Stand-Alone Social Skills Training for Youth with ADHD: A Systematic Review.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood disorders, and its symptoms and impairment in multiple domains begin in childhood and can extend into adulthood as well. Many youth with ADHD experience impairment in the social domain, including social skills deficits and difficulties in peer relationships. Social skills interventions, or social skills training (SST), have been developed to target social impairment and improve the social skills and functioning of youth with ADHD. Previous reviews of SST for youth with ADHD have provided mixed conclusions, with many including comprehensive, multilevel interventions for ADHD and none examining stand-alone SST for ADHD in a systematic way. The present review addresses this gap in the literature by providing the first known comprehensive, systematic review of SST alone, along with ratings of methodological rigor for each evaluation of stand-alone SST. The present review provides insight into the strengths and weaknesses in the existing SST literature, and provides suggestions for improvement and future directions for SST. An outline of "specific ingredients" and characteristics of effective SST are also presented, with the goal of providing both researchers and clinicians guidance for creating and implementing effective SST for youth with ADHD.

Does distress intolerance moderate the link between ADHD symptoms and number of sexual partners?

Previous research demonstrates that ADHD symptoms are related to increased risky sexual behavior. Distress intolerance (DIT) has also been linked to risk behavior and may also be related to increased risky sexual behavior. Thus, we evaluated the degree to which DIT moderated the link between ADHD symptoms and number of casual and monogamous sexual partners. Participants were undergraduate psychology students (N = 660; 30 % male; M = 20.23, SD = 1.40; 47 % European American) who completed an online assessment. Hierarchical multiple regression revealed that several DIT constructs, specifically tolerance, appraisal, and regulation, moderated the link between ADHD symptoms and casual sex partners. Only regulation moderated the association between ADHD symptoms and monogamous sex partners. Results suggest that difficulty managing distress moderates the link between ADHD symptoms and number of sexual partners. These results have important implications for prevention and intervention program development.

Small C-terminal domain phosphatases dephosphorylate the regulatory linker regions of Smad2 and Smad3 to enhance transforming growth factor-beta signaling.

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) controls a diverse set of cellular processes, and its canonical signaling is mediated via TGF-beta-induced phosphorylation of receptor-activated Smads (2 and 3) at the C-terminal SXS motif. We recently discovered that PPM1A can dephosphorylate Smad2/3 at the C-terminal SXS motif, implicating a critical role for phosphatases in regulating TGF-beta signaling. Smad2/3 activity is also regulated by phosphorylation in the linker region (and N terminus) by a variety of intracellular kinases, making it a critical platform for cross-talk between TGF-beta and other signaling pathways. Using a functional genomic approach, we identified the small C-terminal domain phosphatase 1 (SCP1) as a specific phosphatase for Smad2/3 dephosphorylation in the linker and N terminus. A catalytically inactive SCP1 mutant (dnSCP1) had no effect on Smad2/3 phosphorylation in vitro or in vivo. Of the other FCP/SCP family members SCP2 and SCP3, but not FCP1, could also dephosphorylate Smad2/3 in the linker/N terminus. Depletion of SCP1/2/3 enhanced Smad2/3 linker phosphorylation. SCP1 increased TGF-beta-induced transcriptional activity in agreement with the idea that phosphorylation in the Smad2/3 linker must be removed for a full transcriptional response. SCP1 overexpression also counteracts the inhibitory effect of epidermal growth factor on TGF-beta-induced p15 expression. Taken together, this work identifies the first example of a Smad2/3 linker phosphatase(s) and reveals an important new substrate for SCPs.