Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
open access
2018-09-25T00:00:00Z
The present study was the first to investigate the association between mothers’ ability to reflect upon the relationship with her (unborn) infant during pregnancy and maternal and infant behavior...Show moreThe present study was the first to investigate the association between mothers’ ability to reflect upon the relationship with her (unborn) infant during pregnancy and maternal and infant behavior during the Still-Face Paradigm (SFP). The sample consisted of 52 mother-infant dyads, from both high (HR, N = 22)- and low (LR, N = 29) risk backgrounds, as defined by the presence/absence of unemployment, poverty or financial problems, housing problems, limited or instable social support network, being single or having changing partners, (subclinical) psychiatric problems (such as depression, anxiety, borderline, aggression), or substance abuse (smoking, alcohol, or drugs). High-risk (HR)-mothers had lower levels of reflective functioning than LR-mothers and showed less sensitive and more intrusive behavior in interaction with their infants. Infants from high risk backgrounds showed more negative affect during play and less gaze towards mother during the still-face episode of the SFP. Reflective functioning during pregnancy predicted maternal sensitive and intrusive behavior during play, but only for LR-mothers. In general, maternal reflective functioning predicted infant display of minimal positive affect during the still-face episode, an association that was not mediated by maternal behavior during the SFP. These results indicate that mothers’ reflective abilities predict later maternal sensitive and intrusive behavior, and even some infant behavior independently from maternal behavior. Future studies should further clarify the role of maternal reflective capacities in the development of children’s emotion regulation abilities, and its potential role in prenatal coaching and interventions.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
open access
2018-11-01T00:00:00Z
This study investigated the effect of maternal depression on mother and infant behavior during the Still Face Paradigm (SFP). It was investigated whether the SFP elicited the still-face effect. In...Show moreThis study investigated the effect of maternal depression on mother and infant behavior during the Still Face Paradigm (SFP). It was investigated whether the SFP elicited the still-face effect. In addition, the effect of maternal depression on infant’s emotion regulation and maternal behavior during the SFP was examined. Fifty-two mother-infant dyads participated in this study. Maternal depression was measured using a positive score on either the MINI-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI-Plus) or Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) during the first or second appointment. Additionally, the cognitive development of six-month old infants was measured using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID-II). During a home-visit, the SFP was administered by trained PhD- or graduate students, and mother and infant behaviors were coded afterwards. Results indicated that the still face effect was found for negative affect, arching and/or squirming behavior, gaze toward mother, and additionally for maternal sensitivity and maternal positive affect. Infants of depressed mothers averted gaze during all episodes of the SFP compared to infants of non-depressed mothers. Combination of SFP episodes and maternal depression resulted in more arching and/or squirming behavior during the play and reunion episodes for infants of depressed mothers. Furthermore, mothers who feel depressed showed more internalizing or helpless behavior during the reunion. The findings of this study increase the knowledge of the effects of maternal depression on mother behavior and infant’s regulatory capacities during stress exposure.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
open access
2016-12-01T00:00:00Z
Psychological adaptation was examined in 993 Dutch internationally adopted adults (M= 38 years; 58% female) with a relatively high percentage of pre-adoption adversity, and the international...Show morePsychological adaptation was examined in 993 Dutch internationally adopted adults (M= 38 years; 58% female) with a relatively high percentage of pre-adoption adversity, and the international adoptees were compared with their Dutch non-adopted peers and with Dutch domestic adoptees. Psychological adaptation was indicated by internalizing and externalizing problem behavior, and self-esteem. We found that the majority of the international adoptees were well adapted and showed even higher levels of self-esteem than their non-adopted peers from the general population. After controlling for the effects of the pre-adoption adversity, we found that international adoptees who reported a more negative appraisal of relinquishment and adoption, showed more feelings of loss, more negative coping strategies, and less optimal psychological adaptation. Whilst comparing the international and domestic adoptees, we found that the international adoptees showed a more positive appraisal of both relinquishment and adoption than the domestic adoptees. Based on these findings, we suggest that both the appraisal of relinquishment and adoption and feelings of loss play a key role in the psychological adaption of adoptees. These insights should be used in the preparation of new adoptive parents and helping children to adapt to their new life environment and to prevent problems later in life. Furthermore, in treatment and psychological help, adult adoptees with problems might benefit from reflecting on the feelings of loss towards the biological parents and the feelings towards being relinquished and adopted.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
open access
2018-07-19T00:00:00Z
