Modification of hostile attribution bias reduces self-reported reactive aggressive behavior in adolescents.

Aggressive individuals more readily interpret others' motives and intentions in ambiguous situations as hostile. This hostile attribution bias has been argued to be causally involved in the development and maintenance of aggression, making it a target for interventions. In our current study, adolescents selected for high levels of aggression (N = 39) were assigned to either a test-retest control group or a five-session hostile attribution bias modification training, in which they were trained to make more benign interpretations of ambiguously provocative social situations. Before and after the training, we assessed hostile attribution bias and both reactive and proactive self-reported aggression in both groups. The training not only tended to produce the expected reduction in hostile attribution bias but also crucially led to decreased levels of reactive but not proactive aggression compared with the control group. Our results thus support the idea that hostile attribution bias can be targeted using training techniques and that such training-induced changes in bias may reduce aggression. However, future studies using an active control group and multiple outcome measures are needed to address the long-term effects of training.

Differences between self- and peer-rated likability in relation to social anxiety and depression in adolescents with mild intellectual disabilities.

BACKGROUND: Social anxiety and depressive symptoms are relatively common in adolescents with Mild to Borderline Intellectual Disabilities (MBID). Unfortunately, there are only a few studies that focus on examining processes underlying social anxiety and depression in these adolescents. AIMS: The aim was to examine the differences between self- and peer-rated likability in relation to social anxiety and depression in the classroom environment. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: 631 normative non-clinical adolescents with MBID completed questionnaires to measure social anxiety, depression, and the estimation of their own likability by peers. Peer-reported likability was derived from peer-rating scales on likability. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Adolescents with higher levels of social anxiety significantly rated their own likability as lower than their non-anxious peers. However, socially adolescents were equally liked by their peers. Adolescents with higher levels of depression were significantly less liked by their peers, but still underestimated their own likability than adolescents with lower levels of depression. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Social anxiety and depression are linked to a biased interpretation of likability, but only depression is linked to actually being less liked by peers. Social anxiety and depression are partly based on similar underlying cognitive biases.

The relation between social anxiety and biased interpretations in adolescents with mild intellectual disabilities.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive theories of anxiety emphasize the importance of cognitive processes in the onset and maintenance of anxiety disorders. However, little is known about these processes in children and adolescents with Mild Intellectual Disabilities (MID). AIMS: The aim of this study was to investigate interpretation bias and its content-specificity in adolescents with MID who varied in their levels of social anxiety. METHOD AND PROCEDURES: In total, 631 adolescents from seven special secondary schools for MID filled in questionnaires to measure their levels of social anxiety. They also completed the Interpretation Recognition Task to measure how they interpret ambiguous situations. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Adolescents with higher self-reported levels of social anxiety interpreted ambiguous scenarios as more negative than adolescents with lower self-reported social anxiety. Furthermore, this negative interpretation was specific for social situations; social anxiety was only associated with ambiguous social anxiety-related scenarios, but not with other anxiety-related scenarios. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: These findings support the hypothesis that socially anxious adolescents with MID display an interpretation bias that is specific for stimuli that are relevant for their own anxiety. This insight is useful for improving treatments for anxious adolescents with MID by targeting content-specific interpretation biases.

Treatment moderators of cognitive behavior therapy to reduce aggressive behavior: a meta-analysis.

Maladaptive aggression in adolescents is an increasing public health concern. Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is one of the most common and promising treatments of aggression. However, there is a lack of information on predictors of treatment response regarding CBT. Therefore, a meta-analysis was performed examining the role of predictors on treatment response of CBT. Twenty-five studies were evaluated (including 2,302 participants; 1,580 boys and 722 girls), and retrieved through searches on PubMed, PsycINFO and EMBASE. Effect sizes were calculated for studies that met inclusion criteria. Study population differences and specific CBT characteristics were examined for their explanatory power. There was substantial variation across studies in design and outcome variables. The meta-analysis showed a medium treatment effect for CBT to reduce aggression (Cohen'd = 0.50). No predictors of treatment response were found in the meta-analysis. Only two studies did examine whether proactive versus reactive aggression could be a moderator of treatment outcome, and no effect was found of this subtyping of aggression. These study results suggest that CBT is effective in reducing maladaptive aggression. Furthermore, treatment setting and duration did not seem to influence treatment effect, which shows the need for development of more cost-effective and less-invasive interventions. More research is needed on moderators of outcome of CBT, including proactive versus reactive aggression. This requires better standardization of design, predictors, and outcome measures across studies.

