Evidence has shown that not only are many children with autism spectrum (ASD) highly intelligent, demonstrating creative and cognitive abilities that far exceed those of their non-ASD peers, but autistic children are also better able to process details than other children. In many tests, autistic children outperform their peers on local processing tasks, or tasks that require identification of parts of a whole. This is especially true when there are clear delineations between the individual segments of a global picture. When there is less distinction, the ASD children tend to perform equal to that of their non-ASD peers. Some researchers believe that this local processing skill is a trait of ASD and accounts for the high levels of artistic talent among children with ASD. But Jennifer E. Drake of the Department of Psychology at Boston College hypothesized that perhaps this local processing strength is a trait of artistic talent and not exclusive to individuals with autism.

To test her theory, Drake enlisted 30 children, half of whom had ASD, for a drawing and visuospatial test. She used the Block Design Task and the Group Embedded Figures Test to determine local processing, and also had the children create still life drawings. She found that the children with more drawing talent had higher levels of local processing abilities, regardless of whether they had ASD or not. Drake also noticed that the tests she administered were more predictive of drawing talent than they were of ASD. In other words, tests that are sometimes used to identify ASD traits in children may actually be indicating artistic abilities and not autistic tendencies.

Drake believes that her findings have significant clinical implications. Many children are assessed for autism at a very young age. It is at this time that strengths first appear as well, including artistic strengths. She believes it is possible that many young children with strong local processing abilities may actually be exhibiting artistic strengths when they take these types of tests. In the absence of global deficits, these children may not be demonstrating true characteristics of autism. “Thus, the superior local processing seen in ASD may be due to the drawing talent so often present in those with ASD,” Drake said. But Drake cautions that any deficits or strengths that are outside of the normal range should not be ignored in young children, especially if the children exhibit other reasons for concern.

Reference:
Drake, J. E. (2012). Is superior local processing in the visuospatial domain a function of drawing talent rather than autism spectrum disorder?  Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0030636

Cyber bullying has become more common with advances in technology. Messages can be posted on social networking websites, and pictures can be downloaded, altered, and made available to the world in seconds. Although there has been abundant research into the consequences of cyber bullying and traditional bullying, little has been done to determine which type may cause more psychological damage. It is well established that bullying itself—the act of terrorizing, intimidating, and ridiculing another through verbal or physical acts—can have numerous deleterious effects.

Those who endure bullying are at increased risk for internalizing problems such as anxiety, depression, and suicide ideation. Understanding how each type of bullying impacts young people is of critical importance in order to target those most vulnerable and help them deal with the ramifications. To get a better idea of the effects of cyber bullying in comparison to traditional bullying, Sheri Bauman of the University of Arizona’s College of Education recently conducted a study asking college students to rate their levels of distress based on hypothetical cyber and traditional bullying scenarios. The scenarios were similar in nature and differed only in delivery.

Bauman discovered that three main bullying themes emerged, including generalized bullying, name calling, and sexual victimization through explicit sexual images. Although the female participants reported higher levels of distress for all three types of bullying, the method of delivery did not impact emotional response. Specifically, although their responses varied by bullying scenario, all participants reported similar distress levels whether the bullying event was traditional in nature or cyber bullying.

However, Bauman found that one type of bullying was the most distressing. “We … found that bullying with sexual material, whether conventionally or by technological methods, is the most upsetting kind of incident to targets,” she said. This was especially true for female participants. Those with a history of victimization had higher distress than those without. In sum, Bauman believes that these findings demonstrate that it may not be the delivery method of bullying behavior that is most detrimental to young people, but rather the content of the message conveyed.

Reference:
Bauman, S., Newman, M. L. (2012). Testing assumptions about cyber bullying: Perceived distress associated with acts of conventional and cyber bullying. Psychology of Violence. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0029867

Play therapy is widely recognized as an effective therapeutic approach for children who are unable or unwilling to communicate their psychological distress. Elementary-aged children represent an especially vulnerable segment of the population when it comes to mental health barriers. First, it is during these formative years that behavior patterns are set. Children who have psychological problems early on tend to have higher rates of substance misuse, aggression, risk-taking behavior, and academic challenges than their peers. Additionally, many young children who have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress, autism, or other difficulties may have significant academic challenges and can benefit greatly from effective and meaningful in-school therapy.

But believing in the viability of play therapy and delivering it are two different things. Many school counselors report significant barriers to play therapy. Christine Ebrahim of the Department of Counseling at Loyola University in New York wanted to take a closer look at the barriers that counselors faced and how they overcame them. Ebrahim enlisted 359 elementary school counselors from the American School Counselor Association and had them complete online surveys regarding barriers to play therapy. The participants reported barriers such as time, space allocation, financial resources, and administrative and parental support. However, nearly all the counselors who cited these obstacles also described how they overcame them. For instance, they used their own money for supplies when they could not get funding, moved sessions to alternative locations when space was limited, and provided education about the benefits of play therapy when administrative and parental support was lacking.