This study investigated whether maternal reflective functioning was related to maternal sensitivity during the Still Face Paradigm (SFP). It was investigated whether the SFP elicited the still face...Show moreThis study investigated whether maternal reflective functioning was related to maternal sensitivity during the Still Face Paradigm (SFP). It was investigated whether the SFP elicited the still face effect. Additionally, the effect of maternal sensitivity on infants’ regulatory behaviors during the SFP was examined. Infants’ stress reactivity during the SFP was explored using skin conductance levels. Maternal risk status and infants’ temperament has been taken into account. The sample consisted of 52 mother-infant dyads (mean age infants 5.96 months). Reflective functioning was measured with an interview around 27 weeks of pregnancy. During a home-visit the SFP was administered and mothers reported about the infants’ temperament using the Infant Behavior Questionnaire. Infant and maternal behaviors were coded based on the SFP. Results indicated that the still face effect was found for arching and squirming, while it was not found for self-soothing behavior. Preliminary results showed an increased skin conductance level, and thus stress reactivity, over the whole SFP. Furthermore, maternal reflective functioning was found as predictor of maternal sensitivity during the SFP. Higher levels of maternal sensitivity predicted more self-soothing behaviors during the first minute of the reunion and less arching and squirming behaviors during the second minute of the reunion. It was not related to any other regulatory behaviors measured. Infants’ temperament was not associated with infants’ regulatory behaviors. The findings of this study can be used in developing interventions to improve maternal reflective functioning and sensitivity, which, in turn, can influence infants’ regulatory behaviors and emotional development.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
open access
2018-01-01T00:00:00Z
The aim of the present study was to examine infant emotion regulation, expressed in autonomic nervous system-reactivity, during the Still-Face Paradigm (SFP). In addition, the effect of maternal...Show moreThe aim of the present study was to examine infant emotion regulation, expressed in autonomic nervous system-reactivity, during the Still-Face Paradigm (SFP). In addition, the effect of maternal risk status on children’s emotional and behavioural development was examined. The sample consisted of 51 mothers and their 6-month-old infants. Measures of heart rate, pre-ejection period (PEP), skin conductance level (SCL), and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were collected during baseline and during the SFP episodes. Infant behavioural responses were coded as well. The SFP was able to elicit sympathetic and parasympathetic activity. In response to the still-face an increase in sympathetic activity was found, but only by SCL and heart rate, not by PEP. In addition, the still-face elicited an inhibition of the parasympathetic nervous system, the RSA decreased and the heart rate increased. In the transition from still-face to reunion, an effect of risk status was found on the pattern of heart rate and SCL. Infants from the high-risk group showed more sympathetic activity, indicating more stress and less emotion regulation. Overall, the SFP is able to elicit physiological features of emotion regulation and is able to indicate early differences in the autonomic nervous system activity in response to stress. Future studies should replicate these findings and should further investigate the role of maternal risk status.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
open access
2017-08-28T00:00:00Z
This study was conducted to assess subjective quality of life and to distinguish predictors of quality of life in young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Young adults with ASD enrolled in...Show moreThis study was conducted to assess subjective quality of life and to distinguish predictors of quality of life in young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Young adults with ASD enrolled in higher education were compared to control students without ASD with respect to quality of life, executive functioning, motivation performance, social anxiety, emotion regulation, stress coping abilities, ASD symptoms, adaptive functioning, and self-reflection. Young adults with ASD reported lower subjective quality of life than control peers and showed higher impairment in all of the above-mentioned areas. Within the ASD group, low initiative taking, high internalizing problems, and high negative tension in social situations predict lower quality of life. Together, these findings indicate that deficits in the stress regulation system lead to lower subjective quality of life in young adults with ASD, despite their high functioning.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
under embargo until 2030-01-01
2030-01-01T00:00:00Z
This study examines the presence of an attentional bias in the attentional processing of reading related pictures and words. On the basis of an online rating of reading-related pictures and words a...Show moreThis study examines the presence of an attentional bias in the attentional processing of reading related pictures and words. On the basis of an online rating of reading-related pictures and words a sample of 54 undergraduate students was selected. Individuals with high ratings were assigned to a reading enthusiast group, while individuals with low ratings to a reading reluctant group. Attentional bias was examined with the dot-probe and emotional Stroop paradigms. The dot-probe task showed an attentional bias towards reading pictures, that is faster responses to reading-related than to neutral pictures, at a stimulus onset asynchrony of 1500 msec.. This bias was found in both reading reluctant and reading enthusiast individuals. An additional bias towards reading words was found in the reading enthusiast group. Attentional bias scores towards pictures representing reading were positively related to social motivation to read books, indicating that the more an individual was socially motivated to read books, the faster attention was directed towards reading pictures compared to matched neutral pictures. This suggests that the attentional bias (responding faster to reading-related pictures in the dot-probe task) is an indication of individual’s eagerness to read. However, no other association were found between other measures of reading behaviour and reading ability (vocabulary learning, spelling). Future research including other groups than undergraduates might provide stronger links between a reading-related attentional bias and reading motivation.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
