Pretend Play and Creativity in Preschool-Aged Children: Associations and Brief Intervention

Cognitive and affective processes in play have related to measures of creativity in school-aged children. In a previous examination of these play processes in preschool-aged children with the Affect in Play Scale-Preschool version, cognitive and affective play processes related to divergent thinking. One goal of the current study was to replicate this finding and examine the relationship between pretend play and storytelling creativity in preschoolers. A second goal was to test the effectiveness of a brief play intervention. Adult-led play interventions have effectively improved play skills and related developmental skills for children with documented play deficits. However, there is a need for an empirically-based, brief play intervention for typically developing preschool-aged children. A pilot study found medium to large effect sizes for increased play skills for an intervention with preschool-aged children and their parents. The current study aimed to examine the effectiveness of the intervention without parent involvement. Forty-one typically developing children (ages 4-6 years) participated. Pretend play, divergent thinking, and creative storytelling were assessed at baseline and outcome. Children were randomly assigned to the play skills intervention, which received three 20-30 minute individual play sessions, or the active control. At baseline, results were that cognitive and affective play processes related to divergent thinking and creative storytelling. The play intervention did not significantly improve pretend play skills or creativity in the intervention group compared to the control group. Reasons for the nonsignfiicant findings for the intervention, suggestions for future refinement of the intervention, and implications for childhood development are discussed

Competencies in Training at the Graduate Student Level: Example of a Pediatric Psychology Seminar Course.

The recently developed competencies in pediatric psychology from the Society of Pediatric Psychology (SPP) Task Force on Competencies and Best Training Practices in Pediatric Psychology provide a benchmark to evaluate training program practices and student progress toward training in level-specific competency goals. Graduate-level training presents a unique challenge for addressing the breadth of competencies required in pediatric psychology while maintaining development of broader clinical psychology training goals. We describe a recurring graduate-level pediatric psychology seminar course that addresses training in a number of the competency cluster areas. The structure of the seminar, examples of classroom topics that correspond with competency cluster areas as well as benchmarks used to evaluate each student\u27s development in the competency area are provided. Specific challenges in developing and maintaining the seminar in this format are identified, and possible solutions are offered. This training format could serve as a model for established pediatric psychology programs to expand their didactic training goals or for programs without formal pediatric psychology training to address competencies outside of clinical placements

Treatment of Sleep Problems in Young Children: A Case Series Report of a Cognitive-Behavioral Play Intervention

Sleep problems and bedtime resistance are common in young children. Treatment is critical because sleep problems typically persist, and insufficient sleep is related to worse outcomes. Current behavioral treatments do not work directly with the child to reduce anxiety and distress at bedtime. Cognitive-behavioral play therapy is a treatment approach designed to teach coping skills to young children by combining cognitive-behavioral therapy with pretend play, a developmentally-appropriate intervention mode. The current case series examined the effectiveness of adding a brief cognitive-behavioral play intervention (CBPI) to parent behavior management for young children with sleep difficulties. Four children (4-6 years) received three 20-30 minute individual sessions during which the child played out stories with an advanced graduate student therapist (first author, K.F.) about a child coping with sleep problems. Each child’s parent also received a 30-minute sleep information session. Three parents returned questionnaires post-treatment. As expected, all three parents reported improvements in their child’s sleep habits, sleep anxiety, and general fears. All three parents also reported a high level of satisfaction with the treatment. These preliminary results suggest that the CBPI may be effective for decreasing anxiety and child distress when added to behavioral treatment, thus increasing the breadth of treatment approaches available for young children with sleep problems. These results are promising, although a randomized study is needed to further refine the intervention and establish the efficacy of a CBPI for treatment of sleep problems in young children

The use of behavioral assessment to prescribe and evaluate treatments for severely handicapped children.

