Peer-Based Intervention for Socioemotional Concerns Among Children with ADHD.

This study examined the potential benefits of peer-based dyadic interventions for improving the socioemotional functioning of children with ADHD. Participants included children ages 8-12 diagnosed with ADHD-combined type (n = 34) pooled from a larger randomized study comparing peer-based dyadic interventions. Self-concept and depressive symptoms were evaluated at pre- and post-treatment using single group design. Results showed significantly positive child responses to intervention for self-concept. Further, improvements in self-concept were not moderated by the type of dyadic intervention received or by treatment related changes in externalizing behaviors. The severity of reported depressive symptoms, however, did not significantly change. This suggests therapeutic interaction with peers, as demonstrated in peer-based dyadic intervention models, can improve self-concept in children with ADHD even when socioemotional concerns are not a primary target of treatment and independent of behavioral outcomes achieved. These preliminary findings support promoting prosocial peer behavior as a critical domain for ADHD intervention for children.

Surviving the storm: Avoidant coping, helping behavior, resilience and affective symptoms around a major hurricane-flood.

BACKGROUND: As extreme weather events increasingly affect the global population, it is valuable to understand their impacts on mental health. Extending upon previous theory and research, the current study examined a hypothesized framework of direct and indirect pathways. Exposure and psychosocial resource factors at the time of the hurricane/flood were expected to help explain post-disaster behavioral responses, such as avoidant coping, positive coping, and helping behaviors, which, in turn, would help account for post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and depressive symptoms (DS). METHODS: Survey data were collected from adult survivors (n = 801) of Hurricane Harvey 1-3 months post-disaster. PTSS, DS, and needing help were common, and loss/disruption and helping behavior were widespread. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the hypothesized framework. RESULTS: Models accounted for substantial variance in PTSS (70%) and DS (61%), with immediate loss/disruption, low self-reported resilience, and avoidant coping showing the strongest associations with symptoms. As predicted, results provided support for several modeled indirect pathways through avoidant coping to PTSS and DS. Further, helping behavior was consistently associated with increased PTSS, but not DS. LIMITATIONS: Cross-sectional design and online data collection methods precluded testing of causal directionality and confirming clinical diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: The current study represents a step toward elucidating potential mediators of avoidant coping and how helping behavior might relate to post-disaster psychopathology. Individuals in heavily hurricane/flood-exposed areas who have low psychosocial resources (social support and resilience) might be most vulnerable and most in need of intervention.

Do Comorbid Oppositional Symptoms Predict ADHD Behavioral Treatment Outcomes?

Parent management training (PMT) is considered a best-practice for treating childhood ADHD. However, the magnitude of change in response to PMT differs across individuals. This study examined comorbid oppositional symptoms as a predictor of ADHD treatment outcomes. We predicted children with more severe baseline oppositionality would exhibit greater improvements in externalizing behaviors overall, including core ADHD symptoms. Participants consisted of 67 children aged 7-10 diagnosed with ADHD-Combined Type. Participants and their families received a manualized ten-session intervention, Family Skills Training for ADHD-Related Symptoms (Family STARS), combining PMT with a simultaneously occurring child skills training intervention. Pre- and post-treatment parent and teacher rating scales were collected to assess changes in ADHD and oppositional symptoms. Results demonstrated that children with more severe ratings of oppositional behaviors achieved commensurate ADHD symptom outcomes compared to those with less severe oppositionality. Implications are discussed with regard to the utilization of ADHD impairment-specific treatment targets.

Bidirectional effects of parenting and youth substance use during the transition to middle and high school.

The current study assessed bidirectional relationships between supportive parenting behaviors (i.e., involvement, positive parenting), parental control strategies (i.e., parental monitoring, effective discipline), and youth substance use in a sample of aggressive youth during the transitions to middle and high school. Participants were drawn from the control group of a larger longitudinal study and were followed from 4th through 9th grade. Cross-lagged developmental models were evaluated using structural equation modeling. Youth substance use at 6th, 7th, and 8th grade influenced positive parenting at 7th, 8th, and 9th grade, but did not influence parental involvement or monitoring at any grade. Parental involvement, monitoring, and positive parenting at earlier grades did not influence youth substance use at later grades. Reciprocal relationships were observed between effective discipline and youth substance use at all grades. Results are consistent with models of bidirectionality that suggest that parents and children adjust their behavior based on the response of the other. Findings may impact our understanding of the development of youth substance use across time and improve interventions designed to reduce this behavior during periods of transition.

