This study attempted to investigate the influence of frustration tolerance on the coping strategies of boys with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD). The participants were recruited in regular and...Show moreThis study attempted to investigate the influence of frustration tolerance on the coping strategies of boys with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD). The participants were recruited in regular and special primary schools in the Netherlands. Forty-one children with DBD were compared with a control group of thirty-eight children. The frustration tolerance is measured by using the 'Amsterdamse Neuropsychologische Taken; Delay Frustration' (ANT-DF). The coping strategy is measured by using questionnaires. To determine the emotion regulation, the 'Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire' (CERQ) is used. The coping strategies are analyzed by using the 'Behavioral Anger Response Questionnaire' (BARQ). Results show that boys with DBD do not differ in frustration tolerance compare to the control group. The effect of negative feedback results in more frustration for both groups. There is a difference between the DBD and control group in using the strategies 'avoidance' and 'diffusion'. Boys with DBD use less often these strategies compared with the control group. In addition, they do not avoid the stress situation but seek more often confrontation. Also, they focus on their anger. The DBD group is split into boys with a low frustration tolerance and boys with a high frustration tolerance because there was no difference between the DBD group and the control group. Of all strategies, DBD boys with a low frustration tolerance only use less often an avoidance coping strategy compared with the control group. Based on this study, it can be concluded that boys with DBD use other coping strategies compared with the control group. Specially boys with a low frustration tolerance, avoid stress situations less often and seek confrontation.Show less
The prevalence of people with a disorder in the autism spectrum (ASD) is estimated on 60 to 100 on 10.000 people. A deficit in executive functions is a possible explanation of the behavior shown in...Show moreThe prevalence of people with a disorder in the autism spectrum (ASD) is estimated on 60 to 100 on 10.000 people. A deficit in executive functions is a possible explanation of the behavior shown in ASD. Mothers of children with ASD experience stress in the daily intercourse with their child. The deficit in executive functions might be a predictor for this maternal stress, because the effort-reward proportion is out of balance. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a relation between executive functions of children and maternal stress and which of the executive functions contributes the most to maternal stress. This study included 29 mothers with their child (Mage= 4,47, SDage= 1.10). The participants were recruited at schools, libary’s, social assistance organisations and throughsocial networks. The NOSI was used to mearsure maternal stress, the SRS was used to measure signs of autism, the BRIEF-p was used to measure executive functions of the child. Significant correlations were found between all EF and maternal stress: inhibition r=.75 (p<.01), cognitive flexibility r=.72 (p<.01), working memory r=.73 (p<.01), planning and organizing r=.78, (p<.01). The correlations between signs of autism and maternal stress was r=.86 (p<.01). Multiple regression analysis showed that Autism symptoms, β=.62, t(23)=4.59, p<.01, and planning and organization, β=.34, t(23)=2.49, p=.02, contributed to maternal stress and explained 80% of the stress. Signs of autism contributed the most. Results and suggestions for future research are discussed.Show less
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether group differences in parenting practices and child empathy exist in a sample of boys with and without disruptive behavior disorders (DBD)....Show moreThe purpose of this study was to investigate whether group differences in parenting practices and child empathy exist in a sample of boys with and without disruptive behavior disorders (DBD). Further in the whole sample, whether parenting practices are associated with child empathy and child aggression, and if child empathy can explain the relationship between parenting practices and child aggression. The sample consisted of 132 boys between 7 and 13 years old (M = 10.25, SD = 1.32), of which 68 had and 64 did not have DBD. Child empathy was measured via a self-report questionnaire. Parenting practices and child aggression were measured through a parent survey. Comparative analyses showed that boys with DBD have lower empathy levels and that their parents use more harsh and neglectful parenting practices compared to the control group. Multiple regression analyses showed that more inconsistent, negative discipline and less involvement is predictive of more child aggression. Also, more inconsistent discipline is predictive of less child empathy. However, the association between parent practices and child empathy is negligable in comparison to the association between parent practices and child agression. It was concluded that empathy levels of boys are not influenced by parental practices, but is probably due to other environmental factors and in interaction with certain child characteristics.Show less
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are characterized by limitations of social communication, limitations of social interaction and rigid patterns of activities and interests. Various studies have...Show moreAutism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are characterized by limitations of social communication, limitations of social interaction and rigid patterns of activities and interests. Various studies have shown that children with ASD have a lower extrinsic motivation. They are less motivated to take action when someone is requesting to perform a task. Due to the lower extrinsic motivation, children with ASD are more dependent on the intrinsic motivation to accomplish a task successfully. The main question of this study: does a relationship between intrinsic motivation and the degree of ASD characteristics exist? The study was conducted on a sample of 32 children, six of them are diagnosed with ASD. Correlation analysis showed a significant relation between intrinsic motivation and the degree of ASD characteristics. In addition a significant relation between affective intrinsic motivation and degree of ASD characteristics were found. There was no significant relation found between instrumental intrinsic motivation and degree of ASD characteristics. The results of the present study are consistent with previous studies which suggested an association between intrinsic motivation and ASD characteristics. Further research about the development of intrinsic motivation for children with ASD is necessary, so that interventions can be aligned.Show less
An Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication. Lacks of Theory of Mind, empathy and...Show moreAn Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication. Lacks of Theory of Mind, empathy and emotion recognition have been invoked as an explanatory mechanism for the impairments in the social cognition in an ASD. There is a need for a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms for a better diagnosis and treatment of women with an ASD, because they are good in hiding the characteristics of an ASD. The current study compares different aspects of social cognition between women with a high functioning ASD and typical developed (TD) women through a comparison between women with and without an ASD. This comparison is based on their performance of social cognition tasks and through a comparison between women with an ASD mutually based on their reflectivity. A total of 31 women with an ASD and 30 TD women participated in this study. The prosody task of the ANT was used for recognition of basic emotions. For the visual emotion recognition the Facial Expression Recognition task was used. The informant list of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index was used to get the various aspects of empathy in daily life. The Dewey Social Story test was used for an impression of perspective taking and understanding of usual and unusual social situations. Results show that women with an ASD have more difficulty with perspective taking and in understanding of other people’s mental states. Although women with an ASD perform similar to TD women in recognizing the basic emotions, women with an ASD perform worse when these emotions are showed with low intensity. Women with an ASD are also slower in recognizing all basic emotions. The results of the comparison within the ASD-group based on their reflectivity shows that women with a good reflectivity are better in recognizing basic emotions when emotions are showed with high intensity. Furthermore, there are no noticeable differences in the comparison between women with good and poor reflectivity within the ASD-group. The two components, in which women with an ASD perform worse compared to women without ASD, can possibly play an important role in the social interactions, which are often based on high speed unconscious activities. More research is needed for a better understanding of the relationship between the Theory of Mind and the reflectivity and of the relationship between the different explanatory models of the impairments in social interaction and communication.Show less
Background: Previous studies showed that frontal lobes are affected with children having a Disruptive Behavior Disorder (DBD). The frontal lobes are related to the development of executive...Show moreBackground: Previous studies showed that frontal lobes are affected with children having a Disruptive Behavior Disorder (DBD). The frontal lobes are related to the development of executive functions (EF) and aggressive behavior. Goal: The main goal of this study is to obtain a better insight in the behavior of children with DBD by looking at the underlying mechanism of EF. A distinction has been made between reactive and proactive aggression. Method: This study has been taken amongst 70 boys between 8 and 12 years old. The boys were subdivided in a DBD group (N=41) and a control group (N=29). Aggression was measured by means of the IRPA parent-questionnaire. The EF have been measured by means of several ANT tasks and the BRIEF parent-questionnaire. Results: Boys with DBD scored worse on their EF compared to the control group. A positive correlation was found between BRIEF inhibition and reactive aggression for the DBD group. A positive correlation was also found for BRIEF cognitive flexibility and proactive aggression for the control group. Conclusion: This study shows that boys with DBD between 8 and 12 years old, have more deficits in EF than the control group. A positive correlation between reactive aggression and inhibition was found for the DBD group as well as a positive correlation between proactive aggression and cognitive flexibility for the control group.Show less
Als een kind disfuncties vertoont in de executieve functies kan dit leiden tot agressief gedrag. De vraag binnen dit onderzoek is of de executieve functies het verloop van agressief gedrag...Show moreAls een kind disfuncties vertoont in de executieve functies kan dit leiden tot agressief gedrag. De vraag binnen dit onderzoek is of de executieve functies het verloop van agressief gedrag beïnvloeden. Verwacht wordt dat het vertonen van disfuncties binnen de executieve functies van invloed is op het verloop van agressieve gedrag. De onderzoeksgroep bestaat uit 109 jongens tussen de acht en twaalf jaar. Er is gebruik gemaakt van de ANT, de BADS-NL dierentuintaak en de BRIEF om de executieve functies bij het kind te meten. De CBCL externaliserend probleemgedrag schaal van twee meetmomenten is gebruikt om het agressieve gedrag van het kind te meten. Uit correlatieanalyses blijkt dat zowel intelligentieniveau als de geobserveerde executieve functies gerelateerd zijn aan agressief gedrag. Echter zijn beide factoren weinig van invloed op het verloop van agressief gedrag. Dit onderzoek toont aan dat er een groep kinderen is waarbij er geen duidelijke disfuncties zijn binnen de geobserveerde executieve functie, maar waarbij er wel sprake is van een toename in agressief gedrag. Het is van belang om een duidelijk theoretisch beeld te creëren van deze groep kinderen zodat het agressieve gedrag kan worden ingeperkt.Show less
Agressie is een actueel probleem onder kinderen en jongeren. Onderzoek naar de factoren die hierop van invloed zijn staat erg in de belangstelling en is zich recent steeds meer op de samenhang...Show moreAgressie is een actueel probleem onder kinderen en jongeren. Onderzoek naar de factoren die hierop van invloed zijn staat erg in de belangstelling en is zich recent steeds meer op de samenhang tussen executieve functies en agressie gaan richten. Huidig onderzoek richt zich op de vraag: ‘In hoeverre bestaat er een samenhang tussen tekorten in de executieve functies en het vertonen van agressie door kinderen in de leeftijd van 8-12 jaar?’ In dit onderzoek participeerden 18 hoog agressieve jongens in de onderzoeksgroep en 20 jongens zonder agressieproblematiek in de controlegroep in de leeftijd van 8 tot 12 jaar. De executieve functies zijn gemeten met de Amsterdamse Neuropsychologische Taken (ANT) en de Dierentuintaak van de Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS). Leeftijd bleek significant samen te hangen met werkgeheugen, inhibitie en visuele volgehouden aandacht. Uit de T-toets en Anova kwam naar voren dat de agressieve jongens een betere visuele volgehouden aandacht hebben dan de jongens uit de controlegroep. De jongens uit de controlegroep bezitten een beter werkgeheugen dan de agressieve jongens. Voor inhibitie, cognitieve flexibiliteit en planning werden geen significante verschillen gevonden tussen de groepen. Geconcludeerd kan worden dat dit onderzoek enkele bewijzen levert voor een relatie tussen executieve functies en agressie. De invloed van leeftijd bleek aanzienlijk op deze relatie wat wil zeggen dat hoe ouder het kind is hoe beter ook de prestatie op de gemeten executieve functies. Dit kan verklaard worden door de ontwikkeling van executieve functies. Deze beginnen zich te ontwikkelen in de kindertijd en ontwikkelen zich door tot de adolescentie. Aannemelijk is dat de executieve functies van de jongens in de leeftijd van 8 jaar in mindere mate zijn ontwikkeld dan de executieve functies van de jongens in de leeftijd van 12 jaar.Show less
This research describes the correlation and predictability of social functioning and cognitive functioning of men with Klinefelter’s syndrome. In this research, data from an ongoing study by the...Show moreThis research describes the correlation and predictability of social functioning and cognitive functioning of men with Klinefelter’s syndrome. In this research, data from an ongoing study by the University of Leiden was used and combined with new data that was recruited. The study was performed on 64 men, ranging in age between 16 and 57 years old (M = 37.98, SD = 11.22). Several t-tests for independent samples, MANOVA’s, Pearson’s r correlations coefficients and a multiple regression was used. The results show more impairments in social functioning for men with Klinefelter’s syndrome than for the control group. With regard to the cognitive functions, the results show no significant difference for sustained attention between the Klinefelter group and the control group. The quality of language was different for the Klinefelter group and results show a correlation for social functioning within the Klinefelter group, which means the more restrictions there are in social functioning, the lower the quality of language. The quality of language was however not a significant predictor for the social functioning of men with Klinefelter. Also the social-cognitive functioning was significantly different between the Klinefelter group and the control group, however no correlations were found. Due to a lack of literature about cognitive functioning and social functioning of men with Klinefelter’s syndrome, more research is needed on this subject. In future studies there is also more research needed about the correlation between quality of language and social functioning, so more is known about the impairments and needs of men with Klinefelter’s syndrome. Results from future studies can be used to adjust the interventions, and probably early interventions, to the needs of men with Klinefelter’s syndrome.Show less
In Western society, the prevalence of disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) is rapidly growing. Scientific research of related child factors contributes to optimization of prevention and treatment...Show moreIn Western society, the prevalence of disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) is rapidly growing. Scientific research of related child factors contributes to optimization of prevention and treatment of DBDs and psychopathic traits. Previous research has revealed DBDs and psychopathic traits are related to aberrant reward and punishment sensitivity and aberrant response perseveration. Current research aims to investigate the exact reflection of reward and punishment sensitivity and response perseveration in boys with DBDs and psychopathic traits. In current correlational Dutch research, 84 boys between 8 and 12 years from clinical centers, regular and special education have been studied. Both surveys – Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-Parent version, Youth Psychopathic traits Inventory-Child Version and Antisocial Processing Screening Device-Parent Form – and assessments for measuring cognitive abilities – Hungry Donkey Task and Door Opening Task – have been used. Results suggest a very large effect of DBDs on psychopathic traits measured by parent reports. No effects on reward and punishment sensitivity and response perseveration have been found between the DBD group and the control group. Psychopathic traits neither correlate with reward and punishment sensitivity and response perseveration, nor moderate reward and punishment sensitivity and response perseveration in the DBD group. In conclusion, boys with DBDs show – according to parents – more disturbances in interpersonal, affective and behavioral responses compared to the control group. No differences in reward and punishment sensitivity and response perseveration are found between these groups, neither when controlling for psychopathic traits. Finally, the extent to which boys with a DBD persevere in their responses (i.e. when no reward is given), cannot be predicted by their responses to reward and punishment (i.e. conduct continuation and adjustment). Compared to earlier research, contradicting findings have been found in current research and further research needs to be done.Show less
Children with a disruptive behaviour disorder (DBD) develop an inimical worldview over the years; their aggressive behaviour, events experienced as negative and their poor emotion regulation, may...Show moreChildren with a disruptive behaviour disorder (DBD) develop an inimical worldview over the years; their aggressive behaviour, events experienced as negative and their poor emotion regulation, may play a role in this. This study focused on the influence of emotion regulation and events that are experienced as negative on type of aggression (reactive, proactive or reactive and proactive in combination) in boys aged between eight and twelve year with and without DBD. 43 Boys with and 41 boys without DBD participated in this study. The data were collected with the ‘Instrument voor Reactieve en Proactieve Agressie’, the ‘Vragenlijst Meegemaakte Gebeurtenissen’ and the ‘Ultimatum Game’. There were four research questions formulated out of the main question. The research questions were examined with t-tests, a oneway analysis of variance and three times a Spearman’s rho. Boys with DBD are more aggressive, have gone through more events experienced as negative and have an equal to poorer emotion regulation than boys without DBD. There is no relationship found between emotion regulation, events that are experienced as negative and aggression type in boys with and without DBD.Show less
In het huidige onderzoek is gekeken naar de sociaal-cognitieve vaardigheden en het empathisch vermogen van 40 acht- tot en met twaalfjarige jongens met een DBD en 34 jongens in een controlegroep....Show moreIn het huidige onderzoek is gekeken naar de sociaal-cognitieve vaardigheden en het empathisch vermogen van 40 acht- tot en met twaalfjarige jongens met een DBD en 34 jongens in een controlegroep. Volgens de literatuur zorgt een laag ontwikkelde Theory of Mind en empathisch vermogen voor agressief gedrag. In het huidige onderzoek is sprake van een trend die erop duidt dat de jongens in de DBD-groep minder empathisch zijn dan de jongens in de controlegroep. Tevens blijkt binnen de DBD-groep sprake van een significant negatief verband van agressie, en tevens van proactieve en reactieve agressie, met het affectieve empathisch vermogen. Voorzichtig kan hier geconcludeerd worden dat dit verband sterker is voor proactieve agressie. Van maatschappelijk belang is het onderscheid tussen deze twee soorten agressie bij de diagnose DBD.Show less
