ReSeaRch centRe foR aPPlied PSychology (RecaP) - Health ...

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than in those without. Another study, not included in the
thesis but part of the wider project, examined symptoms
of anxiety in twins with or without movement disorder, and
found more symptoms of anxiety in twins with movement
disorder than in those without, although if both twins had
movement disorder, this effect was not as marked. The
papers also gave insight into twin perceptions of family
functioning and of the relationship between twins. The
study culminated in the hypothesis that, rather than being
different disorders as currently classified in major medical
classification systems, movement disorders fall on a
continuum from mild Developmental Coordination Disorder
to Cerebral Palsy.
Publications
Pearsall-Jones, Jillian G., Piek, Jan P., Rigoli, Daniela, Martin,
Neilson C., & Levy, Florence (2011). Motor disorder and
anxious and depressive symptomatology: A monozygotic cotwin
control approach. Research in Developmental Disabilities,
32 (4), 1245-1252.
Pearsall-Jones, J. G., Piek, J. P. Steed, L., McDougall, M. R., &
Levy, F. (2011). Monozygotic twins concordant and discordant
for DCD: Two sides to the story. Twin Research and Human
Genetics, 14, 79-87.
Pearsall-Jones, J. G., Piek, J. P. & Levy, F. (2010). Etiological
pathways for developmental coordination disorder and
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: shared or discrete?
Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 10, 491-494.
Pearsall-Jones, J. G., Piek, J. P., & Levy, F. (2010).
Developmental Coordination Disorder and Cerebral Palsy:
Categories or a Continuum? Human Movement Science, 29,
787-798.
Pearsall-Jones, J. G., Piek, J. P., Rigoli, D., Martin, N. C., & Levy,
F. (2009). An investigation into etiological pathways of DCD
and ADHD using a monozygotic twin design. Twin Research
and Human Genetics, 12, 381-391.
Pearsall-Jones, J. G., Piek, J. P., Martin, N. C., Rigoli, D., Levy, F.,
& Hay, D. A. (2008). A monozygotic twin design to investigate
etiological factors for DCD and ADHD. Journal of Pediatric
Neurology, 6, 209-219.
Piek, J. P., Rigoli, D., Pearsall-Jones, J. G., Martin, N. C.,
Hay, D. A., Bennett, K. S., & Levy, F. (2007). Depressive
symptomatology in child and adolescent twins with
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and/or developmental
coordination disorder. Twin Research and Human Genetics,
10, 587-596.
Bennett, K. S., Hay, D. A. Piek, J. P., Pearsall-Jones, J. G., Levy,
F., & Martin, N. C. (2006). The Australian Twin ADHD Project:
current status and future directions. Twin Research and
Human Genetics, 9(6), 718-26.
Hay, D. A., McStephen, M. Levy, F., & Pearsall-Jones, J. G.
(2002). Recruitment and attrition in Twin Register studies of
childhood behavior: The example of the Australian Twin ADHD
Project. Twin Research, 5(5), 324-328.
SHARON ELSLEY
Cognitive social and emotional factors
in young boys at risk of disruptive
behaviour disorders.
Supervisors: Jan Piek, Murray Dyck (Griffith University)
This study aimed to determine the relationship between
a subset of cognitive, social and emotional factors which
may be related to disruptive behaviours in young boys at
risk of disruptive behaviour disorders. An aim was to create
a profile from these variables which would best explain
disruptive behaviours and social skills deficits in two age
groups in this cross-sectional study. The boys were recruited
from low-socioeconomic communities in Western Australia,
and they had not previously been identified as being at
risk of disruptive behaviour disorders. Three studies were
conducted. Study 1 investigated 4 to 5 year old boys (N=43)
on Verbal IQ (Wechsler, 1989), Spatial Perspective Taking
(Flavell, Botkin, Fry, Wright & Jarvis, 1968), Perceptual
Organisation (Wechsler, 1989), Emotion Understanding
and Emotion Recognition (ERS: Dyck, Ferguson & Schochet,
2001), and Dispositional Empathy (Bryant, 1982) or
Concern for Others. Study 2 was an observation of the boys
from Study 1 for Parent-Child Mutuality (Deater-Deckard,
Pylas & Petrill, 1997), to examine the dyadic relationship
between mother and son as a measure of their social skills
and behaviours. Study 3 investigated 7 to 8 year old boys
(N=46) on Verbal IQ (Wechsler, 1992), Spatial Perspective
Taking (Piaget & Inhelder, 1956), Emotion Understanding
and Emotion Recognition (ERS: Dyck et al. 2001),
Dispositional Empathy (Bryant, 1982), and parent and
teacher ratings on the Social Skills Rating Scale (Gresham &
Elliott, 1990).
Results for Study 1 showed that Spatial Perspective Taking
(SPt) was significantly lower for the boys with disruptive
behaviours compared to the non-disruptive group and
SPt was the defining factor for group membership, with
Emotion Recognition losing significance due to the
analysis of multiple univariate variables. Mother-reported
internalising and social problems were significantly
higher for the disruptive group. For Study 2, boys
with disruptive behaviours and their mothers showed
lower mutuality with significantly less reciprocity, less
emotionally responsiveness and less cooperation than
the non-disruptive boys and their mothers. The disruptive
group also had lower mother-son dyadic positivity and
communication, and higher negativity. Dispositional
Empathy or Concern for Others predicted Mother-Child
Mutuality (MCM). In Study 3, the boys with disruptive
behaviours had significantly lower Verbal IQ, Emotion