Read my lips! Perception of speech in noise by preschool children with autism and the impact of watching the speaker’s face

Adults and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders show greater difficulties comprehending speech in the presence of noise. Moreover, while neurotypical adults use visual cues on the mouth to help them understand speech in background noise, differences in attention to human faces in autism may affect use of these visual cues. No work has yet examined these skills in toddlers with ASD, despite the fact that they are frequently faced with noisy, multitalker environments.https://doi.org/10.1186/s11689-020-09348-

Taking Be proud! Be responsible! to the Suburbs: A Replication Study

CONTEXT: An important phase of HIV prevention research is replicating successful interventions with different groups and in different settings. METHODS: Be Proud! Be Responsible!, a successful intervention originally targeting black urban males and carried out in nonschool settings, was presented in health classes at urban and suburban schools with diverse student bodies. A group-randomized intervention study, which included 1,357 ninth and 10th graders from 10 paired schools in a Midwestern metropolitan area, was conducted in 2000-2002. Half the schools received the intervention, and half received a general health promotion program. Students\u27 reports of their sexual behavior and selected cognitive mediators were analyzed immediately following the programs and four and 12 months later. RESULTS: Compared with students who received the control curriculum, students exposed to the intervention reported significantly greater knowledge of HIV, other STDs and condoms; greater confidence in their ability to control sexual impulses, to use condoms and to negotiate the use of condoms; and stronger intentions to use condoms. Stratified analyses revealed that the strongest intervention impacts were on knowledge and efficacy among males and students attending suburban schools. The intervention had no impact on sexual initiation, frequency of intercourse or condom use. CONCLUSIONS: Schools are a logical and viable setting for the dissemination and acquisition of information about HIV, including prevention strategies. However, the behavioral impact of an intervention may not be easily transferable when the program is taught outside a carefully controlled, nonschool setting

The effect of prophylactic treatment with levetiracetam on the incidence of post-attenuation seizures in dogs undergoing surgical management of single congenital extrahepatic portosystemic shunts

Objectives: To report (1) the incidence of post-attenuation seizures (PAS) in dogs that underwent single congenital extrahepatic portosystemic shunt (cEHPSS) attenuation and (2) to compare incidence of PAS in dogs that either did or did not receive prophylactic treatment with levetiracetam (LEV).Study Design: Multi-institutional retrospective study.Sample Population: Nine-hundred-and-forty dogs.Methods: Medical records were reviewed to identify dogs that underwent surgical attenuation of a single cEHPSS from January 2005 through July 2017 and developed PAS within seven days postoperatively. Dogs were divided into three groups: no LEV (LEV-); LEV at >15mg/kg TID for >24 hours or a 60mg/kg intravenous loading dose preoperatively, followed by >15mg/kg TID postoperatively (LEV1); ); and LEV at less than 15mg/kg TID, for less than 24 hours preoperatively, or continued at less than 15mg/kg TID postoperatively (LEV2).Results: Nine-hundred-and-forty dogs were included. Seventy-five (8.0%) developed PAS. Incidence of PAS was 35/523 (6.7%), 21/188 (11.2%) and 19/228 (8.3%) in groups LEV-, LEV1 and LEV2, respectively. This difference was not statistically significant (p=0.14). No significant differences between groups of dogs that seized with respect to variables investigated were identified.Conclusions: The overall incidence of PAS was low (8%). Prophylactic treatment with LEV according to the protocols investigated in our study was not associated with a reduced incidence of PAS.Clinical Significance: Prophylactic treatment with LEV does not afford protection against development of PAS. Surgically treated dogs should continue to be monitored closely during the first seven days postoperatively for seizures

Examining the demographic profile and attitudes of citizens, in areas where organised crime groups proliferate

Whilst studies refer to the community impact of Organized Crime (OC), no survey currently exists to examine the views of those citizens who reside in areas where Organized Crime Groups (OCGs) proliferate. 431 questionnaires from households co-existing in high density OCGs areas were analysed in relation to: a) demographic information; b) views on the community and the police; and c) how they expected other residents to react to illegal incidents. Overall respondents thought the average citizen would refuse to intervene in 10% - 48% of illegal incidents, with the specific case influencing whether and how they would respond. The analysis then compared three communities who lived in high density OCG areas with a control community (n=343). The ‘OCG’ communities were more likely to report low collective efficacy and were least likely to expect their neighbours to confront a crime in action. Conversely, whilst the control group showed higher levels of collective efficacy and expected the average resident more likely to confront illegal behaviour, this trend did not extend to street drug dealing and serious crime associated with OC. The study discusses the unreported intimidation associated with OCGs and the challenges of policing hostile environments

Genetic Effects on Children’s Conversational Language Use

The present study examined the extent of genetic and environmental influences on individual differences in children’s conversational language use

Boys’ and Girls’ Relational and Physical Aggression in Nine Countries

Distinguishing between relational and physical aggression has become a key feature of many developmental studies in North America and Western Europe, but very little information is available on relational aggression in more diverse cultural contexts. This study examined the factor structure of, gender differences in, and associations between relational and physical aggression in China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. Children ages 7 to 10 years (N = 1410) reported on their relationally and physically aggressive behavior. Relational and physical aggression shared a common factor structure across countries. Unsurprisingly, boys reported being more physically aggressive than girls across all nine countries; surprisingly, there were no significant gender differences in relational aggression. In all nine countries, relational and physical aggression were significantly correlated (average r = .49). The countries differed significantly in the mean levels of both relational and physical aggression that children reported using and with respect to whether children reported using more physical than relational aggression or more relational than physical aggression. Despite mean level differences in relational and physical aggression across countries, the findings provided support for cross-country similarities in associations between relational and physical aggression, as well as links between gender and aggression

Parenting, culture, and the development of externalizing behaviors from age 7 to 14 in nine countries

Using multilevel models, we examined mother-, father-, and child-reported (N = 1,336 families) externalizing behavior problem trajectories from age 7 to 14 in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States). The intercept and slope of children\u27s externalizing behavior trajectories varied both across individuals within culture and across cultures, and the variance was larger at the individual level than at the culture level. Mothers’ and children\u27s endorsement of aggression as well as mothers’ authoritarian attitudes predicted higher age 8 intercepts of child externalizing behaviors. Furthermore, prediction from individual-level endorsement of aggression and authoritarian attitudes to more child externalizing behaviors was augmented by prediction from cultural-level endorsement of aggression and authoritarian attitudes, respectively. Cultures in which father-reported endorsement of aggression was higher and both mother- and father-reported authoritarian attitudes were higher also reported more child externalizing behavior problems at age 8. Among fathers, greater attributions regarding uncontrollable success in caregiving situations were associated with steeper declines in externalizing over time. Understanding cultural-level as well as individual-level correlates of children\u27s externalizing behavior offers potential insights into prevention and intervention efforts that can be more effectively targeted at individual children and parents as well as targeted at changing cultural norms that increase the risk of children\u27s and adolescents’ externalizing behavior

Mothers\u27, fathers\u27 and children\u27s perceptions of parents\u27 expectations about children\u27s family obligations in nine countries

Children\u27s family obligations involve assistance and respect that children are expected to provide to immediate and extended family members and reflect beliefs related to family life that may differ across cultural groups. Mothers, fathers and children (N = 1432 families) in 13 cultural groups in 9 countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand and United States) reported on their expectations regarding children\u27s family obligations and parenting attitudes and behaviours. Within families, mothers and fathers had more concordant expectations regarding children\u27s family obligations than did parents and children. Parenting behaviours that were warmer, less neglectful and more controlling as well as parenting attitudes that were more authoritarian were related to higher expectations regarding children\u27s family obligations between families within cultures as well as between cultures. These international findings advance understanding of children\u27s family obligations by contextualising them both within families and across a number of diverse cultural groups in 9 countries

Abstinence-only-until-marriage : An Updated review of U.S. policies and programs and their impact

Adolescence is marked by the emergence of human sexuality, sexual identity and the initiation of intimate relations; within this context, abstinence from sexual intercourse can be a healthy choice. However, programs that promote abstinence-only-until-marriage (AOUM) or sexual risk avoidance (SRA), are scientifically and ethically problematic and—as such—have been widely rejected by medical and public health professionals. Although abstinence is theoretically effective, in actual practice, intentions to abstain from sexual activity often fail. Given a rising age at first marriage around the world, a rapidly declining percentage of young people remain abstinent until marriage. Promotion of AOUM policies by the United States (U.S.) government has undermined sexuality education in the U.S. and in U.S. foreign aid programs; funding for AOUM continues in the U.S. The weight of scientific evidence finds that AOUM programs are not effective in delaying initiation of sexual intercourse or changing other sexual risk behaviors. AOUM programs, as defined by U.S. federal funding requirements, inherently withhold information about human sexuality and may provide medically inaccurate and stigmatizing information. Thus, AOUM programs threaten fundamental human rights to health, information, and life. Young people need access to accurate and comprehensive sexual health information to protect their health and lives

Bidirectional Relations Between Parenting and Behavior Problems From Age 8 to 13 in Nine Countries

This study used data from 12 cultural groups in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States; N = 1,298) to understand the cross‐cultural generalizability of how parental warmth and control are bidirectionally related to externalizing and internalizing behaviors from childhood to early adolescence. Mothers, fathers, and children completed measures when children were ages 8–13. Multiple‐group autoregressive, cross‐lagged structural equation models revealed that child effects rather than parent effects may better characterize how warmth and control are related to child externalizing and internalizing behaviors over time, and that parent effects may be more characteristic of relations between parental warmth and control and child externalizing and internalizing behavior during childhood than early adolescence