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Median Split (median + split)
Selected AbstractsExpression of negative affect during face-to-face interaction: a double video study of young infants' sensitivity to social contingencyINFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2006Hanne C. Braarud Abstract The purpose was to assess infants' sensitivity to social contingency, taking affective state into account, during face-to-face interaction with the mother in a double video set-up. Infants' behaviour during three sequences of live face-to-face interaction were compared to two sequences where the interaction between the infant and the mother was set out of phase, by presenting either the infant or the mother with a replay of their partners' behaviour during earlier live interaction. We found a significant negative correlation between the infant's degree of negative affect and the average time of looking at the mother during the live sequences. A median split was calculated to separate the infants into a high-negative-affect group and a low-negative-affect group on the basis of their emotional responses during the experiment. The low-negative-affect infants looked significantly more at their mothers than other foci during the live but not the replay sequences, while the high-negative-affect infants did not show this difference. The results suggest that 2,4-month old infants are able to distinguish between experimental distortion of contingent aspects in live and replay sequences, but that this effect of the replay condition may not be shown by moderate to highly distressed infants. Our findings underline the importance of taking infants' emotional state into account in experiments intended to assess their capacity for intersubjective communication. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Psychotic phenomena in 257 young children and adolescents with bipolar I disorder: delusions and hallucinations (benign and pathological)BIPOLAR DISORDERS, Issue 1 2008Rebecca Tillman Objectives:, In contrast to studies of adult bipolar I disorder (BP-I), there is a paucity of data on psychotic phenomena in child BP-I. Therefore, the aim of this work was to describe delusions and hallucinations in pediatric BP-I. Methods:, Subjects were 257 participants, aged 6,16, in either of two large, ongoing, NIMH-funded studies, ,Phenomenology and Course of Pediatric Bipolar Disorders' or ,Treatment of Early Age Mania (TEAM)'. All subjects had current DSM-IV BP-I (manic or mixed phase) with a Children's Global Assessment Scale score ,60 (definite clinical impairment), and all had cardinal mania symptoms (i.e., elation and/or grandiosity). Comprehensive assessments included the Washington University in St. Louis Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (WASH-U-KSADS), which was administered to parents about their children and separately to children about themselves by experienced research clinicians. The WASH-U-KSADS contains modules for developmentally child-age-specific manifestations of numerous categories of psychotic phenomena. Results:, Psychosis was present in 76.3% (n = 196) of subjects, which included 38.9% (n = 100) with delusions, 5.1% (n = 13) with pathological hallucinations, and 32.3% (n = 83) with both. The most common delusion was grandiose (67.7%, n = 174), and the most common pathological hallucination was visual (16.0%, n = 41). Benign hallucinations occurred in 43.6% (n = 112). A median split by age yielded 6,9 year-olds (n = 139) and 10,16 year-olds (n = 118). Analyses of these two groups, and of 6, 7, 8, and 9 year-olds separately, found no significant differences in psychotic phenomena. Conclusions:, Counterintuitively, psychosis was equally prevalent in 6,9 compared to 10,16 year-olds. High prevalence of psychosis in child BP-I warrants focus in intervention strategies and is consistent with increasing evidence of the severity of child-versus adult-onset BP-I. [source] Trajectories of dental anxiety in a birth cohortCOMMUNITY DENTISTRY AND ORAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 3 2009W. M. Thomson Abstract,,,Objective:, To examine predictors of dental anxiety trajectories in a longitudinal study of New Zealanders. Methods: Prospective study of a complete birth cohort born in 1972/73 in Dunedin, New Zealand, with dental anxiety scale (DAS) scores and dental utilization determined at ages 15, 18, 26 and 32 years. Personality traits were assessed at a superfactor and (more fine-grained) subscale level via the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire at age 18 years. Group-based trajectory analysis was used to identify dental anxiety trajectories. Results: DAS scores from at least three assessments were available for 828 participants. Six dental anxiety trajectories were observed: stable nonanxious low (39.6%); stable nonanxious medium (37.9%); recovery (1.6%); adult-onset anxious (7.7%); stable anxious (7.2%) and adolescent-onset anxious (5.9%). Multivariate analysis showed that males and those with higher DMFS at age 15 years were more likely to be in the stable nonanxious low trajectory group. Membership of the stable nonanxious medium group was predicted by the dental caries experience at age 15 years. Participants who had lost one or more teeth between ages 26 and 32 years had almost twice the relative risk for membership of the adult-onset anxious group. Personality traits predicted group membership. Specifically, high scorers (via median split) on the ,stress reaction' subscale had over twice the risk of being in the stable anxious group; low scorers on the traditionalism subscale were more likely to be members of the recovery trajectory group; and high scorers on the ,social closeness' subscale had half the risk of being in the stable anxious group. Dental caries experience at age 5 years was also a predictor for the stable anxious group. Membership of the late-adolescent-onset anxious group was predicted by higher dental caries experience by age 15 years, but none of the other predictors was significant. Conclusion: Six discrete trajectories of dental anxiety have been observed. Some trajectories (totalling more than 90% of the cohort) had clear associations with external influences, but others were more strongly associated with characteristics such as personality traits. A mix of both influences was observed with only the stable anxious dental anxiety trajectory. [source] Dental neglect and dental health among 26-year-olds in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development StudyCOMMUNITY DENTISTRY AND ORAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 6 2000W. Murray Thomson Abstract ,Objectives: To test a modification of a previously-reported six-item dental neglect scale and examine its association with dental health and service-use among young adults. Methods: Of the 980 26-year-old participants in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, 973 completed the scale and 930 underwent dental examination. Sociodemographic and dental service-use data were collected using a self-report questionnaire. Results: Factor analysis showed that five of the original six items loaded on the scale, and responses to those items were summed to give a dental neglect scale score for each participant. Scale scores were normally distributed (mean=13.0; SD=3.6; range 5 to 25), and a median split created higher and lower dental neglect groups. A higher proportion of the higher neglect group group: (i) were male; (ii) rated their dental health and dental appearance as below average; (iii) brushed their teeth infrequently; (iv) had extensive plaque deposits; (v) used dental services only when they had a problem; (vi) had not recently seen a dentist; (vii) had lost at least one permanent tooth because of caries, and (viii) had a greater number of decayed tooth surfaces. Conclusions: Although further examination of its validity and reliability is indicated, the dental neglect scale appears to hold promise for use in dental health promotion, not only in highlighting population groups or individuals who would benefit from intensive health promotion efforts, but also in the evaluation of health promotion interventions. [source] | ||||||||||