The effect of neighborhood density on children's word learning in noise.

Many studies have addressed the effect of neighborhood density (phonological similarity among words) on word learning in quiet listening conditions. We explored how noise influences the effect of neighborhood density on children's word learning. One-hundred-and-two preschoolers learned nonwords varied in neighborhood density in one of four listening conditions: quiet, +15 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), +6 dB SNR, and 0 dB SNR. Results showed that a high-density advantage for children under quiet listening condition was significantly reduced as noise increased. This finding implies an adverse impact of noise on long-term outcomes of word learning.

Effects of verb familiarity on finiteness marking in children with specific language impairment.

PURPOSE: Children with specific language impairment (SLI) have known deficits in the verb lexicon and finiteness marking. This study investigated a potential relationship between these 2 variables in children with SLI and 2 control groups considering predictions from 2 different theoretical perspectives, morphosyntactic versus morphophonological. METHOD: Children with SLI, age-equivalent, and language-equivalent (LE) control children (n=59) completed an experimental sentence imitation task that generated estimates of children's finiteness accuracy under 2 levels of verb familiarity--familiar real verbs versus unfamiliar real verbs--in clausal sites marked for finiteness. Imitations were coded and analyzed for overall accuracy as well as finiteness marking and verb root imitation accuracy. RESULTS: Statistical comparisons revealed that children with SLI did not differ from LE children and were less accurate than age-equivalent children on all dependent variables: overall imitation, finiteness marking imitation, and verb root imitation accuracy. A significant Group×Condition interaction for finiteness marking revealed lower levels of accuracy on unfamiliar verbs for the SLI and LE groups only. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate a relationship between verb familiarity and finiteness marking in children with SLI and younger controls and help clarify the roles of morphosyntax, verb lexicon, and morphophonology.

Early identification of reading disabilities within an RTI framework.

Early and accurate identification of children at risk for reading disabilities (RD) is critical for the prevention of RD within a response to intervention framework. In this study, we investigated the use of universal screening and progress monitoring for the early identification of RD in kindergarten children. A total of 366 children were administered a battery of screening measures at the beginning of kindergarten and progress-monitoring probes across the school year. A subset of children who showed initial risk for RD also received a 26-week Tier 2 intervention. Participants' achievement in word reading accuracy and/or fluency was assessed at the end of first grade. Results indicated that a screening battery containing measures of letter naming fluency, phonological awareness, rapid naming, or nonword repetition accurately identified good and poor readers at the end of first grade. Findings also showed that children's response to supplemental and/or classroom instruction measured in terms of growth in letter naming fluency added significantly to the prediction of reading outcomes.

Developmental Change and Time-Specific Variation in Global and Specific Aspects of Self-Concept in Adolescence and Association with Depressive Symptoms.

Previous research has demonstrated that adolescents make differential self-evaluations in multiple domains that include physical appearance, academic competence, and peer acceptance. We report growth curve analyses over a seven year period from age 9 to age 16 on the six domains of the Harter Self-Perception Profile for Children. In general, we find little change in self-concept, on average, but do find substantial individual differences in level, rate of change, and time-specific variation in these self- evaluations. The results suggest that sex differences and adoptive status were related to only certain aspects of the participants' self-concept. Depressive symptoms were found to have significant effects on individual differences in rate of change and on time-specific variation in general self-concept, as well as on some of the specific domains of self-concept.

Online learning from input versus offline memory evolution in adult word learning: effects of neighborhood density and phonologically related practice.

PURPOSE: In this study, the authors investigated adult word learning to determine how neighborhood density and practice across phonologically related training sets influence online learning from input during training versus offline memory evolution during no-training gaps. METHOD: Sixty-one adults were randomly assigned to learn low- or high-density nonwords. Within each density condition, participants were trained on one set of words and then were trained on a second set of words, consisting of phonological neighbors of the first set. Learning was measured in a picture-naming test. Data were analyzed using multilevel modeling and spline regression. RESULTS: Steep learning during input was observed, with new words from dense neighborhoods and new words that were neighbors of recently learned words (i.e., second-set words) being learned better than other words. In terms of memory evolution, large and significant forgetting was observed during 1-week gaps in training. Effects of density and practice during memory evolution were opposite of those during input. Specifically, forgetting was greater for high-density and second-set words than for low-density and first-set words. CONCLUSION: High phonological similarity, regardless of source (i.e., known words or recent training), appears to facilitate online learning from input but seems to impede offline memory evolution.

Late language emergence in 24-month-old twins: heritable and increased risk for late language emergence in twins.

PURPOSE: This study investigated the etiology of late language emergence (LLE) in 24-month-old twins, considering possible twinning, zygosity, gender, and heritability effects for vocabulary and grammar phenotypes. METHOD: A population-based sample of 473 twin pairs participated. Multilevel modeling estimated means and variances of vocabulary and grammar phenotypes, controlling for familiality. Heritability was estimated with DeFries-Fulker regression and variance components models to determine effects of heritability, shared environment, and nonshared environment. RESULTS: Twins had lower average language scores than norms for single-born children, with lower average performance for monozygotic than dizygotic twins and for boys than girls, although gender and zygosity did not interact. Gender did not predict LLE. Significant heritability was detected for vocabulary (0.26) and grammar phenotypes (0.52 and 0.43 for boys and girls, respectively) in the full sample and in the sample selected for LLE (0.42 and 0.44). LLE and the appearance of Word Combinations were also significantly heritable (0.22-0.23). CONCLUSIONS: The findings revealed an increased likelihood of LLE in twin toddlers compared with single-born children that is modulated by zygosity and gender differences. Heritability estimates are consistent with previous research for vocabulary and add further suggestion of heritable differences in early grammar acquisition.

Anxiety and chronic couple relationship stress moderate adrenocortical response to couple interaction in expectant parents.

The study examines whether anxiety or chronic relationship stress alter the way that couple conflict affects cortisol levels for women and men during the transition to parenthood. Saliva samples, assayed for cortisol, were collected before and after couple interaction from 128 heterosexual couples expecting their first child. Confirming prior research, expectant mothers had higher cortisol levels than their spouses, and gestational age was linked to women's cortisol level. Negativity during couple interaction was associated with greater cortisol reactivity for men, but not women. Tests of moderation indicated little relation between negativity and cortisol recovery for individuals with a low level of anxiety or little history of chronic arguing with the partner. However, among individuals with elevated levels of either of these two factors, negativity was linked to less cortisol recovery for men, but more cortisol recovery for women. Consistent results were also found for the relation between low warmth in the couple interaction and both reactivity and recovery for men and women high in anxiety. Future research should examine whether pregnancy is responsible for these different gender patterns, or whether the inhibition of negativity is stressful for women with high levels of risk.

The effect of incremental changes in phonotactic probability and neighborhood density on word learning by preschool children.

PURPOSE: Phonotactic probability or neighborhood density has predominately been defined through the use of gross distinctions (i.e., low vs. high). In the current studies, the authors examined the influence of finer changes in probability (Experiment 1) and density (Experiment 2) on word learning. METHOD: The authors examined the full range of probability or density by sampling 5 nonwords from each of 4 quartiles. Three- and 5-year-old children received training on nonword-nonobject pairs. Learning was measured in a picture-naming task immediately following training and 1 week after training. Results were analyzed through the use of multilevel modeling. RESULTS: A linear spline model best captured nonlinearities in phonotactic probability. Specifically, word learning improved as probability increased in the lowest quartile, worsened as probability increased in the mid-low quartile, and then remained stable and poor in the 2 highest quartiles. An ordinary linear model sufficiently described neighborhood density. Here, word learning improved as density increased across all quartiles. CONCLUSION: Given these different patterns, phonotactic probability and neighborhood density appear to influence different word learning processes. Specifically, phonotactic probability may affect recognition that a sound sequence is an acceptable word in the language and is a novel word for the child, whereas neighborhood density may influence creation of a new representation in long-term memory.

An evaluation of analytical approaches for understanding change in cognition in the context of aging and health.

OBJECTIVES: In this article, we discuss the importance of studying the relationship between health and cognitive function, and some of the methods with which this relationship has been studied. METHODS: We consider the challenges involved, in particular operationalization of the health construct and causal inference in the context of observational data. We contrast the approaches taken, and review the questions addressed: whether health and cognition are associated, whether changes in health are associated with changes in cognition, and the degree of interdependency among their respective trajectories. RESULTS: A variety of approaches for understanding the association between cognition and health in aging individuals have been used. Much of the literature on cognitive change and health has relied on methods that are based at least in part on the reorganization of between-person differences (e.g., cross-lag analysis) rather than relying more fully on analysis of within-person change and joint analysis of individual differences in within-person change in cognition and health. DISCUSSION: We make the case for focusing on the interdependency between within-person changes in health and cognition and suggest methods that would support this.

The longitudinal relationship between behavior and emotional disturbance in young people with intellectual disability and maternal mental health.

Although elevated rates of parent psychosocial distress have been associated with child behavior and emotional problems, little is known about the nature of this relationship over time. This study followed an epidemiological cohort of children and adolescents over 11 years with 4 waves of data collection. Within this cohort, complete data were available on 238 mothers and their children. Behavior and emotional problems were assessed using the DBC, maternal mental health with the GHQ. Multivariate growth curve modelling was used to evaluate the commonality of individual change patterns. High levels of mental health problems were reported, which were stable over time. Higher scores on the DBC were associated with higher rates of mental health problems. Increases in child social relating problems were associated with increases mental health symptoms, particularly depression and anxiety.

Bar and restaurant workers' attitudes towards Norway's comprehensive smoking ban: a growth curve analysis.

BACKGROUND: Norway passed legislation banning smoking in restaurants, bars and other public spaces in 2004. This study tracks changes in hospitality workers' attitudes towards Norway's ban over three time points, using growth modelling analysis to examine predictors of attitude change. METHODS: Participants were a national sample of 1525 bar and restaurant workers. Surveys were conducted, by phone or internet, one month before the ban's implementation and at 4 and 12 months thereafter. Exploratory principal components analysis of nine survey items revealed one primary attitude component. A latent growth model was fitted to the data to examine trajectories of attitude change and individual differences in rate of change. RESULTS: Respondents supported the ban before implementation and increased support at 4 months (p=0.021) and again at 12 months (p=0.001). Concern for one's job followed a quadratic trend, increasing at 4 months and decreasing at 12 months (p<0.001). All demographic categories were associated with attitude increase; rate of increase was greater for females than males. Two within-person variables--change in smoking status and change in job concern--strongly predicted (p<0.001) respondents' deviations from their predicted group trajectories, explaining over 70% of residual between-person slope variance. CONCLUSIONS: Norway's hospitality workers increased their support of the ban over its first year. The strong influence of the within-person variables leads to two primary policy recommendations. First, support should be provided to assist cessation efforts and prevent relapse. Second, informational campaigns should inform hospitality workers about evidence that smoking bans are not economic threats to the industry.

Correlated and coupled within-person change in emotional and behavioral disturbance in individuals with intellectual disability.

Individual change and variation in emotional/behavioral disturbance in children and adolescents with intellectual disability has received little empirical investigation. Based on 11 years of longitudinal data from the Australian Child to Adult Development Study, we report associations among individual differences in level, rate of change, and occasion-specific variation across subscales of the Developmental Behavior Checklist (DBC) with 506 participants who had intellectual disability and were ages 5 to 19 years at study entry. Correlations among the five DBC subscales ranged from .43 to .66 for level, .43 to .88 for rate of change, and .31 to .61 for occasion-specific variation, with the highest correlations observed consistently between disruptive, self-absorbed, and communication disturbance behaviors. These interdependencies among dimensions of emotional/behavioral disturbance provide insight into the developmental dynamics of psychopathology from childhood through young adulthood.

