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1.
J Abnorm Child Psychol ; 48(11): 1411-1424, 2020 11.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32789795

ABSTRACT

Addressing aggression in youth requires understanding of the range of social problem situations that may lead to biased social information processing (SIP). The present study investigated situation-specificity of SIP and analyzed whether SIP deficits and biases are found in ambiguous as well as clearly accidental situations in adolescents with clinical levels of externalizing behavior or with low intellectual level, congruent with mild intellectual disability. Adolescents (N = 220, Mage = 15.21) completed a SIP test on a mobile app with six videos with ambiguous, hostile, and accidental social problems. Caretakers, teachers, and adolescents themselves reported on youth externalizing behavior problems. In accidental situations specifically, adolescents with low IQ scores more often attributed purposeful intent to perpetrators than peers with borderline or average IQ scores. In accidental situations, adolescents with clinical levels of externalizing behavior generated and selected more aggressive responses than nonclinical adolescents, regardless of their cognitive level. In line with previous literature, the ambiguous situations also brought out SIP differences between IQ groups. These results suggest that not only ambiguous situations should be considered informative for understanding SIP biases, but situations in which adolescents are clearly accidentally disadvantaged bring out SIP biases as well, that may lead to conflicts with others.


Subject(s)
Adolescent Behavior/psychology , Aggression/psychology , Intellectual Disability/psychology , Adolescent , Bias , Cognition , Female , Hostility , Humans , Male , Peer Group , Social Behavior , Social Perception
2.
Child Neuropsychol ; 23(2): 228-241, 2017 02.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26563817

ABSTRACT

One tradition in research for explaining aggression and antisocial behavior has focused on social information processing (SIP). Aggression and antisocial behavior have also been studied from the perspective of executive functions (EFs), the higher-order cognitive abilities that affect other cognitive processes, such as social cognitive processes. The main goal of the present study is to provide insight into the relation between EFs and SIP in adolescents with severe behavior problems. Because of the hierarchical relation between EFs and SIP, we examined EFs as predictors of SIP. We hypothesized that, first, focused attention predicts encoding and interpretation, second, inhibition predicts interpretation, response generation, evaluation, and selection, and third, working memory predicts response generation and selection. The participants consisted of 94 respondents living in residential facilities aged 12-20 years, all showing behavior problems in the clinical range according to care staff. EFs were assessed using subtests from the Amsterdam Neuropsychological Test battery. Focused attention was measured by the Flanker task, inhibition by the GoNoGo task, and working memory by the Visual Spatial Sequencing task. SIP was measured by video vignettes and a structured interview. The results indicate that positive evaluation of aggressive responses is predicted by impaired inhibition and selection of aggressive responses by a combination of impaired focused attention and inhibition. It is concluded that different components of EFs as higher-order cognitive abilities affect SIP.


Subject(s)
Aggression/psychology , Antisocial Personality Disorder/diagnosis , Executive Function/physiology , Social Behavior , Adolescent , Adult , Attention , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Neuropsychological Tests , Young Adult
3.
Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry ; 24(1): 105-13, 2015 Jan.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-24643447

ABSTRACT

Empathy has been associated with decreased antisocial and increased prosocial behavior. This study examined empathy and prosocial behavior in response to sadness and distress in disruptive behavior disorder (DBD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Six- and 7-year-old children with DBD (with and without ADHD) (n = 67) and with ADHD only (n = 27) were compared to typically developing children (TD) (n = 37). Parents and teachers rated affective empathy in response to sadness and distress on the Griffith Empathy Measure. Children reported affective empathic ability in response to sad story vignettes. Empathy-induced prosocial behavior in response to sadness and distress was assessed with a computer task, the Interpersonal Response Task (IRT). Compared to TD, children with DBD (with and without ADHD) and those with ADHD only were rated as less empathic by their teachers, but not by their parents. No differences between groups were observed in children who reported affect correspondence. Children with DBD (with and without ADHD) showed less prosocial behavior in response to sadness and distress compared to TD. Children with ADHD only did not differ from TD. An additional analysis comparing all children with a diagnosis to the TD group revealed that the difference in prosocial behavior remained after controlling for ADHD symptoms, but not after controlling for DBD symptoms. These findings of impaired empathy-induced prosocial behavior in response to sadness and distress in young children with DBD suggest that interventions to ameliorate peer relationships may benefit from targeting on increasing prosocial behavior in these children.


