Attachment and Emotion Regulation during Mother-Teen Problem Solving: A Control Theory Analysis

We present a control theory analysis of adolescents' attachment strategies in the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). In Study 1, Q-sort prototypes for secure/anxious and deactivating/hyperactivating strategies were used to differentiate between Main and Goldwyn's AAI classifications. In Study 2, we examined how AAI strategies were associated with emotion regulation during mother-teen problem solving. 4 aspects of mother-teen problem solving (dysfunctional anger, support/validation, avoidance of problem solving, and maternal dominance) were used to predict teens' AAI strategies. Teens with secure strategies engaged in problem-solving discussions characterized by less dysfunctional anger and less avoidance of problem solving. In addition, attachment security showed a curvilinear relation with maternal dominance, indicating that secure teens maintained balanced assertiveness with their mothers. Teens with deactivating strategies engaged in problem-solving interactions characterized by higher levels of maternal dominance and dysfunctional anger. The contribution of attachment strategies to teens' autonomy and to transformations in mother-teen relationships is discussed.     

Bilingual school psychologists' assessment practices with English language learners

This study explored bilingual school psychologists' assessment practices with students identified as English language learners (ELL). One thousand bilingual National Association of School Psychologist members were recruited nationwide, and 276 participated. Among those conducting language proficiency assessments of ELLs, many (58%) use comprehensive methods across four domains of language use. Participants generally use multifaceted assessment approaches and most (84.1%) assess acculturation as part of the assessment battery. Although few use interpreters, those who did reported a mix of best practices and discouraged practices in their use. Multiple regression results showed that engaging in continuing education activities about assessing ELLs predicted “best practices” when assessing language proficiency, selecting and using measures with ELLs with whom they share a second language, and using interpreters. A relationship was also found between engaging in applied preservice training with bilingual supervision and best practice behaviors assessing student acculturation. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Tibial shock measured during the fencing lunge: the influence of footwear

Fencing is a high-intensity sport involving dynamic movements such as the lunge exposing the musculoskeletal system to high impact forces, which emphasises the importance of the shock attenuating properties of footwear as a factor in the prevention of injury. The aim of this study was to investigate the magnitudes of the transient axial impact shock experienced at the tibia between traditional fencing shoes and standard athletic footwear during the impact phase of the fencing lunge. Peak tibial shock was measured in 19 male fencers in 4 different footwear conditions using an accelerometer placed on the distal aspect of the tibia. The standard footwear (11.08 g and 8.75 g for squash and running shoe, respectively) resulted in significant (p < 0.01) reductions in peak impact shock in comparison to the traditional fencing shoes (15.93 g and 13.97 g for the Adidas and Hi-Tec shoe, respectively). No significant differences were found between the running and squash shoes (p = 0.09) or between the fencing shoes (p = 0.48). The documented reduction in impact shock found suggests that running or squash specific footwear may reduce overuse injury occurrence, indicating that there is justification for a re-design of fencing shoes.     

The effect of auditory stimulus training on swimming start reaction time

Task-specific auditory training can improve sensorimotor processing times of the auditory reaction time (RT). The majority of competitive swimmers do not conduct habitual start training with the electronic horn used to commence a race. We examined the effect of four week dive training interventions on RT and block time (BT) of 10 male adolescent swimmers (age 14.0 ± 1.4 years): dive training with auditory components (speaker and electronic horn) (n = 5) and dive training without auditory components (n = 5). Auditory stimulus dive training significantly reduced swimming start RT, compared with dive training without auditory components (p < 0.01), with a group mean RT reduction of 13 ± 9 ms. Four of the five swimmers that received auditory stimulus training showed medium to large effect size reductions in RT (d = 0.74; 1.32; 1.40; 1.81). No significant changes to swimmers’ BTs were evident in either dive training intervention. The adolescent swimmers’ results were compared against six male elite swimmers (age 19.8 ± 1.0 years). The elite swimmers had significantly shorter BTs (p < 0.05) but no significant difference in RTs. Auditory stimulus dive training should be explored further as a mechanism for improving swimming start performance in elite swimmers who have pre-established optimal BTs.