One barrier was more difficult to surmount: the limited availability of play therapy training. “In looking at the data, most counselors identified specifically a lack of training as their primary problem,” Ebrahim said. Play therapy courses are not part of the curriculum at all colleges. Therefore, counselors are forced to learn through textbooks or online, or they must pay for training out of their own pockets. These results are promising in that they suggest that counselors are willing to do whatever it takes to offer play therapy to students in need. However, Ebrahim believes the findings clearly demonstrate that elementary school counselors are in desperate need of more professional play therapy training.

Reference:
Ebrahim, C., Steen, R. L., Paradise, L. (2012). Overcoming school counselors’ barriers to play therapy. International Journal of Play Therapy. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0029791

Fear can be a strong motivator. People who are afraid of living in poverty may be motivated to pursue any career option in order to avoid financial destitution. In a similar way, individuals who are afraid that they may develop specific health-related problems may work tirelessly to maintain optimal physical condition. Fear often has been linked to motivation, both positively and negatively. Until recently, however, few studies examined how fear of failure affects activity-related performance.

Jocelyn J. Bélanger of the University of Maryland sought to determine how negative feedback on specific tasks affected motivation in individuals fearful of failure (obsessive) and those who were passionate about their activity but less worried about setbacks (harmonious). In a series of experiments, Bélanger found that individuals who are passionate about achieving their goal perform differently based on their style of commitment. In particular, those with obsessive passion responded with positive motivation to negative/failure cues while those with harmonious passion saw no change in performance. In fact, the harmonious passion participants maintained the same level of performance throughout the experiments, regardless of whether they received success or failure feedback.

“Obsessive passion, associated with defensiveness, predicts performance aimed at avoiding failure, whereas harmonious passion, associated with a secure self-concept, predicts stable performance,” Bélanger said. These findings suggest that fear works as a motivator for individuals with obsessive passion. Bélanger believes that people who feel their sense of self is threatened by failure of goal attainment may unconsciously respond to that threat by increasing their performance. However, those who have harmonious passion traits are less threatened and view the feedback, positive or negative, merely as information needed to continue the process of attaining their goals. The results of this study offer valuable information that could be used for the development of goal-attainment strategies in the professional, academic, and sports arenas, and could help clinicians better understand an individual’s reaction to goal-achievement outcomes.

Reference:
Bélanger, J. J., Lafrenière, M.-A. K., Vallerand, R. J., Kruglanski, A. W. (2012). Driven by fear: The effect of success and failure information on passionate individuals’ performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0029585

You are what you eat, as the popular saying goes. And now a new study suggests that your diet as an infant may in fact determine how smart you will be when you grow older. The study, published in the European Journal of Epidemiology, found that infants who ate healthy foods had higher IQ scores by age 8 than those who ate less healthy foods. The study focused on diet at 6, 15, and 24 months of age. The researchers then followed up with subjects at age 8 years. A little over 7,000 children were included in the study.

The unhealthiest foods that led to an IQ of 1-2 points lower at all ages included “biscuits, chocolate, sweets, soda, [and] crisps,” according to the study abstract. Other types of food varied at different ages in how they impacted IQ scores. For example, at 6 months of age, a “breastfeeding pattern,” along with foods like “herbs, legumes, cheese, raw fruit and vegetables” at 15 and 24 months were linked to IQs about 1-2 points higher.

Foods such as “meat, cooked vegetables, [and] desserts” were found at 6 months to have a positive association with higher IQs, but this type of food style didn’t seem to have any associations with IQ at 15 and 24 months. Other types of foods seemed at first to negatively impact IQ but later appeared to increase IQ. For example, at 6 and 15 months of age, “ready-prepared baby foods” were found to negatively impact IQ to some extent, but at 24 months, “ready-to-eat foods” had a positive association with IQ.

“This study suggests that dietary patterns from 6 to 24 months may have a small but persistent effect on IQ at 8 years,” according to the study abstract.

Although lead researcher Lisa Smithers at the University of Adelaide stated in a media release that the IQ differences were not major, the study still suggests a need to put more emphasis on good nutrition at a young age.

This study is in no way isolated. Various other studies support a link between breastfeeding and IQ, as well as overall nutrition and IQ.

