Jackson A. Goodnight

A Formal Cognitive Model of the Go/No-Go Discrimination Task: Evaluation and Implications

This article proposes and tests a formal cognitive model for the go/no-go discrimination task. In this task, the performer chooses whether to respond to stimuli and receives rewards for responding to certain stimuli and punishments for responding to others. Three cognitive models were evaluated on the basis of data from a longitudinal study involving 400 adolescents. The results show that a cue-dependent model presupposing that participants can differentiate between cues was the most accurate and parsimonious. This model has 3 parameters denoting the relative impact of rewards and punishments on evaluations, the rate that contingent payoffs are learned, and the consistency between learning and responding. Commission errors were associated with increased attention to rewards; omission errors were associated with increased attention to punishments. Both error types were associated with low choice consistency. The parameters were also shown to have external validity: Attention to rewards was associated with externalizing behavior problems on the Achenbach scale, and choice consistency was associated with low Welsh anxiety. The present model can thus potentially improve the sensitivity of the task to differences between clinical populations.

Maternal age at childbirth and offspring disruptive behaviors: testing the causal hypothesis

BACKGROUND Recent studies suggest that the association between maternal age at childbearing (MAC) and childrens disruptive behaviors is the result of family factors that are confounded with both variables, rather than a casual effect of environmental factors specifically related to MAC. These studies, however, relied on restricted samples and did not use the strongest approach to test causal influences. METHODS Using data on 9,171 4-9-year-old and 6,592 10-13-year-old offspring of women from a nationally representative sample of US households, we conducted sibling-comparison analyses. The analyses ruled out all genetic factors that could confound the association, as well as all environmental confounds that differ between unrelated nuclear families, providing a strong test of the causal hypothesis that the environments of children born at different maternal ages influence mother- and self-reported disruptive behaviors. RESULTS When these genetic and environmental confounds were ruled out as alternative explanations, the relation between environments within nuclear families specifically associated with MAC and disruptive behaviors was robust, with the association being stronger for second- and third-born children. CONCLUSIONS Environmental factors specifically associated with early MAC within nuclear families account for increased risk of offspring disruptive behaviors, especially in later-born children.

Is maternal smoking during pregnancy a causal environmental risk factor for adolescent antisocial behavior? Testing etiological theories and assumptions.

BACKGROUND Although many studies indicate that maternal smoking during pregnancy (SDP) is correlated with later offspring antisocial behavior (ASB), recent quasi-experimental studies suggest that background familial factors confound the association. The present study sought to test alternative etiological hypotheses using multiple indices of adolescent ASB, comparing differentially exposed siblings, and testing assumptions in the sibling-comparison design. METHOD The study examined the association between maternal SDP and adolescent-reported ASB, criminal convictions and membership in a group of individuals with early-starting and chronic ASB among 6066 offspring of women from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a representative sample of women in the USA. The analyses controlled for statistical covariates and examined associations while comparing differentially exposed siblings. RESULTS At the population level, each additional pack of cigarettes per day predicted greater mean adolescent-reported ASB symptoms [ratio of means 1.15, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08-1.22], odds of being in the top 10% of ASB [odds ratio (OR) 1.34, 95% CI 1.10-1.65], hazard of a criminal conviction [hazard ratio (HR) 1.51, 95% CI 1.34-1.68] and odds of chronic ASB (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.25-1.99). SDP robustly predicted most assessments of ASB while controlling for measured covariates. When siblings exposed to differing levels of SDP were compared, however, all of the associations were attenuated and were not statistically significant: adolescent-reported mean ASB (ratio of means 0.86, 95% CI 0.74-1.01), high ASB (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.41-1.12), criminal conviction (HR 0.98, 95% CI 0.66-1.44) and chronic ASB (OR 0.80, 95% CI 0.46-1.38). CONCLUSIONS The results strongly suggest that familial factors account for the correlation between SDP and offspring adolescent ASB, rather than a putative causal environmental influence of SDP.

