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In masked priming, a briefly presented prime stimulus is followed by a mask, which in turn is followed by the task-relevant target. Under certain conditions, negative compatibility effects (NCNCEs) occur, with impaired performance on compatible trials (where prime and target indicate the same response) relative to incompatible trials (where they indicate opposite responses). However, the exact boundary conditions of NCEs, and hence the functional significance of this effect, are still under discussion. In particular, it has been argued that the NCE might be a stimulus-specific phenomenon of little general interest. This paper presents new findings indicating that the NCE can be obtained under a wider variety of conditions, suggesting that it reflects more general processes in motor control. In addition, evidence is provided suggesting that prime identification levels in forced choice tasks – usually employed to estimate prime visibility in masked prime tasks – are affected by prior experience with the prime (Exp. 1) as well as by direct motor priming (Exp. 2 & 3).

BackgroundMany babies in the UK are born to drug-dependent parents, and dependence on psychoactive drugs during the postnatal period is associated with high rates of child maltreatment, with around a quarter of these children being subject to a child protection plan. Parents who are dependent on psychoactive drugs are at risk of a wide range of parenting problems, and studies have found reduced sensitivity and responsiveness to both the infant’s physical and emotional needs. The poor outcomes that are associated with such drug dependency appear to be linked to the multiple difficulties experienced by such parents.An increase in understanding about the crucial importance of early relationships for infant well-being has led to a focus on the development and delivery of services that are aimed at supporting parenting and parent–infant interactions. The Parents under Pressure (PuP) programme is aimed at supporting parents who are dependent on psychoactive drugs or alcohol by providing them with methods of managing their emotional regulation, and of supporting their new baby’s development. An evaluation of the PuP programme in Australia with parents on methadone maintenance of children aged 3 to 8 years found significant reductions in child abuse potential, rigid parenting attitudes and child behaviour problems.Methods/designThe study comprises a multicentre randomised controlled trial using a mixed-methods approach to data collection and analysis in order to identify which families are most able to benefit from this intervention.The study is being conducted in six family centres across the UK, and targets primary caregivers of children less than 2.5 years of age who are substance dependent. Consenting participants are randomly allocated to either the 20-week PuP programme or to standard care.The primary outcome is child abuse potential, and secondary outcomes include substance use, parental mental health and emotional regulation, parenting stress, and infant/toddler socio-emotional adjustment scale.DiscussionThis is one the first UK studies to examine the effectiveness of a programme targeting the parenting of substance-dependent parents of infants and toddlers, in terms of its effectiveness in improving the parent–infant relationship and reducing the potential for child abuse.Trial registrationInternational Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number Register: ISRCTN47282925

BackgroundPostnatal depression (PND) can be experienced by 13% of women who give birth, and such women often exhibit disabling symptoms, which can have a negative effect on the mother and infant relationship, with significant consequences in terms of the child's later capacity for affect regulation. Research has shown that providing support to mothers experiencing PND can help reduce their depressive symptoms and improve their coping strategies. The Mums4Mums study aims to evaluate the impact of telephone peer-support for women experiencing PND.Methods/DesignThe study design adopts the MRC framework for the development and evaluation of complex interventions. Health visitors in Warwickshire and Coventry Primary Care Trusts are screening potential participants at the 8-week postnatal check using either the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS > = 10) or the three Whooley questions recommended by NICE (http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG45). The Mums4Mums telephone support intervention is being delivered by trained peer-supporters over a period of four months. The primary outcome is depressive symptomatology as measured by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Secondary outcomes include mother-child interaction, dyadic adjustment, parenting sense of competence scale, and self-efficacy. Maternal perceptions of the telephone peer-support are being assessed using semi-structured interviews following the completion of the intervention.DiscussionThe proposed study will develop current innovative work in peer-led support interventions and telecare by applying existing expertise to a new domain (i.e. PND), testing the feasibility of a peer-led telephone intervention for mothers living with PND, and developing the relationship between the lay and clinical communities. The intervention will potentially benefit a significant number of patients and support a future application for a larger study to undertake a full evaluation of the clinical and cost effectiveness of telephone based peer-support for PND.Trial registrationISRCTN: ISRCTN91450073. The study has received a major funding grant from National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (UK) - Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) programme (ref: PB-PG-0407-13232).