The association between problematic parental substance use and adolescent substance use in an ethnically diverse sample of 9th and 10th graders.

Adolescents of parents who use substances are at an increased risk for substance use themselves. Both parental monitoring and closeness have been shown to mediate the relationship between parents' and their adolescents' substance use. However, we know little about whether these relationships vary across different substances used by adolescents. Using structural equation modeling, we examined these associations within a racially and ethnically diverse sample of 9th and 10th graders (N = 927). Path analyses indicated that maternal closeness partially mediated the association between maternal problematic substance use and adolescent alcohol use. Parental monitoring partially mediated the relationship between paternal problematic substance use and adolescent alcohol, cigarette, marijuana, inhalant, and illicit prescription drug use. These results were consistent across gender and race/ethnicity. These findings suggest that parental interventions designed to increase closeness and monitoring may help to reduce adolescent substance use.

The temporal association between substance use and intimate partner violence among women arrested for domestic violence.

OBJECTIVE: There is a paucity of research on the temporal association between substance use and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration and victimization, especially among women arrested for domestic violence. The current study examined whether the probability of IPV perpetration and victimization increases following alcohol or drug use relative to days of no use among women arrested for domestic violence. METHOD: Women arrested for domestic violence and court referred to batterer intervention programs who met criteria for hazardous drinking participated in the current study (N = 105). Women who reported drinking 4 or more drinks on 1 occasion at least once per month for the past 6 months were considered hazardous drinkers. Violence and substance use were assessed with the Timeline Followback Interviews for substance use and IPV. RESULTS: Women were more likely to perpetrate physical violence on a drinking day (OR = 10.58; 95% CI [5.38, 20.79]) and on a heavy drinking day (OR = 12.81; 95% CI [8.10, 33.57]), relative to a nondrinking day. Women were more likely to be victimized by physical violence on a drinking day (OR = 5.22; 95% CI [2.79, 9.77]) and on a heavy drinking day (OR = 6.16; 95% CI [3.25, 11.68]), relative to a nondrinking day. They were more likely to be victims of sexual coercion (OR = 6.06; 95% CI [1.19, 30.80]) on a cocaine use day relative to a nonuse day. CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol use was temporally associated with physical violence perpetration and victimization, and cocaine use was temporally associated with sexual coercion victimization, suggesting that substance use should be targeted in batterer intervention programs for women.

Gender differences in depression and anxiety among victims of intimate partner violence: the moderating effect of shame proneness.

The current study examined the moderating role of shame proneness on the association between physical, psychological, and sexual intimate partner violence victimization and depressive and anxious symptoms among male and female college students (N = 967). Students completed self-report measures of dating violence, depression, anxiety, and shame proneness. Results showed that shame proneness moderated the association between all forms of victimization and mental health symptoms. A three-way interaction revealed that sexual victimization predicted symptoms of anxiety to a greater extent for men than for women at high levels of shame proneness. Furthermore, results showed that gender moderated the association between physical and psychological victimization and health outcomes, such that victimization was related to increased depressive and anxious symptoms for men but not for women. Interpretations of these findings are discussed in relation to violence interventions, including primary prevention, and men's health.

The effects of PTSD symptomatology on laboratory-based aggression.

The present study sought to examine the relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology and aggression using a highly controlled, quasi-experimental laboratory-based aggression paradigm among a sample of 85 undergraduate students not help-seeking for current PTSD phenomena. Congruent with theory and past research, results showed that PTSD symptomatology was positively associated with aggression. In demonstrating this effect using a laboratory-based methodology, the present study provides a heuristic for future researchers to explore potential mediators and moderators of the PTSD-aggression relationship.