open access
2018-07-01T00:00:00Z
Children’s visual attention during storybook reading and their resulting vocabulary learning were examined. Participants were 21 Dutch kindergartners with an average to large general receptive...Show moreChildren’s visual attention during storybook reading and their resulting vocabulary learning were examined. Participants were 21 Dutch kindergartners with an average to large general receptive vocabulary. Eye-tracking was used to assess visual attention within the illustrations during storybook readings in which text and illustrations were presented either simultaneously or successively. Irrespective of mode of presentation, the children appeared to follow the oral text when visually inspecting the illustration. During simultaneous readings participants, especially the ones with lower inhibitory control skills, looked longer at the parts of the illustration that were highlighted by the text than at the rest of the illustration. In contrast, during non-simultaneous readings they looked as long at the text-relevant as at the text-irrelevant parts or even longer at the text-irrelevant parts. Children’s visual attention was positively related to their vocabulary learning when the illustrations and the oral text were available at the same time. A positive effect of the book readings was found on word learning from the books as compared to a control condition. However, no differences in vocabulary learning between simultaneous and non-simultaneous readings were found. In terms of attention, displaying storybook illustrations on the whiteboard, visible to all children, during classroom reading activities might be beneficial for all children, but especially for those with lower inhibitory control skills. For them, displaying the illustrations in a large format while they listen to the narration will guide them in focusing their attention and resisting distracters within the storybook illustrations.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
open access
2018-08-01T00:00:00Z
Externalizing behavior problems in children are of substantial cost and highly prevalent in elementary school-aged children. Specific subtypes of externalizing behavior problems, reactive and...Show moreExternalizing behavior problems in children are of substantial cost and highly prevalent in elementary school-aged children. Specific subtypes of externalizing behavior problems, reactive and proactive aggression, have been uniquely related to specific risk factors, correlates, and consequences. The purpose of this study was to examine the relations between social cognitive skills, intelligence, and reactive and proactive aggression in elementary school-aged children. These children were at risk for developing serious externalizing behavior problems and recruited within a program focused on reduction and prevention of delinquency, led by the municipality of Amsterdam in The Netherlands. Intelligence and social cognitive skills tasks were administered in fifteen boys in the ages of 7-12 years (M = 10.38, SD = 1.95). The results from the present study indicate that the relation between intelligence and reactive aggression is mediated by social cognitive skills, and more precisely the ability to identify emotions. No such relations were found for proactive aggression or other social cognitive skills. It is concluded that the relation between social cognitive skills and aggressive behavior depends at least partly on intelligence and that interventions for reactive-aggressive children should focus on training of emotion recognition without losing sight of the important role of intelligence.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
open access
2014-07-31T00:00:00Z
The current study elaborates on a former study by Veen and colleagues (2011), using extended data and a two-year follow up period. Criminal careers of 288 male adolescent offenders of native Dutch...Show moreThe current study elaborates on a former study by Veen and colleagues (2011), using extended data and a two-year follow up period. Criminal careers of 288 male adolescent offenders of native Dutch and Moroccan origin were compared using criminal record data. Using latent class analysis, a five-class model was found of offender types; violent offenders, property offenders, property/minor violent offender, violent offenders/arsonists, and sexual offenders. Category of first registered offence held predictive value of future offender type membership. Native Dutch and Moroccan male adolescent offenders differed significantly from each other based on categories of offences committed, number of offences committed and offender type membership. Moroccan male adolescent offenders showed a higher number of registered offences and a strong overrepresentation in violent and nonviolent property offences compared to native Dutch offenders. Overall, it can be concluded that male adolescent offenders of native Dutch and Moroccan origin represent significantly different offender types. These differences could only partially be accounted for by SES.Show less
