Hans Bengtsson

Cognition and character traits as determinants of young children's behaviour in traffic situations

Young children, 3 to 6 years’ old, were observed in two situations: (1) a traffic model, where they used dolls to enact the movements of two children on the way to and from day care; and (2) as they crossed a lightly trafficked, minor road in a situation analogous to that in the model. Atotal of 131 children participated. All were tested in the model situation (a), both on understanding of safety and safety devices and on road-crossing behaviour. The latter was seen as a task consisting of three components (i) using a zebra crossing, (ii) stopping at the curb, and (iii) looking for cars. Asubgroup of 47 children was tested on three character traits, activity, distraction, and impulsivity. Another subgroup of 45 children participated in the roadside situation (b). The results show that although both age and understanding were important predictors of appropriate behaviour in both traffic situations, the behaviour components were differentially related to these factors. Of the character traits, impulsivity was found to be reliably related to traffic behaviour.

Attachment in a Group of Adult International Adoptees

ABSTRACT The present study examines whether foreign adoptees differ from normative samples in adult attachment status, and explores within-group differences associated with (in)secure attachment status in adult adoptees. Forty adoptees, from a previous representative study of foreign adoptees in Sweden, were interviewed with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). In addition, they were questioned about issues related to identity and family history, and self-assessment instruments were used to assess self-esteem and mental health. Compared to norm groups, the adoptees did not differ significantly in attachment status. However, insecure attachment organization on the AAI was associated with late adoption and a desire to know more about ones biological roots. Late adoption, memories from the time before the adoption, divorce, lack of contact in the adoptive family with the childs origin, and a tendency in adoptees not to think about their biological background, were all associated with unresolved/disorganized status with respect to loss or abuse. There was a nonsignificant tendency for secure attachment status to be associated with higher mental health and self-esteem than insecure attachment status.

Children’s cognitive appraisal of others’ distressful and positive experiences

The study presents a theoretical model for understanding how children’s cognitive processing of empathy-provoking information is linked to vicariously aroused feelings, and to prosocial and aggressive behaviour. Predictions from the model were tested in a cross-sectional sample of second-, fourth-, and sixth-graders (N = 175) and in a large sample of fourth-graders (N = 124). Two significant forms of information processing bias were identified: (a) one that enhances the awareness of potential threats towards the self or others, and (b) one that reduces the emotional significance of the stimuli subjected to processing. Children high in empathy and prosocial behaviour tended to experience moderate levels of threat and to modulate the emotional significance of empathy-provoking stimuli through cognitive restructuring. Aggressive children tended to use dismissive operations and typically experienced either very low or very high levels of threat. The oldest children differed from the youngest by using more multiple perspective taking and cognitive restructuring.

The effect of extremely preterm birth on attachment organization in late adolescence

BACKGROUND Prior studies have examined the impact of preterm birth on the quality of the attachment relationship to the mother in infancy, but few have examined extremely preterm born infants and almost no data have been reported on prematurity and its impact on the attachment organization attained after childhood. METHODS Thirty-nine adolescents born extremely preterm and 39 full-term born control participants were assessed with the Adult Attachment Interview. RESULTS The prematurely born showed lower scores regarding measures of attachment security and, in particular, a higher proportion of insecure dismissive patterns. This difference seemed to be clear and persistent even when controlled for intelligence and socio-economic variables. CONCLUSIONS Because insecure attachment as well as prematurity may be considered as significant risk factors for developing psychopathology, they deserve careful attention in future research and clinical follow-ups.

Cultivating awareness at school. Effects on effortful control, peer relations and well-being at school in grades 5, 7, and 8

Effects of a mindfulness-based program, Compassion and Attention in the Schools (Compas), were studied in 358 pupils in grades 5, 7, and 8 in Sweden. An experimental group undertook Compas practices in class three times a week during an eight-week period. A control group undertook content area academic lessons . Pre-/post-intervention analyses showed a significant improvement in the experimental group, but not in the control group, in pupils’ capacity for effortful control, feelings of well-being at school and perceived peer relations. The positive effect of training increased with the number of times the participants took part in the training for all but one of the measures (general stress). Compas seems to be a useful tool for enhancing pupils’ effortful control, well-being at school and peer relations.