One 2011 study featured in a Scientific American article found that infants who were breastfed for more than 6 months had an average higher IQ of 3.8 points over infants who were bottlefed. However, the study suggests the IQ difference is not mainly due to nutrients in the milk but the closer biological interaction among infants and mothers during breastfeeding. This finding is further demonstrated by another study mentioned later in the article, where brain wave activity was recorded for bottlefed babies who fed on breast milk versus formula compared with breastfed babies. Out of the three groups, breastfed babies had different brain wave activity than both bottlefed groups, even though one bottlefed group still used breast milk.

Still more studies suggest that breastfeeding can enhance IQ. Research completed by Oxford University and Essex University “found that as little as four weeks of breastfeeding for a newborn baby has a significant effect on brain development, which persists until the child is at least 14 years old,” according to a ScienceDaily article. Researchers took into account other differences when comparing breastfed to non-breastfed children, such as mother’s age, marital status, job status, home situation, and education.

Various studies support a link between overall nutrition and IQ in children as well. For example, one study from 2011 suggests that young children who eat foods that are processed and are high in fats and sugars could have a lower IQ, whereas children who eat foods high in nutrients and vitamins tend to have a higher IQ, according to a PhysOrg article. Results seemed to show that diet was most important up until age 3 especially and that diet changes after age 3 didn’t impact IQ as much.

More research mentioned in a Mayo Clinic article links fish and omega-3 fatty acids to higher IQ in children as well. The research suggests that pregnant women with a higher intake of fish tend to have children with higher IQs, at least up until age 3. However, pregnant women also have to be aware of the mercury content in fish, because too much mercury could be harmful.

Nutrition and mental health experts have conflicting views when it comes to the newest study suggesting a link between consuming certain foods and increased IQ in infants.

Holly Stokes, a life coach and “the brain trainer,” said in an email that it’s important to take into account other factors that could have contributed to the higher IQs in the study as well. “It’s tempting to say that higher nutrition must then cause higher IQ,” Stokes said. “However, there could be other factors involved. For example, the IQ of the parents. It’s quite likely that the parents who are feeding their children better are better informed, maybe have researched on their own, and they themselves have a higher IQ than the parents who are not feeding their children as well. There is also some evidence to suggest that IQ has to do with socio-economic status as well.”

Scott Carroll, a psychiatrist with dual board certifications in adult and child and adolescent psychiatry and an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, said in an email that this study brings up some important points about nutrition. “While 2 IQ points is actually within the usual standard error of most IQ tests, just the fact that you could demonstrate a statistically significant finding from rather minor dietary changes is a big deal,” Carroll said. “We certainly know that malnutrition has severe negative effects on IQ. The hard part about doing a study like this is that smarter parents often make healthier choices in food, which you have to statistically control for in this type of study.

“Statistically controlling for stuff like that often lowers the ‘effective result’ of the study,” he added. “Basically, if you took two high IQ families (IQ is highly genetic) with babies and fed them the two different diets with all other things being equal, you’d get a 2 IQ point difference on average. While that may not seem like much, as a soon to be parent (my wife is 4 months pregnant), we will be even more careful about feeding her the healthiest food possible.”

He said that since research already shows a link between a nutritious diet and good health, as well as a decrease in obesity, an increased IQ is just another benefit and does support an emphasis on certain food choices for infants. He has some suggestions about diet and lifestyle choices for parents and infants to ensure that their children have a healthy and growing IQ.

“Breastfeeding is clearly ideal for many reasons, but making sure mom is properly fed is important as well,” Carroll said. “Longer breastfeeding, up to 18 or more months even if the child does eat some solid foods, also helps. Key things for mom’s died include B vitamins, fish oil (must be mercury free since mercury is highly toxic), [and a] rich diet in terms of a variety of high quality fruits and vegetables. Limit the sugar content of their food. Personally, I strongly believe in eating organic even though the research on it is limited.”

“Other keys include having a secure attachment between the baby and primary caregiver, because insecure or disorganized attachment clearly affects the brain wiring in bad ways,” he added. “Having a stimulant-rich environment (bright colors, toys, etc.) and lots of time with parents with soothing verbal communication have also been scientifically shown to help.”

Lisa Hugh, a registered dietitian and mother of two boys under 3 years old (she breastfed both), said in an email that the IQ result alone isn’t enough to promote certain eating habits, but healthy eating has many other benefits as well.

“I don’t think a few IQ points alone is enough evidence to support one way of feeding,” Hugh said. “However, many studies (various sources and designs) indicate that healthy eating offers many benefits: brain size, vision development, acceptance of more tastes/textures, healthy body weight, better performance in school. All of these advantages together are reason to promote healthy eating.”