Subject(s)
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/psychology , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/psychology , Emotions , Empathy , Social Behavior , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/diagnosis , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/diagnosis , Case-Control Studies , Child , Female , Humans , Male
4.
J Autism Dev Disord ; 45(2): 354-62, 2015 Feb.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-23888357

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to examine facial mimicry in 6-7 year old children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and to explore whether facial mimicry was related to the severity of impairment in social responsiveness. Facial electromyographic activity in response to angry, fearful, sad and happy facial expressions was recorded in twenty 6-7 year old children with ASD and twenty-seven typically developing children. Even though results did not show differences in facial mimicry between children with ASD and typically developing children, impairment in social responsiveness was significantly associated with reduced fear mimicry in children with ASD. These findings demonstrate normal mimicry in children with ASD as compared to healthy controls, but that in children with ASD the degree of impairments in social responsiveness may be associated with reduced sensitivity to distress signals.


Subject(s)
Child Development Disorders, Pervasive/physiopathology , Child Development Disorders, Pervasive/psychology , Emotions/physiology , Face/physiology , Facial Expression , Imitative Behavior/physiology , Case-Control Studies , Child , Electromyography , Female , Humans , Male , Social Skills
5.
J Interpers Violence ; 28(8): 1579-95, 2013 May.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-23266998

ABSTRACT

The present study examined the construct, concurrent and divergent validity, and reliability of the "Taxonomy of Problematic Social Situations-Adolescent self-report version" (TOPS-A) in a sample of 128 adolescents placed in Dutch secure juvenile facilities. The instrument measures inappropriate responses of adolescents to problematic social situations at the living group. Confirmatory factor analysis of a four-factor model (inappropriate responses to situations of disadvantage, competition, accepting/giving help, and accepting authority) with a second-order factor (inappropriate responses to problematic social situations) showed an exact fit to the data, indicating construct validity of the TOPS-A. Evidence for concurrent validity was found in associations with aggression and living group climate. Divergent validity could not be reliably assessed. Cronbach's α reliability coefficients were satisfactory. The TOPS-A is a parsimonious instrument that can be used to assess and target inappropriate responses to problematic social situations in (delinquent) adolescents in secure institutional and correctional youth care.


Subject(s)
Adolescent Behavior/psychology , Juvenile Delinquency/psychology , Self Report , Surveys and Questionnaires/standards , Adolescent , Aggression/psychology , Female , Humans , Male , Netherlands , Psychometrics/statistics & numerical data , Reproducibility of Results , Risk Factors , Social Behavior
6.
Int J Psychophysiol ; 85(2): 195-9, 2012 Aug.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-22634269

ABSTRACT

Preliminary studies have demonstrated that school-aged children (average age 9-10years) show mimicry responses to happy and angry facial expressions. The aim of the present study was to assess the feasibility of using facial electromyography (EMG) as a method to study facial mimicry responses in younger children aged 6-7years to emotional facial expressions of other children. Facial EMG activity to the presentation of dynamic emotional faces was recorded from the corrugator, zygomaticus, frontalis and depressor muscle in sixty-one healthy participants aged 6-7years. Results showed that the presentation of angry faces was associated with corrugator activation and zygomaticus relaxation, happy faces with an increase in zygomaticus and a decrease in corrugator activation, fearful faces with frontalis activation, and sad faces with a combination of corrugator and frontalis activation. This study demonstrates the feasibility of measuring facial EMG response to emotional facial expressions in 6-7year old children.


