TY - JOUR A1 - Ehlert, Antje A1 - Poltz, Nadine A1 - Quandte, Sabine A1 - Kohn-Henkel, Juliane A1 - Kucian, Karin A1 - Aster, Michael von A1 - Esser, Günter T1 - Taking a closer look: The relationship between pre-school domain general cognition and school mathematics achievement when controlling for intelligence JF - Journal of Intelligence N2 - Intelligence, as well as working memory and attention, affect the acquisition of mathematical competencies. This paper aimed to examine the influence of working memory and attention when taking different mathematical skills into account as a function of children’s intellectual ability. Overall, intelligence, working memory, attention and numerical skills were assessed twice in 1868 German pre-school children (t1, t2) and again at 2nd grade (t3). We defined three intellectual ability groups based on the results of intellectual assessment at t1 and t2. Group comparisons revealed significant differences between the three intellectual ability groups. Over time, children with low intellectual ability showed the lowest achievement in domain-general and numerical and mathematical skills compared to children of average intellectual ability. The highest achievement on the aforementioned variables was found for children of high intellectual ability. Additionally, path modelling revealed that, depending on the intellectual ability, different models of varying complexity could be generated. These models differed with regard to the relevance of the predictors (t2) and the future mathematical skills (t3). Causes and conclusions of these findings are discussed. KW - intellectual ability KW - intelligence KW - pre-school KW - mathematical development KW - school mathematics KW - longitudinal KW - numerical skills KW - working memory KW - attention Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence10030070 SN - 2079-3200 VL - 10 SP - 1 EP - 23 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Schweiz ET - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Poltz, Nadine A1 - Quandte, Sabine A1 - Kohn, Juliane A1 - Kucian, Karin A1 - Wyschkon, Anne A1 - von Aster, Michael A1 - Esser, Günter T1 - Does It Count? Pre-School Children’s Spontaneous Focusing on Numerosity and Their Development of Arithmetical Skills at School JF - Brain Sciences N2 - Background: Children’s spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON) is related to numerical skills. This study aimed to examine (1) the developmental trajectory of SFON and (2) the interrelations between SFON and early numerical skills at pre-school as well as their influence on arithmetical skills at school. Method: Overall, 1868 German pre-school children were repeatedly assessed until second grade. Nonverbal intelligence, visual attention, visuospatial working memory, SFON and numerical skills were assessed at age five (M = 63 months, Time 1) and age six (M = 72 months, Time 2), and arithmetic was assessed at second grade (M = 95 months, Time 3). Results: SFON increased significantly during pre-school. Path analyses revealed interrelations between SFON and several numerical skills, except number knowledge. Magnitude estimation and basic calculation skills (Time 1 and Time 2), and to a small degree number knowledge (Time 2), contributed directly to arithmetic in second grade. The connection between SFON and arithmetic was fully mediated by magnitude estimation and calculation skills at pre-school. Conclusion: Our results indicate that SFON first and foremost influences deeper understanding of numerical concepts at pre-school and—in contrast to previous findings –affects only indirectly children’s arithmetical development at school. KW - SFON KW - school mathematics KW - mathematical precursor KW - counting KW - number knowledge KW - magnitude estimation KW - transformation KW - pre-school KW - longitudinal KW - development Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12030313 SN - 2076-3425 VL - 12 SP - 1 EP - 18 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Schweiz ET - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kohn, Juliane A1 - Rauscher, Larissa A1 - Kucian, Karin A1 - Käser, Tanja A1 - Wyschkon, Anne A1 - Esser, Günter A1 - von Aster, Michael G. T1 - Efficacy of a Computer-Based Learning Program in Children With Developmental Dyscalculia BT - What Influences Individual Responsiveness? JF - Frontiers in Psychology N2 - This study presents the evaluation of a computer-based learning program for children with developmental dyscalculia and focuses on factors affecting individual responsiveness. The adaptive training program Calcularis 2.0 has been developed according to current neuro-cognitive theory of numerical cognition. It aims to automatize number representations, supports the formation and access to the mental number line and trains arithmetic operations as well as arithmetic fact knowledge in expanding number ranges. Sixty-seven children with developmental dyscalculia from second to fifth grade (mean age 8.96 years) were randomly assigned to one of two groups (Calcularis group, waiting control group). Training duration comprised a minimum of 42 training sessions à 20 min within a maximum period of 13 weeks. Compared to the waiting control group, children of the Calcularis group demonstrated a higher benefit in arithmetic operations and number line estimation. These improvements were shown to be stable after a 3-months post training interval. In addition, this study examines which predictors accounted for training improvements. Results indicate that this self-directed training was especially beneficial for children with low math anxiety scores and without an additional reading and/or spelling disorder. In conclusion, Calcularis 2.0 supports children with developmental dyscalculia to improve their arithmetical abilities and their mental number line representation. However, it is relevant to further adapt the setting to the individual circumstances. KW - developmental dyscalculia KW - mathematics instruction KW - computer-based training KW - intelligent tutoring system (ITS) KW - numerical development KW - evaluative study KW - primary school Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01115 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 11 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Holz, Nathalie E. A1 - Boecker-Schlier, Regina A1 - Jennen-Steinmetz, Christine A1 - Hohm, Erika A1 - Buchmann, Arlette F. A1 - Blomeyer, Dorothea A1 - Baumeister, Sarah A1 - Plichta, Michael M. A1 - Esser, Günter A1 - Schmidt, Martin A1 - Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas A1 - Banaschewski, Tobias A1 - Brandeis, Daniel A1 - Laucht, Manfred T1 - Early maternal care may counteract familial liability for psychopathology in the reward circuitry JF - Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience N2 - Reward processing is altered in various psychopathologies and has been shown to be susceptible to genetic and environmental influences. Here, we examined whether maternal care may buffer familial risk for psychiatric disorders in terms of reward processing. Functional magnetic resonance imaging during a monetary incentive delay task was acquired in participants of an epidemiological cohort study followed since birth (N = 172, 25 years). Early maternal stimulation was assessed during a standardized nursing/playing setting at the age of 3 months. Parental psychiatric disorders (familial risk) during childhood and the participants’ previous psychopathology were assessed by diagnostic interview. With high familial risk, higher maternal stimulation was related to increasing activation in the caudate head, the supplementary motor area, the cingulum and the middle frontal gyrus during reward anticipation, with the opposite pattern found in individuals with no familial risk. In contrast, higher maternal stimulation was associated with decreasing caudate head activity during reward delivery and reduced levels of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the high-risk group. Decreased caudate head activity during reward anticipation and increased activity during delivery were linked to ADHD. These findings provide evidence of a long-term association of early maternal stimulation on both adult neurobiological systems of reward underlying externalizing behavior and ADHD during development. KW - maternal care KW - ADHD KW - ventral striatum KW - fMRI KW - resilience KW - aggression Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsy087 SN - 1749-5016 SN - 1749-5024 VL - 13 IS - 11 SP - 1191 EP - 1201 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kucian, Karin A1 - Zuber, Isabelle A1 - Kohn, Juliane A1 - Poltz, Nadine A1 - Wyschkon, Anne A1 - Esser, Günter A1 - von Aster, Michael G. T1 - Relation Between Mathematical Performance, Math Anxiety, and Affective Priming in Children With and Without Developmental Dyscalculia JF - Frontiers in psychology N2 - Many children show negative emotions related to mathematics and some even develop mathematics anxiety. The present study focused on the relation between negative emotions and arithmetical performance in children with and without developmental dyscalculia (DD) using an affective priming task. Previous findings suggested that arithmetic performance is influenced if an affective prime precedes the presentation of an arithmetic problem. In children with DD specifically, responses to arithmetic operations are supposed to be facilitated by both negative and mathematics-related primes (= negative math priming effect). We investigated mathematical performance, math anxiety, and the domain-general abilities of 172 primary school children (76 with DD and 96 controls). All participants also underwent an affective priming task which consisted of the decision whether a simple arithmetic operation (addition or subtraction) that was preceded by a prime (positive/negative/neutral or mathematics-related) was true or false. Our findings did not reveal a negative math priming effect in children with DD. Furthermore, when considering accuracy levels, gender, or math anxiety, the negative math priming effect could not be replicated. However, children with DD showed more math anxiety when explicitly assessed by a specific math anxiety interview and showed lower mathematical performance compared to controls. Moreover, math anxiety was equally present in boys and girls, even in the earliest stages of schooling, and interfered negatively with performance. In conclusion, mathematics is often associated with negative emotions that can be manifested in specific math anxiety, particularly in children with DD. Importantly, present findings suggest that in the assessed age group, it is more reliable to judge math anxiety and investigate its effects on mathematical performance explicitly by adequate questionnaires than by an affective math priming task. KW - developmental dyscalculia KW - mathematics KW - affective priming KW - calculation KW - arithmetic KW - anxiety KW - gender KW - children Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00263 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 9 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Millenet, Sabina A1 - Laucht, Manfred A1 - Hohm, Erika A1 - Jennen-Steinmetz, Christine A1 - Hohmann, Sarah A1 - Schmidt, Martin H. A1 - Esser, Günter A1 - Banaschewski, Tobias A1 - Brandeis, Daniel A1 - Zohsel, Katrin T1 - Sex-specific trajectories of ADHD symptoms from adolescence to young adulthood JF - European child and adolescent psychiatry : offical journal of the European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry N2 - Reports of current ADHD symptoms in adults with a childhood diagnosis of ADHD are often discrepant: While one subgroup reports a particularly high level of current ADHD symptoms, another reports—in contrast—a very low level. The reasons for this difference remain unclear. Although sex might play a moderating role, it has not yet been examined in this regard. In an epidemiological cohort study from birth to young adulthood, childhood ADHD diagnoses were assessed at the ages of 4.5, 8, and 11 years based on parent ratings. Sex-specific development of ADHD symptoms was analyzed from the age of 15 to 25 years via self-reported ADHD symptoms in participants with (n = 47) and without childhood ADHD (n = 289) using a random coefficient regression model. The congruence between parent reports and adolescents’ self-ratings was examined, and the role of childhood ADHD diagnosis, childhood OCC/CD, and childhood internalizing disorder as possible sex-specific predictors of self-reported ADHD symptoms at age 25 years was investigated. With regard to self-reported ADHD symptoms, females with a childhood ADHD diagnosis reported significantly more ADHD symptoms compared to females without childhood ADHD and males with and without ADHD throughout adolescence and young adulthood. In contrast, males with childhood ADHD did not differ from control males either at age 15 or at age 25 years. Only in females did a childhood diagnosis of an externalizing disorder (ADHD and CD/ODD) predict self-reported ADHD symptoms by age 25 years. Our findings suggest that self-reports of young adults with a childhood diagnosis of ADHD are influenced by sex. Specifically, females with childhood ADHD report increased levels of ADHD symptoms upon reaching adulthood. To correctly evaluate symptoms and impairment in this subgroup, other, more objective, sources of information may be advisable, such as neurophysiological measures. KW - ADHD KW - Sex KW - Self-report KW - Longitudinal study Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-018-1129-9 SN - 1018-8827 SN - 1435-165X VL - 27 IS - 8 SP - 1067 EP - 1075 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Moraske, Svenja A1 - Penrose, Anna A1 - Wyschkon, Anne A1 - Kohn, Juliane A1 - Rauscher, Larissa A1 - von Aster, Michael G. A1 - Esser, Günter T1 - Prävention von Rechenstörungen T1 - Prevention of Dyscalculia BT - Kurz- und mittelfristige Effekte einer Förderung der mathematischen Kompetenzen bei Risikokindern im Vorschulalter BT - Short-Term and Intermediate Effects of Stimulating Numerical Competencies for Children at Risk in Preschool JF - Kindheit und Entwicklung N2 - Ziel ist die Überprüfung der kurz- und mittelfristigen Wirksamkeit einer vorschulischen Förderung des Mengen- und Zahlenverständnisses bei Kindern mit einem Risiko für die Entwicklung einer Rechenstörung. Es wurden 32 Risikokinder mit einer Kombination aus den Förderprogrammen Mathematik im Vorschulalter und Mengen, zählen, Zahlen im letzten Kindergartenjahr von den Erzieherinnen trainiert und mit 38 untrainierten Risikokindern verglichen. Hinsichtlich der kurzfristigen Wirksamkeit zeigten sich positive Trainingseffekte auf die numerischen Leistungen im letzten Kindergartenjahr. Es ließen sich keine signifikanten mittelfristigen Trainingseffekte auf die Rechenleistungen im zweiten Halbjahr der 1. Klasse finden. Das eingesetzte vorschulische Präventionsprogramm leistete danach einen wichtigen Beitrag zur kurzfristigen Verbesserung der mathematischen Basiskompetenzen. N2 - A slew of studies has shown that training programs teaching numerical competencies have positive short-term effects on mathematical performance. The results for the intermediate effects are not consistent and there are only a few studies on this issue. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the short-term and intermediate effects of a preschool training program stimulating numerical competencies for children at risk of developing dyscalculia (<= 10th percentile). During the last kindergarten year, 32 children at risk were trained with a combination of the intervention Mathematik im Vorschulalter and Mengen, zahlen, Zahlen by their kindergarten teachers, who were trained and supervised. Contents of the preschool training were: counting, number knowledge up to 10, comprehension of quantity concept, visual differentiation, spatial ability, simple arithmetic operation, handling of symbols, realizing abstract-logical correlations, and identifying cause-effect relations. The training lasted 11 weeks and took place twice a week (session duration = 30-40 min). Children who participated in at least 50% of the sessions were included. The control group consisted of 38 untrained children at risk. For measuring numerical competencies in kindergarten, a subtest of the instrument Basisdiagnostik Umschriebener Entwicklungsstorungen im Vorschulalter - Version III (BUEVA-III) was used, and for measuring mathematical performance the test Deutsche Mathematiktest fur erste Klassen (DEMAT 1+) was used. Before the training there were no group differences between the training and control group regarding mathematical performance and overall intelligence. The training showed positive short-term effects for numerical competencies in the last kindergarten year (medium effect size). While trained children could significantly improve their mathematical competencies to an average level (from 34 to 41 t-value points), the performances of the untrained children stayed below average. Unfortunately, there were no significant intermediate effects for mathematical performance in the second half of the first grade. Regarding the diagnosis of dyscalculia as defined by the ICD-10, it was not possible to gather a sufficiently large sample in the first grade fulfilling the criteria to test differences between training and control groups. Methodological limitations of this study were the missing random allocation to treatment conditions, a large drop-out rate, and long testing periods. The preschool training that was used to stimulate numerical competencies contributed significantly toward improving numerical competencies in the short term. Further investigations will determine the long-term effects of the training in the second and third grade. This is particularly important because dyscalculia occurring from the second grade on is a stable phenomenon. KW - developmental dyscalculia KW - numerical competence KW - prevention KW - risk KW - specific developmental disorder KW - Rechenstörung KW - Zahlen- und Mengenverständnis KW - Prävention KW - Risiko KW - Umschriebene Entwicklungsstörung Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1026/0942-5403/a000242 SN - 0942-5403 SN - 2190-6246 VL - 27 IS - 1 SP - 31 EP - 42 PB - Hogrefe CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Meiser, Susanne A1 - Esser, Günter T1 - Interpersonal Stress Generation-A Girl Problem? BT - The Role of Depressive Symptoms, Dysfunctional Attitudes, and Gender in Early Adolescent Stress Generation JF - Journal of early adolescence N2 - To provide further insight into stress generation patterns in boys and girls around puberty, this study investigated longitudinal reciprocal relations between depressive symptoms, dysfunctional attitudes, and stress generation, the process by which individuals contribute to the occurrence of stress in interpersonal contexts (e.g., problematic social interactions) or in noninterpersonal contexts (e.g., achievement problems). A community sample of N = 924 German children and early adolescents (51.8% male) completed depressive symptoms and dysfunctional attitudes measures at T1 and again 20 months later (T2). Stressful life events were reported at T2. Dysfunctional attitudes were unrelated to