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In this article, we briefly describe the current epidemiology of HIV/AIDS among South African schoolchildren, as well as the neurocognitive, academic and psychosocial difficulties they experience. Cultural factors linked to HIV prevention and treatment are identified, and government and schools' response to HIV/AIDS is outlined. We then evaluate what has been done thus far to address these issues in the educational, healthcare, and government contexts. In conclusion, we point to recommendations for how school psychologists and other school-based professionals can work with affected children, families, communities, agencies and governments to effect change.

There have been efforts to identify a 'police personality' based on dispositional and socialization models. Personality traits of successful police applicants at the Police College in Pretoria, South Africa (N q= 1,145 police trainees), with regard to sex, ethnic group, and English language reading skills, were described in terms of scores on the Temperament and Character Inventory. South African police trainees generally evaluated themselves as substantially lower in Novelty Seeking and Harm Avoidance combined with lower Cooperativeness, but they scored much higher on Self-Directedness, Persistence, and Self-Transcendence compared to South African university students from the same area. These are characteristics expected from future police officers, which supports the dispositional model. DOI 10.2466/PR0.105.2.539-553

Traumatic brain injury is a multi-faceted condition that affects individuals on physical, cognitive, and emotional levels. The study investigated the relationship between depression and neuropsychological performance in a group with traumatic brain injury. A retrospective review was conducted on 75 participants who completed neuropsychological assessments. Information on clinical characteristics, sociodemographic information, neuropsychological outcomes, and Beck Depression Inventory scores were included in the analysis. Results indicated that 36% of the participants reported experiencing severe symptoms of depression, 28% moderate symptoms of depression, and 36% mild/minimal symptoms of depression. Performance on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test indicated inverse relationships with depression scores suggesting that traumatic brain injury patients with lower depression scores perform better on verbal memory tasks. Similarly, findings for the written and oral versions of the Symbol Digit Modalities Test reflected inverse correlations with depression scores, indicating that lower depression scores are correlated with increased processing speed and capacity. A significant positive association between the time taken to complete the Trail Making Test Trail A and Trail B and depression scores was found, suggesting that higher depression scores in this sample were related to slower performance speed and lower executive performance. When specific clinical and sociodemographic variables were included as covariates in a partial correlational analysis, neuropsychological performance indicators and depression scores remained significant for Symbol Digit Modalities Test (oral and written), the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test Retrieval and Recognition trials, and Trail Making Test (Trail B). This study indicates that in a traumatic brain injury cohort, depression levels are significantly associated with specific neuropsychological performance measures. The findings of this study have implications for psychosocial treatment planning after a traumatic brain injury and contribute to our understandings of the inter-relationship between cognition and emotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wider availability of highly active antiretroviral therapy has resulted in a concomitant increase in adults aging with HIV and the persistence of milder forms of neuropsychological impairment in this cohort. This study investigated the differences in neuropsychological functioning between a group of HIV+ adults and older adults and an HIV-matched control group. Participants from a semi-urban community clinic volunteered to participate in the study. The performance of 50 participants (33 HIV+ and 17 HIV-) who met the inclusion criteria were compared on the following measures: Dementia Rating Scale-2, the Stroop Color and Word Test, the Symbol Digits Modalities Test, and the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System Trail Making Test. The results indicated that the HIV+ in comparison with the HIV-negative group had poorer performance profiles in global cognitive functioning, memory, executive functioning, visuoconstruction ability, psychomotor functioning, and processing speed. The findings suggest that further research in South Africa will contribute to a better understanding of the neuropsychological profiles of adults aging with HIV and inform intervention strategies specific to addressing the mental healthcare needs of this subgroup. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Normative psychometric test data for computerized neuro-cognitive batteries are scarce in the South African testing literature. The research explores the psychometric test properties of a computerized neuropsychological test battery in a non-clinical South African sample. A non-experimental correlational design was employed to collect data (N=594) and assess internal consistency indices on a number of executive and emotions tasks. The study also investigated the potential effect that certain socio-demographic factors may have on neuropsychological performance indicators and included mother's education, father's education, language used in high school, home language and quality of education. In keeping with current research it was found that even though socio-demographic factors do play a role in test performance, the psychometric properties of the battery remain consistent across different groups and further research utilising this tool is encouraged as the battery evidences construct validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to explore differences between the executive performance profiles in second order temperament trait configurations consisted of levels of harm avoidance (HA) and novelty seeking (NS). These trait configurations yield the impulsive temperament subtype (high NS and low HA) and the rigid temperament subtype (high HA and low NS). Participants were categorised into the two a priori defined groups according to their scores on NS and HA. The performance and reaction time scores on the computerised Abstract Reasoning and Executive Functioning battery (PennCNP) of the impulsive temperament subtype (n = 121) and the rigid temperament subtype (n= 131) were compared. The results indicate that the rigid temperament subtype reacted slower to both complex (executive functioning) and less complex tasks (attention and working memory) than the impulsive temperament subtype. However, on the single verbal task, no significant performance or reaction time differences were observed. In a simpler timed task, no overall differences were found, but significant reaction time differences were found in a forced choice complex task. Significant differences were maintained with analyses of intelligence and parental education as covariates. The results are discussed in the context of dynamic interaction of temperament dispositions and effortful self-regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]