SGER: Intrusive Thought and Social-Cognitive Development following Hurricane Katrina.

SGER：卡特里娜飓风后的侵入性思维和社会认知发展。

• 批准号: 0603674
• 负责人: Manuel Sprung
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Southern Mississippi
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-01-01 至 2007-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0603674&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SGER; Intrusive; Thought; Social; Cognitive

Consciousness entails experiences of a constant flow of thought, consisting of a continuous succession of mental states and contents (thoughts, percepts, feelings, etc.). This stream of consciousness continues even when individuals expend considerable effort to inhibit unwanted thoughts. Expressions like "my mind wandered" and claims such as "I can't get that song out of my head" reflect adults' sense that the mind is partially uncontrollable. Unlike adults, kindergartners and elementary school children typically have only limited knowledge of the constant flow of thought and its uncontrollability. These basic findings argue for the hypothesis that young children will have difficulty monitoring and reporting intrusive thoughts following potentially traumatic events, such as Hurricane Katrina. This project will investigate whether children's "theories" of the mind's operations underlie their abilities to monitor intrusive thoughts. Children living in areas directly affected by Hurricane Katrina, and control children in areas not directly affected by Katrina, will be interviewed on intrusive thoughts and tested for theory of mind development, self-control, language skills, and general intelligence. Children who experienced Hurricane Katrina directly are expected to report more intrusive thoughts than other children. In addition, children's level of theory of mind is expected to predict their ability to notice and report intrusive thoughts. Levels of self-control, language skills, general intelligence and family socio-economic status are expected to be either independent predictors or covariates of theory of mind in predicting intrusive thoughts. Recent research has also shown that theory of mind development can be delayed following traumatizing events, such as maltreatment or abuse. It is therefore expected that children who experienced Hurricane Katrina directly will be delayed in theory of mind development. Stronger support for this hypothesis is expected for preschool age children than for older children. Unwanted intrusive thoughts and flashbacks are potential threats to psychological health and everyday functioning, especially after potentially traumatizing events like Hurricane Katrina. This project will be the first empirical study of the relationships among intrusive thoughts, children's level of knowledge about the mind, and experiences with a natural disaster. If children's level of theory of mind does indeed predict intrusive thoughts, and if younger children have difficulties monitoring and reporting intrusive thoughts because their understanding of the mind's operations is not fully developed, then children who suffer from recurring intrusive thoughts--and specifically, negative thoughts Hurricane Katrina--may be at risk for developing behavioral problems. By contrast, higher levels of theory of mind development may be associated with advanced social skills and resilience to psychopathology. Given the importance of theory of mind development to social functioning, evidence for delays in theory of mind development subsequent to a natural disaster would have significant clinical and educational implications. The hypothesized findings from this project would suggest that theory of mind should be an integral part of preventive interventions aimed at children who experience traumatizing events, such as abuse, natural disasters, war, and terrorism.

意识需要不断流动的思想的经验，包括连续的精神状态和内容（思想，感知，感受等）。这种意识流即使在个人花费相当大的努力来抑制不想要的想法时也会继续。 像“我走神了”这样的表达和“我无法把那首歌从我的脑海中抹去”这样的说法反映了成年人的意识，即思想是部分不可控制的。 与成年人不同，初学者和小学生通常对思维的持续流动及其不可控性只有有限的知识。 这些基本发现支持了一个假设，即在潜在的创伤性事件（如卡特里娜飓风）发生后，幼儿将难以监测和报告侵入性想法。 这个项目将调查儿童的“理论”的心灵运作的基础，他们的能力，以监测侵入性的想法。 生活在直接受卡特里娜飓风影响地区的儿童，以及没有直接受卡特里娜飓风影响地区的对照儿童，将接受侵入性思想的采访，并测试心理发展理论，自我控制，语言技能和一般智力。直接经历过卡特里娜飓风的儿童预计会比其他儿童报告更多的侵入性想法。 此外，儿童的心理理论水平预计预测他们的能力，注意到和报告侵入性的想法。 自我控制，语言技能，一般智力和家庭社会经济地位的水平，预计将是独立的预测因子或心理理论预测侵入性思想的协变量。 最近的研究还表明，心理理论的发展可能会延迟创伤事件，如虐待或虐待。 因此，预计直接经历卡特里娜飓风的儿童在心理理论发展方面会有所延迟。 更强的支持这一假设，预计学龄前儿童比年龄较大的儿童。不必要的侵入性想法和闪回是对心理健康和日常功能的潜在威胁，特别是在卡特里娜飓风等潜在创伤事件之后。 这个项目将是第一个关于侵入性思维、儿童对心灵的知识水平和自然灾害经历之间关系的实证研究。 如果儿童的心理理论水平确实可以预测侵入性想法，如果年幼的儿童由于对大脑运作的理解尚未完全发展而难以监测和报告侵入性想法，那么遭受反复侵入性想法的儿童-特别是卡特里娜飓风的负面想法-可能有发展行为问题的风险。相比之下，较高水平的心理理论发展可能与先进的社交技能和对精神病理学的适应力有关。 考虑到心理理论发展对社会功能的重要性，自然灾害后心理理论发展延迟的证据将具有重要的临床和教育意义。 这个项目的假设结果表明，心理理论应该是针对经历创伤事件（如虐待、自然灾害、战争和恐怖主义）的儿童的预防性干预措施的一个组成部分。