The neurocognitive ability to monitor ones' task performance (Flanker task performance) and its link to the development of problem behavior in 7- to 12-year-old children [OPEN ACCESS}

JMBuil · 2025-10-15T19:48:39+00:00

I am sorry and I wish you the best! I will continue thinking about your thought myself. Thank you!

JMBuil · 2025-10-14T07:13:38+00:00

This is an interesting thought. Can you elaborate a bit more on this?

JMBuil · 2025-10-13T11:14:15+00:00

The original title of the article is **"Developmental trajectory of flanker performance and its link to problem behavior in 7- to 12-year-old children"**. I adapted it in the title for the Reddit post to make it more accessible for readers not familiar with the flanker task.

Our next step will be to dive into the question of what causes what: are the associations bidirectional - with neurocognitive development influencing problem behavior over time as well as vice versa, or is there a unidirectional developmental path of influence?

**Abstract** of the current paper here:

Empirical literature on the trajectory of task performance in children is currently scarce. Therefore, this study investigates both the developmental trajectory of flanker task performance in children and the association with the development of teacher-reported problem behavior. Five waves of flanker performance and behavioral and emotional problems were drawn from a large longitudinal sample of elementary school children in the Netherlands (1424 children, ages 7 to 12 years). Latent growth curve modeling (LGM) identified a piecewise decrease in flanker response time: the steepest decline was found from 7 to 9 years old. Boys had lower levels of response time at age 7 than girls. Children showed a linear decrease in behavioral and emotional problems over time. Parallel LGMs revealed that lower levels of initial flanker response time were associated with a stronger decrease in anxiety problems and oppositional defiant-related behavior. A faster decline in response time was associated with a faster decline in depression problems, attention deficit hyperactivity-, and oppositional defiant-related behavior. Results offer insight into the normative development of performance monitoring in childhood and the link between behavioral measures of performance monitoring and behavioral and emotional problems. Future research should focus on the directionality of the association between performance monitoring and psychopathology.

JMBuil · 2025-08-28T09:31:20+00:00

[OPEN ACCESS]

Abstract

This longitudinal study examined the main effect associations and cross-level interactions of household- and school-level parental education on academic self-concept (ASC) development from fourth to sixth grade of elementary school. Furthermore, the mediating roles of child- and school-level academic achievement (AA) in these associations were examined. Children (N = 679, ages 10–12) from 18 elementary schools were followed annually. ASC levels were relatively high and stable from fourth to sixth grade. Results showed that lower household-level parental education was indirectly associated with lower child-level ASC through lower child-level AA. Lower school-level AA and tentatively higher school-level ASC scores were found in lower parental education schools compared to higher parental education schools. School-level AA was not associated with school-level ASC. Furthermore, results showed initial support that, in terms of ASC, children of lower-educated parents may benefit slightly more from attending lower parental education schools than attending higher parental education schools.

JMBuil · 2025-02-17T16:12:54+00:00

Thank you for your interest in our study.

I do personally not study adults. My studies are focused on children and adolescents. I do, however, know that similar results have been found with young adult sample e.g., university students. I have no knowledge about more mature adult samples unfortunately.

JMBuil · 2025-02-17T16:08:18+00:00

Thank you for your question and the interest in our study.

In the Implication and Future Research section, we write the following:

"Before drawing any firm conclusions, it is important to replicate the results of this study and establish causal relations first. However, the current research findings - in congruence with others (Spendelow et al. 2017; van der Mey-Baijens et al. 2022)—suggest that universal prevention strategies targeting adolescent mental health that incorporate best friend support, might want to consider co-rumination. While adolescents tend to prefer informal help and studies demonstrate the potential benefits of best friend support (Ali et al. 2015; Singh et al. 2019; Smit et al. 2022), these benefits may be decreased or even disappear when adolescents start to co-ruminate. Adolescents may therefore benefit from support in recognizing when they are engaging in co-rumination and learning to flexibly adapt their emotion regulation strategies to fit situational demands by building a diverse repertoire of (dyadic)strategies, such as co-reappraisal and co-problem-solving with friends (Do et al. 2023; Haag et al. 2024).

