New Research From Clinical Psychological Science

Read about the latest research published in Clinical Psychological Science:

Reduced Prospective Motor Control in 10-Month-Olds at Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Therese L. Ekberg, Terje Falck-Ytter, Sven Bölte, Gustaf Gredebäck, and the EASE Team

Prospective motor control (i.e., the ability to plan actions related to future events) is not a central part of Autism Spectrum diagnosis (ASD); however, many people who have an ASD display deficits in this ability. The researchers examined prospective motor control in 10-month-olds who did (high-risk group) or did not (low-risk group) have siblings with an ASD. Children were asked to catch a ball that rolled toward them down a curved, inclined pathway. Although both groups of children were equally likely to catch the ball, children in the low-risk group began to reach before the ball moved into the area in which it could be caught while children in the high-risk group did not, indicating the presence of prospective motor deficits in those at risk for ASD.

Negative Affect Instability Among Individuals With Comorbid Borderline Personality Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Emily M. Scheiderer, Ting Wang, Rachel L. Tomko, Phillip K. Wood, and Timothy J. Trull

Studies of people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) have found that they also experience high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite this high rate of comorbidity, few studies have examined how the co-occurrence of these disorders affects affective instability (AI), a component of BPD. Participants with BPD only, BPD and PTSD, major depressive disorder/dysthymia (MDD/DYS) only, or MDD/DYS and PTSD used a hand-held device to rate their moods 6 times a day for 28 days. A comorbid diagnosis of PTSD was associated with greater instability in sadness and fear in participants with BPD and less instability in sadness and fear in participants with MDD/DYS. The differing pattern of AI in these disorders demonstrates the importance of investigating AI within the context of specific comorbidities.