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The current experiment examined the effect of forewarning on children's (11 to 12 years of age) and adults' spontaneous false memory creation by presenting participants with semantically related word lists that are often used to elicit false memories (i.e., Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm). The forewarning consisted of an explanation of the false memory effect and a demonstration of a DRM word list and an associated recognition task. It was hypothesized that children would have fewer false memories than adults using the DRM paradigm and that forewarning would reduce the number of critical lures remembered by children and adults. We found a developmental reversal effect in that children had lower false memory levels than adults and that forewarning reduced, but did not eliminate, false memory propensity in both children and adults. Our findings further indicated that forewarning was more effective in reducing false memory levels in 11- to 12-year-old children than in adults. Finally, analyses revealed that participants were more accurate when they received a forewarning as compared to when they did not.

Background: Children within historically disadvantaged non-Western South African communities are considered as particularly vulnerable to the development of anxiety problems. Although the need for accessible mental health interventions is evident, this need has remained unmet in a country with extreme socio-economic disparities and a lack of mental health resources. Cognitive behavioural therapy-based (CBT-based) interventions that employ brief and intensive delivery methods may overcome existing barriers to access to mental health services faced by many South African children and may ameliorate the burden placed on under-resourced mental health care services. Aim: To provide preliminary evidence on the effectiveness of a brief, intensive CBT-based anxiety prevention intervention conducted in a South African context. Method: A mixed-methods approach, with quantitative and qualitative data, was used to evaluate the effects of the CBT-based programme in a sample of 21 farmworkers' children aged 9–14 years living in disadvantaged semi-rural communities of the Western Cape. A quasi-experimental design with an immediate intervention (experimental) group and a delayed intervention (control) group was applied in the quantitative component of the study. The qualitative component was based on focus group data. Results: In general, positive effects were noted for the CBT-based anxiety prevention programme in these vulnerable children. Quantitative data revealed a trend reflecting a reduction of self-reported anxiety levels. Qualitative support for the acquisition and application of the CBT-based programme skills was also found. Conclusion: This pilot study indicates that a brief, intensive CBT-based prevention programme holds promise for the effective reduction of anxiety in vulnerable South African children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Youth Anxiety Measure for DSM-5 (YAM-5) is a new self- and parent-report questionnaire to assess anxiety disorder symptoms in children and adolescents in terms of the contemporary classification system. International panels of childhood anxiety researchers and clinicians were used to construct a scale consisting of two parts: part one consists of 28 items and measures the major anxiety disorders including separation anxiety disorder, selective mutism, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder, whereas part two contains 22 items that focus on specific phobias and (given its overlap with situational phobias) agoraphobia. In general, the face validity of the new scale was good; most of its items were successfully linked to the intended anxiety disorders. Notable exceptions were the selective mutism items, which were frequently considered as symptoms of social anxiety disorder, and some specific phobia items especially of the natural environment, situational and other type, that were regularly assigned to an incorrect category. A preliminary investigation of the YAM-5 in non-clinical (N = 132) and clinically referred (N = 64) children and adolescents indicated that the measure was easy to complete by youngsters. In addition, support was found for the psychometric qualities of the measure: that is, the internal consistency was good for both parts, as well as for most of the subscales, the parent-child agreement appeared satisfactory, and there was also evidence for the validity of the scale. The YAM-5 holds promise as a tool for assessing anxiety disorder symptoms in children and adolescents.

Author(s): David Pineda [sup.1], Bonifacio Sandín [sup.1], Peter Muris [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.10702.34, 0000 0001 2308 8920, National Distance Education University (UNED), , C/ Juan del Rosal 10, 28040, [...], The Dark Triad refers to three malevolent personality traits, namely narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. The Dirty Dozen (DD) and Short Dark Triad (SD3) have been developed as concise scales for measuring these traits. This study examined the psychometrics properties of the Spanish version of the DD and SD3 in a non-clinical population recruited via the internet (N = 454). For both scales, we found (1) an adequate fit for the hypothesized factor structure with three separate but correlated malevolent traits; (2) mostly moderate to good reliability coefficients; (3) significant gender differences with males scoring higher on Dark Triad traits than females; (4) theoretically meaningful links with Eysenck's personality supertraits; (5) positive correlations with externalizing and - albeit to a lesser extent -internalizing psychiatric symptoms; and (6) that most Dark Triad traits were positively associated with a socially desirable response tendency. It can be concluded that the Spanish DD and SD3 display highly similar psychometric qualities as the original scales and other translations of these measures.

Background: Previous research suggests that it is important to use parental reports when assessing children's anxiety, but it remains unclear to what extent there are differences between mothers' and fathers' scores and whether these potential differences have any repercussions for the psychometric properties of the scale being used. Objective: This study was conducted to investigate parental differences on the Parent version of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders-Revised (SCARED-RP), a rating scale for measuring child anxiety symptoms. The second aim was to re-examine the reliability and validity of the SCARED-RP, in light of these possible differences. Methods: The SCARED-RP and the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) were administered to parents of clinically anxious children (n = 81), and control children (n = 108). All children (n = 189) completed the SCARED-R. Results: Significant correlations between mother and father reports were found within the clinically anxious sample. Mothers showed significantly more correspondence with their children in the control group than fathers. The SCARED-RP internal consistency on total scale was excellent (mothers: 0.94; fathers: 0.94) and moderate to good for all subscales (from 0.66 Situational-Environmental Phobia to 0.93 Animal Phobia). The SCARED-RP differentiated well between clinically anxious and control children (mother and father data). The concurrent validity was supported by strong correlations with the CBCL anxious-depressed scale. Conclusion: Differences between mother and father reports suggest the importance of obtaining information from both parents separately. Furthermore, the SCARED-RP is a useful instrument for assessing children's anxiety disorder symptoms in clinical and research settings.

The main purpose of the current studies was to examine retracted experiences in the general population from various cultural backgrounds. More specifically, in two studies, we examined the details of memory retraction experiences, the reasons for retraction, and the outcomes of retraction in participants from China and other countries, mainly the United States of America. It was found that memory retraction experiences appeared to be quite common. In the sample of Chinese participants (Study 1: N = 1380), 50.58% reported at least one such an experience, whereas in respondents from other countries (Study 2; N = 425), a significantly lower but still substantial prevalence rate of 35% was found. In general, the retracted memories predominantly involved positive events and some respondents experienced pressure during the withdrawal. Social feedback and event plausibility were the two main reasons for the withdrawal. Compared to recollection scores, belief scores decreased significantly after withdrawal, and some respondents even formed nonbelieved memories. After retracting the memories, most respondents felt they gained benefits (e.g., they had resolved a psychological problem that had bothered them for years). These studies give us a more general understanding of retracted memory experiences in the general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A social skills training (SST) for high-functioning children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) was evaluated in an outpatient setting using a combined between- and within-subject design in which SST and a waiting list condition were compared. According to parents and teachers, the SST produced greater improvement of social skills than the waiting list, and these effects were maintained at 3 months follow-up. No between-group effects were found for loneliness, although in general scores on this outcome measure decreased from pre- to follow-up. The effects of SST were unaffected by social anxiety, ADHD symptoms, Theory of Mind, or desire for social interaction. Altogether, SST seems an effective intervention for high-functioning children with ASD that can be applied in daily clinical practice.