Intra-Individual Subtest Variability on the Dutch Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children—Revised (WISC–RNL) for Children with Learning Disabilities, Psychiatric Disorders, and Epilepsy

2009 ◽  
Vol 105 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 995-1008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loretta van Iterson ◽  
Alan S. Kaufman
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Intelligence Test ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Normal Variation ◽  
Moderate Effect ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Score Range ◽  
Performance Scale

It is common practice to look at disparities among subtest scores (“scatter”) on an intelligence test to establish if a score is deviant. However, it remains unclear whether subtest scatter reflects primarily normal variation within individuals or is clinically meaningful. The present study explored this issue based on data from 467 children with developmental disabilities tested on the Dutch WISC–RNL. Of these children, 132 had learning disabilities, 178 had psychiatric disorders, and 157 had epilepsy. Subtest scatter was defined as scaled-score range (highest minus lowest scaled score). When contrasted with “normal scatter,” the overall sample revealed higher ranges on the Performance Scale and Full Scale, although effect sizes were small. Analysis of the data for the three separate clinical samples revealed unusual scatter only for the sample of children with psychiatric disorders. When comparing the clinical samples, scaled-score range was larger for the sample of children with psychiatric disorders than for those with epilepsy. Two distinct subsamples revealed elevated ranges with moderate effect sizes: children with autistic spectrum disorders and children with left hemisphere seizures. These results suggest that elevated subtest scaled-score range might characterize specific clinical samples rather than denoting an overall sign of pathology.

scholarly journals Revisiting the role of financial motives in disordered gambling: A meta-analytic review

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nassim Tabri ◽  
Silas Xuereb ◽  
Natalie Cringle ◽  
Luke Clark
Keyword(s):  
Zero Order ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Disordered Gambling ◽  
Analytic Review ◽  
Gambling Motives ◽  
Moderate Effect ◽  
Gambling Frequency

Aims: Money is central to psychological definitions of gambling, but contemporary accounts of disordered gambling are ambiguous regarding the role of financial motives for gambling. The aims of the current research were to obtain meta-analytic weighted effect sizes for zero-order associations of financial motives against disordered gambling and gambling frequency, as well as partial associations after controlling for other motives (e.g. coping). Design: A meta-analysis of the available literature through October 2019 was undertaken. Studies were identified from multiple sources (e.g., database search, consulting other researchers). PRISMA standards were followed when screening identified records and extracting relevant data. The data analytic plan was pre-registered. Setting: Cross-sectional studies that involved student, community, and clinical samples ofpeople who gamble. Participants: Forty-one studies were included with 32,997 participants from different countries. Measurements: Validated self-report measures of financial motives for gambling alongside measures of either problem gambling and/or gambling frequency. Findings: Financial motives for gambling were positively associated with both disordered gambling, r = .34, [.30, .38], p =1.04e-61, and gambling frequency, r = .29, [.20, .37], p = 1.70e-13, with moderate effect sizes. The partial associations after controlling for overlapping variance with other gambling motives were also positive (disordered gambling: β = .18, [.14, .23], p = 2.53e-15; gambling frequency: β = .16, [.08, .24], p = 9.45e-5), with small-to-moderate effect sizes. The effect sizes were heterogenous and the extent of heterogeneity was high. Moderator analyses of the zero-order association involving gambling frequency indicated that effect sizes were larger for studies that used the Gambling Motives Questionnaire-Financial relative to studies that developed their own gambling motives measure. No further moderators were statistically significant. Conclusions: Financial motives are reliably and positively associated with both disordered gambling and gambling involvement and should be incorporated into etiological models of gambling disorder.

scholarly journals Associations between financial gambling motives, gambling frequency, and level of problem gambling: A meta-analytic review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nassim Tabri ◽  
Silas Xuereb ◽  
Natalie Cringle ◽  
Luke Clark
Keyword(s):  
Problem Gambling ◽  
Zero Order ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Sample Mean ◽  
Analytic Review ◽  
Gambling Motives ◽  
Moderate Effect ◽  
Gambling Frequency

