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Developmental Science Jan 2024Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare genetic syndrome. As with all rare syndromes, obtaining adequately powered sample sizes is a challenge. Here we present legacy data from...
Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare genetic syndrome. As with all rare syndromes, obtaining adequately powered sample sizes is a challenge. Here we present legacy data from seven UK labs, enabling the characterisation of cross-sectional and longitudinal developmental trajectories of verbal and non-verbal development in the largest sample of individuals with WS to-date. In Study 1, we report cross-sectional data between N = 102 and N = 209 children and adults with WS on measures of verbal and non-verbal ability. In Study 2, we report longitudinal data from N = 17 to N = 54 children and adults with WS who had been tested on at least three timepoints on these measures. Data support the WS characteristic cognitive profile of stronger verbal than non-verbal ability, and shallow developmental progression for both domains. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal data demonstrate steeper rates of development in the child participants than the adolescent and adults in our sample. Cross-sectional data indicate steeper development in verbal than non-verbal ability, and that individual differences in the discrepancy between verbal and non-verbal ability are largely accounted for by level of intellectual functioning. A diverging developmental discrepancy between verbal and non-verbal ability, whilst marginal, is not mirrored statistically in the longitudinal data. Cross-sectional and longitudinal data are discussed with reference to validating cross-sectional developmental patterns using longitudinal data and the importance of individual differences in understanding developmental progression.
Topics: Adult; Child; Adolescent; Humans; Williams Syndrome; Cross-Sectional Studies; Cognition; Aptitude
PubMed: 37287370
DOI: 10.1111/desc.13421 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2023
PubMed: 37928586
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1296472 -
Cognition Oct 2023Adults tend to construe members of their group as "unique individuals" more than members of other groups. This study investigated whether infants exhibit this tendency,...
Adults tend to construe members of their group as "unique individuals" more than members of other groups. This study investigated whether infants exhibit this tendency, even in regard to unfamiliar arbitrary groups. Ninety-six White 1-year-olds were assigned to an Ingroup, Outgroup, or No-Group condition, based on whether or not they shared two preferences (food and shirt color) with women appearing on video sequences. In the critical trial, infants saw two women (Ingroup, Outgroup, or No-Group) - one at a time - appearing from behind a curtain. The curtain opened to reveal only one woman. Infants in the Ingroup condition looked longer at this display than infants in the other two conditions. This suggests that infants in the Ingroup condition had a stronger expectation than those in the other two conditions that there would be two women behind the curtain. In other words, infants individuated in-group members more than out-group members.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Infant; Female; Individuation
PubMed: 37454528
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105561 -
The Psychiatric Clinics of North America Dec 2023Although observational studies have shown that adolescent cannabis use is associated with impairments in important psychosocial domains, including peer, romantic, and... (Review)
Review
Although observational studies have shown that adolescent cannabis use is associated with impairments in important psychosocial domains, including peer, romantic, and parent-child relationships, educational outcomes, adult socioeconomic status, and legal consequences, mechanisms underlying these associations remain largely unclear. Cannabis use may have a deleterious causal effect on functioning, but it is also possible the association may be due to reverse causation or confounding by shared vulnerability factors that account for both cannabis use in adolescence and concurrent and subsequent psychosocial impairment. Causally informative studies that delineate these possibilities, including research using epidemiologic samples and quasi-experimental designs, are critical to move the field forward.
Topics: Adolescent; Humans; Cannabis; Psychosocial Functioning; Risk Factors
PubMed: 37879831
DOI: 10.1016/j.psc.2023.03.011 -
Behavioral Sciences & the Law 2024Persons with neuropsychiatric disorders present specific and unique challenges for forensic experts and defense attorneys in the criminal justice system. This article... (Review)
Review
Persons with neuropsychiatric disorders present specific and unique challenges for forensic experts and defense attorneys in the criminal justice system. This article reviews two potential criminal defenses: legal insanity and the various legal standards or tests of criminal responsibility that are used in jurisdictions throughout the United States (i.e., the M'Naghten standard and the American Law Institute's Model Penal Code), and the partial legal defense of diminished capacity (lacking the mental state necessary to be found guilty of a specific intent crime). The process of evaluating criminal responsibility or diminished capacity is also presented with a specific emphasis on common issues that arise in evaluating defendants with Intellectual Developmental Disorder (Intellectual Disability), Parasomnias, Seizure Disorders, and Neurocognitive Disorders.