She has some diet suggestions for infants in order to promote higher IQs: “[Breastfeed] for as long as possible, minimize processed foods, give foods from all food groups (except in cases of allergy, illness, food sensitivities, food intolerances, cultural preferences, etc), give kids a variety of tastes/colors/textures/cups/plates/etc. to keep meals/food interesting and to expose them to different foods,” Hugh said. “Maintain a regular daily schedule as much as possible.”

“Each child/family/parent is unique,” she added. “There is no one absolute best way of feeding a child. Parents have to do what is best given their circumstances/needs.”

Related articles:
Patterns of Attachment
Welcome to Your Child’s Brain: Interview With Sandra Aamodt
Understanding Mental Health in Children

Public speaking is generally not a favorite activity of most people—in fact many people seem to fear public speaking or at least avoid it when they can. But most people are also not crippled with embarrassment or anxiety when they have to present in front of a class or when they are called on to answer a question. For students with social anxiety, being put into the spotlight occasionally during class presentations or participation is enough to make them avoid those classes altogether.

New research from the University of Plymouth and University of the West of England (UWE) Bristol looked at the impact of social anxiety in higher education, and psychologist Phil Topham estimates that “10% of university students experience significant social anxiety,” according to a news release from UWE Bristol.

Social anxiety disorder or social phobia is defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) as “a marked and persistent fear of social or performance situations in which embarrassment may occur.” There are several other diagnostic criteria, including that “the social or performance situation is avoided, although it is sometimes endured with dread.” People are diagnosed with the disorder only if their life is significantly negatively impacted.

Out of more than 1,500 students who were surveyed, some students experienced “frequent anxiety in learning situations that involved interacting with students and staff.” To cope with this anxiety, students would not participate in lectures and presentations or would even skip class. Other students wouldn’t take any classes that involved presenting at some point, according to the news release.

The researchers conclude that students who experience social anxiety “could be missing out on learning opportunities and may be distracted from attending to academic information by excessively focusing on their anxieties.”

Although the researchers don’t believe students should be treated as potentially fragile and coddled, there needs to be more support available for students with social anxiety without further stigmatizing these students or making them feel like their “flaws” are exposed. The researchers even give some suggestions for support in the university, including “not singling out students for questioning in lectures or setting assessed presentations in their first term,” and “sensitive appreciation of the shame and conflict caused in students by the desire to succeed and the fear of failure.”

Basically, college professors need to take into consideration the styles of all college students—some love the spotlight, others have social anxiety, so it’s best to ease students into participating and presenting during class.

Mental health experts have some tips on how to succeed in high school and college despite having social anxiety.

Nerina Garcia-Arcement, a clinical assistant professor at NYU School of Medicine and a licensed clinical psychologist, gave one major suggestion in an email to help students who are experiencing social anxiety.

“Do not avoid what you fear,” Garcia-Arcement said. “The more you avoid, you are creating evidence that it is more comfortable to not do something. Instead, if you face what you fear you can slowly prove that your worst fears will not be realized.”

She also suggests that students follow these four steps to take control of their anxiety:

1. Stop and evaluate what you are feeling (i.e., butterflies in your stomach, sweating, trouble breathing, heart racing).
2. Stop and evaluate what are you thinking (i.e., “people will laugh at me,” “I will fail,” “I will look ridiculous.”)
3. Practice activities that will reduce the physical symptoms, such as deep breathing, muscle relaxation exercises and imagining yourself in a safe place.
4. Challenge your negative thoughts by stopping the critical belief and instead replace it with a positive thought such as “people have never laughed before,” “I can do this,” “looking silly is the point of this activity, and if I do look silly so what.”

There are effective treatment options for students who have access to a mental health professional.

“Talk therapy is extremely effective for social anxiety, especially cognitive behavioral therapy. Medication can be taken in severe cases, Garcia-Arcement said. “Learning to manage the physical anxiety symptoms and stopping and controlling the negative thoughts is essential to controlling social anxiety. Sometimes people can do it on their own, sometimes they need help with monitoring thoughts and feelings and figuring out what gets in the way of using these new skills.”

She has three other tips for students who are trying to decrease their social anxiety:

1. Practice deep breathing, meditation, yoga, and exercise. These help manage and control anxiety.
2. Ease into social activities, first with smaller groups and eventually, as you feel comfortable, with larger groups.
3. Practice what you fear in a controlled environment. First practice the presentation or talking to a stranger in front of a mirror, later practice in front of someone you trust such as a friend or parent, then go into the real situation.

Scott Carroll, a child psychiatrist who works at the University of New Mexico, said that part of the problem can be that some students don’t realize they have an issue that needs to be worked on.

