ABSTRACT
T. P. Beauchaine recently proposed a model of autonomic nervous system functioning that predicts divergent patterns of psychophysiological responding across disorders of disinhibition. This model was tested by comparing groups of male adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder plus conduct disorder (CD/ADHD) with controls while performing a repetitive motor task in which rewards were administered and removed across trials. Participants then watched a videotaped peer conflict. Electrodermal responding (EDR), cardiac pre-ejection period (PEP), and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were monitored. Compared with controls, the ADHD and CD/ADHD participants exhibited reduced EDR. The CD/ADHD group was differentiated from the ADHD and control groups on PEP and from the control group on RSA. Findings are discussed in terms of the motivational and regulational systems indexed. Implications for understanding rates of comorbidity between CD and ADHD are considered.
Subject(s)
Adolescent Behavior/psychology , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/diagnosis , Conduct Disorder/diagnosis , Inhibition, Psychological , Adolescent , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/epidemiology , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/psychology , Child , Comorbidity , Conduct Disorder/epidemiology , Conduct Disorder/psychology , Diagnosis, Differential , Galvanic Skin Response/physiology , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
Child noncompliance is a core maladjustment factor in current clinical models of aggression and antisocial development. However, little is known about the relations among qualitative aspects of child noncompliance and aggressive maladjustment. The authors developed the Response Style Questionnaire, an instrument designed to measure the multidimensional qualities of child noncompliance, and tested its validity and reliability. Tests of internal validity provided a five-factor solution, featuring distinctions in noncompliance quality between and among skilled noncompliance (verbally skilled and emotionally regulated) and unskilled noncompliance (overt/confrontational, covert/sneaky, and emotionally labile). Theory-driven tests of external validity using peer-adjustment variables as criteria provided discriminant prediction (a) among qualitatively distinct aspects of noncompliance and (b) between noncompliance qualities and rate. Discussion focuses on a modified view of the nature and role of noncompliance in aggressive and antisocial development.
Subject(s)
Aggression/psychology , Antisocial Personality Disorder/diagnosis , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/diagnosis , Cooperative Behavior , Personality Assessment/statistics & numerical data , Antisocial Personality Disorder/psychology , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/psychology , Child, Preschool , Humans , Male , Psychometrics , Reproducibility of ResultsABSTRACT
Ninety-five high-risk adolescents were studied to determine whether their dating aggression and its justification as a response to interpersonal problems were specific to the current partner, general to dating relationships, or part of a global age-mate (same-sex peers and opposite-sex dating partners) aggression problem. Approximately one-third of males and two-thirds of females reported physical aggression against their current dating partner. Males' aggression (and its justification) toward their current dating partner was part of a generalized pattern of dating aggression, whereas for females, physical aggression against a current dating partner (and its justification) was partner-specific and unrelated to aggression in other relationships. Findings are discussed with regard to intervention and future research on adolescent dating aggression.
Subject(s)
Aggression/psychology , Courtship , Gender Identity , Interpersonal Relations , Personality Development , Adolescent , Child Behavior Disorders/diagnosis , Child Behavior Disorders/psychology , Female , Humans , Male , Peer Group , Risk Factors , Student Dropouts/psychologyABSTRACT
This study tested alternative hypotheses concerning relations between mothers' disciplinary dysfunction and their descriptive versus inference-level interpretations of child noncompliance. Mothers of aggressive boys (MAGGs; n = 19) and mothers of average boys (MAVGs; n = 17) were presented with hypothetical vignettes of compliance situations (mean ages: mothers = 26.8 years, children = 4.5 years). Each vignette ended with the child being compliant or with each of a variety of noncompliant behaviors (request, statement, compliant, ignore, or oppose). Dependent variables were mothers' judgments of noncompliance severity (a descriptive measure), and attributions of defiant intent to the child (an inferential measure). Findings across analyses consistently pointed to attributions as more discriminating than judgments in differentiating between maternal groups. It was concluded that models of maternal discipline dysfunction should focus on analysis of inferential rather than descriptive cognitive responses to child noncompliance, and that parenting interventions should incorporate attribution-training into treatment protocols.
Subject(s)
Aggression , Child Rearing/psychology , Coercion , Family Health , Mother-Child Relations , Mothers/psychology , Social Perception , Adult , Analysis of Variance , Child, Preschool , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Mothers/classification , Motivation , Projective Techniques , Regression AnalysisABSTRACT
This investigation examined differences between mothers of behavior-problem boys (MBP; n = 20) and mothers of average boys (MAB; n = 20) in processing information in compliance situations (mean ages; mothers = 30 years, children = 8 years). Mothers responded to videorecorded stimuli of child behavior cues. Compliant and oppositional stimuli were clear regarding whether the child was going to obey the mother; however, bargaining and complaining were ambiguous. MBPs made greater attributions of defiant intent toward the child and experienced more anger than did MABs in ambiguous stimulus situations. MBPs also expected more resistance from the child and experienced more anxiety than did MABs, in all stimulus situations (ambiguous and clear). Differences between group mean processing scores were greater under conditions of stimulus ambiguity than under conditions of stimulus clarity. Findings are discussed in terms of the interface of mother-child relationship history and the child's current behavioral cues.
