Tammy L. Hughes

Maltreatment and depression in adolescent sexual offenders with an autism spectrum disorder

This study examined the self-reported presence and severity of abuse, neglect, and depressive symptoms for 43 adolescents adjudicated delinquent due to a sexual offense. Twenty-seven of the adolescent sexual offenders were also diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, and 16 did not carry an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. Both groups reported moderate to high levels of abuse and neglect. Adolescent sexual offenders with an autism spectrum disorder reported significantly higher depressive symptoms than those without an autism spectrum disorder. Furthermore, of the group with an autism spectrum disorder, those reporting severe levels of emotional abuse and/or emotional neglect were more likely to also have depressive symptoms. Results suggest a need to tailor treatment programs to match the unique needs of sexual offenders.

Callous and Unemotional Traits and Social Cognitive Processes in a Sample of Community-Based Aggressive Youth

Psychopathic traits are associated with violent, aggressive behaviors and recidivism in adulthood. To increase positive treatment outcomes, it is arguably beneficial to identify and treat psychopathy as early as possible. Furthermore, because research shows that the effectiveness of behavior modification is likely to be affected by the social information–processing patterns of aggressive children, it is important to understand the relationship between conduct-disordered traits and social cognitions. The results of this study showed that callous/unemotional traits in a community-based sample of behavior-disordered youth (57 male, 19 female; 10-19 years of age; 63% African American) significantly predicted values in obtaining a tangible reward and getting into trouble or being punished. However, callous/unemotional traits, impulsivity/conduct problems, and narcissism failed to predict positive expectations regarding receiving a tangible reward, reducing aversive treatment, and demonstration of dominance. Implications for these results are presented.

Identifying individuals with autism in a state facility for adolescents adjudicated as sexual offenders: a pilot study

Using the criteria established by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the assessment procedures for establishing an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in a previously undiagnosed adjudicated group is detailed. We examined 37 male adolescents adjudicated delinquent for sexual offenses who were sentenced to treatment. Ultimately, 22 (60%) were found to meet the diagnostic criteria for an ASD. All had intelligence quotients in the average range. For the offenders with ASD, we recommend modifying traditional treatment protocols (i.e., relying on individual and group talk therapy) to match their learning styles (e.g., visual learning, modeling with practice, and feedback) and restricting contact with neurotypical sexual offenders to improve therapeutic outcomes. Deterrent programming aimed at bridging the gap between social deficits, Theory of Mind deficits, and sexual knowledge acquisition is discussed.

Bullying and Substance Use in Children and Adolescents

Both substance use and bullying tend to be pervasive and potentially dangerous problems that are experienced by children and adolescents. However, little is known about the connection, if any, between these two behaviors. In this paper, the hypothesized relationship between substance use and bullying are discussed as well as possible risk and protective factors. Also, future directions of research are proposed as both researchers and schools try to better understand both bullying and substance use in child and adolescent populations.

School-Based Mental Health Services for Adolescents

ABSTRACT Adolescents are in crisis in school, home, and in the community. With an increasing array of problems, from alcohol and drug addiction to teenage pregnancy, the nations youth are facing difficult challenges. In particular, family problems experienced by adolescents alone can seem daunting, with such issues as divorce, abuse, and discord changing the very fabric of family structure, and significantly impacting adolescent development. At the same time, managed care and changes in health care delivery have restricted mental health services. Within this environment school psychologists are increasingly viewed as key resources. This article considers the problems faced by adolescents, examines the changing role of school-based mental health services, and identifies challenges faced by school psychologists.

Understanding the Self in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD): A Review of Literature

When the system of self is explored in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), it is important to measure it via both their own perceptions of the self and their understanding of others’ perceptions on themselves at a multidimensional level. This paper reviews existing research in this area using a three-dimension approach. Researchers have found that impairments in the self-system are usually correlated with these individuals’ social and cognitive functioning levels: high functioning individuals with ASD who have higher IQ are found to have better awareness of their limitations in social and communication domains than those with lower IQ. Many researchers believe that there are impairments in the psychological (but not physical) self in individuals with ASD, such as theory of mind deficits due to social and communicative impairments. On the other hand, some researchers argue that individuals with ASD have selective rather than global impairments in the self. In other words, the impairment usually lies in a specific aspect of functioning in individuals with ASD. Insights from the review of existing literature on this topic may be able to shed some lights on the development of effective intervention programs to improve social communication deficits in this population.

Relational, social, and overt aggression among aggressive and nonaggressive female adolescents

In this study, researchers wished to further study the differentiation among forms of aggression in a diverse sample of adolescent females. Specifically, the self-reported use of relational, social, and direct verbal and physical aggression was measured in Caucasian and non-Caucasian typically developing versus overtly aggressive adolescent females. No statistically significant differences were found between typically developing and overtly aggressive adolescent female samples in the use of social or relational aggression; however, overtly aggressive adolescents reported using direct verbal or physical aggression significantly more than typically developing adolescents. Caucasian adolescents reported using significantly more relationally aggressive behaviors than non-Caucasian adolescents. No statistically significant differences were found in socially aggressive behaviors between Caucasian and non-Caucasian adolescent female samples. Implications for these findings are discussed.

A Cross-Cultural Investigation of Relational and Social Aggression in Female College Students from Puerto Rico and the United States

Researchers compared scores on a self-report measure of relational and social aggression using 2 groups, European American female university students (M = 20.23 years, SD = 3.88) from the mid-Atlantic region of the United States and Hispanic females from Puerto Rico (M = 19.34 years, SD = 1.26). Results indicate that cultural differences were evident in the use of relational and social aggression. The exclusively Hispanic Puerto Rican sample reported being more socially aggressive than the European American, mid-Atlantic sample. In contrast, the European American sample identified as being more relationally aggressive in their relationships than the Hispanic Puerto Rican sample. This distinction allows us to consider potential cultural differences in interpersonal relations in college-age females.

Relational Aggression in Preschool Students: An Exploration of the Variables of Sex, Age, and Siblings

In this study, researchers wished to ascertain whether there were age (three- and four-year old), sibling (with or without older siblings), and sex (male and female) differences in the use of relational aggression in preschool students as rated by peers and teachers. Inordertoanswerthisresearchquestion,two2 ×2 ×2factorialANOVAprocedureswiththerelationalaggressioncompositescore as the dependent variable on the PSBS-P and PSBS-T were used for peer and teacher assessment, respectively, of relational aggression. Results revealed that in the peer ratings of preschool students’ relationally aggressive behavior, there was an disordinal age by sibling interaction, in which four-year-old children with siblings were significantly more likely to be rated by their peers as using relational aggression than three-year-old children without siblings. In the teacher ratings of preschool students’ relationally aggressivebehavior,amaineffectforagewasobserved.Teachersratedfour-yearoldchildrenasevidencingsignificantlyhigherlevelsofrelational aggression as compared to three-year-olds. No sex differences were observed in the use of relational aggression either at age three or age four in this sample. Implications for these findings are presented.

Callous-Unemotional Traits, Relational and Social Aggression, and Interpersonal Maturity in a Sample of Behaviorally Disordered Adolescents.

ABSTRACT The authors examined the degree to which callous-unemotional traits and narcissism predict relational aggression, social aggression, and prosocial skills in a sample of 79 adolescent offenders (13–18 years old; 26% girls; 74% boys) attending a school for youth with behavior disorders in the Mid-Atlantic United States. Narcissism made a significant contribution to the prediction of both relational aggression and social aggression, accounting for most of the unique variance in the prediction of these indirect forms of aggression. Conversely, callous-unemotional traits—but not narcissism—made a significant contribution to the prediction of lower prosocial skills. Furthermore, in contrast to the large number of studies indicating gender differences in the expression of aggression, no significant gender differences in the present study were found.