Background: Youths with coexisting learning disabilities (LD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at risk for poor academic and social outcomes. The underlying cognitive deficits, such as poor working memory (WM), are not well targeted by current treatments for either LD or ADHD. Emerging evidence suggests that WM might be improved by intensive and adaptive computerized training, but it remains unclear whether this intervention would be effective for adolescents with severe LD and comorbid ADHD. Methods: A total of sixty 12-to 17-year olds with LD/ADHD (52 male, 8 female, IQ > 80) were randomized to one of two computerized intervention programs: working memory training (Cogmed RM) or math training (Academy of Math) and evaluated before and 3 weeks after completion. The criterion measures of WM included auditory-verbal and visual-spatial tasks. Near and far transfer measures included indices of cognitive and behavioral attention and academic achievement. Results: Adolescents in the WM training group showed greater improvements in a subset of WM criterion measures compared with those in the math-training group, but no training effects were observed on the near or far measures. Those who showed the most improvement on the WM training tasks at school were rated as less inattentive/hyperactive at home by parents. Conclusions: Results suggest that WM training may enhance some aspects of WM in youths with LD/ADHD, but further development of the training program is required to promote transfer effects to other domains of function.

A study was conducted involving a group of 290 medical and dental students to directly compare perceived stress levels encountered during their education. A modified questionnaire based on Garbee et al.'s Dental Environmental Stress survey was provided to the students by either email or paper. The purpose of the investigation was to determine if the sources of stress reported by medical and dental students, both male and female, were due to common factors. A multivariate statistical analysis was also conducted to measure stress differences by year in school. Through factor analysis, the survey question responses were grouped into five causal categories: academic performance, faculty relations, patient and clinic responsibilities, personal life issues, and professional identity. The overall findings show that dental students had greater levels of stress than medical students in three of the five categories. The only category in which medical students demonstrated greater stress levels than dental students was in professional identity. Measures of comparative levels of stress between male and female students for either profession did not demonstrate any significant differences. Stress levels related to clinical work varied significantly between the type of professional student and his or her year in school.Mr. Murphy is an Ed.D. candidate

One of the most serious challenges that dental educators face today is improving the level of student satisfaction with the curriculum and learning environment. To determine whether a particular teaching method might enhance student satisfaction with the learning process, a learning preference survey linked to sensory modalities was given to students in the four classes of the Temple University School of Dentistry. New Zealand educator Neil Fleming developed the survey called VARK (an acronym for Visual, Aural, Read/Write, and Kinesthetic) in 1998. The purpose of this study was to measure the distribution of learning preference mean scores of the dental students and note any significant differences among classes, gender, and a sample population determined using 31,243 participants on the VARK website. Results clearly demonstrate that the dominant preference distributions for the two populations (dental student and sample population) are different. In particular, the proportions of learners who selected visual or kinesthetic are significantly different for the two populations, while the proportions of learners who selected aural or read/write are not significantly different. Dental students prefer visual learning at a higher percentage and kinesthetic learning at a lower percentage than the sample population measured in the VARK website. Inter-class differences varied, and gender differences were not significant. The distribution of dental student scores shows a preference for instructors who use strong visual presentations and facilitate note-taking during lectures. Dental educators should be aware of these differences in order to explore opportunities for making the educational experience more productive and enjoyable.

Objective The aims of this paper are as follows: to present past-year prevalence data for DSM-IV disorders in the early elementary school years; to examine the impact of impairment criteria on prevalence estimates; to examine the relation of sociodemographic and psychosocial risk factors to disorders; and to explore associations between ”internalizing” and ”externalizing” disorders and social competence and family burden as further validation of the impairing nature of these disorders. Method As part of a longitudinal representative population study of children born healthy between July 1995 and September 1997 in the New Haven–Meriden Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area of the 1990 Census (n = 1,329), parents of a subsample enriched for child psychopathology (n = 442; 77.6% response rate, 69.5% of eligible sample) were interviewed in the child's kindergarten or first-grade year with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children, Version IV (DISC-IV). Parents were surveyed about sociodemographic and psychosocial characteristics, and both parents and teachers were surveyed about social competence. Results Approximately one in five (21.6 %) children met criteria for psychiatric disorder(s) with impairment. Sociodemographic and psychosocial correlates included persistent poverty beginning in early childhood, limited parental education, low family expressiveness, stressful life events, and violence exposure. Finally, diagnostic status was significantly associated with poorer social competence and family burden. Conclusions That approximately one in five children evidenced a psychiatric disorder with impairment during the transition to formal schooling highlights the importance of integrating psychiatric epidemiological and developmental approaches to inform conversations about school readiness and intervention planning.

Gender variant (GV) children have a subjective sense of gender identity and/or preferences regarding clothing, activities, and/or playmates that are different from what is culturally normative for their biological sex. Despite increases in rates of GV children and their families presenting at clinics, there is little research on how raising a GV child affects the family as a whole or how families make decisions regarding their care. This study took an ecological-transactional framework to explore the question, “what is the experience of parents who raise a GV or transgender child?” Eight mothers and three fathers of GV male and female children (ages 5–13) referred through a GV support group participated in interviews. Transcripts were analyzed using an adaptation of grounded theory analysis. These parents attempted to pave the way to a nonstigmatized childhood for their GV child, typically through two pathways: rescuing the child from fear of stigma and hurt or accepting GV and advocating for a more tolerant world. Many participants used both pathways to different degrees or shifted paths over time, and the paths selected were related to parents’ own understanding of GV and their experiences and backgrounds as well as characteristics of the children they were parenting and the communities they inhabited. Limitations, clinical implications, and future directions are discussed.

Mothers raising children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) evidence elevated depressive symptoms, but symptom stability has not been examined. Mothers (N=143) of toddlers with ASD (77% boys) were enrolled and assessed when their children were 18 to 33 months old and followed annually for 2 years. Multilevel modeling revealed no significant change in group depressive symptom level, which was in the moderately elevated range (Intercept=13.67; SE=.96). In contrast, there was significant individual variation in change over time. Child problem behaviors and delayed competence, maternal anxiety symptoms and angry/hostile mood, low parenting efficacy and social supports, and coping styles were associated with depression severity. Only maternal anxiety and parenting efficacy predicted individual change. Many mothers do not appear to adapt, supporting the need for early intervention for maternal well-being.

No abstract

Performance on letter and category fluency was studied in a group of 478 healthy, highly intelligent and educated, older adults (aged 55 to 94 years). The aim of the study was to determine and contrast the effects of age, sex, and intelligence (estimated by the NAART) on letter (FAS) and category (fruits, animal, vegetables) verbal fluency performance. Significant effects were found for age and NAART error score on all fluency scores. However, these effects were small in magnitude. The NAART was found to be a better predictor of verbal fluency scores than education. The relative sensitivity of letter and category fluency to age was not significantly different. Sex was related to performance for the categories of fruits and vegetables, with women outperforming men. Separate mean values for fluency measures are provided for different ages, NAART error scores, educational level, and sex. The Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT; Borkowski, Benton, & Spreen, 1967), also known as verbal fluency for categories and letters, is a test of frontal and temporal lobe functioning which involves sustained attention, retrieval of information, speech production fluency, and response initiation and suppression.