Background and aims: Money is central to psychological definitions of gambling, but contemporary accounts are ambiguous regarding the role of financial motives in disordered gambling. The aims of the current research were to obtain meta-analytic weighted effect sizes for zero-order associations of financial motives against gambling frequency and level of problem gambling, as well as partial associations after controlling for other motives (e.g., coping). Methods: A meta-analysis of the literature through February 2021 was undertaken. Studies were identified from multiple sources (e.g., database search, other researchers). PRISMA standards were followed when screening identified records and extracting relevant data. The data analytic plan was pre-registered. We included 44 cross-sectional studies that involved student, community, and clinical samples of people who gamble (sample sizes ranged from 22 to 5,666), using validated self-report measures of financial gambling motives alongside measures of either gambling frequency and/or problem gambling. Results: Financial gambling motives were positively associated with gambling frequency, r = .29, [.21, .37], N= 22,738 and level of problem gambling, r = .35, [.31, .38], N = 38,204 with moderate effect sizes. Partial associations after controlling for overlapping variance with other gambling motives were also positive (gambling frequency: β = .14, [.05, .22], N = 3,844; level of problem gambling: β = .18, [.13, .22], N = 28,146), with small-to-moderate effect sizes. Effect sizes were heterogeneous and the extent of heterogeneity was high. Analyses of the zero-order association involving gambling frequency indicated that gambling motives measure (greater for Gambling Motives Questionnaire-Financial) and sample mean age (greater for younger samples) were moderators. No other moderators were statistically significant. Conclusions: Financial gambling motives appear to be reliably and positively associated with both gambling frequency and level of problem gambling.

scholarly journals Atlas of functional connectivity relationships across rare and common genetic variants, traits, and psychiatric conditions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clara A Moreau ◽  
Kuldeep Kumar ◽  
Annabelle Harvey ◽  
Guillaume Huguet ◽  
Sebastian Urchs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Brain Connectivity ◽  
Copy Number Variants ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Genomic Variants ◽  
Common Genetic Variants ◽  
Polygenic Scores ◽  
Genetic Risks ◽  
Psychiatric Conditions

Polygenicity and pleiotropy are key properties of the genomic architecture of psychiatric disorders. An optimistic interpretation of polygenicity is that genomic variants converge on a limited set of mechanisms at some level from genes to behavior. Alternatively, convergence may be minimal or absent. We took advantage of brain connectivity, measured by resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI), as well as rare and common genomic variants to understand the effects of polygenicity and pleiotropy on large-scale brain networks, a distal step from genes to behavior. We processed ten rs-fMRI datasets including 32,988 individuals, to examine connectome-wide effects of 16 copy number variants (CNVs), 10 polygenic scores, 6 cognitive and brain morphometry traits, and 4 idiopathic psychiatric conditions. Although effect sizes of CNVs on connectivity were correlated to cognition and number of genes, increasing polygenicity was associated with decreasing effect sizes on connectivity. Accordingly, the effect sizes of polygenic scores on connectivity were 6-fold lower compared to CNVs. Despite this heterogeneity of connectivity profiles, multivariate analysis identified convergence of genetic risks and psychiatric disorders on the thalamus and the somatomotor network. Based on spatial correlations with transcriptomic data, we hypothesize that excitatory thalamic neurons may be primary contributors to brain alteration profiles shared across genetic risks and conditions. Finally, pleiotropy measured by genetic and transcriptomic correlations between 38 pairs of conditions/traits showed significant concordance with connectomic correlations, suggesting a substantial causal genetic component for shared connectivity. Such findings open avenues to delineate general mechanisms - amenable to intervention - across conditions and genetic risks.

scholarly journals Trends in consultations for schizophrenia and non-affective psychoses in Italian emergency departments during and after the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matteo Balestrieri ◽  
Paola Rucci ◽  
Davide Amendola ◽  
Miki Bonizzoni ◽  
Giancarlo Cerveri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Suicidal Ideation ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Hospital Emergency Department ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Hospital Emergency ◽  
Consultation Rate ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Sedative Agents

Abstract Aims To analyse the hospital emergency department (HED) consultations for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders in nine Italian hospitals during the 2020 lockdown and post-lockdown periods, compared to the equivalent periods in 2019. Methods Characteristics of consultations, patients, and drug prescriptions were analysed. Joinpoint models were used to identify changes in the weekly trend of consultations. Results During the 2020 lockdown the overall number of HED consultations for schizophrenia decreased by 40.7% and after the lockdown by 12.2% compared with 2019. No difference was found in the proportion of consultations that led to GHPU admissions or compulsory admissions. Suicidality rates did not differ across the two years, with the exception of ideations and plans (+5.9%) during the post-lockdown period. We found an increase in benzodiazepine prescriptions in 2020 during the lockdown and post-lockdown periods (+10.6% and +20.8%, respectively), and a decrease of prescriptions for short-acting sedative agents in the post-lockdown period (-7.9%). An increase in the weekly trend of consultations occurred from March 11-17 (week 11) to June 26-June 30 (week 26). As a result, the initial gap in the number of consultations between the two years cancelled out at the end of June. Conclusions HED consultation rate for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders declined consistent with that of other psychiatric disorders. In the post-lockdown period the growth of suicidal ideation/planning and increase in the prescriptions of anxiolytic-sedating drugs may foreshadow that for some schizophrenia patients the exit from the lockdown period is not liberating, but rather a source of agitation or perturbation.