A sibling-comparison study of smoking during pregnancy and childhood psychological traits

Prenatal exposure to substances of abuse is associated with numerous psychological problems in offspring, but quasi-experimental studies controlling for co-occurring risk factors suggest that familial factors (e.g., genetic and environmental effects shared among siblings) confound many associations with maternal smoking during pregnancy (SDP). Few of the quasi-experimental studies in this area have explored normative psychological traits in early childhood or developmental changes across the lifespan, however. The current study used multilevel growth curve models with a large, nationally-representative sample in the United States to investigate for potential effects of SDP on the developmental trajectories of cognitive functioning, temperament/personality, and disruptive behavior across childhood, while accounting for shared familial confounds by comparing differentially exposed siblings and statistically controlling for offspring-specific covariates. Maternal SDP predicted the intercept (but not change over time) for all cognitive and externalizing outcomes. Accounting for familial confounds, however, attenuated the association between SDP exposure and all outcomes, except the intercept (age 5) for reading recognition. These findings, which are commensurate with previous quasi-experimental research on more severe indices of adolescent and adult problems, suggest that the associations between SDP and developmental traits in childhood are due primarily to confounding factors and not a causal association.

Revisiting the relationship between depressive symptoms and marital communication using an experimental paradigm: the moderating effect of acute sad mood.

Although research has consistently demonstrated an association between depression and negative marital interactions, it remains unclear whether marital behaviors are specifically associated with depression, above and beyond the effects of a troubled marital relationship. Past research investigating this question has produced inconsistent results. In the present study, we re-examine this question and suggest that one possible reason for past inconsistencies is that across different investigations, samples may have differed in the acute mood state of the depressed partner. It is possible that the marital communication behaviors associated with depression only become evident during acute sad mood states. Seventy-one heterosexual couples who varied on marital satisfaction levels and wife depressive symptoms were videotaped during two marital problem-solving discussions, one of which was preceded by a sad mood induction for the wife. As predicted, results revealed a unique relationship between negative communication patterns and depressive symptoms only when wives had received a sad mood induction. Findings are discussed in light of interpersonal theories of depression.

Temperament moderates associations between exposure to stress and children's externalizing problems.

The interaction between a temperament profile (four groups determined by high vs. low resistance to control [unmanageability] and unadaptability [novelty distress]) and family stress in predicting externalizing problems at school in children followed from kindergarten through eighth grade (ages 5-13) was investigated. The sample consisted of 556 families (290 boys). At Time 1 just prior to kindergarten, mothers retrospectively reported on their childs temperament during infancy. Each year, mothers reported stress and teachers reported childrens externalizing problems. Temperament profile was tested as a moderator of the stress-externalizing association for various time periods. Results indicated that the combination of high resistance to control and high unadaptability strengthens the stress-externalizing association. Findings are discussed in terms of possible underlying mechanisms.

Effects of Multiple Maternal Relationship Transitions on Offspring Antisocial Behavior in Childhood and Adolescence: A Cousin-Comparison Analysis

Previous studies of the association between multiple parental relationship transitions (i.e., when a parent begins or terminates an intimate relationship involving cohabitation) and offspring antisocial behavior have varied in their efforts to rule out confounding influences, such as parental antisocial behavior and low income. They also have been limited in the representativeness of their samples. Thus, it remains unclear to what degree parents’ multiple relationship transitions have independent effects on children’s antisocial behavior. Analyses were conducted using data on 8,652 6–9-year-old, 6,911 10–13-year-old, and 6,495 14–17-year-old offspring of a nationally representative sample of U.S. women. Cousin-comparisons were used in combination with statistical covariates to evaluate the associations between maternal relationship transitions and offspring antisocial behavior in childhood and adolescence. Cousin-comparisons suggested that associations between maternal relationship transitions and antisocial behavior in childhood and early adolescence are largely explained by confounding factors. In contrast, the associations between maternal relationship transitions and offspring delinquency in late adolescence were robust to measured and unmeasured confounds. The present findings suggest that interventions aimed at reducing exposure to parental relationship transitions or addressing the psychosocial consequences of exposure to parental relationship transitions could reduce risk for offspring delinquency in late adolescence.