Classification models for early identification of persons at risk for dementia in primary care: an evaluation in a sample aged 80 years and older.

AIM: To evaluate previously developed classification models to make implementation in primary care possible and aid early identification of persons at risk for dementia. METHODS: Data were drawn from the OCTO-Twin study. At baseline, 521 persons >or= 80 years of age were nondemented, and for 387 a blood sample was available. Predictors of dementia were collected and analyzed in initially nondemented persons using generalized estimating equations and Cox survival analyses. RESULTS: In the basic model using predictors already known or easily obtained (basic set), the mean 2-year predictive value increased from 6.9 to 28.8% in persons with memory complaints and an MMSE score

Factor structure of the developmental behavior checklist using confirmatory factor analysis of polytomous items.

The Developmental Behavior Checklist (DBC; Einfeld and Tonge, 1995) is a 95 item clinical screening checklist designed to assess the extent of behavioral and emotional disturbance in populations with intellectual deficit (ID). The DBC provides five principal-component derived subscales covering clinically relevant dimensions of psychopathology (i.e., Disruptive, Self-Absorbed, Communication Disturbance, Anxiety, and Social Relating). Validating these subscales for individual differences research requires examinations of the stability of this structure. This study begins a program of psychometric study of the DBC, by utilizing item level data to investigate the DBC's subscale structure in regard to simple-structure restrictions, as well as the implications of factorially complex items for inter-subscale correlations. To accomplish these goals a polytomous confirmatory factor analysis (PCFA) of the DBC was performed, and the pattern of loadings and inter-factor correlations was examined with and without simple-structure restrictions. Our findings provide evidence that the two largest subscales (Disruptive/Antisocial, Self Absorbed) are well behaved in PCFA models and should exhibit little bias under unit-weighted scoring procedures, or in latent factor models. Findings for the three smaller subscales (Communication Disturbance, Social Relating, and Anxiety) do not invalidate their use in individual differences research, but do highlight several issues that should be considered by individual differences researchers.

The role of risk and protective factors in substance use across adolescence.

PURPOSE: To compare the relative influence of risk and protective factors across several domains on adolescent substance use in a large sample of youth. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey data were collected from students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 in Pennsylvania (N = 91,778). Generalized linear mixed models were estimated for each grade level to examine associations among indices of three risk factors (individual, peer, and family) and three protective factors (family, school, and community) and both recent and lifetime substance use. RESULTS: The risk factors were stronger predictors of substance use outcomes compared with the protective factors, regardless of grade level or substance use type. In particular, the individual and peer risk factors were strongly related to lifetime and recent use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana. Among the protective factors, the strongest associations with substance use were found in the community domain. Several age-related differences in the associations were also found, suggesting that family and community factors were more salient among younger adolescents whereas peer and school factors were stronger among older adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide support for the social development model (SDM), which proposes that adolescent substance use is associated with factors across multiple spheres of influence. Age-related differences in these associations suggest that effective interventions to reduce adolescent substance use may need to emphasize different domains of risk and protective factors at different stages of adolescent development.

Predictors and level of sustainability of community prevention coalitions.

