Externalizing behaviors in preadolescents: familial risk to externalizing behaviors and perceived parenting styles

The aim was to investigate the contribution of familial risk to externalizing behaviors (FR-EXT), perceived parenting styles, and their interactions to the prediction of externalizing behaviors in preadolescents. Participants were preadolescents aged 10–12 years who participated in TRAILS, a large prospective population-based cohort study in the Netherlands (N = 2,230). Regression analyses were used to determine the relative contribution of FR-EXT and perceived parenting styles to parent and teacher ratings of externalizing behaviors. FR-EXT was based on lifetime parental externalizing psychopathology and the different parenting styles (emotional warmth, rejection, and overprotection) were based on the child’s perspective. We also investigated whether different dimensions of perceived parenting styles had different effects on subdomains of externalizing behavior. We found main effects for FR-EXT (vs. no FR-EXT), emotional warmth, rejection, and overprotection that were fairly consistent across rater and outcome measures. More specific, emotional warmth was the most consistent predictor of all outcome measures, and rejection was a stronger predictor of aggression and delinquency than of inattention. Interaction effects were found for FR-EXT and perceived parental rejection and overprotection; other interactions between FR-EXT and parenting styles were not significant. Correlations between FR-EXT and perceived parenting styles were absent or very low and were without clinical significance. Predominantly main effects of FR-EXT and perceived parenting styles independently contribute to externalizing behaviors in preadolescents, suggesting FR-EXT and parenting styles to be two separate areas of causality. The relative lack of gene–environment interactions may be due to the epidemiological nature of the study, the preadolescent age of the subjects, the measurement level of parenting and the measurement level of FR-EXT, which might be a consequence of both genetic and environmental factors

Evidence-based Kernels: Fundamental Units of Behavioral Influence

This paper describes evidence-based kernels, fundamental units of behavioral influence that appear to underlie effective prevention and treatment for children, adults, and families. A kernel is a behavior–influence procedure shown through experimental analysis to affect a specific behavior and that is indivisible in the sense that removing any of its components would render it inert. Existing evidence shows that a variety of kernels can influence behavior in context, and some evidence suggests that frequent use or sufficient use of some kernels may produce longer lasting behavioral shifts. The analysis of kernels could contribute to an empirically based theory of behavioral influence, augment existing prevention or treatment efforts, facilitate the dissemination of effective prevention and treatment practices, clarify the active ingredients in existing interventions, and contribute to efficiently developing interventions that are more effective. Kernels involve one or more of the following mechanisms of behavior influence: reinforcement, altering antecedents, changing verbal relational responding, or changing physiological states directly. The paper describes 52 of these kernels, and details practical, theoretical, and research implications, including calling for a national database of kernels that influence human behavior

Rootless cone eruption processes informed by dissected tephra deposits and conduits

Rootless cones result from the explosive interaction between lava flows and underlying water-saturated sediment or volcaniclastic deposits. Rootless explosions can represent a significant far-field hazard during basaltic eruptions, but there are few detailed studies of their deposits. A rootless cone field in the 8.5 Ma Ice Harbor flow field of the Columbia River Basalt Province, NW USA, is revealed by sections through rootless conduit and cone structures. The Ice Harbor lava flow hosting the rootless cones was emplaced across a floodplain or lacustrine environment that had recently been mantled by a layer of silicic volcanic ash from a major explosive eruption. Our observations indicate a two-stage growth model for the rootless cones: (1) initial explosions generated sediment-rich tephra emplaced by fallout and pyroclastic density currents and (2) later weaker explosions that generated spatter-rich fountains. Variable explosive activity resulted in a wide range of pyroclast morphologies and vesicularities. Cross-sections through funnel-shaped conduits also show how the conduits were constructed and stabilised. The growth model is consistent with decreasing water availability with time, as inferred for rootless cones described in Iceland. The Ice Harbor rootless cones provide further lithological data to help distinguish between rootless cone-derived tephra and tephra generated above an erupting dyke