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    Gene-social environment interplay in relation to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

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    Recent studies of gene–environment interplay in psychiatric disorders have highlighted the complex relationship between genetic and environmental influences. Most published studies on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have focused on prenatal biological ‘environmental pathogens’, and less attention has been paid to the post-natal social environment. This article provides a brief review of the recent interaction and correlation findings between genes and the social environment in relation to ADHD. Some trends have been identified: (1) synergistic gene–environment interactions (GxE) where adverse social factors increase the risk of expression of putative gene alleles, and (2) antagonistic GxE where favourable social factors attenuate the genetic risks. Where possible, the importance of parenting and its implied relevance to ‘resilience’ is highlighted

    Are planning working memory and inhibition associated with individual differences in preschool ADHD symptoms?

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    The association between executive function (EF; planning, working memory, and inhibition) and individual differences in symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was explored in a sample of preschool children. One hundred sixty children (between the ages of 3 years, 0 months and 5 years, 6 months), selected so as to oversample high ADHD scorers, performed 3 tasks previously shown to measure planning (Tower of London), working memory (Noisy Book) and inhibition ("Puppet Says..."). EF measures were reliable (k > .77) and were correlated with IQ (rs > .38) and age (rs > .59). Once IQ and age were controlled, planning and working memory (r = .41) were correlated. Planning and working memory were not correlated with inhibition (rs < .20). There was no association between ADHD and working memory or planning (rs < .12). There was a significant negative association between ADHD and conduct problems and inhibition (r = -.30 and r = -.25, respectively). Only the link with ADHD persisted after the effects of other factors were controlled for in a multiple regression. Specific deficits in inhibitory control rather than general EF deficits are associated with ADHD in the preschool period. This association is linear in nature, supporting the idea that ADHD is better seen as a continuum rather than a discrete category. This association provides evidence for Barkley's (1997) view that ADHD is underpinned by inhibitory deficits in the preschool period

    Testing the interactive effect of parent and child ADHD on parenting in mothers and fathers: Aafurther test of the similarity-fit hypothesis

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    Mother and child ADHD symptoms both have a negative effect on parenting. Little is known about how these characteristics interact. In a recent paper, we reported two studies that suggested that maternal ADHD ameliorated the negative effects of child ADHD on negative parenting supporting a similarity-fit hypothesis. The aim of the current paper is to extend this analysis to a sample of mothers and fathers. The study examined the association between child and adult ADHD symptoms on child-specific parenting practices in 278 mothers and 85 fathers from a population-based sample of school-age children. As in the previous study, high levels of ADHD symptoms in mothers ameliorated the negative effects of child ADHD on parenting - supporting the similarity-fit hypothesis. Fathers demonstrated the opposite effect with high levels of ADHD exacerbating the effects of child ADHD - supporting a similarity-misfit hypothesis. The study confirms the important role played by parental ADHD symptoms in parenting while highlighting differences between mothers and fathers in this regard

    Do maternal attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms exacerbate or ameliorate the negative effect of child attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms on parenting?

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    The impact of similarity in parent and child characteristics on the quality of parenting is underresearched. The current study examined the interaction between mother and child attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms on parenting. Two hypotheses were tested: the similarity-fit hypothesis, which predicted that parent and child similarity will improve parenting, and the similarity-misfit hypothesis, which predicted the opposite. Study 1 examined the associations between maternal and child ADHD symptoms and child-specific rearing attitudes of 95 mothers with school-aged children. In Study 2 this analysis was extended to more objective observer-rated mother-child interaction and maternal expressed emotion in 192 mothers of preschool children. Child ADHD symptoms were associated with negative maternal comments and maternal ADHD symptoms with negative expressed emotion. In both studies maternal ADHD symptoms appeared to ameliorate the effects of child ADHD symptoms on negative parenting. Parental response to children with high ADHD symptoms was more positive and affectionate when the mother also had high ADHD symptoms. The results support the similarity-fit hypothesis and highlight the importance of considering both child and maternal ADHD symptoms in studies of parenting.<br/

    Mothers’ expressed emotion toward their school-aged sons: associations with child and maternal symptoms of psychopathology

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    Introduction Evidence suggests that mothers are negative and critical when talking about their children with behaviour problems. However the association with specific types of behaviour problems and the influence of both child and adult psychopathology on these relationships require further clarification. Methods Speech samples were gathered from mothers of 100 school-aged boys and coded using standard Expressed Emotion (EE) categories. Levels of maternal and child psychopathology were ascertained using standardised questionnaires completed by the mother. Results There were significant and positive correlations between criticism and child ADHD, conduct and emotional symptoms respectively. There were also significant and negative correlations between EOI and child ADHD and conduct problems. Conclusions The findings of the current study suggest that when considered together EE is driven more by the child rather than by maternal characteristics and these effects are specific to conduct and emotional problems. The implications of the findings are discussed

    Pro-social behaviour and behaviour problems independently predict maternal stress

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    Parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities generally report more stress than other parents. Child behavioural features, and specifically their behaviour problems, have been shown to account for some of the variation in parents' experience of stress. However, there has been no exploration of whether the child's pro-social behaviour is predictive of parenting stress. In the present study, 74 mothers of children with intellectual disabilities completed measures of stress and mental health and reported on their child's adaptive behaviour, problem behaviour, and pro-social behaviour. Regression analyses revealed that the child's behaviour problems were an independent positive predictor of maternal stress, the child's pro-social behaviour was a negative predictor of maternal stress, but adaptive behaviour was not a predictor. These results support the need for more research on the pro-social behaviours of children with intellectual disabilities, especially their putative impact on parental well-being

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    The influences of children's self-report trait anxiety and depression on visual search for emotional faces

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    Background: this study presents two experiments that investigated the relationship between7- and 10-year-olds' levels of self-report trait anxiety and depression and their visual search for threatening (angry faces) and non-threatening (happy and neutral faces) stimuli.Method: in both experiments a visual search paradigm was used to measure participants' reaction times to detect the presence or absence of angry, happy or neutral schematic faces (Experiment 1) or cartoon drawings (Experiment 2). On target present trials, a target face was displayed alongside three, five or seven distractor items. On target absent trials all items were distractors.Results: both experiments demonstrated that on target absent (but not present) trials, increased levels of anxiety produced significantly faster search times in the angry face condition, but not in the neutral condition. In Experiment 2 there was some trend towards significance between anxiety and searches for happy faces in absent trials. There were no effects of depression on search times in any condition.Conclusion: the results support previous work highlighting a specific link between anxiety and attention to threat in childhood
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