Background. Pyramid Plus is a group based pycho-social intervention for anxious solitary 7-8 year school children. It is co-ordinated by Barnardo's and runs in conjunction with participating schools across Northern Ireland. The intervention aims to increase the participants' social and emotional competence and to promote their resilience processes. Method. The study employed a non-equivalent group design. Pyramid participants were selected based on teacher ratings of their internalising symptoms on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ, Goodman, 1997). The comparison group comprised the class children who did not receive the intervention due to a lack of need or due to their display of externalising symptoms. In order to elucidate the effects of the intervention, Pyramid SDQ scores were compared with the comparison group using a mixed ANOVA and chi-square tests of independence. Linear regression was also used in order to estimate if self regulation played a role in predicting internalising psychopathology at baseline and aptitude for change. The effects of the intervention on various child profiles were then considered. Results. The mixed ANOVA revealed a significant group by time interaction for Peer Problems. Pyramid participants were rated by their teachers as happier, more fulfilled in their personal relationships and had higher levels of self esteem than the comparison group immediately following the intervention (time 2). The analysis revealed that Pyramid was used as an intervention by teachers for two distinct profiles of students displaying internalising symptoms. Children high on Assertive Expression showed a resilient trajectory at time 3 (12 week follow up), while Anxious Solitary children showed a significant decreasing Pro-social trajectory, associated with an inability to successfully regulate emotions. Conclusion. This evaluation found support for the effectiveness of Pyramid Plus in reducing Peer Problems in all participants. It highlighted that Pyramid is an effective mode of intervention for highly assertive children who were presenting with Emotional Symptoms and Peer Problems. It is suggested however, that some modifications to the current intervention strategy may be necessary if the vulnerabilities and needs of anxious solitary children are to be addressed. In pat1icular, Pyramid Plus must directly address the need to promote self regulation in participants and in particular to introduce cognitive regulation strategies to address the inhibition of threat perception in ambiguous social situations. These modifications are necessary if this intervention is to be considered an empirically grounded intervention for anxious solitary children.

Little research exists into children‘s performance under cross-examination (Zajac, 2009). No research is available on the resilience to cross-examination of children with Intellectual Disabilities (ID), nor with Borderline ID, and these children rarely get their day in court (Kebbell & Hatton, 1999). This thesis explored the factors influencing children‘s performance in two forensically relevant interview situations, as a function of their level of cognitive ability. Children with ID and Borderline ID were compared to typically developing children of the same chronological age on their abilities to produce gist and verbatim evidence in interviews utilising the Achieving Best Evidence (ABE; Home Office 2007) protocol. Children with ID committed more errors and provided less verbatim information than their typically developing peers, however no differences were found with gist recall, and they matched their mental age counterparts on all measures. No differences in performance were found between the Borderline ID group and the typically developing children of the same age on any measure. After a realistic delay of 10 months (mimicking the conditions in real world court systems), and using barristers-in-training to conduct the sessions, mock cross-examinations (N=86) were undertaken to determine the relative resilience to cross-examination of these vulnerable groups. Children with ID and Borderline ID did not differ overall in their resilience to cross-examination, and were no more likely to change their responses to earlier testimony than typically developing children of the same age. One area of weakness in those with ID mirrored that of their evidence-in chief; children were less likely t o withstand cross-examination on verbatim details when challenged on true versus false events compared to typically developing children of the same age, and Page 10 of 323 those with Borderline ID. Standardised measures of anxiety and suggestibility were shown to correlate with some measures of performance in both interviews, and the findings are discussed. Children with Borderline ID equalled their typically developing peers on all cross-examination measures.

No description available.

Individual differences in infants’ visual attention have been associated with individual variation in cognition in childhood. However, it has not been explored the degree to which individual variation in newborn and infant visual attention relates to individual differences in some forms of temperament and behaviour in childhood. Furthermore, little is known about the genetic causes of individual differences on newborn and infant visual attention. Chapter 1 will review studies on individual differences in infant visual attention. Chapter 2 will review all genetic studies on infant attention, temperament and behaviour. Chapter 3 will present results of a study that explored the degree to which individual differences in infant mean fixation duration (mean age = 7.69 months) are associated with some forms of temperament and behaviour in childhood (sample mean age = 41.59 months). It was found that infant mean fixation duration predicted positively child effortful control and negatively surgency and hyperactivity-inattention. Chapter 4 will present a study that explored whether individual differences in newborn average dwell time (mean age = 2.20 days) are associated with some forms of temperament and behaviour in childhood (mean age = 90.00 months). Newborn mean dwell time predicted negatively child surgency and behavioural difficulties. Chapters 5 will present analyses that explore the degree to which genome-wide variants previously found to increase the liability for ADHD and schizophrenia are associated with infant mean fixation duration and newborn average dwell time. Τhe findings suggest that individual differences in infant visual attention are linked to attentional and behavioural control in childhood. Results are presented on the genetic mechanisms underlying individual differences in infant attention. Chapter 6 will evaluate critically the findings and will present limitations of this work to inform future studies.