Subject(s)
Aging , Electromyography , Emotions/physiology , Facial Expression , Facial Muscles/physiology , Analysis of Variance , Child , Feasibility Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Photic Stimulation , Predictive Value of Tests
7.
Biol Psychol ; 82(2): 164-8, 2009 Oct.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-19596046

ABSTRACT

Autonomic underarousal, indicated by low heart rate (HR) and skin conductance level (SCL), is related to childhood aggression. However, results are inconsistent in preschoolers. We assessed HR, SCL, heart rate reactivity and skin conductance reactivity in four-year-old children. Comparisons were made between children with a high level and with a low level of aggressive behavior according to the Child Behavior Checklist 1 1/2-5 as well as between children who were diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder or Conduct Disorder (ODD/CD) and children with a low level of aggression. Preschool children with a high level of aggressive behavior showed lower SCL and SCR and children with ODD/CD showed lower SCL. In contrast, we did not find lower HR and HRR in preschool children with a high level of aggressive behavior or ODD/CD. Thus, results suggest that decreased SCL, but not HR, is a characteristic of preschool children with aggressive behavior or ODD/CD.


Subject(s)
Aggression/physiology , Galvanic Skin Response/physiology , Heart Rate/physiology , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/diagnosis , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/physiopathology , Child, Preschool , Conduct Disorder/diagnosis , Conduct Disorder/physiopathology , Electrocardiography/methods , Female , Humans , Male , Psychophysics/methods
8.
J Intellect Disabil Res ; 53(3): 233-42, 2009 Mar.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-18691355

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: A growing interest exists in mechanisms involved in behaviour problems in children with mild intellectual disabilities and borderline intelligence (MID/BI). Social problem solving difficulties have been found to be an explanatory mechanism for aggressive behaviour in these children. However, recently a discrepancy was found between automatic and reflective responding in social situations. We hypothesise that low impulse control and aggressive social problem solving strategies together may explain mechanisms involved in aggressive behaviour by children with MID/BI. METHOD: In a clinical sample of 130 children with MID/BI receiving intramural treatment, main, moderating and mediating effects of impulse control and aggressive response generation on aggressive behaviour were examined by conducting hierarchical linear multiple regression analyses. RESULTS: Independent main effects of both impulse control and aggressive response generation on aggressive behaviour were found. Results indicated that low impulse control and aggressive response generation each explain unique variance in aggressive behaviour. CONCLUSIONS: As this study is the first that has shown both impulse control and aggressive response generation to be important predictors for aggressive behaviour in children with MID/BI, future research should further examine the nature of relations between low impulse control and social problem solving.


Subject(s)
Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders/epidemiology , Intellectual Disability/epidemiology , Intelligence , Learning Disabilities/epidemiology , Adolescent , Child , Comorbidity , Cross-Sectional Studies , Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders/diagnosis , Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders/therapy , Education of Intellectually Disabled , Female , Hospitalization , Humans , Incidence , Intellectual Disability/diagnosis , Intellectual Disability/therapy , Learning Disabilities/diagnosis , Learning Disabilities/psychology , Male , Netherlands , Problem Solving , Social Behavior Disorders/diagnosis , Social Behavior Disorders/epidemiology , Social Behavior Disorders/therapy , Social Environment
9.
J Neural Transm (Vienna) ; 115(1): 139-47, 2008.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-17849077

ABSTRACT

Various researchers distinguished two categories of aggressive behaviour, namely reactive and proactive aggression. Reactive aggression is an aggressive response to a perceived threat or provocation, whereas proactive aggression is behaviour that anticipates a reward. In the present study, including both a sample of disruptive behaviour disordered (DBD) and normal control (NC) children, we observed reactive and proactive aggressive behaviour during an experimental dyadic play session. DBD children showed more observed reactive and proactive aggression. Subsequently, we investigated whether the observed measures correlated with parent-rated measures of reactive and proactive aggression in. We distinguished in both NC and DBD children a subgroup showing a rise in cortisol level, i.e. responders, and a subgroup who did not show a rise in cortisol, i.e. non-responders. Results suggest that differences in the cortisol response affects the correspondence between observed and parent-rated reactive and proactive aggression since only DBD non-responders showed the expected correlations.


Subject(s)
Aggression/physiology , Child Behavior Disorders/blood , Hydrocortisone/blood , Child , Humans , Male
10.
J Intellect Disabil Res ; 50(Pt 11): 801-12, 2006 Nov.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-16999780

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to examine whether the social information-processing model (SIP model) applies to aggressive behaviour by children with mild intellectual disabilities (MID). The response-decision element of SIP was expected to be unnecessary to explain aggressive behaviour in these children, and SIP was expected to mediate the relation between social schemata and aggressive behaviour. METHOD: SIP and aggressive behaviour of 130 10- to 14-year-old children with MID in residential care were assessed. The fit of various SIP models was tested with structural equation modelling. RESULTS: The response-decision process was found not to be necessary to explain aggressive behaviour. Social schemata were indirectly related to aggressive behaviour with aggressive response generation as mediating variable. CONCLUSIONS: Implications for SIP theory and intervention are discussed.


Subject(s)
Aggression/psychology , Child Behavior Disorders/psychology , Intellectual Disability/psychology , Mental Processes/physiology , Models, Psychological , Residential Facilities , Social Behavior , Adolescent , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Netherlands , Severity of Illness Index
11.
Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry ; 15(2): 79-87, 2006 Mar.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-16463012

ABSTRACT

Although several studies have been conducted on the longitudinal course of childhood disruptive behaviours in community samples and in general psychiatric samples, little is known about adolescent adjustment in psychiatrically treated disruptive behaviour disorder (DBD) children. We examined a sample of adolescents (n = 47) who had been treated as children in an in-patient and/or day-treatment setting because of their severely disruptive behaviour. At follow-up, we found that half of the adolescents had a DBD diagnosis, and on average higher numbers of participants ever used soft drugs, had ever been in court, were not attending school when this was mandatory, and were smoking on a daily basis, as compared to comparison groups. There was, however, a large variance among the adolescents of our sample. When outcome was defined in terms of DBD diagnosis, living status, delinquency, school attendance, and smoking behaviour, 38 % had a positive outcome and 34 % had a poor outcome. For clinical purposes, it is important to recognise that there are large individual differences in outcome.


Subject(s)
Ambulatory Care , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/therapy , Hospitalization , Adolescent , Antisocial Personality Disorder/epidemiology , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/epidemiology , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/rehabilitation , Depression/diagnosis , Depression/epidemiology , Exploratory Behavior , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Interview, Psychological , Juvenile Delinquency/statistics & numerical data , Male , Prevalence , Retrospective Studies , Social Adjustment , Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology , Surveys and Questionnaires , Treatment Outcome
12.
J Intellect Disabil Res ; 49(Pt 6): 419-33, 2005 Jun.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-15882392

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Most research on children's social problem-solving skills is based on responses to hypothetical vignettes. Just how these responses relate to actual behaviour in real-life social situations is, however, unclear, particularly for children with mild intellectual disabilities (MID). METHOD: In the present study, the spontaneous and selected responses of 56 children with MID to hypothetical situations from the Social Problem-Solving Test for children with MID (SPT-MID) were compared to their actual behaviour in comparable staged standardized real-life conflict situations. Correlations to externalizing behaviour problems were assessed using the Teacher's Report Form (TRF). RESULTS: The results show children with MID and accompanying externalizing behaviour problems to behave more aggressively in the staged real-life conflicts and provide more spontaneous aggressive responses to the hypothetical vignettes than children with MID and no accompanying externalizing behaviour problems; they did not, however, select more aggressive responses from the hypothetical options provided. A moderate correlation was found between the aggressiveness of the spontaneous responses in the hypothetical situations and actual behaviour in the staged real-life situations. In addition, both the spontaneous aggressive responses under hypothetical circumstances and the actual aggressive behaviour under staged real-life circumstances were related to teacher-rated aggressive behaviour in the classroom. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that the hypothetical vignettes from the SPT-MID do provide information on both the actual behaviour and knowledge of social problem-solving skills of children with MID.


Subject(s)
Child Behavior Disorders/psychology , Intellectual Disability/psychology , Social Environment , Aggression/psychology , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Netherlands , Problem Solving
13.
Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry ; 11(2): 79-84, 2002 Apr.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-12033748

ABSTRACT

The present article discusses reviews, meta-analytical and other relevant outcome studies of treating school-aged conduct-disordered children. Meta-analytical studies of Parent Management Training and Cognitive-behavioural Therapy for the child have demonstrated that these interventions affect conduct disorder in children positively. However, most studies involved in these meta-analyses are conducted in research conditions and are not representative of the treatment effectiveness in everyday clinical practice. We believe there is a gap between the so-called efficacy studies in research conditions and the effectiveness studies in clinical practice and we discuss how clinical and research practice could be brought together.


Subject(s)
Antisocial Personality Disorder/therapy , Conduct Disorder/therapy , Research Design/standards , Adolescent , Antisocial Personality Disorder/diagnosis , Antisocial Personality Disorder/psychology , Child , Cognitive Behavioral Therapy/methods , Conduct Disorder/diagnosis , Conduct Disorder/psychology , Humans , Meta-Analysis as Topic , Parent-Child Relations , Parents/education , Problem Solving , Treatment Outcome
14.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry ; 42(3): 413-20, 2001 Mar.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-11321210

ABSTRACT

In both theory and research the general issue of the extent to which children's problem behaviour is generalised across situations, and to what extent it is situation specific, has been neglected. In the clinical assessment of disordered children, too, little attention has been paid to the specific situations in which these children display their inappropriate behaviour. In this study the Taxonomy of Problematic Social Situations (TOPS) (Dodge, McClaskey, & Feldman, 1985) was employed. This is a questionnaire in which the child's teacher is asked to rate the likelihood of a child responding in an inappropriate manner in a specific situation. Characteristics of TOPS were investigated both in randomly selected normal school children and in boys with a conduct disorder. Four factors appeared to underlie the TOPS scores from 652 randomly selected boys and girls from grades 1 to 6, these being: teachers' scores for the types of problem situation Being Disadvantaged, Coping with Competition, Social Expectations of Peers, and Teacher Expectations. Because of the high internal consistency of the four factors, TOPS was abbreviated to a TOPS-Short Form (18 instead of 44 items). The four-factor model was cross-validated by means of a second sample of 326 boys and girls. A model with only one general problem behaviour factor did not fit the data of both samples. When the four specific factors were added a satisfactory fit resulted. Moreover, it was found that in the first sample 52% of the variance was explained by the general factor, whereas 18% of the variance was explained by the four specific factors together. Thus, the extent to which problem behaviour is situation specific should not be disregarded. In all four types of problem situation, boys showed more inappropriate behaviour than girls. With increasing age, children were rated as being more competent in dealing with the problem situation Being Disadvantaged. Teachers rated the four types of problem situation as more problematic for boys with a conduct disorder (N = 42) than for normal control boys (N = 67). Conduct disordered boys also differed individually in the number of situational types that were problematic for them. With respect to clinical implications, the identification of the particular social context in which a conduct disordered child displays his or her inappropriate behaviour may help refine treatment goals: more adequate social functioning should be aimed at specifically in those situations that are problematic.


Subject(s)
Child Behavior Disorders/diagnosis , Life Change Events , Peer Group , Aggression/psychology , Behavior Therapy , Child , Child Behavior Disorders/therapy , Factor Analysis, Statistical , Female , Humans , Male , Pilot Projects , Sensitivity and Specificity , Social Behavior Disorders/diagnosis , Social Behavior Disorders/epidemiology
15.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry ; 39(11): 1438-45, 2000 Nov.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-11068900

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether a pattern of lower autonomic nervous system (ANS) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity is found in children with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) under nonstressful and stressful conditions, and whether such a pattern would correspond with their feelings of control and negative emotionality. METHOD: The effects of stress were studied by comparing cortisol response, heart rate (HR), skin conductance level (SCL), and subjective feelings of 26 children with DBD and 26 matched normal controls. An additional 12 normal control children were studied in a nonstress control condition. RESULTS: Baseline HR and SCL but not cortisol were lower in the DBD group. Stress significantly affected cortisol, HR, SCL, and negative moods, although children with DBD showed a weaker HPA stress response and the difference between the groups was greater under stress. CONCLUSIONS: Children with DBD are characterized by lower ANS activity and HPA axis responsivity, but higher levels of emotional arousal. It is possible that in children with DBD the HPA axis and ANS, on the one hand, and their emotional arousal, on the other, are less well coordinated. It is speculated that this could be due to differences in genetic makeup or to stressful conditions during pre- or postnatal life.


