THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL CONTEXT AND VERBAL SKILL ON THE STEREOTYPIC AND TASK-INVOLVED BEHAVIOUR OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN

Twelve autistic children's rates of Stereotypy, Task Involvement and Non Involvement were observed in three settings representing levels of interpersonal contact: Individual Attention, Group Attention and Play. The children were assigned in two groups reflecting high and low verbal skills and overall level of autistic disturbance was used as a covariate. Results showed that the highest levels of Task Involvement and the lowest levels of Stereotypy and Non Involvement were associated with the highest level of interpersonal contact. Verbal skill level predicted higher rates of prosocial behaviour overall, and interacted with the setting measures for Stereotypic behaviours, indicating that the low verbal children tended to self-stimulate most when no demands were made on their behaviour. Implications for further research and educational practice are briefly discussed.     

THE TRAIT AND METHOD COMPONENTS OF RATINGS OF CONDUCT DISORDER—PART II. FACTORS RELATED TO THE TRAIT COMPONENT OF CONDUCT DISORDER SCORES

A theoretical model designed to estimate the associations of variables of interest with the trait component of maternal and teacher ratings of conduct disorder is outlined. This model was applied to data collected in a birth cohort of New Zealand children. The analysis showed marked differences between the correlations for various measures and observed conduct disorder scores and the corresponding correlations with the estimated trait components of these scores. In some cases correlations increased as a result of correction for measurement error whereas in other cases correlations declined as a result of correction for the effects of method factors.     

FACTORS WHICH PREDICT THE PERSISTENCE OF AGGRESSIVE CONDUCT DISORDER

Fifty-three boys with aggressive conduct disorder were followed up 2 years after their original examination. Twenty-four (45%) no longer had the disorder and were classified as improved. A discriminant function analysis identified characteristics of the boys and their families which accurately predicted the outcome for 85% of the boys. Among the predictors of persisting conduct disorder were a variety of antisocial or aggressive symptoms, firesetting, early age of onset and family deviance.     

THE TRAIT AND METHOD COMPONENTS OF RATINGS OF CONDUCT DISORDER—PART I. MATERNAL AND TEACHER EVALUATIONS OF CONDUCT DISORDER IN YOUNG CHILDREN

A theoretical model designed to estimate the trait and method specific components of maternal and teacher ratings of childhood conduct disorder is presented. The model was applied to data collected on a birth cohort of New Zealand children. The model produced evidence to indicate that maternal and teacher ratings of childhood behaviour were contaminated by method variance. It was estimated that one-third of the variance in these scores reflected variance attributable to child behaviour traits. When the data were adjusted for the effects of method specific factors, the model suggested that conduct disorder measures were highly stable over time.     

PART II. BODY COMPOSITION OF THE MALE REFERENCE ADOLESCENT

Utilizing available data for total body water, total body potassium and total body calcium, fat and fat-free body mass (FFBM) of the reference male adolescent between 10.5 and 18.5 years has been estimated. FFBM was conceptualized to consist of water, protein, carbohydrate, osseous and nonosseous minerals. With increasing age, water concentration of FFBM decreases, protein concentration increases slightly and concentration of osseous minerals increases substantially. The combined effect of these changes is that density of FFBM increases with age. Osseous minerals increase mainly during the adolescent growth spurt. With the age and sex-specific FFBM: total body water ratios and densities of FFBM presented it will be possible to avoid systematic underestimation of fat content from measurements of total body water and overestimation of fat content from determinations of body density by underwater weighing.     

THE EFFECTS OF FATHER INVOLVEMENT IN PARENT TRAINING FOR CONDUCT PROBLEM CHILDREN

Thirty families who received parent training for conduct-disordered children were divided into two groups, father-involved families and father-absent families. Immediately post-treatment both groups reported significant improvements in their children's behaviors. Behavioral data showed significant increases in mother praises and reductions in mother negative behaviors, child noncompliance and deviancy. One year later the children continued to show reductions in noncompliance and deviance. However, significantly more of the mother-child dyads who maintained behavioral improvements came from father-involved families.     

PERSONALITY, SOCIAL SKILLS, ANOMIE AND DELINQUENCY: A SELF-REPORT STUDY OF A GROUP OF NORMAL NON-DELINQUENT ADOLESCENTS

A group of over 200 'normal' adolescents were administered self-report measures of personality (extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism), social skills, anomie and delinquency in order to establish which of three theories best predicted delinquency. Eysenck's personality factors, particularly psychoticism, correlated most highly with delinquency, while there was no correlation at all between self-reported social skills and delinquency. Overall the males tended to have lower neuroticism but higher psychoticism and anomie scores. The results are discussed in terms of the various psychological theories of delinquency, and the implications of these results for treatment are noted. It was pointed out that because this study was restricted to well-educated, middle class, above-average sixth-form college students the findings may not generalize to a group of convicted or institutionalized offenders. The limitations inherent in self-report measures and in studies of this sort are also considered.     

Adolescent Reputation Enhancement: Differentiating Delinquent, Nondelinquent, and At-risk Youths

This research reports the findings of two studies conducted to measure and then investigate differences between delinquent, nondelinquent, and at-risk youths' orientations towards reputation enhancement. In the first study, concerning item selection and scale development, the factor structure and content validity of a potential Reputation Enhancement Scale were tested by examining the item responses of the scale completed by 230 high-school students. In the second study, the scale was validated by comparing the item responses of 80 delinquent, 90 at-risk, and 90 nondelinquent adolescents with the responses of the original students. The instrument was found to be reliable (alphas from .64 to .92), indicating that the factors are dependable across different samples, and the coefficients of congruence were sufficiently high to investigate meaningful group differences. Three second-order factors (Conforming Reputation, Nonconforming Reputation, Self-presentation) were derived from the 15 first-order factors. Although multivariate analyses revealed significant differences between the reputational orientations of delinquent, at-risk, and nondelinquent participants, the self-presentation second-order factor did not differentiate the three groups.     

DEFINING THE SOCIAL DEFICITS OF AUTISM: THE CONTRIBUTION OF NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION MEASURES

Young autistic children were compared to normal and control samples on measures of non-verbal communication skills and object play skills. Deficits in non-verbal indicating behaviors best discriminated the children diagnosed as autistic from the other groups. Although the autistic children also exhibited deficits in object play behavior, these deficits did not add appreciably to the discriminant function based on the non-verbal communication behaviors. These results suggest that a deficit in the development of non-verbal indicating behaviors is a significant characteristic of young children who receive the diagnosis of autism.     

Comparative study of the personality correlates and nature of drug abuse in schools and colleges

With the help of a disguised questionnaire 634 school boys, 777 college students (365 college boys and 412 college girls) between ages of 14 and 19 were surveyed to identify drug abuses. To those identified as drug abusers and to an equal number of matching controls the High School Personality Questionnaire (HSPQ) of Cattell was administered. The data on drug abuse and personality was analysed on the computer of the operations Research Group Baroda using the S.P.S.S. The prevalence of drug abuse in schools and college boys and college girls has been analysed separately and also the nature and frequency of the drug abused. The personality correlates of school boys and college students were analysed separately. Subsequently by a stepwise multiple regression analysis personality correlates with the greatest predictive ability in determining drug use were selected and predictive models are worked out using the ?F?’ statistics’.     

THE EFFECT OF MATERNAL AGE, PARITY AND SOCIAL CLASS ON THE INCIDENCE OF SMALL-FOR-DATES NEWBORNS

The incidence of S.F.D. newborns was studied in relation to maternal age, parity, and social class in a sample of 4 369 consecutive births at the “Alexandra” Maternity Hospital of Athens. The incidence of S.F.D. babies in the lower classes (IV and V) is substantially higher when compared with mothers belonging to social groups I, II or III. Furthermore, the birth of S.F.D. babies is encountered more frequently in very young as well as in women above the age of 30 years. Finally, the birth of a S.F.D. baby is more frequent in primiparous than multiparous women.