BACKGROUND: After many years in which evaluations had generally not found the coalition approach to be effective, the community-coalition approach has recently been shown to produce a public health impact if best practices are utilized. The next challenge is to foster sustainability among coalitions in order to achieve long-term public health outcomes. This study examined the level of and predictors of sustainability among Communities That Care (CTC) sites in Pennsylvania. METHODS: Board functioning and the funding of 110 CTC sites were assessed through the reports of board members, staff, and technical-assistance providers from 2003 through 2006; data were analyzed in 2007. RESULTS: Ninety percent of CTC coalitions continued after the 3-year initial funding period, with 3%-8% of sites terminating each year thereafter. Approximately two thirds of CTC sites continued to operate 4 years after the termination of the original 3-year implementation grant. Many of the sites attracted funding at a level equivalent to or greater than the initial grant. Overall coalition functioning, as reported by either board members or technical-assistance providers, along with planning for sustainability, predicted both survival and post-launch funding. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence suggests that board functioning predicts survival, at least in part independently of its influence on funding; and that planning for sustainability predicts sustainability, at least in part independently of overall coalition functioning.

Psychopathology in young people with intellectual disability.

CONTEXT: Comorbid severe mental health problems complicating intellectual disability are a common and costly public health problem. Although these problems are known to begin in early childhood, little is known of how they evolve over time or whether they continue into adulthood. OBJECTIVE: To study the course of psychopathology in a representative population of children and adolescents with intellectual disability. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: The participants of the Australian Child to Adult Development Study, an epidemiological cohort of 578 children and adolescents recruited in 1991 from health, education, and family agencies that provided services to children with intellectual disability aged 5 to 19.5 years in 6 rural and urban census regions in Australia, were followed up for 14 years with 4 time waves of data collection. Data were obtained from 507 participants, with 84% of wave 1 (1991-1992) participants being followed up at wave 4 (2002-2003). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Developmental Behaviour Checklist (DBC), a validated measure of psychopathology in young people with intellectual disability, completed by parents or other caregivers. Changes over time in the Total Behaviour Problem Score and 5 subscale scores of the DBC scores were modeled using growth curve analysis. RESULTS: High initial levels of behavioral and emotional disturbance decreased only slowly over time, remaining high into young adulthood, declining by 1.05 per year on the DBC Total Behaviour Problem Score. Overall severity of psychopathology was similar across mild to severe ranges of intellectual disability (with mean Total Behaviour Problem Scores of approximately 44). Psychopathology decreased more in boys than girls over time (boys starting with scores 2.61 points higher at baseline and ending with scores 2.57 points lower at wave 4), and more so in participants with mild intellectual disability compared with those with severe or profound intellectual disability who diverged from having scores 0.53 points lower at study commencement increasing to a difference of 6.98 points below severely affected children by wave 4. This trend was observed in each of the subscales, except the social-relating disturbance subscale, which increased over time. Prevalence of participants meeting criteria for major psychopathology or definite psychiatric disorder decreased from 41% at wave 1 to 31% at wave 4. Few of the participants (10%) with psychopathology received mental health interventions during the study period. CONCLUSION: These results provide evidence that the problem of psychopathology comorbid with intellectual disability is both substantial and persistent and suggest the need for effective mental health interventions.

Effects of at-school victimization and sexual orientation on lesbian, gay, or bisexual youths' health risk behavior.

PURPOSE: To examine the link between victimization at school and health risk behaviors using representative data comparing lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youths and heterosexual youths. METHODS: Data from the 1995 Youth Risk Behavior Survey taken in Massachusetts and Vermont were examined. This sample included 9188 9th through 12th grade students; 315 of these students were identified as LGB. Analyses of variance were used to examine health risk behaviors by sexual orientation by gender by victimization level. RESULTS: The combined effect of LGB status and high levels of at-school victimization was associated with the highest levels of health risk behaviors. LGB youths reporting high levels of at-school victimization reported higher levels of substance use, suicidality, and sexual risk behaviors than heterosexual peers reporting high levels of at-school victimization. Also, LGB youths reporting low levels of at-school victimization reported levels of substance use, suicidality, and sexual-risk behaviors that were similar to heterosexual peers who reported low at-school victimization. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide evidence that differences in health risks among LGB youth are mediated by victimization at school. Such victimization of LGB youth is associated with health risk behaviors.