“Many people with social phobia … often just think they are shy and don’t realize they may have a treatable condition,” Carroll said. “Also, if someone has been anxious their whole life, they may not realize they are significantly more anxious than other people.”

Once students do realize they have an issue, they have a variety of treatment options available to them, including individual psychotherapy (such as cognitive behavioral therapy), social skills therapy groups, and multiple types of medications.

Carroll has two other coping methods for college students who have social anxiety: positive self-talk, in which you reassure yourself that it’s OK to talk or say hello, can be helpful with milder forms; and repeated exposure, which leads to decreased anxiety, like joining Toastmasters to get comfortable with public speaking.

Jeffrey Gardere, a contributing psychologist at Healthguru.com, said in an email that it’s beneficial for students with social anxiety to have friends they can rely on to come along with them in situations that could cause more anxiety.  Sometimes self-help books can be useful as well.

“The young person with social anxiety may also want to stay away from stimulants such as energy drinks and caffeine in order to avoid becoming even more nervous,” Gardere said. “And certainly [try] to avoid liquor, marijuana or any other chemical that is a self-medication in order to feel relaxed, simply because they may be more at risk for possible addiction.”

Play is an important part of a child’s development. It enables them to engage creativity and learn necessary social skills. Children are often introduced to concepts like sharing, taking turns, and working together when they participate in group play. This critical time of development allows children to learn how to practice patience, empathy, and other necessary social skills. Although the research on play has demonstrated the many benefits, such as creativity and emotional maturity, few studies have looked at how creativity exhibited through play affects storytelling and divergent thinking, two aspects that further emotional regulation and enhance psychological development.

To address this, Jessica Hoffman and Sandra Russ of the Department of Psychology at Case Western Reserve University conducted a study involving 61 young girls in kindergarten through fourth grade. The team used the Affect in Play Scale to assess the girls’ mood processes and cognitive behaviors as they construed narratives. The researchers also relied on parent reports to measure emotional regulation and evaluated the girls for divergent thinking abilities throughout the task. They found the pretend play allowed the girls to express creativity that directly increased their divergent thinking abilities. The creative play enhanced storytelling skills of the participants and allowed them to express high levels of emotional regulation. The team also explored how executive functioning was affected by creative play but found no relationship.

Hoffman noted that the participants in this study were typically performing young girls and believes that additional research on clinical and nonclinical participants would further add to the limited literature on the many positive influences of pretend play. She said, “Overall, results of this study are promising with regards to the associations between pretend play and other important life skills for children.” With play therapy and other creative approaches receiving more attention in recent years, understanding the forces behind these often successful treatment methods is vital for clinicians interested in using these techniques.

Reference:
Hoffan, J., Russ, S. (2012). Pretend play, creativity, and emotion regulation in children. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts 6.2, 175-184.

“Shy is the most terrible feeling that you can get.”

“Shyness is a habit that began when someone was afraid to talk and didn’t know what to do. Sometimes shyness can make us seem boring.”

“If I say the wrong thing, I shy to say something again.”

“I am shy because I’m afraid that people will laugh at me. If someone laughs at me, I will feel afraid, shy and I think I did something wrong.” (Other fears are “teasing and whispering.)

“I hope I can get rid of shy, but it’s really hard.”

“I want to be less shy because I don’t want always to be a shy girl, and I want to be a good, smart, and brave girl.”

These words come from the students in my sixth grade English-as-a-second-language classroom in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. We were talking about “shy” because all of them worry about being laughed at or being wrong or not good enough. One student covers his mouth when he can’t think of what to say or is too shy to say it. Another student speaks so softly that I we have to read her lips to understand. Over the semester the things that seem to help the most are: “Would you like us to come back to you?” “Would you like a little help?” “Maybe you could write it for me,” saying in a playful, singsong voice, “Just a little bit louder and a little bit slower.” Sometimes I say, “Did you understand?” If the others shake their heads, I ask, “Would you like to?” When they nod yes, I say, “So could you say it again, please?”

Still, after some months their shyness was still interfering with speaking and learning. I knew that what they were thinking and feeling was so much greater than what they could say aloud. As the above sentences show, their writing was more revealing than their words. However, one of our major class goals is to increase confidence and fluency in speaking English.

One day, the other sixth grade teacher unexpectedly had to leave, so class expanded to 12 students. We began with the “yes, and” game in which one person begins a story and then turns to the student next to him who says, “yes, and” and then continues the story. When a student was shy and couldn’t think what to say, the other students laughed. It seemed like “release of anxiety laugh” rather than a mean laugh, but it was laughter—just what these students are most afraid of. We finished the first round of the story.