Topics: Humans; United States; Insanity Defense; Forensic Psychiatry; Mental Disorders; Mental Health; Criminals; Psychotic Disorders; Intellectual Disability; Criminal Law
PubMed: 37966983
DOI: 10.1002/bsl.2635 -
Journal of Applied Research in... Sep 2023Peer-provided services are a common model for addressing mental health concerns. Peer providers report a range of benefits and challenges associated with their role....
'Being a part of something': Experiences and perceived benefits of young adult peer mentors with intellectual/developmental disabilities and co-occurring mental health conditions.
BACKGROUND
Peer-provided services are a common model for addressing mental health concerns. Peer providers report a range of benefits and challenges associated with their role. However, there is little information about the experiences of peer providers with intellectual/developmental disabilities.
AIM
To explore the experiences of young adult peer-providers with intellectual/developmental disabilities in the context of a mental health intervention.
METHODS
We conducted interviews with four young adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities and their parents and teachers to understand their experiences providing a peer mentoring mental health intervention.
RESULTS
Young adult peer mentors perceived themselves as responsible for maintaining the mentoring relationship, delivering the intervention and acting as helpers and independent professionals. The experiences of young adult peer mentors were driven by the temporal, institutional and social contexts of their work. Peer mentoring was an enjoyable, social activity. Mentors, parents and teachers emphasised how taking on the peer mentoring role during the transition to adulthood and within the capital-rich university context led to a sense of pride and professional development. Further, these contexts may have led mentors to emphasise their intervention-delivery, helper and professional roles over relationship maintenance.
DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION
Context may shape the perceived roles and benefits for young adult peer mentors with intellectual/developmental disabilities.
Topics: Humans; Young Adult; Child; Mentors; Mental Health; Developmental Disabilities; Intellectual Disability; Peer Group
PubMed: 37194908
DOI: 10.1111/jar.13117 -
BMC Pediatrics Oct 2023Early childhood self-regulation (SR) is key for many health- and education-related outcomes across the life span. Kindergarten age is a crucial period for SR...
BACKGROUND
Early childhood self-regulation (SR) is key for many health- and education-related outcomes across the life span. Kindergarten age is a crucial period for SR development, and within this developmental window, potential SR difficulties can still be compensated for (e.g., through interventions). However, efficient measurement of SR through brief, comprehensive, and easy-to-use instruments that identify SR difficulties are scarce. To address this need, we used items of an internationally applied kindergarten teacher questionnaire-the Early Development Instrument (EDI) - to develop and validate a specific SR measurement scale.
METHODS
The psychometric evaluation and validation of the selected SR-items was performed in data collected with the German version of the EDI (GEDI), in two independent data sets - (a) the development dataset, with 191 children, and b) the validation dataset, with 184 children. Both included three- to six-year-old children and contained retest and interrater reliability data. First, three independent raters-based on theory-selected items eligible to form a SR scale from the two SR-relevant GEDI domains "social competence" and "emotional maturity". Second, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling examined the item structure across both data sets. This resulted in a defined SR scale, of which internal consistency, test-retest and interrater reliability, cross-validation, and concurrent validity using correlation and descriptive agreements (Bland-Altman (BA) plots) with an existing validated SR-measuring instrument (the Kindergarten Behavioral Scales) were assessed.