Behavioral assessment procedures were used to prescribe and evaluate treatments of maladaptive behavior for 2 children with severe multiple handicaps. In Experiment 1, the results of an assessment of reinforcer preference were used in conjunction with a functional analysis of the conditions maintaining self-injurious behavior to prescribe a treatment for a child with severe disabilities. The treatment procedure involved the use of a pressure-sensitive microswitch to activate reinforcing stimuli during two solitary conditions, during which self-injurious behavior had occurred at high rates. The results were evaluated with a multiple baseline across settings design and indicated that self-injury decreased with concomitant increases in microswitch activation. Results were maintained at 6 weeks, 8 weeks, and 6 months. In Experiment 2, the results of behavioral assessments of reinforcer preference and self-injurious behavior were combined to develop a treatment for a second severely handicapped child, who exhibited high rates of self-injury in demand situations. This treatment was evaluated with a multiple baseline across tasks design and resulted in the elimination of self-injury for up to 15 months

ADP-ribosyltransferases, an update on function and nomenclature

Abstract ADP-ribosylation, a modification of proteins, nucleic acids, and metabolites, confers broad functions, including roles in stress responses elicited, for example, by DNA damage and viral infection and is involved in intra- and extracellular signaling, chromatin and transcriptional regulation, protein biosynthesis, and cell death. ADP-ribosylation is catalyzed by ADP-ribosyltransferases (ARTs), which transfer ADP-ribose from NAD⁺ onto substrates. The modification, which occurs as mono- or poly-ADP-ribosylation, is reversible due to the action of different ADP-ribosylhydrolases. Importantly, inhibitors of ARTs are approved or are being developed for clinical use. Moreover, ADP-ribosylhydrolases are being assessed as therapeutic targets, foremost as antiviral drugs and for oncological indications. Due to the development of novel reagents and major technological advances that allow the study of ADP-ribosylation in unprecedented detail, an increasing number of cellular processes and pathways are being identified that are regulated by ADP-ribosylation. In addition, characterization of biochemical and structural aspects of the ARTs and their catalytic activities have expanded our understanding of this protein family. This increased knowledge requires that a common nomenclature be used to describe the relevant enzymes. Therefore, in this viewpoint, we propose an updated and broadly supported nomenclature for mammalian ARTs that will facilitate future discussions when addressing the biochemistry and biology of ADP-ribosylation. This is combined with a brief description of the main functions of mammalian ARTs to illustrate the increasing diversity of mono- and poly-ADP-ribose mediated cellular processes

ADP-ribosyltransferases, an update on function and nomenclature

ADP-ribosylation, a modification of proteins, nucleic acids, and metabolites, confers broad functions, including roles in stress responses elicited, for example, by DNA damage and viral infection and is involved in intra- and extracellular signaling, chromatin and transcriptional regulation, protein biosynthesis, and cell death. ADP-ribosylation is catalyzed by ADP-ribosyltransferases (ARTs), which transfer ADP-ribose from NAD(+) onto substrates. The modification, which occurs as mono- or poly-ADP-ribosylation, is reversible due to the action of different ADP-ribosylhydrolases. Importantly, inhibitors of ARTs are approved or are being developed for clinical use. Moreover, ADP-ribosylhydrolases are being assessed as therapeutic targets, foremost as antiviral drugs and for oncological indications. Due to the development of novel reagents and major technological advances that allow the study of ADP-ribosylation in unprecedented detail, an increasing number of cellular processes and pathways are being identified that are regulated by ADP-ribosylation. In addition, characterization of biochemical and structural aspects of the ARTs and their catalytic activities have expanded our understanding of this protein family. This increased knowledge requires that a common nomenclature be used to describe the relevant enzymes. Therefore, in this viewpoint, we propose an updated and broadly supported nomenclature for mammalian ARTs that will facilitate future discussions when addressing the biochemistry and biology of ADP-ribosylation. This is combined with a brief description of the main functions of mammalian ARTs to illustrate the increasing diversity of mono- and poly-ADP-ribose mediated cellular processes