“So, some of you felt shy.” (Heads nod.) “In class Six A, we have talked about when you are shy you are most afraid of being laughed at, right?” (Heads nod again.) “So how many of you felt shy?” (Most hands go up.) “How many of you are afraid of being laughed at?” (Most hands.) “How many of you laughed?” (Most hands.) “What kind of laughter was it?” “Just teasing, not mean,” answered one student as the others nodded. “So, let’s try an experiment. In the next story, let’s make an agreement that no one will laugh. Okay?” To my amazement, during the next round of a new story, some of the students were slow, but all spoke, we heard all of them, and no one laughed. (Two students did begin to laugh out of habit but caught themselves and stopped.) “So, what did you notice?” “We didn’t laugh.” “Right.” “What else did you notice?” “We hear everyone.” “Yes. So, it seems that when you are not afraid of being laughed at, you don’t feel and act so shy.” They nod.

In our next class, we talked some more. “What are you imagining that the others are thinking when they are laughing at you?” “You’re not good enough. You’re a fool. You’re bad.” “No wonder you don’t want to talk,” I said. “How scary. So, when you’re laughing, what are you thinking?” “Not mean things, Bu.” One brave student said, “I’m laughing because I’m glad it’s not me.” Another said, “I’m laughing to be friendly because the silence feels bad.” Another brave student: “Sometimes I am thinking they are not smart, but even if I’m thinking that, I don’t have to laugh.”

“So, let’s make a picture of this. Action 1: You are feeling shy and are having a hard time speaking. Step 2: Others laugh. Step 3: You think they are thinking one of these things:

(Here we listed all their thoughts and then rated them in this order. ‘I’m not good enough.’ (All the students named this one.) ‘I’m bad. I’m a fool. They hate me. I’m wrong.’ Step 4: You feel even more shy. Step 5: Others laugh . . . . So, it just goes on and on, maybe even getting worse. Does that seem right?” (Heads nod.)

Interestingly, in Indonesian, the word shy (malu) is also a word for shame. And, indeed, shy and shame feel like cousins to me. Cousins with a big difference. Shy is a normal feeling and results in behavior that can be changed. Shame is an intense and irreparable feeling of core inadequacy, badness, or unworthiness; one is forever doomed. The impact of shame is secrecy, disconnection, and an inability to assess reality. Shame: I AM not good enough. I AM unlikeable. I AM a fool. I AM a mistake. Shy: I don’t feel good enough. I feel disliked. I feel like a fool. I made a mistake.

I explained this difference to the students and we talked about how most of the time they are making up what the others are thinking and it is not at all true. “Oh, I understand. Yes, I’m making it up.” We translated the shame ideas to shy ideas. I AM not a good enough person became I’m feeling not good enough right now. I AM bad became I’m feeling bad right now. I AM a fool became I’m feeling foolish. They hate me became sometimes I don’t feel like people like me. I AM wrong became I made a mistake. They tried out feeling what the difference was between the sentences on each side of the big sheet of paper. Then I whispered in each student’s ear: “You’re good enough even when you feel shy.” Each one shyly smiled.

Back to writing. “Please write about shy again.”

“I’m not shy when I really know about the other person.”

“If I get shy or say the wrong thing, I want my friends are not laughing at me, but they can help me.”

“Stop caring too much about what the other people thinks about you.”

“The best way to not be shy is to be brave and try to do that thing even if you are shy.”

“I’m not shy when someone make me confident.”

“When I’m not shy, I feel like a hero because I’m brave.”

This was a heroic topic for this group of students to explore. During the next week, we tried a few things that I found on the internet to help with shyness. For example, appreciating yourself, breathing from your belly, moving your body, imagining yourself as confident and happy, getting more comfortable with making mistakes, remembering that everyone feels shy sometimes, noticing and writing down your successes.

Now, at the end of the semester, all the students except one, by their own assessment, feel more fluent and confident speaking in English. All of them still are slow to speak in English sometimes. They’re still afraid of not doing well enough sometimes. But they know the difference between, “I don’t feel good enough right now and I’M NOT GOOD ENOUGH and the difference between, “I made a mistake, and I AM A MISTAKE.”

Shame, the cousin of shyness, is a right use of power issue because the feeling is so intense and feels so irreparable that it disconnects people from relationships, disempowers them, and removes their ability to assess reality. When activated by shame, people are out of relationship with others. When out of relationship with others, and unable to assess reality, people misuse their personal and positional power in ways that harm themselves or those around them or in their care. Understanding the dynamic of shame and helping yourself and others disengage from it are high priorities for using power wisely and well.

Related articles:
Shame as an Ethics Issue – Part III
Don’t Underestimate Me: Ethical Use of Power for and With Children
Excessive Impression Management and Interference With Identity

Most parents don’t need an expert or a study to tell them what they already know: kids get more homework now than they ever have before, with many high schoolers getting as many as seven or eight hours of homework a night. Most parents are as overwhelmed by homework as their children are and constantly struggle to create incentives for their children to complete their piles of homework. Many parents believe they’re fighting this homework battle to ensure a quality education for their children, but the truth is that there’s little evidence that excessive homework helps children learn. Indeed, evidence is rapidly amassing that overworking children interferes with their ability to learn.

Understanding Learning

Our brains are programmed to learn things that are interesting to us and relevant to our lives. You’re more likely, for example, to remember where the aggressive dog who always chases children lives than you are to remember the color pattern on your neighbor’s shirt. Children in particular are primed to learn things that help them better function in their environment. Unfortunately, homework doesn’t pass this test. The overwhelming majority of homework assignments force children to sit down and memorize facts rather than experience their world. Not only does this make information more difficult to learn; it can also decrease your child’s motivation to learn. When learning is made miserable, children associate the thing they’re learning with misery and want to avoid it. This is why tactics such as forced silent reading time or flashcards rarely help children learn math and vocabulary.

The Stressed Brain

Even when homework is well-designed and does foster learning, too much of it can be damaging. Children who have more than one hour of homework each night overwhelmingly report that they feel stressed about their ability to complete their work. Over time, this stress can create real problems for a developing brain. When we are under stress, the brain produces cortisol, which lowers immune function and processing speed. On a short-term basis, cortisol can help us deal with stress. But when the brain is constantly releasing cortisol, development and learning can slow. This is especially damaging for children, whose brains are rapidly laying down neural connections. Even more troubling, excessive doses of cortisol can damage the hippocampus, which plays an important role in memory, inhibition, and spatial reasoning.

Fewer Activities

The value of friendships, extracurricular activities, and relaxation time to children’s intellectual and emotional development has been extensively documented. When homework is overwhelming, however, children are less likely to have the opportunity to participate in these activities. Thus even a child who is left unfazed by excessive homework or who excels in school may suffer as a result of excessive homework because he’s unable to engage in the activities that can help him become a well-rounded adult.

A Better Approach to Homework

Homework can help bridge the gap between home and school, encourage independent learning, and give children who find school stressful an opportunity to learn at home. So what are the characteristics of “good” homework assignments? They include:

• Activities that encourage students to interact with their environment
• Activities that give students flexibility to focus on things they are interested in
• Activities that make learning relevant instead of flashcards and drills
• Reasonable amounts of time spent on homework—no more than one hour for young children and no more than two hours for high schoolers
• Activities that can be completed at home without substantial cost or the purchase of lots of supplies

When choosing a school or classroom for your child, ask about homework and advocate on your child’s behalf when homework becomes excessive. Your child’s stressed mind will thank you, and your child just may end up learning more.

References:

1. Gerhardt, S. (2004). Why love matters: How affection shapes a baby’s brain. New York, NY: Brunner-Routledge.
2. Harwood, R., Miller, S. A., Vasta, R. (2008). Child psychology: Development in a changing society. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
3. Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R. M., Eyer, D. E. (2004). Einstein never used flash cards: How our children really learn–and why they need to play more and memorize less. Emmaus, PA: Rodale.

Children with social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties (SEBD) often exhibit speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) as well. Clinicians and educators who work with these children have the challenge of identifying which type of treatments will best serve the needs of these special children. SEBD has been shown to be linked to communication deficits, but this relationship has not been fully explored. Gender, social conditions, intelligence, and relationship styles are factors that contribute to both SLCN and SEBD. Most children with these problems are not identified until they enter school, making the correlation between them more convoluted. For instance, executive function deficits may not be discovered until children enter school and exhibit symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Other children may live with negative psychological and physical conditions such as abuse or neglect that can cause the children to stifle their communication, resulting in communication problems later on.

The most common type of treatment for SEBD is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). In a recent analysis of existing research, James Law of the Institute of Health and Society at Newcastle University in the UK looked to see whether CBT was ever combined with communication therapy for children. He also studied the research on CBT outcomes in children with Asperger’s, autism, and anxiety to determine whether the therapy had any positive impact on communication skills. For his research, Law examined 19 separate studies that included data from 148 children with SEBD and SLCN.

Although Law did not isolate one particular CBT approach that would be most beneficial for these children, he did discover that variation in communication enhancement techniques had a positive impact. Specifically, more formal techniques appeared to help the children with autism spectrum issues the most, and naturalistic and educational approaches were identified as effective methods for children with mild communication and behavior problems. In conclusion, Law added, “The potential overlap between SLCN and SEBD needs to be widely recognized by practitioners, and the implications for practice of this overlap explored more fully.”

