Douglas G. Ullman

Maternal social support as a predictor of mother-child stress and stimulation

There is increasing interest in the role of social support in determining risk for child abuse and neglect. The present study assessed the relationship between maternal social support and two areas: stress in the mother-child relationship: and level of stimulation provided in the home. Maternal social support was assessed prenatally and at a two-year follow-up, while the latter variables were compiled at the two-year follow-up. The data were obtained from 38 urban, low SES (80% on public assistance) mothers and their 2-year-old children. Maternal social support correlated positively with level of stimulation and negatively with level of mother-child stress, and was the best predictor of both, relative to any SES, mother or child variables. In addition, high stress, low support mothers provided significantly less stimulation to their children. The theoretical implications for social support as a mediator variable as well as its implications for early identification and prevention efforts in abuse and neglect are discussed.

A comparison of objective measures of activity and distractibility in hyperactive and nonhyperactive children

In a 15-minute free-play and a 5-minute test session, 13 measures of activity, distractibility, and parental ratings of activity were obtained on three groups of children, consisting of 16 boys referred to a psychological services center for evaluation of possible hyperactivity, 16 referred to that same center for problems other than hyperactivity, and 20 obtained from the local community. Subjects were boys with average intelligence between the ages of 4 and 12 years. Results indicated that the multiple measures of activity and distractibility had significant but relatively low order correlations among themselves. These relationships varied as a function of the subject group. However, there was no consistent relationship between the measures of activity and distractibility. The pattern of relationships obtained suggested that both activity level and distractibility are not homogeneous, unidimensional constructs. Results also indicated that boys referred for hyperactivity displayed greater wrist activity in free play, tended to display greater ankle activity in free play, had significantly correlated wrist and ankle activity, and were rated by their parents as more active than other children. This pattern suggested a global restlessness in children referred for hyperactivity that distinguishes them from other children.

THE BEHAVIORAL SYMPTOMS OF HYPERKINETIC CHILDREN WHO SUCCESSFULLY RESPONDED TO STIMULANT DRUG TREATMENT

Hyperkinetic children who successfully responded to drug treatment were compared with controls on a series of objective measures of activity and attentional problems. Although group differences were found on most measures, there were no indications that these children were more homogeneous in their behavioral symptoms than the hyperkinetic population in general.

The Effects of Sex Typing and Sex Appropriateness of Modeled Behavior on Children's Imitation.

BARKLEY, RUSSELL A.; ULLMAN, DOUGLAS G.; OTTO, LORI; and BRECHT, JAN M. The Effects of Sex Typing and Sex Appropriateness of Modeled Behavior on Childrens Imitation. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1977, 48, 721-725. A review of previous research on childrens imitation suggested that the sex typing and sex appropriateness of a models behavior might be more important than simply the sex of the model and observer in predicting later sex differences in imitation. To further study these variables, 32 boys and 32 girls were randomly assigned within sex to a 2 x 2 x 2 design in which children of both sexes observed videotaped male or female models displaying either masculine or feminine behavior. Also, 8 boys and 8 girls were assigned to a no-model control condition. Results indicated a significant interaction of sex of observer with sex typing of modeled behavior in which girls imitated modeled feminine behavior more than boys, regardless of the sex of the model displaying this sex-typed behavior. The pattern of results for boys suggested a trend toward greater imitation of masculine modeled behavior as compared to girls, again independent of the sex of the model. These results suggested that a major factor in sex differences in childrens imitation is the sex appropriateness of the modeled behavior relative to the observer when a sex-typed behavior is modeled.

The effects of stimulant drugs on curiosity behaviors of hyperactive boys

The curiosity behaviors of 20 hyperactive boys, both on and off stimulant drugs, and in relation to 20 nonhyperactive boys, were assessed. Comparisons on object, manipulative, conceptual, perceptual, and reactive curiosity tasks indicated that stimulants reduced only the object curiosity task performance of hyperactive boys, although the level tended to remain above that of nonhyperactive boys. Also, hyperactive boys both on and off drugs tended to have lower conceptual curiosity scores than controls. Implications are discussed.

Children's Lateral Preference Patterns: Frequency and Relationships with Achievement and Intelligence.

Abstract The frequencies of consistent, mixed, and inconsistent lateral preference patterns in 648 elementary school age children were examined. Preference was determined by 18 different hand, eye, and foot tasks. Almost 60% of the younger children and 35% of the older children demonstrated either mixed or inconsistent patterns. No differences were found in IQ, reading, arithmetic, or spelling achievement scores among the three groups of children, at any age or for either sex. Both the absence of any differences among the groups and the high frequency of mixed and inconsistent patterns in a normal population call into question the clinical utility of such patterns as either indices or correlates of learning difficulties.

Preliminary Children's Norms for the Continuous Visual Memory Test

Abstract Normative data from 138 children (67 females, and 71 males) in grades 1 through 5 were obtained for the Continuous Visual Memory Test (CVMT), a measure of nonverbal, visual recognition memory that has been found previously to be useful with adult clinical populations. A clear developmental pattern was observed, with performance of children at ail grades falling below adult performance levels. Older children performed better than did younger children. Gender effects were not significant. Most indices of CVMT test performance correlated modestly with other memory measures, but not with academic achievement scores.