Associations between social emotional and language domains in toddlerhood - the Steps Study

This research has highlighted a risk for social-emotional and behavioural (SEB) problems in children with developmental language disorder. Associations with delays in social-emotional competencies and language development have been found in both children with language delays and children with language disorders, but findings on the association between SEB problems and language delay in very young children are mixed. The purpose of this study was to explore whether there is an association between social-emotional competencies and SEB problems measured at 18 months and language skills measured at 2 years of age. In addition, background factors often related to language development were controlled statistically. The data were gathered from parents of 591 children with questionnaires in a Finnish cohort study (the STEPS study). Social-emotional competencies and SEB problems were assessed with Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (BITSEA) and language skills with MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories (CDI-T). The data were analysed with forced entry multiple linear regression analyses with three language variables (expressive vocabulary, grammar and M3L) as outcome variables and SEB problems, social-emotional competencies and background variables as independent variables. Children with delay in social-emotional competencies in early toddlerhood according to the BITSEA cut-off scores had significantly smaller expressive vocabularies measured half a year later at 24 months of age than children with no delay in social-emotional competencies. SEB problems were not associated with weaker language skills. Child’s sex was the most important background factor contributing to all of the language variables in favour of girls. Findings indicate that a delay in social-emotional competencies in early toddlerhood can be associated with a delay in development of expressive vocabulary in later toddlerhood. Language development of young toddlers with a delay or deficit in social-emotional competencies should be examined as early as possible to support language development when needed.Peer reviewe

Family connections versus optimised treatment-as-usual for family members of individuals with borderline personality disorder: non-randomised controlled study

Background: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is challenging for family members who are often required to fulfil multiple roles such as those of advocate, caregiver, coach and guardian. To date, two uncontrolled studies by the treatment developers suggest that Family Connections (FC) is an effective programme to support, educate and teach skills to family members of individuals with BPD. However, such studies have been limited by lack of comparison to other treatment approaches. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of FC with an optimised treatment-as-usual (OTAU) programme for family members of individuals with BPD. A secondary aim was to introduce a long term follow-up to investigate if positive gains from the intervention would be maintained following programme completion. Methods: This study was a non-randomised controlled study, with assessment of outcomes at baseline (pre-intervention) and end of programme (post-intervention) for both FC and OTAU groups, and at follow-up (3 months post-intervention; 12 or 19 months post-intervention) for the FC group. Eighty family members participated in the FC (n = 51) and the OTAU (n = 29) programmes. Outcome measures included burden, grief, depression and mastery. Linear mixed-effects models were used to assess baseline differences in the outcome measures by gender, age group and type of relationship to the individual with BPD. Linear mixed-effects models were also used to estimate the treatment effect (FC versus OTAU) utilising all available data from baseline and end of programme. Results: The FC group showed changes indicating significant improvement with respect to all four outcome measures (p < 0.001). The OTAU group showed changes in the same direction as the intervention group but none of the changes were statistically significant. The intervention effect was statistically significant for total burden (including both subscales; p = .02 for subjective burden and p = .048 for objective burden) and grief (p = 0.013). Improvements were maintained at follow-up for FC participants. Conclusions: The findings of the current study indicate that FC results in statistically significant improvements on key measures while OTAU does not yield comparable changes. Lack of significant change on all measures for OTAU suggests that a three session psycho-education programme is of limited benefit. Further research is warranted on programme components and long-term supports for family members

Law defining the critical level of driver fatigue in terms of hours without sleep: Criminal justice professionals\u27 opinions and fatal accident data

The aims of the present study were to determine the support among criminal justice professionals for a law that defines the critical limit of driver fatigue in terms of 24 consecutive hours of wakefulness; and to determine how many drivers causing fatal accidents would be potentially covered by such a law. The data included an online questionnaire data collected from 325 criminal justice professionals (96 prosecutors, 129 traffic police officers, and 100 local police officers with experience in traffic surveillance and accident investigations) and the national database of fatal road accidents studied in depth (N = 1871; 2002-2008). The support for such a law was quite low among prosecutors while police officers were more in favor than against it. Only a handful of the (survived) drivers who caused a fatal accident were awake for more than 24 consecutive hours. We discuss several challenges and considerations associated with such a law

Alcohol Ignition Interlocks in All New Vehicles: A Broader Perspective

Objective: To discuss the implications of widespread implementation of alcohol ignition interlocks. Method: We base our discussion on data from Finland including crash statistics and surveys collected from criminal justice professionals and general driving population. Results: Alcohol ignition interlocks are an effective preventive measure against drunk driving when installed in the vehicles of convicted drunk drivers. However, once they are removed from the vehicles, drivers typically return to their habit of drinking and driving. Furthermore, for a number of reasons, the proportion of convicted drunk drivers that install an interlock in their vehicles is quite small. Therefore, many stakeholders believe that the solution to the drunk driving problem will come when interlocks become standard equipment in all new vehicles. However, drunk driving is a complex sociopsychological problem, and technology can rarely offer a solution to such complex problems. Consequently, many aspects of such interventions might be difficult to identify and include in cost-benefit analysis. Conclusion: We express caution about requiring an interlock as standard equipment in all new vehicles