scholarly journals Cigarette smoking in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder: a report from the International College of Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum Disorders (ICOCS)

CNS Spectrums ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 469-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernardo Dell’Osso ◽  
Humberto Nicolini ◽  
Nuria Lanzagorta ◽  
Beatrice Benatti ◽  
Gregorio Spagnolin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cigarette Smoking ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Tourette’S Syndrome ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Tic Disorder ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
International College ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) showed a lower prevalence of cigarette smoking compared to other psychiatric disorders in previous and recent reports. We assessed the prevalence and clinical correlates of the phenomenon in an international sample of 504 OCD patients recruited through the International College of Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum Disorders (ICOCS) network.Cigarette smoking showed a cross-sectional prevalence of 24.4% in the sample, with significant differences across countries. Females were more represented among smoking patients (16% vs 7%; p<.001). Patients with comorbid Tourette’s syndrome (p<.05) and tic disorder (p<.05) were also more represented among smoking subjects. Former smokers reported a higher number of suicide attempts (p<.05).We found a lower cross-sectional prevalence of smoking among OCD patients compared to findings from previous studies in patients with other psychiatric disorders but higher compared to previous and more recent OCD studies. Geographic differences were found and smoking was more common in females and comorbid Tourette’s syndrome/tic disorder.

A Meta-Analytic Review of the Consequences of Stigma and Stereotype Threat for Individuals with Specific Learning Disabilities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Haft ◽  
Fumiko Hoeft
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Stereotype Threat ◽  
Psychological Adjustment ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Academic Outcomes ◽  
Specific Learning Disabilities ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Related Stigma ◽  
Specific Learning

Exposure to stigma and stereotype threat has shown detrimental effects on psychological and academic outcomes in numerous marginalized groups. Research has demonstrated that individuals with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) are vulnerable to stigmatization because of their SLDs. The purpose of this quantitative meta-analysis is to provide an estimation of the overall relationship between SLD-related stigma and psychological and academic outcomes in individuals with SLDs, as well as examine the overall effect size of SLD-related stereotype threat across studies. A total of seven effect sizes examining SLD stigma and psychological adjustment, two effect sizes examining SLD stigma and academic outcomes, and six effect sizes examining SLD stereotype threat across 13 studies were analyzed. Meta-analytic findings revealed that greater SLD stigma scores had a medium-sized and significant correlation with less optimal psychological adjustment (r=-.39, k=7, p&lt;.0001). SLD stigma showed a weak association with academic outcomes (r=-.06, k=2, p=.59). The estimated mean effect size of stereotype threat manipulations in individuals with SLDs was g=0.49 (k=6, p&lt;.030), reflecting a medium effect and overall poorer performance-related outcomes in conditions of high stereotype threat. Given the small number of studies, moderator analyses were unable to be performed and evidence for publication bias is equivocal. These findings highlight the need for more research on SLD-related stigma and stereotype threat, and suggest that these negative experiences be a target of intervention and support efforts for individuals with SLDs.

Integrated Support of Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders and Learning Disabilities

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Yefim Kats
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Instructional Technology ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Technology Support ◽  
Educational Environments ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

This chapter outlines the integrated approach to support children and young adults diagnosed with learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In this context, the authors, first, discuss the legislative background providing legal basis for the disability support in educational environments. They, further, address psychological and neurological aspects of learning disabilities and ASD diagnostics and consider how legislative and neurological issues influence special education methods, counseling, and instructional technology support. The educational tools addressed include mobile devices and applications, virtual reality, and robotics. The chapter concludes with a report on the development of college-level course in instructional technology, intended for technology facilitators and teachers working with the ASD students. The case study focuses primarily on the use of the affordable and popular LEGO robots. The holistic approach to support of those with disabilities, outlined in the chapter, combines educational leadership issues, psychological and job counseling, special education methods, and instructional technology.

Integrated Support of Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders and Learning Disabilities

2022 ◽  
pp. 539-552
Author(s):  
Yefim Kats
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Instructional Technology ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Technology Support ◽  
Educational Environments ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

This chapter outlines the integrated approach to support children and young adults diagnosed with learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In this context, the authors, first, discuss the legislative background providing legal basis for the disability support in educational environments. They, further, address psychological and neurological aspects of learning disabilities and ASD diagnostics and consider how legislative and neurological issues influence special education methods, counseling, and instructional technology support. The educational tools addressed include mobile devices and applications, virtual reality, and robotics. The chapter concludes with a report on the development of college-level course in instructional technology, intended for technology facilitators and teachers working with the ASD students. The case study focuses primarily on the use of the affordable and popular LEGO robots. The holistic approach to support of those with disabilities, outlined in the chapter, combines educational leadership issues, psychological and job counseling, special education methods, and instructional technology.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document