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Laetitia L Thompson

Publications and source records attributed to Laetitia L Thompson.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

A risk-taking "set" in a novel task among adolescents with serious conduct and substance problems.

OBJECTIVE: Adolescent patients' conduct disorder and substance use disorder symptoms are "risky behaviors" with unpredictable rewards and punishments. The authors asked whether such youths also take excessive risks in new situations without prior learning, peer pressure, or intoxication. METHOD: Subjects were 20 adolescent patients in a program treating conduct disorder and substance use disorder and 20 controls. All were substance free > or =7 days; underwent substance-related, psychological, and social assessments; and performed the Balloon Analogue Risk Task: mouse presses inflated a computerized "balloon" image, each press earning 1 cent. The 30 balloons "popped" at unpredictable sizes; earnings from popped balloons were lost. A "Collect" response saved current earnings and advanced to the next balloon. RESULTS: Mean number of inflating presses: patients, 1021 and controls, 705 (p = .001); group differences were stable from the task's beginning. Mean inflating presses before a "collect" response: patients, 38.6 and controls, 24.0 (p = .0005). Mean balloons popped: patients, 9.8 and controls, 6.3 (p = .001). Patients (versus controls) reported more aggressiveness and substance use and perceived less risk from substances. Patients' responses were significantly slower than those of controls. CONCLUSIONS: From the beginning of this novel task, conduct disorder and substance use disorder patients (compared with controls) took more risks, indicating an initial risk-taking propensity, although patients' slower responses argued against "impulsive, thoughtless" behavior.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Measuring impulsivity in adolescents with serious substance and conduct problems.

Adolescents with substance use and conduct disorders have high rates of aggression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), all of which have been characterized in part by impulsivity. Developing measures that capture impulsivity behaviorally and correlate with self-reported impulsivity has been difficult. One promising behavioral measure, however, is a variant of the continuous performance test, the Immediate Memory Test/Delayed Memory Test (IMT/DMT). The authors showed significant group differences between adolescents in treatment for serious substance and conduct problems and community controls on impulsivity measures, both behavioral and self-report, as well as on aggression and problem behavior measures. Furthermore, the IMT/DMT correlated significantly with self-reported impulsivity. In summary, the IMT/DMT may be an effective behavioral measure of impulsivity in adolescents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Reliable screening for neuropsychological impairment in multiple sclerosis.

In an earlier study, we developed the Multiple Sclerosis Neuropsychological Screening Questionnaire (MSNQ) to assist in the screening for neuropsychological (NP) impairments. Self-report MSNQ scores correlated significantly with measures of depression, whereas informant-report MSNQ scores correlated with cognitive performance, but not depression. This study was criticized for use of a small sample and lack of data regarding normal performance and test-retest reliability. The present study was designed to replicate the earlier work with a larger sample of patients and normal controls obtained from multiple sites. We also evaluated the test-retest reliability and predictive validity of the MSNQ. The sample included 85 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and 40 normal controls, matched on demographic variables. All participants completed the MSNQ and underwent NP testing. Thirty-four patients were re-examined at one week. Pearson and ANOVA techniques were utilized for univariate comparisons. Bayesian statistics were calculated to assess predictive validity. Patient self- and informant-report MSNQ scores differed from normal and test retest reliability indices were high. Both self- and informant-reports were correlated with cognitive dysfunction and depression scales. Self-report MSNQ scores correlated more strongly with depression than cognitive performance, whereas the opposite pattern was observed with informant-report scores. Bayesian statistics showed that informant-report MSNQ scores predict cognitive impairment and patient self-report scores identify patients with cognitive impairment or depression. It is concluded that the MSNQ is useful, although patient self-reports may be exaggerated in depressed patients or reduced in patients with severe cognitive impairment.

Adult↗