Sources of shore sediment on the north coast of Tasmania

Following a conclusion that beach sands on the north coast of Tasmania have been subjected to little longshore translocation, an attempt is made to establish their immediate provenance by examining a range of sedimentological characters. It is concluded that most of the sand body was immediately derived from the shelf at and after the postglacial marine transgression. Almost all of the remainder was supplied in the last 6000 years by erosion of coastal bedrock or accession of biogenic carbonate, with little or no contribution from the rivers

CBT for Childhood Anxiety: Reviewing the State of Personalised Intervention Research

This article presents a mini-review of the state of personalised intervention research in the field of child and adolescent anxiety. We evaluated narrative, systematic and meta-analytic reviews of key research methodologies and how they relate to current approaches for personalising CBT, specifically. Preliminary evidence of predictors (severity of primary disorder, social anxiety disorder (SoAD), comorbid depression, parental psychopathology, parental involvement and duration of treatment), moderators (type of primary disorder) and mediators (self-talk, coping, problem-solving and comorbid symptoms) of CBT outcomes provides content for several personalised approaches to treatment. Finally, we present a novel conceptual model depicting the state of personalised intervention research in childhood anxiety and propose a research agenda for continued progress

Appreciating Complexity in Adolescent Self-Harm Risk Factors: Psychological Profiling in a Longitudinal Community Sample

Past research identifies a number of risk factors for adolescent self-harm, but often fails to account for overlap between these factors. This study investigated the underlying, broader concepts by identifying different psychological profiles among adolescents. We then compared new self-harm rates over a six-month period across different psychological profiles. Australian high school students (n = 326, 68.1% female) completed a questionnaire including a broad range of psychological and socioenvironmental risk and protective factors. Non-hierarchical cluster analysis produced six groups with different psychological profiles at baseline and rate of new self-harm at follow-up. The lowest rate was 1.4% in a group that appeared psychologically healthy; the highest rate was 37.5% in a group that displayed numerous psychological difficulties. Four groups with average self-harm had varied psychological profiles including low impulsivity, anxiety, impulsivity, and poor use of positive coping strategies. Identifying multiple profiles with distinct psychological characteristics can improve detection, guide prevention, and tailor treatment

The Relationship Between Parenting and Anxiety in Emerging Adulthood

Challenging parenting behavior (CPB) encompasses parental encouragement of children to push their own limits and take safe risks. Increased CPB has been associated with reduced anxiety scores in young children. This study sought to develop and evaluate a measure of CPB relevant to emerging adults (CPBQ-EA), and examine the relationship between anxiety and parenting behaviors, including; CPB, overprotection, rejection, and warmth. A sample of 442 18–25 year-olds completed self-report measures of anxiety and parenting. Exploratory factor analysis revealed three CPB domains; social, novelty, and competition. Greater social CPB was associated with lower social anxiety scores in emerging adults, but only when exhibited by fathers. Greater rejection exhibited by both parents was associated with higher emerging adult general anxiety and stress scores. These findings highlight the connection between paternal CPB and offspring social anxiety symptoms, the salience of parental rejection in emerging adult anxiety, and the importance of including fathers in parenting studies

Poly-victimization of autistic adults: An investigation of individual-level correlates

Autistic people experience high rates of violence and victimization which is largely due to structural injustices, including stigma and social attitudes. Identifying and addressing systemic and structural factors is vitally important, however effecting change in embedded social structures is likely to take some time, even with concerted efforts. In the meantime, it is important to understand whether there are other individual-level factors that may assist in developing preventative and protective strategies for autistic people. The current study investigated the role of individual-level risk factors in the victimization of autistic people. Specifically, we examined whether characteristics that are common among autistic people that is, lower social competence, higher compliance and emotion regulation difficulties or more ADHD features (inattention, impulsiveness and hyperactivity) were associated with poly-victimization in a community sample of 228 adults (118 autistic, 110 non-autistic). Our results show that only ADHD features were predictive of poly-victimization once socio-demographic background variables (age, sexual orientation) were adjusted for. Group status was not a significant predictor in the model and there were no interaction effects between any of the characteristics and group status. These findings suggest that, regardless of whether a person is autistic, ADHD features may place individuals at higher risk of experiencing multiple forms of violence in adulthood. Further research using longitudinal designs and larger, diverse samples is needed. Furthermore, the regression model only accounted for about one-third of the variance in poly-victimization which highlights the importance of looking beyond individual-level risk factors to structural and systemic factors that contribute to disproportionate victimization of autistic people

Increasing the Efficacy of Treatment for Socially Anxious Youth Through Theoretically Derived Improvements: A Pilot Study

Cognitive behavioural therapy is the first line of treatment for social anxiety disorder; however, children with social anxiety disorder do not respond as well to generic cognitive behavioural therapy programs, compared to children with other anxiety disorders. The aim of the study was to provide a preliminary examination of the efficacy and applicability of a new disorder specific intervention for children with social anxiety disorder. Five children aged 7–13 years, with a primary or secondary DSM-5 diagnosis of social anxiety disorder were provided with an adapted version of the Cool Kids anxiety program. Three out of the five children were in remission from social anxiety disorder at the end of the intervention and at 3-month follow-up. Statistically significant improvements were also noted in overall anxiety symptoms and functioning. Preliminary evidence was found for the efficacy of a social anxiety version of the Cool Kids program

Spatial working memory, not IQ or executive function, discriminates early psychosis and clinically vulnerable creative individuals

© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd Aim: While associations between creativity and psychopathology have been well researched, the specific cognitive processes that distinguish highly creative from those with psychopathology warrant further investigation. This study will examine whether IQ, executive function, cognitive inhibition or spatial working memory differentiate individuals with early psychosis, clinically vulnerable creative individuals, creative controls and non-creative controls. Methods: The study sample consisted of 110 participants: early psychosis (n = 21); clinically vulnerable creative controls (n = 25); creative controls (n = 30) and non-creative control (n = 34). The Diagnostic Interview for Psychosis assessed early psychosis participants and the Mini Neuropsychiatric Interview was used to screen for psychopathology in the remaining groups. Several cognitive tests were administered: IQ, neurocognitive measures of executive function and spatial working memory. Creativity was assessed using the Torrance Test of Creativity and Creative Achievement Questionnaire. A measure of vividness of mental imagery was also given. Results: Across all cognitive tests, spatial working memory differentiated the early psychosis group from both creative and non-creative control groups. Spatial working memory predicted group membership but vivid imagery was a better predictor of creative achievement. The early psychosis, clinically vulnerable creative and creative groups all recorded significantly higher results on creative achievement and creative cognition compared to non-creative controls. Conclusions: Our results provide further support for spatial working memory as an early neuro-cognitive marker for early psychosis. Spatial working memory, rather than IQ or executive function, may also be an early protective factor for clinically vulnerable young creative individuals

Development of the Macquarie Anxiety Behavioural Scale (MABS): A parent measure to assess anxiety in children and adolescents including young people with autism spectrum disorder

Objective: This study examined measurement variance for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale - Parent Form (SCAS-P; Spence, 1999). In addition, we developed and evaluated a new parent report measure for anxiety (Macquarie Anxiety Behavioural Scale; MABS). Method: The sample consisted of 734 parents of children aged 3–19 years (i) who were seeking help for their child's anxiety, (ii) who had received a diagnosis of ASD, or (iii) from the community. Results: Evidence for measurement variance of the SCAS-P and MABS was found, revealing different factor structures between the ASD and non-ASD groups. MIMIC modelling showed that the scales performed significantly different across ASD and non-ASD groups. Differential item functioning on a number of the SCAS-P and MABS items was also found. Limitations: This study relied on parent report of symptoms and of community acquired diagnoses of ASD. Conclusion: The MABS is a new parent measure to assess anxiety in children and adolescents and the proposed factor structure produced a reasonably good fit for the data. Similar to the SCAS-P, ASD was found to impact on some of the MABS items indicating that ASD influences parental responding. Eighteen MABS items showed measurement invariance across the anxious and ASD groups and can be considered suitable items for the assessment of anxiety in ASD

A New Normal: Integrating Lived Experience Into Scientific Data Syntheses

status: publishe