Behavioral Inventories Research Articles

An Ethogram for Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis) in the Wild

The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, is an endemic species protected by Indonesian law, mostly due to its population size and limited distribution. The natural distribution of the Komodo dragon is limited to Komodo National Park and several areas on the island of Flores and its surroundings. However, increasing population and tourism in its natural habitat might increase the conflict between the Komodo dragon and humans. To study the impact of human activities on the behavior of the Komodo dragon, we constructed an ethogram to catalog the behavioral inventories of the Komodo to enable future quantitative comparison. The Komodo dragon ethogram was obtained from observations in Loh Buaya and Loh Baru Resorts, Rinca Island, Komodo National Park. Observations were made on 10 adult males, 13 adult females, 12 sub-adult, and 3 juvenile Komodo dragons. Data were collected during July-September 2019, February-March 2020, and June-September 2020. Based on observations, observed behavior was grouped into 9 categories based on their function. Among them are sexual behavior, parental behavior, antagonistic behavior, ingestion/egestion, maintenance, movement, resting, and investigative.

H - 38 Neuropsychological Evaluation and Cognitive Profile of Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS) in a Predominantly Spanish-Speaking Older Adult: Is Cognition Really Affected?

Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS) is a rare autoimmune disorder that affects approximately one in every million people. It is characterized by progressive muscle rigidity and intense, episodic muscle spasms triggered by environmental and psychosocial (i.e., emotional stress) factors. While original diagnostic criteria for classical SPS included the absence of frank cognitive impairment (aside from what would be expected from seizures), more recent literature suggests a number of neurocognitive difficulties potentially associated with reduced GABA levels. The following case study presents a 73-year-old, predominantly Spanish-speaking man with 14years of education. His medical history is notable for over 20years with diagnosed SPS, hypertension well managed with medications, and the absence of other medical conditions that may contribute to cerebrovascular burden. He completed a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation in Spanish. Overall, his profile was notable for mild inefficiencies in frontal-subcortical functions, with a relative weakness in rote learning and retention. He performed remarkably well relative to his level of motor compromise. There was no evidence of either a mild or major neurocognitive disorder, and his clinical interview and behavioral inventories were suspicious for a personality disorder. Recent literature proposes SPS is related to impairment in verbal learning, retention, fluency, processing speed, and attention. The present case corroborated, at most, mild inefficiencies in these previously documented areas. Careful consideration should be used in the evaluation of studies on SPS and cognition, particularly in determining whether samples had high degrees of comorbid conditions (i.e., cerebrovascular burden) that could help explain positive findings related to cognition.

A Novel, Expert-Endorsed, Neurocognitive Digital Assessment Tool for Addictive Disorders: Development and Validation Study.