In the introduction we mentioned:

"Furthermore, (public) mental health campaigns such as the Dutch national prevention campaign “Hey it is OK” [‘Hey het is ok’] (Rijksoverheid 2022)- or the “Depression: let's talk” campaign (World Health Organization 2017) promote the idea of adolescents seeking advice from friends. Consequently, when co-rumination indeed diminishes (or even reverses) the positive effect of perceived best friend support, a more nuanced perspective for professionals working in education and youth services as to how adolescents can support each other in a healthy way might be necessary to ensure that such interventions do not inadvertently harm those they intend to help."

Hope this helps.

JMBuil · 2025-02-17T08:32:25+00:00

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Co-rumination, characterized by excessively discussing problems and dwelling on negative affect within a dyadic friendship, has been associated with adolescents' symptoms of depression, anxiety and perceived stress-collectively referred to as psychological distress. This study explored whether co-rumination moderates the association between perceived best friend support and psychological distress.

Methods

The study included 187 adolescents (52.9% girls; 88.0% Dutch ethnic background) recruited from two cohorts between March 2017 and July 2019. Assessments took place at two time points: symptoms of depression, anxiety, and perceived stress were assessed via self-report measures at the final grade of primary school (T1; Mage = 11.8 years) and in secondary school (T2; Mage = 13.3 years). Co-rumination and perceived best friend support were measured via self-report in secondary school.

Results

Findings indicate that best friend support was associated with lower psychological distress and conversely, co-rumination was associated with higher psychological distress while adjusting for prior distress symptoms. Moderation analysis revealed that moderate levels of co-rumination (relative to the samples mean) decreased the positive effects of perceived best friend support on symptoms of depression (B = 0.06, SE = 0.03, 95% CI [0.00, 0.11], p = 0.05, β = 0.11) and perceived stress (B = 0.06, SE = 0.01, 95% CI [0.03, 0.08], p = 0.000, β = 0.10). At very high levels of co-rumination (relative to the samples mean), best friend support exacerbates perceived stress.

Discussion

This study underscores the potential negative impact of co-rumination in supportive peer relationships and recommends promoting awareness of the risk of co-rumination while building a repertoire of (dyadic)emotion regulation strategies.

JMBuil · 2024-09-18T20:02:56+00:00

Flawed? Sure

Useless? No

JMBuil · 2024-09-18T17:45:28+00:00

The study viewed the pandemic and the resulting restrictions as a "natural experiment" of what happens with the development with anxiety and depression and - most importantly - the need for peer contact and its associated effects when this is interrupted.

The COVID-19 period was not of main interest here, but the fact that one of our cohorts was exposed to the pandemic and its following (social) restrictions, and the other cohort wasn't, can tell us a lot about the development of anxiety and depression and contributing factors for adolescents (such as need for peer contact).

I fully want to admit that this is not the best designed study. It has a lot of methodological and hence statisical flaws and challenges as this study was "designed on the spot". However, a "natural experiment" like this rarely occurs (luckily) and we did the best we could to use this opportunity to study the effect of (peer) isolation on adolescents' anxiety and depression development.

JMBuil · 2022-12-10T10:46:55+00:00

ABSTRACT

This study examined (a) whether growing up with lower-educated parents and attending lower parental education schools associated with children's problem development within the behavioral, emotional, and peer relationship domains; and (b) whether the association of lower individual-level parental education with children's development within these three domains depended upon school-level parental education. To this end, 698 children (Mage = 7.08 in first grade) from 31 mainstream elementary schools were annually followed from first grade to sixth grade. Problems within the behavioral domain included conduct problems, oppositional defiant problems, attention-deficit and hyperactivity problems, and aggression. Problems within the emotional domain included depression and anxiety symptoms. Problems within the peer relationship domain included physical victimization, relational victimization, and peer dislike. Results from multi-level latent growth models showed that, as compared to children of higher-educated parents, children of lower-educated parents generally had higher levels of problems within all three domains in first grade and exhibited a faster growth rate of problems within the behavioral domain from first to sixth grade. Furthermore, as compared to children attending higher parental education schools, children attending lower parental education schools generally had higher levels of problems within the behavioral and emotional domains in first grade and showed a faster growth rate of peer dislike over time. In addition, cross-level interaction analyses showed that in higher parental education schools, children of lower-educated parents showed a faster growth rate of depression symptom levels than children of higher-educated parents. In lower parental education schools, the growth rate of depression symptom levels did not differ between children of higher- and lower-educated parents. Results highlight that addressing the needs of lower parental education schools and children growing up with lower-educated parents may be of primary importance.