Subject(s)
Arousal/genetics , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/physiopathology , Autonomic Nervous System/physiopathology , Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System/physiopathology , Pituitary-Adrenal System/physiopathology , Stress, Psychological/physiopathology , Affect , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/psychology , Case-Control Studies , Child , Female , Galvanic Skin Response , Genetic Predisposition to Disease , Heart Rate , Humans , Hydrocortisone/metabolism , Male , Pregnancy , Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Saliva/metabolism , Stress, Psychological/genetics
16.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry ; 39(11): 1446-51, 2000 Nov.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-11068901

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between adrenal androgens and aggression in children with oppositional and antisocial behavior and to compare their levels with those of psychiatric and normal controls. METHOD: Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) was measured in 24 children with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), 42 psychiatric controls (including 20 children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]), and 30 normal controls. The children's parents filled out the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). RESULTS: Children with ODD had higher DHEAS levels than either the psychiatric control or normal control groups; DHEAS levels of the latter groups did not differ. Moreover, it was possible to classify children as having either ODD or ADHD on the basis of their DHEAS levels, whereas this was not the case on the basis of the CBCL data. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that adrenal androgen functioning is specifically elevated in children with ODD. It is speculated that the mechanism could be a shift in balance of ACTH-beta-endorphin functioning in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis due to early stress or genetic factors.


Subject(s)
Adrenal Glands/metabolism , Aggression , Androgens/metabolism , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/blood , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/psychology , Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate/blood , Analysis of Variance , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/physiopathology , Case-Control Studies , Child , Conduct Disorder/complications , Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate/metabolism , Female , Humans , Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System , Male , Mental Disorders/blood , Mental Disorders/physiopathology , Mental Disorders/psychology , Pituitary-Adrenal System , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
17.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry ; 38(3): 311-21, 1999 Mar.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-10087693

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To study social problem-solving skills in psychiatrically defined aggressive boys, starting from Dodge's social information-processing model. METHOD: Videotaped stimuli of problematic social situations and questions were presented to elicit responses that indicate boys' social problem-solving skills (encoding and interpretation of social cues, generation of possible responses, evaluation of responses, self-efficacy evaluation, and response selection). Boys aged 7 to 12 years with oppositional defiant or conduct disorder (ODD/CD) (n = 48), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (n = 27), and both disorders (ODD/CD + ADHD) (n = 29) were involved as well as a normal control group (n = 37) and a psychiatric control group with internalizing disorders (n = 23). RESULTS: When compared with normal controls, boys with ADHD, with ODD/CD, and with ODD/CD + ADHD encoded fewer social cues and generated fewer responses. Boys with ODD/CD and with ODD/CD + ADHD moreover were more confident in their ability to enact an aggressive response than normal controls. When ODD/CD boys and ODD/CD + ADHD boys were given the opportunity to select a response from various types of responses shown, they selected an aggressive response more often than normal controls. Thus, in ADHD boys social problem-solving was affected only in encoding and in the generation of responses, whereas in ODD/CD and ODD/CD + ADHD boys social problem-solving was affected throughout the process. CONCLUSION: For the further study of social problem-solving in aggressive children, it is essential to differentiate between children with ADHD and children with ODD/CD and ODD/CD + ADHD.


Subject(s)
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/diagnosis , Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/diagnosis , Problem Solving , Social Behavior Disorders/diagnosis , Aggression/psychology , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/psychology , Child , Comorbidity , Humans , Internal-External Control , Male , Mental Processes , Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/psychology , Personality Assessment , Social Behavior Disorders/psychology
18.
Eur Neuropsychopharmacol ; 9(1-2): 67-75, 1999 Jan.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-10082230

ABSTRACT

The aim of this explorative study was to investigate whether physical and psychological challenges are effective in inducing a cortisol response in psychiatric and control children, and if so whether the cortisol response can discriminate between diagnostic groups and is related to psychiatric symptoms. Fifty-two patients, including children with dysthymia, oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder, pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified (PDDNOS) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, were compared to 15 healthy control children. Symptomatology was scored using the Child Behaviour Checklist. The response to both psychological and physical challenges was assessed by measuring salivary cortisol and heart rate. Physical challenge, but not psychological challenge, resulted in an overall increase in heart rate and saliva cortisol. Dysthymic and PDDNOS patients showed a diminished cortisol response, in spite of a significant increase in heart rate. These groups scored highest on the symptom factor withdrawal. Withdrawal was negatively correlated with the cortisol response. Thus, physical exercise is effective in inducing a salivary cortisol response in children. Dysthymic and PDDNOS patients have a disturbed pituitary-adrenal function in relation to physical stress, that may be associated with withdrawal.


Subject(s)
Adrenal Glands/physiopathology , Hydrocortisone/metabolism , Mental Disorders/physiopathology , Pituitary Gland/physiopathology , Saliva/metabolism , Stress, Psychological/physiopathology , Adolescent , Algorithms , Area Under Curve , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/metabolism , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/physiopathology , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/metabolism , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/physiopathology , Child , Child, Preschool , Conduct Disorder/metabolism , Conduct Disorder/physiopathology , Dysthymic Disorder/metabolism , Dysthymic Disorder/physiopathology , Female , Humans , Male , Psychomotor Performance/physiology , Stress, Psychological/metabolism
19.
Eur Neuropsychopharmacol ; 9(1-2): 141-7, 1999 Jan.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-10082240

ABSTRACT

In two studies the relationship between plasma monoamine metabolites and different parameters of aggression were examined in children suffering from severe aggression and antisocial behavior. No prior studies have related measures of serotonergic function to experimentally elicited aggression and only a few included healthy comparison groups. Plasma 5-HIAA, HVA and MHPG were measured in 15 boys with a oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and 25 normal controls (NC) (study 1), and 22 ODD and 25 NC children (study 2). On a separate occasion each subject had the opportunity to behave aggressively towards an opponent. 5-HIAA and HVA were significantly lower in the ODD than NC group and both parameters were significantly inversely correlated with aggression and delinquency. These findings were replicated in the second study: The results of the study support a role for serotonergic functioning in persistent antisocial and aggressive behavior in young children.


Subject(s)
Aggression/physiology , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/blood , Biogenic Monoamines/blood , Child , Homovanillic Acid/blood , Humans , Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid/blood , Intelligence Tests , Male , Methoxyhydroxyphenylglycol/blood
20.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry ; 39(5): 643-51, 1998 Jul.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-9690928

ABSTRACT

On the basis of Gray's theory, Quay suggested that conduct disorder (CD) is associated with a Behavioural Activation System (BAS) that dominates over the Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS), whereas attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterised by an underactive BIS. Two studies were conducted to test the hypothesis that the dominance of the BAS over the BIS is more pronounced in CD comorbid with ADHD (CD/ADHD) than in CD alone. First of all, a response perseveration task was used, i.e. the door-opening task (Daugherty & Quay, 1991). In this game, the subject chooses either to open the next door or to stop playing; there is a steadily increasing ratio of punished responses to rewarded responses and a large number of doors opened is indicative of response perseveration. As expected, a steady increase in the number of doors opened was found across normal control (NC) boys, CD boys, and CD/ADHD boys (NC < CD < CD/ADHD). Second, the dominance of the BAS over the BIS was examined by observing the social behaviour of the child in interaction with a research assistant who alternately activated the BAS and the BIS while a game was played. The behaviour of the children was analysed according to ethological methods. Group differences in the frequencies of three out of five behavioural categories were in line with the results of the door-opening task (NC < CD < CD/ADHD).


Subject(s)
Arousal , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/diagnosis , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/diagnosis , Inhibition, Psychological , Antisocial Personality Disorder/diagnosis , Antisocial Personality Disorder/psychology , Attention , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/psychology , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/psychology , Child , Comorbidity , Humans , Impulsive Behavior/diagnosis , Impulsive Behavior/psychology , Internal-External Control , Male , Motor Activity , Personality Assessment/statistics & numerical data , Psychometrics , Social Behavior
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