How Is Sexual Communication Different from Nonsexual Communication? A Moment-by-Moment Analysis of Discussions Between Romantic Partners

Our goal was to investigate whether systematic differences exist in how couples discuss sexual versus nonsexual conflicts in their relationships and to explore the nature of these differences. We compared sexual and nonsexual conflict discussions on two key dimensions of interpersonal behavior: warmth and dominance. Past theoretical work suggests that there are unique barriers to sexual communication that lead partners to perceive such communication as being more threatening to the relationship and to the self (Metts & Cupach, 1989). Empirical findings have supported this perspective by demonstrating that sexual communication tends to be avoided by couples (e.g., Byers, 2011). Extending this notion further, we reasoned that relationship partners should behave in ways to mitigate the increased perceived threat associated with sexual communication, leading to observable differences in how couples navigate sexual versus nonsexual relationship conflicts. We recruited a sample of 115 couples in established relationships and asked each couple to engage in two recorded interactions: one sexual and one nonsexual conflict discussion. Subsequently, each partner was coded continuously on the two dimensions of warmth and dominance. We found a number of differences in how couples discussed sexual versus nonsexual conflicts. Further, couples reported higher levels of anxiety in advance of sexual, as compared to nonsexual, conflict discussions. However, anxiety did not mediate the observed differences in communication. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

An Interpersonal Investigation of Sexual Self-Schemas.

A sexual self-schema is a cognitive generalization about sexual aspects of the self. In the current study, we examined how an individual’s sexual self-schema influenced the processing of self and partner related sexual information. Specifically, we investigated how sexual self-schemas related to own and partner sexual satisfaction and how they influenced perceptions of partner sexual satisfaction. Participants were 117 heterosexual couples in committed, long-term relationships. Both partners completed measures assessing their sexual self-schemas, their own sexual satisfaction, and perceptions of partner sexual satisfaction. Consistent with our predictions, own sexual schema was associated with own sexual satisfaction. For men, more positive sexual self-schemas were associated with greater sexual satisfaction, and for women, more negative sexual self-schemas were associated with lower sexual satisfaction. For both men and women, there was no significant association between own sexual self-schema and partner sexual satisfaction. Sexual self-schemas directly and indirectly influenced an individual’s perception of the partner’s sexual satisfaction, such that men and women with more positive sexual self-schemas rated their partners as more sexually satisfied, after controlling for the partner’s self-reported level of sexual satisfaction. Our findings demonstrated that sexual self-schemas are relevant to own sexual satisfaction as well as the processing of interpersonally relevant sexual information, specifically one’s perceptions of partner sexual satisfaction.

Dispositional, demographic, and social predictors of trajectories of intimate partner aggression in early adulthood.

Objective: From a developmental systems perspective, the origins of maladjusted behavior are multifaceted, interdependent, and may differ at different points in development. Personality traits influence developmental outcomes, as do socialization environments, but the influence of personality depends on the socialization environment, and the influence of the socialization environment varies according to personality. The present study takes a developmental systems approach to investigate pathways through which dispositional traits in childhood might act in concert with peer and parental socialization contexts to predict trajectories of intimate partner aggression (IPA) during emerging adulthood. Method: The study included 466 participants (49% male, 81% European American, 15% African American) from a longitudinal study of social development. Measures of demographics, temperament, personality, parent–child relations, romantic relationships, peer relationships, and IPA were administered between 5 and 23 years of age. The study used latent growth curve analysis to predict variations in trajectories of IPA during early adulthood. Results: Numerous variables predicted risk for the perpetration of IPA, but different factors were associated at the end of adolescence (e.g., psychopathic traits) than with changes across early adulthood (e.g., friend antisociality). Males and individuals with a history of resistance to control temperament showed enhanced susceptibility to social risk factors, such as exposure to antisocial peers and poor parent-adolescent relations. Conclusions: Consistent with a developmental systems perspective, multiple factors, including personality traits in early childhood and aspects of the social environment in adolescence, predict trajectories of IPA during early adulthood through additive, mediated, and moderated pathways. Knowledge of these risk factors and for whom they are most influential could help inform efforts to prevent the emergence and persistence of IPA.