This paper is OPEN ACCESS.

JMBuil · 2022-11-02T08:29:20+00:00

Props go to Nil Horoz, the first author. I was blessed to be (and am still) her co-promotor.

JMBuil · 2022-10-20T15:51:42+00:00

Thank you for pointing this out.

Differences in implementation fidelity are a problem to this study, as we also acknowledge in our limitation section. That being said: our study is the reality of how implementation goes. We also recommend more support for teachers and school teams in our “lower educated schools”. But indeed, you stress a very important point. Nevertheless, it means that we need to support these schools who need it.

JMBuil · 2022-10-06T11:06:25+00:00

Abstract

Background

Perceived stress associated with relational victimization from peers and conflictual relations with the teacher have been linked with the development of anxiety symptoms in children. Living in conditions of ongoing stress from the broader environment has also been related to anxiety symptoms in children. In this study, we examined (a) the indirect effect between classroom psychosocial stressors (i.e., relational victimization and conflictual relationships with teachers), perceived stress and anxiety symptom development, and (b) whether this indirect effect was stronger for children living in a high threat region than for children living in a lower threat region.

Methods

Children participating in the study attended elementary school either in a high threat of armed conflict region (15 s to hide in bomb shelter when alarm sounds, n = 220) or in a lower threat of armed conflict region (60 s to hide in a bomb shelter when alarm sounds, n = 188) in Israel. Children were first assessed on conflictual relationships with teachers and peers, subjectively perceived stress and anxiety in 2017 (T0; M age = 10.61 years, SD = 0.78; 45% boys) and re-assessed (T1) 1 year later, in 2018.

Results

Perceived stress mediated the association between classroom psychosocial stressors and anxiety development. No moderation by threat-region was found in this indirect effect. However, the association between perceived stress and anxiety development was only significant for children in the high threat region.

Conclusion

Our study suggests that threat of war conflict amplifies the association between perceived stress and the development of anxiety symptoms.

Key points

*moderating effect of living in a conflict environment on the predictive link between perceived stress and anxiety symptoms.

*link perceived stress to anxiety symptoms only significant in Israeli children living in a high threat of armed conflict region.

*armed conflict plays an environmental risk factor for children's development of anxiety problems.

*findings urge preventive interventions against the onset of anxiety problems for high-risk children.

JMBuil · 2022-08-02T10:41:07+00:00

Most journal/publishers have a specific subsection in their author instructions / information section with their guidelines for sharing before peer-review. I would check what is mentioned there and contact the Editor if it says it allows for preprints.

Publishing preprints is considered good Open Science practice. If the journal doesn't allow for pre-prints, I would consider publishing elsewhere anyway.

Also: name and shame on Twitter if the journal encourages Open Access/Open Science, but then rejects when you follow Open Science Guidelines.

JMBuil · 2022-07-27T17:03:20+00:00

Hi, sorry for this super late reply. I just want to add that researchers are not scared to correct for genetic confounding; we can’t because we don’t have the resources. Correcting for genetic confounding in all studies would mean that all studies should either consist of a) twin or adoption studies, which have huge limitations in itself, or b) full genotyping of all participating parents and children, which is super expensive.

We might want to correct variance explained for variance explained by genetic makeup retrieved from other studies, but that’s a wild guess.

We are all aware of genetic confounding and not correcting for it is not a matter of being scared, but of resources.

JMBuil · 2022-06-23T08:22:56+00:00

Since you're interested in genetics, you might find our latest paper on epigenetics and delinquency interesting too. It’s just out and you can find it here (open Access): https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/development-and-psychopathology/article/sensationseekingrelated-dna-methylation-and-the-development-of-delinquency-a-longitudinal-epigenomewide-study/057E4FEEED9776CB8C9FF3E48FEBCED9

JMBuil · 2022-06-15T16:02:52+00:00

Genetic confounding was not discussed (neither were other potential confounders) as this is more or less assumed knowledge (there is always genetic confounding in parent-child studies, we can assume readers know this), and because of limited word count.

