Although incarceration is ostensibly designed to punish people for breaking the law, it also punishes their families. The current work focuses on consequences resulting from parental incarceration. We examine the role this factor plays in peers’ moral cognition and pro-social behavior. Younger (5- to 6-year-old) and older (7- to 8-year-old) children rated the extent to which they viewed peers with or without an incarcerated parent as holding certain moral beliefs. Both groups of children were more certain that peers with, versus without, an incarcerated parent were less knowledgeable about morality. However, this effect was strongest among older children. This suggests that negativity toward children of incarcerated parents is socially reinforced and that children whose parents are imprisoned may face different peer responses depending on their age. Further, regardless of age, participants shared more resources with the peer whose parent was not incarcerated compared to the peer with an incarcerated parent. Taken together, these data clarify children’s moral cognition and pro-social behavior. They also shed light on the social realities that children of incarcerated parents may face.

Gender violence is an extreme manifestation of bias. More and more, research suggests that attitudes surrounding such manifestations are likely the product of a combination of objective psychological mechanisms and more obvious reactions to socialization. This same body of work shows that understanding the combination is key to any attempt to effectively target biased behaviors. When it comes to gender violence and societal attitudes surrounding specific instances, psychological research barely scratches the surface of this interplay. The nearest researchers have come is in studies pertaining to power dynamics and reactions to stereotypes, with a few related tangents in courtroom-based studies and analyses of masculine identity. Database and library searches for research in the fields of group theory, gender identity and stereotype formation and maintenance confirmed the paucity of study and revealed an as-yet unexplored intersection between these fields. This literature review suggests exploring that intersection beginning with research that views gender as a group. Studies of gender salience in children show that where an expectation of gender duality is imposed, group-like behaviors emerge. Similar research into the behavior of minority students when a fellow minority student displays a negative trait demonstrates that when a group member is forcibly reminded of group membership, one of several in-group behaviors emerges. This appears to remain true in the case of a dominant group identity, though this area has yet to be thoroughly explored. This and related research suggests that the stark reminder of gender duality that is gendered violence may also bring psychological behaviors related to group membership into play. This makes the various theoretical frameworks posited for viewing group identity a potentially fruitful place to start identifying the social-psychological interplay at work in this area, providing the basis for deeper work on topics across the spectrum of gender.

Altruism encompasses an ethical principle that places significance on promoting the welfare of someone else, even at a cost to one’s self. In classic studies, young children and nonhuman primates have offered objects or moved items to help others. However, it is unclear whether this is evidence of altruism, because there was low self-cost. A stronger test would be to investigate infants’ willingness to give others high-value objects, such as desirable food. In the new research, we examined whether 19-month-old infants help others by transferring fresh fruit to an adult. This work tested whether infants can act altruistically and the generality of this tendency across trials. Infants (N=96) were randomly assigned to a group, either the experimental group (experimenter accidentally dropped and reached for fruit) or the control group (experimenter intentionally discarded and looked at fruit). In both groups, the fruit started in the experimenter’s hand and landed out-of-reach for the experimenter. Infants’ helpfulness was shown by whether they gave fruit to the experimenter (i.e., banana, grape, blueberry, strawberry). We hypothesized infants would be more likely to help in the experimental than the control group given that past work has shown infants can perceive the goals of others (e.g., reaching for fruit). We analyzed how often infants’ transfer high-value fruit as predicted by group, type of fruit, and test trial. We found that more infants helped in the experimental than the control group; we found that infants helped on the first trial, showing that they readily recognized the experimenter’s need. Infants’ willingness to hand over high-value food suggested that their helping behavior is an early form of altruism. Future research of infant helping behavior could examine the effects of low- versus high-value items on patterns of giving.

Worldwide, there are 153 million orphaned children, and in addition to the trauma of losing a parent, they are also at greater risk for additional traumatic exposure. Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is proven effective to improve mental health outcomes for trauma-exposed youth in low and middle-income countries (LMIC), however there is a need for implementation strategies to support the adoption and sustained use of mental health interventions in LMIC with limited mental health services. Hence, this study aims to describe implementation strategies used by lay counselors to support the implementation of TF-CBT in school and community settings in Western Kenya. “Pamoja Tunaweza” (PT), a version of TF-CBT adapted to address posttraumatic stress symptoms among orphaned children in Kenya, was delivered by lay counselors, including community health volunteers (CHV) and teachers. After the first year of implementation, stakeholders identified different implementation strategies necessary to implement TF-CBT. Lay counselors and leaders, including Community Health Extension Workers (CHEW) and Head Teachers, developed strategy recommendations to guide future sites implementing TF-CBT. Supervisors (N=5) and a subset of lay counselors (N=10) and leaders (N=10) from the initial sites conducted 6 coaching meetings with subsequent sites initiating TF-CBT delivery. New sites included schools (N=5) and communities (N=5) consisting of CHV (N=15) and teacher (N=15) counselors and their leaders (N=10). During meetings, participants selected implementation strategies from recommendations to develop work plans to support TF-CBT implementation. Work plans and follow-up forms measured the actor carrying out each strategy, temporality, frequency, adaptations, and completion rate of each strategy. Descriptive statistics will be used to describe the characteristics of strategies. Measuring and describing implementation strategies may improve research on methods to enhance implementation and aid organizations in applying strategies to adopt and sustain evidence-based practices. Ultimately, this may improve effective mental health services for children living in LMIC.

Can parenting styles offset the effects of neighborhood disadvantage on child life-course trajectories? Much research indicates that children raised in an economically disadvantaged neighborhood face a greater risk of high school dropout or expulsion, low-wage employment, and incarceration. Yet not all youths raised in disadvantaged neighborhoods follow this trajectory, and success stories abound. This study examines how low-income parents’ childrearing strategies positively or negatively affect the life-course trajectories of at-risk youth. Using the Denver Youth Survey (DYS), a nationally representative, longitudinal sample of high risk youth, I intend to test whether parents’ childrearing strategies affect young adults’ academic accomplishment, income, job type, and criminal record. I hypothesize that positive parenting, defined as monitoring, control, and warmth towards the child, is associated with a reduced likelihood of youths experiencing impediments to socio-economic mobility. As an alternative hypothesis, I test whether impulsivity of the child mediates the association between parenting style and positive life-course outcomes. In doing so, I aim to contribute to the intersecting literature on life-course theory, child developmental psychology, and criminology, as well as provide evidence to aid the development of policy assisting at-risk youths overcome their disadvantaged circumstances.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that causes challenges with speech and nonverbal communication, social interaction and repetitive behaviors. It is hypothesized that ASD is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors such that symptoms and behaviors present differently between individuals. Given variability in causes and symptoms of ASD, it is important to look at the effectiveness of treatments for individuals with specific genetic and behavioral profiles, including individuals with rare genetic mutations linked to ASD. Recommended treatments include biomedical, behavioral, speech, and occupational therapies, which can be expensive and time consuming for families. Speech-language therapies and other services can be provided through a school district or through private providers, but the effectiveness of these services for individuals with rare ASD-associated genetic mutations is currently unknown. The aim of this project is to compare satisfaction with school-based versus private speech-language therapy for individuals with mutations to DYRK1A or SCN2A, which are associated with ASD and language delay. In this study, participants included individuals with a disruptive mutation to either DYRK1A (n=28, ages 4-24 years) or to SCN2A (n=23, ages 3-21 years). Treatment history interviews will be analyzed to assess caregivers’ perceptions of treatment effectiveness. We hypothesize that there will be greater satisfaction with private speech-language therapy than with school-based services, as these services may allow for greater communication and coordination with parents. We also hypothesize that satisfaction with speech therapy will be highest in the DYRK1A group, as increased medical complications in SCN2A (e.g., severe seizures) may lead to reduced response to speech therapy. This study will contribute to better understanding of effective treatments and parents’ satisfaction with current services for individuals with rare genetic mutations associated with ASD, which may inform future treatment choices and recommendations.

Despite its high frequency of occurrence, mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), or concussion, is difficult to recognize and diagnose, particularly in pediatric populations. Conventional methods to diagnose mTBI primarily rely on clinical questionnaires and sometimes include imaging such as computed tomography (CT) or pencil and paper neuropsychological testing. However, these methods are time consuming, require administration/interpretation from health professionals, and lack adequate test sensitivity and specificity. We explore the use of BrainCheck, a computerized neurocognitive test that is available on iPad, iPhone or computer desktop, for mTBI assessment. The BrainCheck battery consists of 6 gamified traditional neurocognitive tests that assess areas of cognition vulnerable to mTBI such as attention, processing speed, executing functioning, and coordination. We administered BrainCheck to 25 participants diagnosed with mTBI at the emergency department (ED) of Children’s hospital within 96 hours of admittance to the ED, and 153 normal controls at a local high school. Statistical analysis included Chi-Square tests, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), independent sample t-tests, and Hochberg tests to examine differences between mTBI, diagnoses by current gold standard clinical exam, and control groups on each assessment in the battery. Significant metrics from these assessments were used to build a logistic regression model that distinguishes mTBI from non-mTBI participants. Receiver operator score (ROC) analysis of our logistic regression model found a sensitivity of 84% and specificity of 80%. BrainCheck has potential in distinguishing mTBI from non-mTBI participants, by providing a shorter, gamified test battery to assess cognitive function after brain injury, while also providing a method for tracking recovery with the opportunity to do so remotely from a patient’s home.

Problematic internet use (PIU) is associated with mental health issues. Parent enforced technology rules may reduce PIU risk for adolescents. The purpose of this study is to explore whether agreement in perception of strictness of rules regarding the time and content of internet use in parent and adolescent dyads is associated with adolescent PIU. Adolescents aged 13-18 and their parents were recruited through Qualtrics panels and completed a survey. The Internet Specific Parenting Practices (ISPP) scale included questions assessing the strictness of time and content internet rules and the PRIUSS-3 scale assessed PIU. Dyad ISPP agreement was defined as parent and adolescent summary scores in the same category of strict or not strict based on median summary score . Analysis included t-tests for means. Participants were 52.2% male and 67.3% Caucasian for adolescents and 57.7% female and 69.0% Caucasian for parents. Average age for adolescents was 14.6 years (SD=1.68). A total of 80.5% (n=3571) of dyads reported agreement regarding time rules and 83.3% (n=3695) for content rules. The average adolescent PIU score for dyads who agreed compared to those who disagreed was not statistically significant for rules of time (p=0.215) and content (p=0.833). In dyads who agreed on strict internet time rules, adolescents were significantly more likely to be at risk for PIU compared to dyads who agreed they do not have strict rules (p<0.001). However, in dyads who agreed they do not have strict internet content rules, adolescents were less likely to be at risk for PIU (p<0.001). Findings suggest internet content rules are related to a decreased risk for adolescent PIU. Parents should focus on establishing consistently clear internet content rules with their adolescents.