RESULTS
Confirmatory factor analysis across both data sets yielded the best fit indices with 13 of the GEDI 20 items initially deemed eligible for SR measurement, and a three-factor structure: a) behavioral response inhibition, b) cognitive inhibition, c) selective or focused attention (RMSEA: 0.019, CFI: 0.998). Psychometric evaluation of the resulting 13-item-GEDI-SR scale revealed good internal consistency (0.92), test-retest and interrater reliability (0.85 and 0.71, respectively), validity testing yielded stability across populations and good concurrent validity with the Kindergarten Behavioral Scales (Pearson correlation coefficient: mean 0.72, range 0.61 to 0.84).
CONCLUSIONS
The GEDI contains 13 items suitable to assess SR, either as part of regular EDI developmental monitoring or as a valid stand-alone scale. This short 13-item (G)EDI-SR scale may allow early detection of children with SR difficulties in the kindergarten setting in future and could be the basis for public health intervention planning. To attain this goal, future research should establish appropriate reference values using a representative standardization sample.
Topics: Child; Humans; Child, Preschool; Reproducibility of Results; Surveys and Questionnaires; Psychometrics; Social Skills; Self-Control
PubMed: 37845613
DOI: 10.1186/s12887-023-04334-1 -
Developmental Psychology Dec 2023Gender-stereotyped beliefs develop early in childhood and are thought to increase with age based on prior research that was primarily carried out in Western cultures....
Gender-stereotyped beliefs develop early in childhood and are thought to increase with age based on prior research that was primarily carried out in Western cultures. Little research, however, has examined cross-cultural (in)consistencies in the developmental trajectory of gender-stereotyped beliefs. The present study examined implicit gender-toy stereotypes among 4- to 9-year-olds ( = 1,013; 49.70% girls) in Canada, China, and Thailand. Children from all three cultures evidenced implicit gender-toy stereotypes over this developmental period, but cultural differences in the developmental pattern and strength of these stereotypes were apparent. Gender-toy stereotypes were relatively strong and stable across age groups among Thai children and relatively weak and stable across age groups among Chinese children. Canadian 4- to 5-year-old children displayed weaker stereotypes, whereas 6- to 9-year-olds displayed stronger stereotypes. These findings highlight the contribution of culture to children's gender stereotype development. Although gender-toy stereotypes were found among 4- to 9-year-olds in all three cultures examined here, the strength of these stereotypes varies by culture. Furthermore, the previously described increase in gender stereotyping over this developmental period appears to not apply across cultures, thus challenging the conventional view on development in this domain based on prior, mainly Western, research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Female; Humans; Child, Preschool; Male; Canada; Stereotyping; China
PubMed: 37747511
DOI: 10.1037/dev0001590 -
Integrative Psychological & Behavioral... Dec 2023This paper argues that the project of a lifespan perspective in developmental psychology has not yet been systematically pursued. Overall, the number of age-specific...
This paper argues that the project of a lifespan perspective in developmental psychology has not yet been systematically pursued. Overall, the number of age-specific papers far outweighs the number of lifespan approaches, and even approaches that focus on the lifespan as a whole are often restricted to adulthood. Further, there is a lack of approaches that examine cross-lifespan relationships. However, the lifespan perspective has brought with it a "processual turn" that suggests an examination of developmental regulatory processes that are either operative across the lifespan or develop across the lifespan. Accommodative adjustment of goals and evaluations in response to obstacles, loss, and threat is discussed as an example of such a process. Not only is it prototypical of efficacy and change of developmental regulation across the lifespan, but at the same time it makes clear that stability (e.g., of the self)-as a possible outcome of accommodation-is not an alternative to, but a variant of development. Explaining how accommodative adaptation changes, in turn, requires a broader perspective. For this purpose, an evolutionary approach to developmental psychology is proposed that not only views human development as a product of phylogenesis, but also applies the central concepts of the theory of evolution (adaptation and history) directly to ontogeny. The challenges, conditions, and limitations of such a theoretical application of adaptation to human development are discussed.
Topics: Humans; Longevity; Biological Evolution
PubMed: 37097544
DOI: 10.1007/s12124-023-09767-y -
Frontiers in Psychology 2023
PubMed: 37645067
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1268725