The relation of dissociation and mind wandering to unresolved/disorganized attachment: an experience sampling study

ABSTRACT Individuals with unresolved/disorganized representations of childhood trauma (U/d attachment) report more psychological distress than others, but little is known about their everyday mentation. In the present study adults with childhood trauma (N = 45) completed the Berkeley-Leiden Adult Attachment Questionnaire-Unresolved (BLAAQ-U) and the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), and reported everyday mentation during 5 days of experience sampling. The BLAAQ-U and the AAI showed a medium association with each other, but only the former significantly predicted negative affect, dissociation, and low control/awareness of mentation. Contrary to our predictions, U/d attachment did not significantly predict mind wandering, but the BLAAQ-U predicted endorsements of a negative mind wandering style. U/d attachment, as assessed by both instruments, was associated with the Poor attentional control style and beliefs in anomalous mental phenomena. Experience sampling is a valuable way to investigate everyday experiences in individuals with U/d attachment.

The Structure and Development of Dispositional Compassion in Early Adolescence

Compassion may be directed at a broad range of targets. The present study investigated interrelations among other-directed compassion, self-compassion, and environmental compassion in early adolescence (age = 12-14; n = 256) and examined how the different manifestations of compassion related to age and sex during this age period. Dispositional compassion directed at different targets was assessed through self-reports and peer nominations. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis supported a model that portrayed dispositional compassion toward self, others, and the environment as three distinct but interrelated factors. Other-directed compassion and environmental compassion were higher in girls than in boys. There was a decrease in all forms of compassion with age. The drop in self-compassion was linked to negative self-perceptions in 13- and 14-year-old girls. The roles of experience and cognitive factors in linking different forms of dispositional compassion are discussed.

Dissociative Experiences and Trauma Exposure Among Newly Arrived and Settled Young War Refugees

ABSTRACT War-traumatized refugee adolescents are a vulnerable and understudied group. This study of two different groups of war-traumatized youth (N = 77) resettled in Sweden (newly arrived refugee adolescents, n = 42, 13–19 years, and settled students with childhood war experiences, n = 35, 11–18 years) evaluated their war experiences, refugee journey, general trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and dissociative experiences. Both groups had experienced many traumas and a substantial proportion reported levels consistent with posttraumatic stress (71% in the newly arrived group and 34% among the settled students) and dissociation (36% and 23%, respectively). The study also provides information about the type of adverse events experienced by war-refugee adolescents, including their own subjective appraisals of the worst events. The results show that the extent of trauma exposure and posttraumatic and dissociative symptomatology among refugee adolescents are considerable even after a period of resettlement, a finding that has educational, clinical, and social implications.

“I Feel Like I do Not Exist:” A Study of Dissociative Experiences Among War-Traumatized Refugee Youth.

Objective: War-traumatized refugee children and adolescents have been overlooked in research on trauma-related dissociation, and whatever research has been conducted has relied almost exclusively on questionnaires. The present study was an exploration of dissociative experiences in multitraumatized war-refugee youth. Method: In this study, we used a mixed-method approach by grouping participants according to a Western-based dissociation measure (the Adolescent Dissociative Experiences Scale; Armstrong, Putnam, Carlson, Libero, & Smith, 1997), and conducting qualitative and quantitative analyses of their verbal descriptions of mental experiences related to dissociation in the aftermath of war and resettlement. The sample included 40 refugee youth, ages 13 to 21, 19 girls and 21 boys resettled in Sweden because of war and persecution. Results: Severe trauma-related dissociation was a problem for a considerable subgroup of the sample. Some dissociative experiences were present in all the sample; others were restricted to the most dissociative group. The correlates of severe dissociation included high frequency and severity of emotional dysregulation and intensity, negative self- and body-perception, depressive mood, and experiences of detachment. Conclusion: Clinicians are urged to be aware of and assess trauma-related dissociation in war-refugee youth, and consider not only dissociative phenomena, but also other important processes such as emotional dysregulation.

The approach and preference behaviour of chicks in relation to the intensity of neural-input effects.

Abstract The approach tendency of young precocial birds has typically been found to be related to stimulus magnitude in an inverted U-shaped fashion. This paper discusses the coding and processing of stimulus information in two cases, namely when the quantitative stimulus variable is (1) the size of a moving object and (2) flicker rate. It is shown that the optimal size of a moving object for eliciting approach can be derived from motion parameters that describe the growth in angular size of the projected retinal image as the object approaches the chick. A second analysis is performed which provides support for the hypothesis that the chicks attraction to intermittent light in the vicinity of 4 flashes/s can be related to the alpha-rhythm of the chicks brain-waves. The conclusions are based on reanalyses of the results from two previously reported studies (Schulman et al. 1970; Kovach 1980).