Working memory and organizational skills problems in ADHD.

BACKGROUND: This study tested model-driven predictions regarding working memory's role in the organizational problems associated with ADHD. METHOD: Children aged 8-13 (M = 10.33, SD = 1.42) with and without ADHD (N = 103; 39 girls; 73% Caucasian/Non-Hispanic) were assessed on multiple, counterbalanced working memory tasks. Parents and teachers completed norm-referenced measures of organizational problems (Children's Organizational Skills Scale; COSS). RESULTS: Results confirmed large magnitude working memory deficits (d = 1.24) and organizational problems in ADHD (d = 0.85). Bias-corrected, bootstrapped conditional effects models linked impaired working memory with greater parent- and teacher-reported inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and organizational problems. Working memory predicted organization problems across all parent and teacher COSS subscales (R2  = .19-.23). Approximately 38%-57% of working memory's effect on organization problems was conveyed by working memory's association with inattentive behavior. Unique effects of working memory remained significant for both parent- and teacher-reported task planning, as well as for teacher-reported memory/materials management and overall organization problems. Attention problems uniquely predicted worse organizational skills. Hyperactivity was unrelated to parent-reported organizational skills, but predicted better teacher-reported task planning. CONCLUSIONS: Children with ADHD exhibit multisetting, broad-based organizational impairment. These impaired organizational skills are attributable in part to performance deficits secondary to working memory dysfunction, both directly and indirectly via working memory's role in regulating attention. Impaired working memory in ADHD renders it extraordinarily difficult for these children to consistently anticipate, plan, enact, and maintain goal-directed actions.

Nightmares and nonsuicidal self-injury: The mediating role of emotional dysregulation.

INTRODUCTION: Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a transdiagnostic behavior associated with significant psychopathology. Research has shown a positive association between sleep disturbances, (e.g., nightmares and insomnia), and suicidal behavior, however, the relation between NSSI and sleep disturbances has yet to be examined. Sleep disturbances have been found to have a causal role in problems with emotional dysfunction. Specifically, sleep disturbances inhibit the emotion processing function of sleep. Importantly, a majority of individuals engage in NSSI to regulate intense emotions, and it is possible that sleep disturbances increase propensity for NSSI by contributing to dysregulated emotions. METHODS: In two cross-sectional studies, the present research examined whether insomnia symptoms and nightmares were related to NSSI in a clinical sample (Study 1, N = 313) and in a university sample (Study 2, N = 152). Furthermore, the hypothesis that emotional dysregulation would atemporally mediate the relationship between sleep disturbances and NSSI was tested in Study 2. RESULTS: Findings showed that nightmares, but not insomnia symptoms, were associated with NSSI while controlling for depressive symptoms. This pattern of findings was consistent across both clinical and university samples, which underscores the robustness of the finding. Further, the relationship between nightmares and NSSI was fully mediated by emotional dysregulation. CONCLUSION: The present research provides initial evidence that nightmares are atemporally associated with an increased propensity for NSSI by contributing to emotional dysregulation, and provides support for the emotion regulation function of dreams.

Factor structure and aetiological architecture of the BRIEF: A twin study.

Executive function is a broad construct that encompasses various processes involved in goal-directed behaviour in non-routine situations (Banich, 2009). The present study uses a sample of 560 5- to 16-year-old twin pairs (M = 11.14, SD = 2.53): 219 monozygotic twin pairs (114 female; 105 male) and 341 dizygotic twin pairs (136 female, 107 male; 98 opposite sex) to extend prior literature by providing information about the factor structure and the genetic and environmental architecture of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF; Gioia et al., 2000, Child Neuropsychol., 6, 235; Gioia et al., 2000, Behavior rating inventory of executive function, Lutz, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources), a multifaceted rating scale of everyday executive functions. Phenotypic results revealed a 9-scale, 3-factor model best represents the BRIEF structure within the current sample. Results of the genetically sensitive analyses indicated the presence of rater bias/contrast effects for the Initiate, Working Memory, and Task-Monitor scales. Additive genetic and non-shared environmental influences were present for the Initiate, Plan/Organize, Organization of Materials, Shift, and Monitor and Self-Monitor scales. Influences on Emotional Control were solely environmental. Interestingly, the aetiological architecture observed was similar to that of performance-based measures of executive function. This observed similarity provided additional evidence for the usefulness of the BRIEF as a measure of 'everyday' executive function.

The temporal "pulse" of drinking: Tracking 5 years of binge drinking in emerging adults.