Reference:
Law, J., Plunkett, C. C., Stringer, H. (2012). Communication interventions and their impact on behaviour in the young child: A systematic review. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 28.1, 7-23.

When parents use children as pawns in their divorce, the psychological consequences can be devastating. Parental alienation (PA) is the act of deliberately alienating a child from a targeted parent (TP) by an alienating parent (AP) and can cause a psychological condition referred to as parental alienation syndrome (PAS). Although this term is relatively new, the damage this type of behavior inflicts is not. When one parent denies a child access to the TP, the child struggles with feelings of hatred and fear towards the TP. These children often live in an environment riddled with malicious and derogatory remarks about the TP, and as they age, maintain guilt over harboring these feelings toward their parent.

Research on children of divorce has shown that this pattern of behavior can cause children to have social impairments that negatively impact their quality of life as adults. But until now, no study has looked specifically at PAS and its effect on key factors of development. To address this issue, Naomi Ben-Ami of Yeshiva University in New York evaluated 118 adult children of divorce and compared the children who experienced PAS to those who did not. She assessed several areas of social and psychological well-being, including depression, trust, self-hatred/esteem, anger, guilt, marital status, and achievement and identity problems.

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Ben-Ami found that the PA participants had substantially lower levels of achievement than the non-PA group, which was demonstrated by fewer college degrees, less overall employment, lower college enrollment, and more economic hardship. They also exhibited attachment issues, impaired relationships, and decreased self-esteem, possibly as a result of the lack of attention they received from their APs. The controlling behavior of an AP was also shown to increase feelings of anger and guilt in the PA participants. These emotions, coupled with diminished self-sufficiency, elevated the risk for depression in the children who were exposed to PAS. Ben-Ami believes these findings support previous research that shows the destructive and long-term consequences that a child must bear when he or she becomes entangled in a parent’s highly fueled emotions arising from a divorce or separation. This type of evidence, if made available to parents and involved psychological and legal experts, could help prevent this type of activity and maintain the integrity of relationships, present and future. Ben-Ami added, “Ideally, the trajectory can be interrupted successfully to allow children to maintain healthy relationships with both parents, to be loved by them and loving with them.”

Reference:
Ben-Ami, N., Baker, A. J. L. The long-term correlates of childhood exposure to parental alienation on adult self-sufficiency and well-being. American Journal of Family Therapy 40.2 (2012): 169-83.

Children who are enrolled in public schools in low-income communities are at a disadvantage both academically and psychologically. These children experience elevated rates of mental health problems due to their environments, family structures, and financial insecurity. At school, their opportunities are restricted as a result of a less than adequate learning environment, minimal resources, and external factors such as increased drug use and violence. All of these factors contribute to diminished behavioral regulation, loss of motivation, and poor academic achievement. Although there are many programs designed to address these issues in urban public schools, few have had substantial success. Obstacles such as feasibility, accessibility, funding, and implementation have prevented them from achieving success. Additionally, the majority of programs are aimed at meeting the needs of the students as a whole, and do not consider the needs of the teachers and children with disabilities.

BRIDGE, Bridging Mental Health and Education in Urban Schools, is a coaching and consultation program that was designed by a team of researchers and created to address all of these issues in urban elementary schools. To test its viability, one of the creators, Elise Cappella of the Department of Applied Psychology at New York University, led a study using 36 classrooms from five different elementary schools in urban communities. After a brief intervention, Cappella and her colleagues saw results.

BRIDGE was directly responsible for increasing emotional support in the classrooms, which gave the children a feeling of security and improved behavioral regulation. The students felt more confident and saw their teacher as an ally, which directly impacted their motivation for success. Overall, the students exceeded the academic, social, and emotional levels of their peers as a result of the teachers’ participation in BRIDGE. Cappella noted that one significant difference between BRIDGE and other programs is the fact that BRIDGE is delivered to teachers by a variety of mental health professionals. This factor makes BRIDGE a program that can be portable, flexible, and easily administered. Teachers are coached in such a way that they become empowered with valuable resources that help bridge the gap often found between students and teachers in disadvantaged school systems. Cappella added, “It is encouraging that a consultation and coaching component of mental health practice based on actual interactions in the elementary classroom and effective strategies to improve these interactions promotes children’s functioning across domains in urban schools.”

Reference:
Cappella, E., Hamre, B. K., Kim, H. Y., Henry, D. B., Frazier, S. L., Atkins, M. S., & Schoenwald, S. K. (2012). Teacher consultation and coaching within mental health practice: classroom and child effects in urban elementary schools. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0027725