significantly decreased over time in both conditions. The implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dysfunctional attitudes and attribution style in healthy controls and patients with schizophrenia, psychotic depression, and nonpsychotic depression.

Compared the scores of 242 psychiatric inpatients with schizophrenia, psychotic depression, or nonpsychotic depression and 53 healthy controls on the Attribution Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS). Results provide mixed support for the cognitive and learned helplessness models of depression. Depressed Ss scored significantly higher than healthy controls on the DAS and ASQ, but there were no differences between depressed and schizophrenic Ss. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a critical social history of developmental psychology: A propaedeutic discussion.

Contends that in this postpositivist era, developmental psychology, no less than other areas of psychology and the other social sciences, shows signs of becoming aware of its social, cultural, and historical contexts—signs of seeking to understand its particular place in social space and historical time. The authors attempt to stimulate scholarly debate that will deepen such understanding and enhance the analytical, self-critical quality of such historical awareness. Among the issues explored are the necessity and function of critical social history, the problematic notion of progressive development with regard to both ontogenesis and scientific knowledge itself, the fragmentation of the field of developmental psychology, and the relations between scientific theory and research and sociopolitical circumstances. (69 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Starke Rosecrans Hathaway (1903–1984).

Presents an obituary for Starke Rosecrans Hathaway. Hathaway obtained both his undergraduate and master's level training with James P. Porter at Ohio University in Athens. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology in 1927 and his master's degree in 1928. Porter persuaded him to remain in Athens as an instructor in psychology and physiology; by 1929 he held the rank of assistant professor. Hathaway's original interests in engineering persisted; he perfected and marketed a chronoscope, a psychogalvanometer, and electrical stimulation and recording devices for the study of neural processes. It is interesting to recall that one of the first uses to which Hathaway had put his psychogalvanometer was as a lie detector in helping police in Athens to solve a murder case. Hathaway's contributions to clinical psychology were recognized at the national level by the APA's Division of Clinical Psychology, which conferred its Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award in 1959 and elected him as its president in 1963. Elected to Sigma Xi and Phi Beta Kappa, an ABPP diplomate in clinical psychology, he was awarded honorary doctorates by Ohio University in 1966 and by Ohio State University in 1972. His honors were capped in 1977 when the APA conferred its award for Distinguished Contribution for Applications in Psychology. Hathaway retired from the University of Minnesota in 1971. He died at his home in Minneapolis on July 4, 1984. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teacher ratings predict peer ratings of aggression at 3-year follow-up in boys with attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity.

Compared initial and 3-yr follow-up peer ratings of 19 boys, who were in Grades 1–3 at the beginning of the study, who had attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADDH). When the entire group was considered, nominations on the Aggression and Likability factors of a pupil evaluation inventory improved. Subgroups were created using teacher ratings on an aggression scale. Peer ratings of Aggression improved for Ss whom teachers rated below the median on the aggression scale but not for Ss rated above the median. Subgroups reflecting other teacher and peer ratings were less effective in predicting differential change in peer ratings of ADDH Ss. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of cognitive assessment methods with heterosocially anxious college women.

Investigated the comparability of self-statements generated by different cognitive assessment methods (structured questionnaire and thought listing) and the effect of an assessment delay on cognitive phenomena (self-statements; rational and irrational beliefs, evaluative, potency, and activity semantic schema; self-attributions; and self-ratings of discomfort and performance). The interrelationships among different cognitive variables were also studied. Ss were 64 high and low heterosocially anxious (as measured by the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale and a survey of heterosocial interactions) undergraduate females, who engaged in a conversation with a male confederate. One-half of the Ss completed the measures after the conversation, and the other half completed them 1 wk later. Findings show that although the 2 self-statement methods were counterbalanced, order effects were nonsignificant. Correlations indicated that self-statements (positive and negative thoughts) generated by the 2 methods were unrelated. Multivariate and univariate analyses failed to reveal significant effects for time of assessment. Significant effects were found on almost all variables for anxiety, constituting additional construct validity for these measures. A correlational matrix provided information about interrelationships among the cognitive variables. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment of Highway Bridge Upgrading by Dynamic Testing and Finite-Element Model Updating

The Land Transport Authority of Singapore has a continuing program of highway bridge upgrading for refurbishing and strengthening bridges to allow for increasing vehicle traffic and increasing axle loads. One subject of this program has been a short-span bridge taking a busy main road across a coastal inlet near a major port facility. Experiment-based structural assessments of the bridge were conducted before and after upgrading works including strengthening. Each assessment exercise comprised three separate components: (1) a strain and acceleration monitoring exercise lasting approximately one month; (2) a full-scale dynamic test carried out in a single day without closing the bridge; and (3) a finite-element model updating exercise to identify structural parameters and mechanisms. This paper presents the dynamic testing and the modal analysis used to identify the vibration properties and the quantification of the effectiveness of the upgrading through the subsequent model updating. Before and after upgrade, similar sets of vibration modes were identified, resembling those of an orthotropic plate with relatively weak transverse bending stiffness. Conversion of bearings from nominal simple supports to nominal full fixity was shown via model updating to be the principal cause of natural frequency increases of up to 50%. The utility of the combined experimental and analytical process in direct identification of structural properties has been proven, and the procedure can be applied to other structures and their capacity assessments.     

Partner violence before and after individually based alcoholism treatment for male alcoholic patients.

This study examined partner violence in the year before and the year after individually based, outpatient alcoholism treatment for 301 married or cohabiting male alcoholic patients and used a demographically matched nonalcoholic comparison sample. In the year before treatment, 56% of the alcoholic patients had been violent toward their female partner, 4 times the rate of 14% in the comparison sample. In the year after treatment, violence decreased significantly to 25% of the alcoholic sample but remained higher than in the comparison group. Among remitted alcoholics after treatment, violence prevalence of 15% was nearly identical to the comparison sample and half the rate among relapsed patients (32%). Thus, partner violence decreased after alcoholism treatment, and clinically significant violence reductions occurred for patients whose alcoholism was remitted after treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)