Binge drinking is associated with clinically significant individual-level and public health consequences. The topography of binge drinking may influence the emergence of consequences, but studies of topography require a higher level of temporal resolution than is typically available in epidemiological research. To address topography across the 5 "peak" years of binge drinking (18 to 23 years), we assessed daily binge drinking via successive 90-day timeline follow-back interviews of 645 young adults (resulting in almost 700,000 data points). Results showed a weekend "pulse" of binge drinking that remained consistent across the entire 5 year span, with occasional holiday-based perturbations. Two-part latent growth curve modeling applied to this dataset showed that the often-observed decrease in drinking associated with "maturing out" was due more to decreased participation in binge drinking occasions, rather than to amounts consumed when drinking (intensity). Similarly, the number of binge drinkers varied by day of the week, but the intensity of binge drinking, for those drinking, varied little by day of the week. This approach also showed distinctive predictors for participation and intensity; baseline expectancies and sociability accounted for individual differences in participation, whereas impulsivity-sensation seeking predicted intensity. Individual patterns of binge drinking participation and intensity also predicted drinking consequences over the 5 years of the study. Given these results, binge drinking patterns may serve as a useful phenotype for future research on pathological drinking.

The effects of Present Hedonistic Time Perspective and Past Negative Time Perspective on substance use consequences.

BACKGROUND: The overuse of substances can lead to economic, physical, and social consequences. Previous research has demonstrated associations between time perspective and frequency of substance use, but no studies have investigated time perspective's effect on substance use consequences. This study aimed to fill this gap in the literature. METHODS: Using an MTurk sample (N=531), latent factor models tested the hypothesis that both Present Hedonistic Time Perspective (PrHTP) and Past Negative Time Perspective PaNTP positively predict alcohol and illicit drug use consequences. Bootstrap analyses were then used to test the hypothesis that PrHTP indirectly affected the relationship between PaNTP and alcohol and illicit drug use consequences. RESULTS: PrHTP significantly predicted alcohol and illicit drug use consequences. PaNTP also significantly predicted alcohol and illicit drug use consequences. PrHTP was found to indirectly affect the relationship between PaNTP and substance use consequences for both alcohol and illicit drugs. CONCLUSIONS: The findings are consistent with previous research and introduce time perspective as an individual differences risk factor for substance use consequences. The partial and full indirect effects are consistent with the idea that individuals with a PaNTP may develop a PrHTP, placing them at risk for substance use consequences.

Examining the factor structure and etiology of prosociality.

Prosociality is one construct included in the developmental propensity model proposed by Lahey and Waldman (2003, 2005) to explain the development of conduct problems in childhood and adolescence. Findings from previous literature on 2 facets of prosociality, dispositional sympathy and respect for rules, suggest that both may have genetic and nonshared environmental influences, but only the latter may have shared environmental influence. The goal of the current article was to explore the structure of the prosociality disposition from a measurement perspective as well as to examine the etiology of this construct. The sample consisted of 686 twin pairs ages 7 to 13. Parents rated their children's prosociality using the Child and Adolescent Dispositions Scale. The factor structure of the prosociality scale was examined using confirmatory factor analysis to compare a 1-factor model with a 2-factor model. Twin analyses were used to examine the proportion of variance associated with genetic and environmental effects on the latent factor(s) from the best fitting model. Results of the current study suggest that prosociality is a disposition that can be conceptualized as 2 related factors rather than a unitary dimension. These 2 factors map onto the subscales of the prosociality dimension (dispositional sympathy and respect for rules). Both factors had significant genetic and nonshared environmental influences, but only respect for rules had significant shared environmental influences. Examining the dispositional sympathy and respect for rules facets of prosociality separately allowed for the discovery that shared environmental factors may have more impact on respect for rules than sympathy.

The effects of alcohol expectancy priming on group bonding.

According to alcohol expectancy theory, drinking-related information is stored in memory and, when cue activated, influences alcohol-related behavior. Priming of alcohol cues and expectancies has been shown to elicit both drinking and nonconsumptive behavior associated with alcohol consumption, such as willingness to meet with a stranger and aggression. These social influence effects have been shown to be moderated by individual differences in alcohol expectancies. In the present study, we tested whether an alcohol prime would facilitate social group bonding even in the absence of consumption, and whether such group bonding would be moderated by individually held social expectancies. One hundred twenty undergraduates (75% female) completed an alcohol expectancy measure prior to participation. Participants were primed with either alcohol or neutral beverage words and completed a collaborative group activity followed by questionnaires measuring perceived group cohesion. Several interactions were found between condition and expectancy reflecting that those in the alcohol prime condition with higher social alcohol expectancies reported greater cohesion on task-related, but not emotion-related, group measures. These findings underscore the complexity of the impact of expectancy and social behavior on drinking: the priming of alcohol expectancies may activate aspects of pro-social behavior, which may influence drinking, which in turn may feedback to positively reinforce social expectancies.