stress generation. Interpersonal, but not noninterpersonal, dependent stress partially mediated the relationship between initial and later depressive symptoms, with girls being more likely to generate interpersonal stress in response to depressive symptoms. Findings underscore the role of interpersonal stress generation in the early development of depressive symptomatology, and in the gender difference in depression prevalence emerging around puberty. KW - stress generation KW - depression KW - dysfunctional attitudes KW - children and adolescents KW - gender differences Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431617725197 SN - 0272-4316 SN - 1552-5449 VL - 39 IS - 1 SP - 41 EP - 66 PB - Sage Publ. CY - Thousand Oaks ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bondü, Rebecca A1 - Sahyazici-Knaak, Fidan A1 - Esser, Günter T1 - Long-Term Associations of Justice Sensitivity, Rejection Sensitivity, and Depressive Symptoms in Children and Adolescents JF - Frontiers in psychology N2 - Depressive symptoms have been related to anxious rejection sensitivity, but little is known about relations with angry rejection sensitivity and justice sensitivity. We measured rejection sensitivity, justice sensitivity, and depressive symptoms in 1,665 9-to-21-year olds at two points of measurement. Participants with high T1 levels of depressive symptoms reported higher anxious and angry rejection sensitivity and higher justice sensitivity than controls at T1 and T2. T1 rejection, but not justice sensitivity predicted T2 depressive symptoms; high victim justice sensitivity, however, added to the stabilization of depressive symptoms. T1 depressive symptoms positively predicted T2 anxious and angry rejection and victim justice sensitivity. Hence, sensitivity toward negative social cues may be cause and consequence of depressive symptoms and requires consideration in cognitive-behavioral treatment of depression. KW - justice sensitivity KW - rejection sensitivity KW - depressive symptoms KW - childhood KW - adolescence Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01446 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 8 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Boecker-Schlier, Regina A1 - Holz, Nathalie E. A1 - Hohm, Erika A1 - Zohsel, Katrin A1 - Blomeyer, Dorothea A1 - Buchmann, Arlette F. A1 - Baumeister, Sarah A1 - Wolf, Isabella A1 - Esser, Günter A1 - Schmidt, Martin H. A1 - Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas A1 - Banaschewski, Tobias A1 - Brandeis, Daniel A1 - Laucht, Manfred T1 - Association between pubertal stage at first drink and neural reward processing in early adulthood JF - Addiction biology N2 - Puberty is a critical time period during human development. It is characterized by high levels of risk-taking behavior, such as increased alcohol consumption, and is accompanied by various neurobiological changes. Recent studies in animals and humans have revealed that the pubertal stage at first drink (PSFD) significantly impacts drinking behavior in adulthood. Moreover, neuronal alterations of the dopaminergic reward system have been associated with alcohol abuse or addiction. This study aimed to clarify the impact of PSFD on neuronal characteristics of reward processing linked to alcohol-related problems. One hundred sixty-eight healthy young adults from a prospective study covering 25 years participated in a monetary incentive delay task measured with simultaneous EEG-fMRI. PSFD was determined according to the age at menarche or Tanner stage of pubertal development, respectively. Alcohol-related problems in early adulthood were assessed with the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT). During reward anticipation, decreased fMRI activation of the frontal cortex and increased preparatory EEG activity (contingent negative variation) occurred with pubertal compared to postpubertal first alcohol intake. Moreover, alcohol-related problems during early adulthood were increased in pubertal compared to postpubertal beginners, which was mediated by neuronal activation of the right medial frontal gyrus. At reward delivery, increased fMRI activation of the left caudate and higher feedback-related EEG negativity were detected in pubertal compared to postpubertal beginners. Together with animal findings, these results implicate PSFD as a potential modulator of psychopathology, involving altered reward anticipation. Both PSFD timing and reward processing might thus be potential targets for early prevention and intervention. KW - alcohol-related problems KW - electroencephalography KW - functional magnetic resonance imaging KW - puberty KW - reward processing Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.12413 SN - 1355-6215 SN - 1369-1600 VL - 22 SP - 1402 EP - 1415 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER -