The association between callous-unemotional traits, externalizing problems, and gender in predicting cognitive and affective morality judgments in adolescence

Contains fulltext : 159171.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Morality deficits have been linked to callous-unemotional traits and externalizing problems in response to moral dilemmas, but these associations are still obscure in response to antisocial acts in adolescence. Limited evidence on young boys suggested that callous–unemotional traits and externalizing problems were associated with affective but not cognitive morality judgments. The present study investigated these associations in a community sample of 277 adolescents (M age  = 15.35, 64 % females). Adolescents with high callous-unemotional traits showed deficits in affective but not cognitive morality, indicating that they can identify the appropriate moral emotions in others, but experience deviant moral emotions when imagining themselves committing antisocial acts. Externalizing problems and male gender were also strongly related to deficits in affective morality, but they had smaller associations with deficits in cognitive morality too. Implications for treatment and the justice system are discussed.14 p

Validation of the Dutch Reactive Proactive Questionnaire (RPQ): Differential correlates of reactive and proactive aggression from childhood to adulthood

Item does not contain fulltextThis study reports reliability and validity of the Dutch Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ). In total, 845 participants completed the RPQ along with other measures of aggression. Groups consisted of non-offender participants, criminal offenders, youngsters (age 618), and adults (age above 18). Testretest stability in a subsample of 324 childhood arrestees was good (all ICC's>0.41). A confirmatory factor analysis supported the same two-factor structure as in the original RPQ. Convergent validity was adequate (all r's>0.16). Moreover, results demonstrated that the proactive and reactive subscales were differentially related to measurements of callousness and impulsiveness, respectively. Criterion validity was shown in that non-offender subjects demonstrated significantly lower RPQ scores than offender samples. Finally, construct validity was demonstrated in that violent offenders showed higher aggression scores than non-violent offenders. Proactive aggression showed different developmental trajectories within non-offender versus criminal samples, indicating that this form of aggression may be more pathological.15 p

Don't you dare look at me, or else: Negative and aggressive interpretation bias, callous unemotional traits and type of aggression

The aim of the present study was to examine whether there is a relation between a negative/aggressive interpretation bias, different types of aggression, and callous-unemotional traits in (delinquent) juveniles. We examined this research question in 2 different studies. The first study examines the relationship between a social negative interpretation bias with different types of aggression and callous-unemotional traits in 42 juvenile delinquent boys from a Juridical Youth Institution Centre and 29 healthy juvenile controls from a local high school in the Netherlands. Results showed that a negative interpretation bias was related to callous-unemotional traits, but specifically within the delinquent group. In the second study we examined this research question in more detail, using 3 different groups and two different measurements of a negative and aggressive interpretation bias (i.e., explicit vs. implicit measurement, respectively). This second study included 88 male participants ranging from 13 to 25 years. Subjects were now recruited from a local high school (healthy controls), an education project (at risk group) and from a Juridical Youth Institution (juvenile group). In the three different groups, there emerged different meaningful correlates. While in the healthy control group there were no significant correlates of a negative interpretation bias, for the two other groups some meaningful correlates were found. Within the at risk group, an aggressive interpretation bias was related to reactive aggression. Within the delinquent group, a negative interpretation bias was significantly related to reactive aggression, while an aggressive interpretation bias was significantly related to proactive aggression. So over the two studies, specifically within the delinquent groups, a negative interpretation bias seems positively related to aggression and callous-unemotional traits. These findings might indicate that the tendency to make negative or aggressive interpretations of potential innocuous situations might form an important mechanism underlying the relation between aggressive acts and the presence of elevated aggression and callous unemotional traits

Young people on the labour market 1982

Education / unemployment / occupation / social benefits / job searching. Background variables: basic characteristics/ residence/ housing situation/ household characteristics/ occupation/employment/ educatio

Multiple Environmental Variables Affect Germination and Mortality of an Annual Salt Marsh Pioneer: Salicornia procumbens

Salt marshes, providing numerous ecosystem services, are degrading worldwide. To effectively aid conservation and restoration efforts, increased knowledge on marsh expansion processes and the initial establishment of pioneer vegetation is essential. In this study, we disentangle environmental drivers that affect the lifecycle of the annual pioneer Salicornia procumbens at the salt marsh edge. We studied the effect of various environmental variables on the start of germination, germination success and mortality before seed-set in a field experiment in the DutchWadden Sea atWesthoek. Our results indicate that temperature and sedimentation inhibited the initiation of germination. Once germination occurred, higher precipitation rates increased germination success. In contrast,sedimentation rates above 0.5 mm day−1 halved germination success through burial of freshly sprouted seedlings. Unexpectedly, natural germination was low, indicating that seed availability may have been limited, despite a seed source nearby. Frequent inundation, extended periods without inundation (through desiccation of the soil) and a highly dynamic bed level increased mortality beforeseed-set. Consequently, bed-level dynamics (erosion, sedimentation and bed-level variation) impact seed production dually (decrease germination and increase mortality) and thus potentially reproduction success. A high seed reproduction is crucial for annuals, such as S. procumbens, to re-establish the following year. Next to advancing our general knowledge of natural salt marsh expansion, results in this study can also be used to assess the potential of a given site for saltmarsh stimulation or restoration. Seed availability and local bedlevel dynamics are key in the successful establishment of a salt marsh pioneer: Salicornia procumbens

Soil CO2 exchange in seven pristine Amazonian rain forest sites in relation to soil temperature

We analysed soil respiration measurements made in seven distinctly different pristine rain forests in Central Amazon, ranging from stunted heath forest (Campina) to tall terra-firme rain forest. The differences in soil respiration fluxes between sites and their causes were investigated, as well as diurnal patterns and their dependency on temperature. Ensemble averages of hourly fluxes were calculated for both wet and dry seasons (as far as these were sampled). These values were processed using an analytical model estimating soil surface temperature from the temperature measured at two depths. The soil C

Antioxidants in Raspberry: On-line analysis links antioxidant activity to a diversity of individual metabolites

The presence of antioxidant compounds can be considered as a quality parameter for edible fruit. In this paper, we studied the antioxidant compounds in raspberry (Rubus idaeus) fruits by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to an on-line postcolumn antioxidant detection system. Both developmental and genetic factors were assessed by comparing fruits from a single cultivar of different ripening stages and by comparing ripe fruits of 14 raspberry cultivars, respectively. The HPLC-separated antioxidant compounds were identified using HPLC-photodiode array coupled to mass spectrometry (quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry), using a reference lock mass for determining accurate masses. The dominant antioxidants could be classified as anthocyanins, ellagitannins, and proanthocyanidin-like tannins. During fruit ripening, some anthocyanins were newly produced, while others, like cyanidin-3-glucoside, were already present early in fruit development. The level of tannins, both ellagitannins and proanthocyanidin-like tannins, was reduced strongly during fruit ripening. Among the 14 cultivars, major differences (>20-fold) were observed in the levels of pelagonidin type anthocyanins and some proanthocyanidin type tannins. The content of ellagitannins varied approximately 3-fold. The findings presented here suggest that the content of individual health-promoting compounds varies significantly in raspberry, due to both developmental and genetic factors. This information will assist in the future development and identification of raspberry lines with enhanced health-promoting propertie

Admixture analysis of age at onset in older patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders

The nature of schizophrenia spectrum disorders with an onset in middle or late adulthood remains controversial. The aim of our study was to determine in patients aged 60 and older if clinically relevant subtypes based on age at onset can be distinguished, using admixture analysis, a data-driven technique. We conducted a cross-sectional study in 94 patients aged 60 and older with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Admixture analysis was used to determine if the distribution of age at onset in this cohort was consistent with one or more populations of origin and to determine cut-offs for age at onset groups, if more than one population could be identified. Results showed that admixture analysis based on age at onset demonstrated only one normally distributed population. Our results suggest that in older schizophrenia patients, early- and late-onset ages form a continuum