Among all the child psychopathologies, the literature on the study of child and adolescent antisocial behaviour is perhaps the most abundant and historically rich. The present paper adds to this literature by reviewing and summarising recent research that advances our understanding into the development of severe antisocial behaviour. This review is separated into four main areas. Firstly, the topic of antisocial behaviour and conduct disorder is introduced, with reference to the political, economic, and social reasons why research in this area is becoming so relevant. This is followed by brief discussion of definitions of antisocial behaviour and their descriptive features, prognostic subtypes, and epidemiology. Secondly, a developmental model of conduct disorder is presented that attempts to integrate and synthesise the vast research that has been conducted in this area. Such a model aims to provide a coherent understanding as to how multiple factors operate together and lead to conduct problems. Thirdly, the review focuses specifically on studies that investigate the association between parenting and antisocial behaviour. It summarises the evidence as to which dimensions and features of parenting are most commonly linked to, and how they are hypothesised to operate on, antisocial behaviour. Finally, the review considers recent evidence for factors that moderate the link between parenting and antisocial behaviour (i.e. is a particular parenting behaviour always associated with child antisocial behaviour, or only under certain conditions).

This literature review provides a summary of a number of published studies which examine parenting styles and their impact on children's development. The paper considers the classification of parenting style the antecedents of parenting style and reviews studies investigating the impact of parenting style on children's social and developmental outcomes including: conscience development, academic achievement and psychological adjustment. Different factors that might impact on the association between parenting style and developmental outcome are discussed including: developmental level, ethnicity, genetic influence and temperament. The possible limitations of parenting style are also considered. The aim of the review is to ascertain the impact of parenting style on children's development and to identify the effect of parenting style on developmental outcome.

No description available.

Moderate associations between child anxiety and perceived parenting behaviour have been consistently reported, however, what these associations represent is unclear. This thesis examined three research questions: (i) whether different levels of perceived parenting are significantly associated with a change in anxiety; (ii) whether perceived parenting questionnaires have construct validity and (iii) whether children's anxiety is associated with biased perceptions of parenting. In a prospective study (Study 1), 905 Year 6 children (10-12 years) completed questionnaires on their anxiety and perceived parenting, and completed the anxiety questionnaire again in Year 7. Contrary to expectations, children's perceived overprotection, anxious rearing and rejection significantly predicted a modest decrease in their anxiety. The findings raised questions regarding the construct validity of measures of children's perceived parenting. Studies 2-5, therefore, examined children's (8-11 years) perceptions of parenting in greater detail. To assess how children interpreted parenting constructs, 74 children gave examples relating to commonly used parenting questionnaire items (Study 2) and 196 children responded to commonly used parenting questionnaire items in relation to scenarios that illustrated different parenting constructs (Study 3). Children gave examples to overprotection questions and responded to overprotection parenting scenarios that reflected warm parenting. However, these studies do not provide a reference point for observed parenting. Study 4 and Study 5, therefore, involved 69 parent-child dyads who completed various observational tasks, following which children rated their parents' behaviour. There were no significant associations between observers' and children's ratings of 'equivalent' parenting constructs. Furthermore, when anxiety was manipulated experimentally (Study 5), higher child anxiety was associated with perceptions of significantly more 'over-controlling' parenting. These studies highlight that improved methods of assessing children's perceptions of parenting are required. Findings from studies of observed and perceived parenting should not be considered interchangeably. Research in the relationship between general cognitive biases and biased perceptions of parenting in anxious populations is warranted.

Background: Chronic illness has been acknowledged to affect the whole family rather than just the individual living with the condition. CHD is one of the most frequently diagnosed illnesses but much of the research has been carried out with the child or parents with less of a focus on siblings. Methods: This study used interpretative phemonological analysis to explore the lived experience of young people who have a brother or sister living with CHD. Results: Four master themes emerged from the data; A Family Fracture, Defending Against Distress, The Struggle for Balance and Looking Forwards but Thinking Back. A questionnaire focusing on psychopathology identified the functioning of this sample of young people to be within normal ranges and not at risk of psychopathology or functioning problems. The themes suggest a process where the young person encounters both risk and resilience factors and is constantly balancing between the two sides. Conclusions: Adjustment to chronic illness in the family can be seen as an on-going process, present even several years after diagnosis. Young people detailed a number of factors emerging from the interviews which suggest the potential for risk and warrant intervention to minimise this. Theoretical links are made between these findings and existing literature. Clinical implications include the use of narrative techniques in intervention and family based intervention. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the nature, function and development of the relationship that some children have with an imaginary companion. BACKGROUND: The focus of much recent research on imaginary companions has been on comparing children who do and do not have one. Studies that gain a deeper insight into these relationships by detailing them in a more thorough, qualitative manner may provide additional information on the role that the companions play in children s lives. METHODS: Two semi-structured interviews were conducted, with six Primary 3 children, in May and October of 2013. Thematic analysis was 1Ised to analyse the data. DISCUSSION: The qualities of the imaginary companions were largely positive. A striking feature of the interviews was the sense of reality the children ascribed to their companion, yet they still held an awareness of the fantasy nature of the relationship. Over a five month period the accounts given by the children were remarkably consistent indicating the longevity of the relationships. An array of functions were discerned which resulted in the formation of an imaginary companion being viewed as a positive, creative and highly adaptive strategy to alleviate feelings of loneliness and boredom, provide companionship and friendship, provide help and assistance, and allow access to something unavailable in the real world. CONCLUSION: This study contributed to the current body of research by investigating the phenomenon of imaginary companions as they are experienced by the child. With so few qualitative studies pertaining to imaginary companions, further research in this area should be welcomed and encouraged.