Many people with harmful addictive behaviors may not meet formal diagnostic thresholds for a disorder. A dimensional approach, by contrast, including clinical and community samples, is potentially key to early detection, prevention, and intervention. Importantly, while neurocognitive dysfunction underpins addictive behaviors, established assessment tools for neurocognitive assessment are lengthy and unengaging, difficult to administer at scale, and not suited to clinical or community needs. The BrainPark Assessment of Cognition (BrainPAC) Project sought to develop and validate an engaging and user-friendly digital assessment tool purpose-built to comprehensively assess the main consensus-driven constructs underpinning addictive behaviors. The purpose of this study was to psychometrically validate a gamified battery of consensus-based neurocognitive tasks against standard laboratory paradigms, ascertain test-retest reliability, and determine their sensitivity to addictive behaviors (eg, alcohol use) and other risk factors (eg, trait impulsivity). Gold standard laboratory paradigms were selected to measure key neurocognitive constructs (Balloon Analogue Risk Task [BART], Stop Signal Task [SST], Delay Discounting Task [DDT], Value-Modulated Attentional Capture [VMAC] Task, and Sequential Decision-Making Task [SDT]), as endorsed by an international panel of addiction experts; namely, response selection and inhibition, reward valuation, action selection, reward learning, expectancy and reward prediction error, habit, and compulsivity. Working with game developers, BrainPAC tasks were developed and validated in 3 successive cohorts (total N=600) and a separate test-retest cohort (N=50) via Mechanical Turk using a cross-sectional design. BrainPAC tasks were significantly correlated with the original laboratory paradigms on most metrics (r=0.18-0.63, P<.05). With the exception of the DDT k function and VMAC total points, all other task metrics across the 5 tasks did not differ between the gamified and nongamified versions (P>.05). Out of 5 tasks, 4 demonstrated adequate to excellent test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.72-0.91, P<.001; except SDT). Gamified metrics were significantly associated with addictive behaviors on behavioral inventories, though largely independent of trait-based scales known to predict addiction risk. A purpose-built battery of digitally gamified tasks is sufficiently valid for the scalable assessment of key neurocognitive processes underpinning addictive behaviors. This validation provides evidence that a novel approach, purported to enhance task engagement, in the assessment of addiction-related neurocognition is feasible and empirically defensible. These findings have significant implications for risk detection and the successful deployment of next-generation assessment tools for substance use or misuse and other mental disorders characterized by neurocognitive anomalies related to motivation and self-regulation. Future development and validation of the BrainPAC tool should consider further enhancing convergence with established measures as well as collecting population-representative data to use clinically as normative comparisons.

Psychological Outcome after Hemorrhagic Stroke is Related to Functional Status

BackgroundTo identify opportunities to improve morbidity after hemorrhagic stroke, it is imperative to understand factors that are related to psychological outcome. Design/MethodsWe prospectively identified patients with non-traumatic hemorrhagic stroke (intracerebral or subarachnoid hemorrhage) between January 2015 and February 2021 who were alive 3-months after discharge and telephonically assessed 1) psychological outcome using the Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders anxiety, depression, emotional and behavioral dyscontrol, fatigue and sleep disturbance inventories and 2) functional outcome using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) and Barthel Index. We also identified discharge destination for all patients. We then evaluated the relationship between abnormal psychological outcomes (T-score >50) and discharge destination other than home, poor 3-month mRS score defined as 3-5 and poor 3-month Barthel Index defined as <100. Results73 patients were included; 41 (56%) had an abnormal psychological outcome on at least one inventory. There were 41 (56%) patients discharged to a destination other than home, 44 (63%) with poor mRS score and 28 (39%) with poor Barthel Index. Anxiety, depression, emotional and behavioral dyscontrol and sleep disturbance were all associated with a destination other than home, poor mRS score, and poor Barthel Index (all p<0.05). Fatigue was related to poor mRS score and poor Barthel Index (p=0.005 and p=0.006, respectively). ConclusionMultiple psychological outcomes 3-months after hemorrhagic stroke are related to functional status. Interventions to improve psychological outcome and reduce morbidity in patients with poor functional status should be explored by the interdisciplinary team.

Using Anger Management Virtual Reality Cognitive Behavior Therapy to Treat Violent Offenders with Alcohol Dependence in South Korea: A Preliminary Investigation

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) effectively treats impulse/anger attacks and aggressive-impulsive behaviors, frequently conducted concerning domestic violence, among patients with alcohol dependence. CBT combined with virtual reality (VR) is a new and beneficial psychotherapeutic intervention for patients and violent offenders with impulse-anger control problems and alcohol dependence. This clinical study evaluated the effects of the “anger management virtual reality cognitive behavior therapy (AM-VR-CBT)” and motivational interviewing (MI) intervention program on quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) mapping patterns among violent offenders with alcohol dependence (N = 29) in the National Probation Service. A clinical sample of twenty-nine violent offenders with alcohol dependence, who were evaluated and diagnosed with destructive and impulse-control disorders (DICD), underwent AM-VR-CBT combined with MI. The sessions lasted 150 minutes (AM-VR-CBT: 90 min; MI: 60 min) and were conducted twice a week for three weeks (six sessions). The intervention outcomes were measured using advanced QEEG brain mapping and standardized neurocognitive, emotional, and behavioral inventories, including the Alcohol Dependence Scale (ADS), the Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS), the Readiness to Change Questionnaire (RTCQ), the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-II (BIS-II), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-2), and the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2), to identify neuro-psycho-physiological changes in violent offenders with alcohol dependence. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used at p &lt; 0.05. The intervention showed significant improvements and healthy behavioral changes related to obsessive drinking thoughts, compulsive drinking behaviors, attentional control, intrinsic motivation, worry, anxiety, depression, impulse-anger control issues, aggressive behaviors, over-control, interpersonal relationships, self-efficacy, self-reflection, self-inhibition, creativity, mental navigation/imagery, and episodic memory retrieval among violent offenders with alcohol dependence. Therefore, the results demonstrate the efficacy of the novel and promising clinical evidence-based implementation of the AM-VR-CBT + MI program intervention for non-invasive neuromodulation and related neuro-psycho-physiological, neurocognitive, emotional, and behavioral changes among violent offenders demonstrating alcohol dependence, impulse-anger control, and aggressive behaviors.

An ethogram of commonly observed behaviors of the endangered Bridled White-eye (Zosterops conspicillatus)in a Zoo Setting

ABSTRACT The Bridled White-eye (Zosterops conspicillatus) is a tropical Pacific passerine endemic to the Mariana Island chain. We present an ethogram of the Zosterops conspicillatus saypani subspecies in which we describe the 34 most commonly observed behaviors categorized into the categories sexual, parental, antagonistic, social, maintenance, ingestion/egestion, movement, vocalization, resting behavior, and zoo artifacts. This ethogram may be useful for behavioral studies of the Zosteropidae family and allow taxonomic comparisons. Understanding the behavior of this species might also aid in enhancing conservation efforts. In addition, this ethogram adds to the few behavioral inventories of passerine birds reported so far.

Quality of Life of Pediatric Patients With Long QT Syndrome

Children with long QT syndrome (LQTS) live with the risk of sudden death, activity restrictions, and the need for daily medications. We sought to evaluate the quality of life (QOL), self-perception, and behavior of patients with LQTS as perceived by both patients and their parents and identify predictors of lower QOL. QOL (Pediatric QOL Inventory [PedsQL] and Pediatric Cardiac Quality of Life Inventory [PCQLI]), self-perception, and behavioral inventories were completed by patients with LQTS and their parents. Comparison of PedsQL scores was made to published data for healthy children using t tests, and PCQLI scores were compared with those of patients with differing complexity of congenital heart disease. Mixed modeling was used for multivariable analysis. Sixty-one patients with LQTS were evaluated (age 13.6 ± 3.0 years; male 49%). Compared with healthy children, the PedsQL Total, Psychosocial, and Physical Health Summary scores were significantly lower for patients with LQTS and parent proxy reports (p ≤0.001). In general, PCQLI scores of patients with LQTS and parents were similar to those of patients with tetralogy of Fallot (p ≥0.2), lower than those of patients with bicuspid aortic valve (p ≤0.02), and higher than those of patients with single ventricle (p ≤0.03). Lower patient and parent PCQLI scores were associated with internalizing problems. For parents, the presence of a cardiac device and medication side effects were additionally associated with lower PCQLI scores. In conclusion, patients with LQTS and their parents report lower QOL than normal children secondary to physical and psychosocial factors. Increasing focus on the psychological well-being of these patients is needed in an effort to improve their QOL.

Neuropsychological investigation in Chinese patients with progressive muscular atrophy.

BackgroundProgressive muscular atrophy (PMA) is a rare type of degenerative motor neuron disease (MND) of which the onset happens in adult period. Despite its well-defined clinical characteristics, its neuropsychological profile has remained poorly understood, considering the consensus of cognitive and behavioral impairment reached in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional evaluation of Chinese PMA patients with a series of comprehensive batteries emphasizing the executive and attention function, and covering other domains of memory, language, visuospatial function, calculation and behavior as well. Their performances were compared with those of age- and education-matched ALS and healthy controls (HC).Results21 patients newly diagnosed with PMA were consecutively enrolled into our ALS and other MND registry platform, accounting for 14.7% of all the incident MND cases registered during the same period. 20 patients who completed the neuropsychological batteries were included into analysis. Compared with HC, PMA performed significantly worse in maintenance function of attention, while they exhibited quantitative similarity to ALS in all behavioral inventories and neuropsychological tests except the time for Stroop interference effect.ConclusionPMA could display mild cognitive dysfunction in the same frontal-mediated territory of ALS but in a lesser degree, whereas they did not differ from ALS behaviorally.

A case of apathy due to frontotemporal dementia responsive to memantine

Objective: To study the effect of memantine on apathy, a common symptom of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). Design: The patient underwent an off-label trial of memantine with behavioral inventories and [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scans performed at baseline, 7 weeks and 6 months. Subject: The patient was a 66-year-old male whose main manifestation of bvFTD was affective, behavioral and cognitive apathy. Intervention: The patient began memantine at an oral dose of 5 mg per morning and titrated up by 5 mg per week to the maintenance dose of 10 mg PO bid. Results: Informants reported reduction of the apathy. The insula and cerebellum, both involved in the salience network, showed improved metabolism. Conclusion: Further study to correlate the effects of memantine on apathy and the salience network in bvFTD are warranted.

ALS and Frontotemporal Dysfunction: A Review.

Though once believed to be a disease that was limited to the motor system, it is now apparent that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) may be associated with cognitive changes in some patients. Changes are consistent with frontotemporal dysfunction, and may range from mild abnormalities only recognized with formal neuropsychological testing, to profound frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Executive function, behavior, and language are the most likely areas to be involved. Screening helpful in detecting abnormalities includes verbal or categorical fluency, behavioral inventories filled out by the caregiver, and evaluation for the presence of depression and pseudobulbar affect. Patients with cognitive dysfunction have shortened survival and may be less compliant with recommendations regarding use of feeding tubes and noninvasive ventilation. Evolving knowledge of genetic and pathological links between ALS and FTD has allowed us to better understand the overlapping spectrum of ALS and FTD.

Open-label study of the short-term effects of memantine on FDG-PET in frontotemporal dementia

BackgroundMemantine has shown effects on cortical metabolism in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and the mechanism of action may not be specific to AD alone. We hypothesized that participants with frontotemporal dementia taking memantine would show an increased cortical metabolic activity in frontal regions, temporal regions, or in salience network hubs.MethodsSixteen participants with behavioral or language variant frontotemporal dementia syndromes (FTD) were recruited from tertiary FTD clinics and treated with memantine hydrochloride 10 mg twice daily in this fixed-dose, open-label pilot study. The primary endpoint was enhancement of cortical metabolic activity after 7–8 weeks of treatment. Secondary endpoints were measures of mood and behavior disturbance, frontal executive function, and motor disturbance.ResultsVoxel-wise parametric image analysis of positron emission tomography (PET) data from seven behavioral variant FTD patients, eight semantic dementia patients, and one progressive nonfluent aphasia patient, of mean age 64.3 years, mean duration of illness 4.25 years, and baseline mean sum of boxes Clinical Dementia Rating score 6.59, revealed an increase in [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) normalized metabolic activity in bilateral insulae and the left orbitofrontal cortex (P < 0.01). The increase on FDG-PET did not correlate with changes on behavioral inventories. Post hoc analysis indicated that semantic dementia participants drove this finding.ConclusionThis open-label clinical PET study suggests that memantine induces an increase in metabolism in the salience network in FTD. A placebo-controlled follow-up study is warranted.

Emotional Indifference in Alzheimer's Disease

Emotional Indifference in Alzheimer's Disease

Students and Soundwaves: Five Strategies to Promote Good Classroom Acoustics

Students and Soundwaves: Five Strategies to Promote Good Classroom Acoustics

An Examination of Executive Dysfunction Associated with Frontostriatal Circuitry in Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative movement disorder presenting with subcortical pathology and characterized by motor deficits. However, as is frequently reported in the literature, patients with PD can also exhibit cognitive and behavioral (i.e., nonmotor) impairments, cognitive executive deficits and depression being the most prominent. Considerable attention has addressed the role that disruption to frontostriatal circuitry can play in mediating nonmotor dysfunction in PD. The three nonmotor frontostriatal circuits, which connect frontal cortical regions to the basal ganglia, originate from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). The objective of the current study was to use our understanding of frontostriatal circuit function (via literature review) to categorize neuropsychological measures of cognitive and behavioral executive functions by circuit. To our knowledge, such an approach has not been previously attempted in the study of executive dysfunction in PD. Neuropsychological measures of executive functions and self-report behavioral inventories, categorized by circuit function, were administered to 32 nondemented patients with Parkinson's disease (NDPD) and to 29 demographically matched, healthy normal control participants (NC). Our findings revealed significant group differences for each circuit, with the PD group performing worse than the NC group. Among the patients with PD, indices of impairment were greater for tasks associated with DLPFC function than with OFC function. Further, only an index of DLPFC test performance was demonstrated to significantly discriminate individuals with and without PD. In conclusion, our findings suggest that nondemented patients with PD exhibit greater impairment on neuropsychological measures associated with DLPFC than with ACC or OFC circuit function.

Alcohol-Free Alternative Activities for University Students: Modeling Associated Drinking Behavior

An exploration of the linear relationships among alcohol use, participation in late-night alcohol-free entertainment options, perceived drinking norms, social identity, perception of university policy, and demographics was conducted. The sample was 1,074 college students enrolled in introductory psychology courses. Alcohol use was measured using self-report behavioral inventories. A total of 382 students participated in the study, 42% of whom attended one or more LateNight programs, and 52.7% of whom had binged within the past 2 weeks. Regression analysis results showed those who felt LateNight was a good example of having fun without using alcohol were 27% less likely to binge than those who did not believe this (p<.05). Likewise, those with high perceptions of peer drinking norms were 30% more likely to party heavily than those with low perceptions (p<.001). LateNight participants were significantly (p<.001) less likely to drink heavily, were 14% less likely to binge (p<.001), and were 20% less likely to party heavily (p<.001) than nonparticipants. Respondents identifying socially with LateNight participants were 14% less likely to binge (p<.05). Those more aware of university-based efforts involving policy enforcement and prevention programming were 19% more likely to binge (p<.01), and 23% more likely to party heavily (p<.01) than those less aware of university efforts. Implications for program planning and evaluation are presented.

Women's Accounts of Domestic Violence

Critiques of behavioral inventories, qualitative studies of battered women's experiences, and communications research all suggest that women's accounts of violence contain information and a more complex structure than is captured by checklist measures that focus on types of abuse. We conducted a quantitative thematic analysis of 162 women's accounts of domestic violence to assess structure and content. Most women presented domestic violence as a “story” with an introduction, body and a conclusion: 59% presented a “complete story” and 33% a “near story.” Background information and problem statements were the most prevalent content statements in the “introduction,” and relationship issues and explanations were most common in the “conclusion.” Bivariate analyses revealed that accounts did not vary by socio-demographic factors and severity of the incident. Men were less likely to present complete stories, had far briefer narratives, and never discussed relationship issues. Knowledge of the structure and content of women's accounts provides greater understanding of women's responses to violence.

Literature Review

Abstract Pain is the most common presenting complaint at an impairment evaluation. In the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides), the term chronic pain is synonymous with chronic pain syndrome. The AMA Guides differentiates between pain of longstanding duration, termed persistent pain, and chronic pain syndrome, which is characterized as “the devastating and recalcitrant type [of pain] with major psychosocial consequences.” Persistent pain may exist in the absence of chronic pain syndrome, but chronic pain syndrome always presumes the presence of persistent pain, according to the AMA Guides. The assessment of chronic pain syndrome involves a multidimensional approach, and a physical examination alone may be misleading. Chronic pain syndrome is a biopsychosocial phenomenon of maladaptive behavior, and the AMA Guides describes diagnostic criteria for chronic pain syndrome. In addition, this article includes a checklist of characteristics shared by chronic pain patients, along with a list of essential questions that evaluators can ask in assessing pain and a list of pain, behavioral, and psychological inventories commonly used in independent medical evaluations. Physicians should choose a battery that is consistent with the needs of the assessment, and the final report should explain the findings and significance of the inventories used.

Norms for parental ratings on Conners' Abbreviated Parent-Teacher Questionnaire: implications for the design of behavioral rating inventories and analyses of data derived from them.

Despite the wide usage of Conners' 10-item Abbreviated Parent-Teacher Questionnaire (APTQ), normative data for parental ratings on the APTQ are rare. Moreover, its psychometric properties as a "stand alone" behavioral rating instrument have yet to be examined in detail. Using data from parental ratings for 6,841 children aged 5 to 14 years, this paper reports the psychometric properties of the APTQ and provides normative and prevalence estimates for four age cohorts (5 to 6, 7 to 8, 9 to 11, and 12 to 14 years) by gender. In presenting the findings, the paper highlights key methodological issues endemic to the design of behavioral rating inventories like the APTQ and the analysis of data derived from them. These issues are illustrated and discussed in terms of their implications for the measurement and determination of prevalence estimates of problem behaviors in child psychology and child psychiatry. The need to revise the design, content, and response formats of child behavior rating inventories is stressed.

The Relationship Between Self-Ratings and Mothers' Ratings of Behavioral Problems Among Recent Adolescent Immigrants to Israel

ABSTRACT Two hundred male and female adolescents and their mothers, recent immigrants from the former USSR to Israel, completed the following behavioral and sociopsychological inventories: The Youth Self-Report and Child Behavioral Checklist, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and Immigration Related Stressors Scale. No gender differences were found with respect to behavioral problem self-ratings. The mothers' mean behavioral problems' rating was 1.6 times lower than that of the adolescents. The main factors influencing discrepancies between adolescents' and mothers' ratings were as follows: attitudes towards immigration, assessments of adjustment difficulties, relationships with Israeli peers, readiness to adopt Israeli cultural norms and duration of residence in Israel. Results are discussed with respect to the effects of immigration on the relationship between adolescent and mother ratings.

Bone Lead Levels and Delinquent Behavior-Reply

In Reply. —Dr Sachs and Dr Sayres are skeptical; they have treated lead-poisoned children but have not observed antisocial behavior. Both relied on personal behavioral observation in a clinic setting; we used structured behavioral inventories from 3 separate informants, all of whom had the benefit of prolonged, close-up observation. Sachs notes that 69 subjects she treated with extreme elevations in blood lead levels (>4.83 μmol/L [>100 μg/dL]) seemed to be doing well on follow-up. She actually treated 105 children with lead levels in this dangerous range, but she ignores 36 subjects who were not located. Subjects not located after treatment generally have worse outcomes than those who are located. It is reasonable to ask how many of her missing lead-poisoned subjects are in special schools, are homeless, are in prison, or are dead. Dr Ernhart criticizes our report because the CBCL delinquency clusters did not reach statistical significance when classified