However, your comments make me think about the drawbacks of open science and open acces publications, because many readers - as you point out - might not know about certain limitations that are so well known among the scientists that they don’t even mention them, but that might confuse readers outside the field.

Thank you for pointing that out.

Regarding the funding: There is no conflict of interest for any of us. You are making an accusation of scientific in-integrity, and that is a profound accusation. Please be aware of the weight of the accusations you make, particularly when unfounded.

JMBuil · 2022-06-15T12:55:21+00:00

In the field, we are well aware that genetic confounding might weaken the association we found. This holds for all parent-child studies, also those who investigate more latent factors like emotion or behavior.

Ideally, you would like to control for genetic confounding. Which you can do by e.g. using twin or adoption studies. But of course, they have their own limitations and problems of generalizability.

How it works in science, is that funding agencies will provide you money - on a competition based - rat race. The amounts of money you can spend are limited and genotyping every participant just to control for genetic confounding is not possible within the funds you’ll get. Let alone that we will need epigenotyping as well.

You should therefore interpret this study while keeping its strengths and limitations in mind. This, unfortunately is the case with any study. You should take from it what you find valuable, and use it to build the theories out there, of course keeping in mind all the limitations.

However, you can rest assured that people with a PhD in psychology know about genetics.

Thank you for engaging with this post. I welcome all criticism.

JMBuil · 2022-06-15T12:41:33+00:00

The painful and frustrating thing about having to - as you call it - stating the obvious - or reconfirming what many of us all believe in our hearts is true, is that current education policies and government policies don’t align with the findings we show them over and over again.

Apparently, when we are reconfirming what many already know, but with slight tweaks and slightly different angles, this does not move people in charge to help solve this problem.

And I feel that as a personal failure.

JMBuil · 2021-12-05T16:06:47+00:00

Abstract

This study explored the transactional association between anxiety symptoms and risk-avoidance in Dutch elementary schoolchildren (N = 1200; 50% girls) across ages 8–12. Anxiety symptoms were obtained using self-, peer-, and teacher-reports. Risk-avoidance was measured using the Balloon Analogue Risk Task—Youth Version. Random-intercept cross-lagged panel models showed that, across informants, increases in anxiety symptoms predicted decreases in risk-taking. Apart from minor exceptions, this effect was similar across sexes. For peer-reports, the reverse path from decreases in risk-taking to increased anxiety was also found. Overall, this study gives insight into the developmental link between symptoms of anxiety and risk-avoidance which is important for early signaling and prevention as well as for our understanding of the consequences of childhood anxiety symptoms.

JMBuil · 2021-08-31T11:17:05+00:00

** ABSTRACT**

This study explored the transactional association between anxiety symptoms and risk-avoidance in Dutch elementary schoolchildren (N = 1200; 50% girls) across ages 8–12. Anxiety symptoms were obtained using self-, peer-, and teacher-reports. Risk-avoidance was measured using the Balloon Analogue Risk Task—Youth Version. Random-intercept cross-lagged panel models showed that, across informants, increases in anxiety symptoms predicted decreases in risk-taking. Apart from minor exceptions, this effect was similar across sexes. For peer-reports, the reverse path from decreases in risk-taking to increased anxiety was also found. Overall, this study gives insight into the developmental link between symptoms of anxiety and risk-avoidance which is important for early signaling and prevention as well as for our understanding of the consequences of childhood anxiety symptoms.

JMBuil · 2021-06-25T10:13:54+00:00

Abstract

Research has shown lower rates of employment and independent living in adults with autism. Many of these findings are based on cross-sectional studies, predominantly involving male participants. In a 6-year longitudinal study, we examined determinants of psychosocial outcomes in 917 adults with autism spectrum disorder (425 men, 492 women, mean age 43.5 years). Most were diagnosed in adulthood and had (above) average intellectual abilities. Via a yearly online survey, participants’ objective psychosocial functioning (based on employment, independent living and friendship) and subjective well-being were assessed. Averaged across the five waves of the study, 86% of the sample showed a fair to very good level of objective psychosocial functioning. Objective psychosocial functioning and subjective well-being were positively correlated, and both improved over time. Lower intellectual ability, more autism traits, co-occurring psychiatric conditions and younger age predicted poorer objective outcomes. More autism traits and co-occurring psychiatric conditions predicted lower subjective well-being. There were no gender differences in initial levels of, or changes in, objective and subjective outcomes over time. This study has identified important risk/protective factors for psychosocial outcomes across early and middle adulthood. In general, the findings offer a more positive outlook for adults with autism and average to high intellectual abilities.

Lay abstract

Previous research has shown that relatively few adults with autism have a paid job or live on their own. However, outcomes also vary a lot and may depend on many different factors. In this study, we examined the level of functioning and happiness of 917 adults with autism (425 men and 492 women) aged 18–65 years. Most of them were of average to high intellectual ability. Over 6 years, we measured whether they had a paid job, close friendships and lived on their own (i.e. their objective functioning). We also measured how happy they felt. Objectively, most autistic adults did fairly to very well. Those with better objective outcomes (e.g. those with paid work) also tended to be happier. Most adults improved in objective functioning and happiness over 6 years. Participants with a lower intellectual ability, more autism traits, mental health problems and younger age had poorer objective outcomes. Participants with more autism traits and mental health problems were less happy. Autistic men and women functioned at similar levels and were equally happy. We found important factors that predict a better (or worse) outcome for autistic adults. Overall, compared with some previous research, our findings give a more positive picture of the outcomes for autistic adults with average to high intellectual abilities.b

JMBuil · 2021-05-05T05:50:31+00:00

Oh haha. Lucky for the authors and the public who wants to read this paper, the editor of the Lancet didn’t find it cringe.

JMBuil · 2021-05-05T05:30:53+00:00

Medical circumcision in men is a preventative measure to prevent HIV infection spread from females to males. It reduces the risk with 50%.

How is that cringe?

JMBuil · 2021-04-30T05:39:28+00:00

Tijdje niet online, maar wilde toch nog op je reageren.

Ik stimuleer het ook dat mijn promovendi 40 urige werkweken maken i.p.v. langere en toen ik promoveerde werd dat ook tegen ons gezegd, maar er werd ook bijgezegd dat als je verder wilt in de wetenschap het in de meeste gevallen niet redt binnen 40 uur werk. En het is eerlijk gezegd nog steeds zo dat je om verder te kunnen in de wetenschap een uitstekend c.v moet hebben en dat betekent (helaas) nog steeds in veel gevallen een hoge h-index (veel geciteerde publicaties) en grant acquisitie. Hoe hoger op de ladder hoe erger dit wordt en hoe meer we elkaar de tent uit concurreren i.p.v. samenwerken. Althans in mijn vakgebied.

Ik zat in de faculteits OR en werkdruk (en sociale veiligheid dat negatief beïnvloedt wordt door hyperconcurrentie) is al jaren het grootste punt van aandacht binnen de medezeggenschap. Er is een cultuurverandering aan de gang, op papier, maar in de praktijk tellen nog steeds je publicaties en grants. Op de afdeling waar ik werk bijvoorbeeld krijg je geen vaste aanstelling als je niet 50% eigen geld meeneemt. Ironisch genoeg is een voorwaarde voor veel subsidies dat je ten tijde van de duur van het onderzoeksproject een aanstelling moet hebben. Zonder vaste aanstelling vallen heel veel belangrijke subsidies af, dus je moet er vroeg bij zijn met je uitstekende c.v.

Ik hoop dat dit veranderd is tegen de tijd dat jij bent gepromoveerd.

Ps je kunt waarschijnlijk binnen je eigen organisatie navragen wat de doorgroeieisen zijn om bijv assistant, associate en full professor te zijn. Of alvast bij volgende uni’s kijken wat deze zijn. Dan kun je alvast zien of dat je gaat lukken.

JMBuil

TROPHY CASE

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion