The impact of distractions on young adult drivers with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Young adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at higher risk for being involved in automobile crashes. Although driving simulators have been used to identify and understand underlying behaviors, prior research has focused largely on single-task, non-distracted driving. However, in-vehicle infotainment and communications systems often vie for a driver's attention, potentially increasing the risk of collision. This paper explores the impact of secondary tasks on individuals with and without ADHD, a medical condition known to affect the regulation of attention. Data are drawn from a validated driving simulation representing periods before, during, and after participation in a secondary cognitive task. A hands-free phone task was employed in a high stimulus, urban setting and a working memory task during low stimulus, highway driving. Drivers with ADHD had more difficulty on the telephone task, yet did not show an increased decrement in driving performance greater than control participants. In contrast, participants with ADHD showed a larger decline in driving performance than controls during a secondary task in a low demand setting. The results suggest that the interaction of the nature of the driving context and the secondary task has a significant influence on how drivers with ADHD allocate attention and, in-turn, on the relative impact on driving performance. Drivers with ADHD appear particularly susceptible to distraction during periods of low stimulus driving.     

Parentally provided alkaloid does not protect eggs ofUtetheisa ornatrix (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) against entomopathogenic fungi

Eggs ofUtetheisa ornatrix proved equally vulnerable to fungal infection (Beauveria bassiana, Paecilomyces lilacinus) whether they contained parentally provided pyrrolizidine alkaloid (monocrotaline) or were free of such alkaloid. In in vitro tests, monocrotaline, either as free base or N-oxide, had no inhibiting effect on fungal cultures.Report No. 99 of the series Defense Mechanisms of Arthropods; No. 98 is Attygalle et al.,Experientia (in press).     

Parental reactions to children’s negative emotions: Prospective relations to Chinese children’s psychological adjustment.

The prospective relations between five types of parental reactions to children’s negative emotions (PRCNE) and children’s psychological adjustment (behavioral problems and social competence) were examined in a two-wave longitudinal study of 425 school-age children in China. Parents (mostly mothers) reported their own PRCNE. Parents, teachers, and children or peers reported on children’s adjustment. Parental punitive reactions positively predicted externalizing problems (controlling for baseline), whereas emotion- and problem-focused reactions were negatively related to internalizing problems. Parental minimizing and encouragement of emotion expression were unrelated to adjustment. Concurrent relations were found between PRCNE and parents’ authoritative and authoritarian parenting dimensions. However, PRCNE did not uniquely predict adjustment controlling for global parenting dimensions. The findings have implications for cultural adaptation of parent-focused interventions for families of Chinese origin. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inattention as a key predictor of tobacco use in adolescence.

The authors examined the prediction from inattention to tobacco use among 2 cohorts (ages 7 and 13) of a community sample followed to young adulthood. Changes in self-reported tobacco use were tested with marginal transitional regression models, using parent and teacher ratings of inattention, hyperactivity-impulsivity, and other psychopathology, along with other factors, as predictors. Inattention, but not hyperactivity-impulsivity, significantly predicted adolescent tobacco use and young adult daily tobacco use. Peer substance use, parental substance use, and conduct disorder also predicted increases in tobacco use. African American ethnicity was strongly protective against later tobacco use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)