Math practice and its influence on math skills and executive functions in adolescents with mild to borderline intellectual disability.

Adolescents with mild to borderline intellectual disability (MBID) often complete schooling without mastering basic math skills, even though basic math is essential for math-related challenges in everyday life. Limited attention to cognitive skills and low executive functioning (EF) may cause this delay. We aimed to improve math skills in an MBID-sample using computerized math training. Also, it was investigated whether EF and math performance were related and whether computerized math training had beneficial effects on EF. The sample consisted of a total of 58 adolescents (12-15 years) from special education. Participants were randomly assigned to either the experimental group or a treatment as usual (TAU) group. In the experimental condition, participants received 5 weeks of training. Math performance and EF were assessed before and after the training period. Math performance improved equally in both groups. However, frequently practicing participants improved more than participants in the control group. Visuo-spatial memory skills were positively related to addition and subtraction skills. Transfer effects from math training to EF were absent. It is concluded that math skills may increase if a reasonable effort in practicing math skills is made. The relation between visuo-spatial memory skills provides opportunities for improving math performance.

The effectiveness of Korean number naming on insight into numbers in Dutch students with mild intellectual disabilities.

BACKGROUND: Children from Asian countries score higher on early years' arithmetic tests than children from Europe or the United States of America. An explanation for these differences may be the way numbers are named. A clear ten-structure like in the Korean language method leads to a better insight into numbers and arithmetic skills. This assumption forms the basis of the current study. METHOD: Examined is whether an intervention with number naming in the Korean way influences number awareness of students with mild intellectual disabilities (N=70; mean age: 9;0 years). RESULTS: The results indicate a positive effect of this alternative method of number naming on the insight into numbers up to 20. However, the effect did not generalize to insight into numbers 21-100. CONCLUSIONS: The Korean method of number naming seems to be a promising way to teach students with mild intellectual disabilities insight into numbers.

The effectiveness of Korean number naming on insight into numbers in Dutch students with mild intellectual disabilities.

Children from Asian countries score higher on early years' arithmetic tests than children from Europe or the United States of America. An explanation for these differences may be the way numbers are named. A clear ten-structure like in the Korean language method leads to a better insight into numbers and arithmetic skills. This assumption forms the basis of the current study. Examined is whether an intervention with number naming in the Korean way influences number awareness of students with mild intellectual disabilities (N=70; mean age: 9.0 years). The results indicate a positive effect of this alternative method of number naming on the insight into numbers up to 20. However, the effect did not generalize to insight into numbers 21-100. The Korean method of number naming seems to be a promising way to teach students with mild intellectual disabilities insight into numbers.

Working memory structure in 10- and 15-year old children with mild to borderline intellectual, disabilities.

The validity of Baddeley's working memory model within the typically developing population, was tested. However, it is not clear if this model also holds in children and adolescents with mild to, borderline intellectual disabilities (ID; IQ score 55-85). The main purpose of this study was therefore, to explore the model's validity in this population. Several verbal and visuo-spatial STM and WM tasks, were administered to 115 children with mild to borderline ID (mean age 10 years) and to 98, adolescents with mild to borderline ID (mean age 15). Structural equation modeling (LISREL) shows, that Baddeley's working memory model does not fit the data of the 10-year and 15-year old, participants. Principal components analyses on the other hand show a hazy pattern with on the one, side an indication for a 'general' component with loadings of visuo-spatial short-term memory and, working memory tasks and a separate verbal short-term memory component. On the other hand there, is also an indication of a modality specific memory structure; a visuo-spatial- versus a verbal, component. A straight-forward dichotomy between STM and WM indicates apparently an, oversimplification, at least it is for children and adolescents with mild to borderline ID.

Memory profiles in children with mild intellectual disabilities: strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths and weaknesses in short-term memory (STM) and working memory (WM) were identified in children with mild intellectual disabilities (MID) by comparing their performance to typically developing children matched on chronological age (CA children) and to younger typically developing children with similar mental capacities (MA children). Children with MID performed less well on all measures compared to the CA children. Relative to the MA children, especially verbal WM was weak. Subsequent analyses yielded distinct MID subgroups each with specific memory strengths and weaknesses. These findings hold implications for the demands imposed on children with MID in education and daily life.