Family Functioning,Parental Psychological Distress and Child Behaviours: Evidence from the Victorian Child Health and Wellbeing Study

We examined, using data from the 2006 Victorian Child Health and Wellbeing Study (VCHWS), whether family functioning is associated with parental psychological distress and children's behavioural difficulties. The VCHWS was a statewide cross‐sectional telephone survey to 5,000 randomly selected primary caregivers of 0‐ to 12‐year‐old children between October 2005 and March 2006. Only parents or guardians of children aged 4–12 years (n = 3,370) were included in this study. After adjusting for sociodemographic variables and ethnicity, parents or guardians scoring higher on the family functioning scale (i.e., from poorly functioning households) were at greater risk of psychological distress and had children with lower levels of prosocial behaviour and higher levels of behavioural difficulties relative to those from healthily functioning households. Mental health prevention programmes addressing child mental and conduct problems should consider the family environment and target those families functioning poorly.     

A brief intervention to increase physical activity behavior among adolescents using mental simulations and action planning

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a brief integrated theory-based intervention to increase physical activity (PA) among adolescents over a three-month follow-up period. A 2 (mental simulation: present vs. absent) × 2 (action planning: present vs. absent) × 4 (time: baseline vs. one-month vs. two-month vs. three-month follow-up) mixed-model randomized controlled design was adopted. Adolescents aged 14–15 years (N = 267) completed baseline psychological measures and self-reported PA followed by the relevant intervention manipulation, if appropriate, with follow-up measures collected one, two, and three months later. Results revealed no significant effects for the mental simulation and action planning strategies nor the interaction of the two strategies. However, among participants with low levels of baseline PA, participants in both mental simulation alone and action planning alone groups reported significantly higher levels of PA at one-month follow up than other groups, suggesting that individual intervention components may be effective in low-active adolescents.     

Reproductive justice and support for young fathers

The current article addresses the interests and contributions of fathers to child development and well-being within a reproductive and social justice framework. We present an overview of research on the role of fathers in the lives of children from the prenatal period through early childhood, with an emphasis on fathers as partners and caregivers in promoting the reproductive health and safety of women and the healthy development of young children. We explore especially the challenges of young, at-risk fathers as well as system and practice opportunities that support their contributions as partners and parents. Our goal of the article is to extend the discourse on reproductive and social justice to include the shared responsibility of all parents and facilitate circumstances whereby children experience the support needed to become nurturing caregivers for the next generation.     

Visual motion disambiguation by a subliminal sound

There is growing interest in the effect of sound on visual motion perception. One model involves the illusion created when two identical objects moving towards each other on a two-dimensional visual display can be seen to either bounce off or stream through each other. Previous studies show that the large bias normally seen toward the streaming percept can be modulated by the presentation of an auditory event at the moment of coincidence. However, no reports to date provide sufficient evidence to indicate whether the sound bounce-inducing effect is due to a perceptual binding process or merely to an explicit inference resulting from the transient auditory stimulus resembling a physical collision of two objects. In the present study, we used a novel experimental design in which a subliminal sound was presented either 150 ms before, at, or 150 ms after the moment of coincidence of two disks moving towards each other. The results showed that there was an increased perception of bouncing (rather than streaming) when the subliminal sound was presented at or 150 ms after the moment of coincidence compared to when no sound was presented. These findings provide the first empirical demonstration that activation of the human auditory system without reaching consciousness affects the perception of an ambiguous visual motion display.     

Neuroticism and extraversion as predictors of negative and positive emotional information processing: comparing Eysenck's,Gray's,and Newman's theories

This study compared how extraversion, neuroticism, and extraversion × neuroticism are related to processing of pleasant and unpleasant emotional information as predicted by Eysenck's, Gray's, and Newman's theories. Initially, the participants' levels of extraversion (as measured by the sociability subscale) and neuroticism were assessed with Eysenck's Personality Inventory. They were then tested individually. After completing a questionnaire of current positive and negative moods, they completed three tasks measuring processing of pleasant, unpleasant, and also neutral information. The results showed that extraversion was associated positively with the processing of pleasant information, while neuroticism was associated positively with the processing of unpleasant information. These findings support predictions from Eysenck's theory. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mindfulness‐Based Interventions in Counseling

Mindfulness is a relatively new construct in counseling that is rapidly gaining interest as it is applied to people struggling with a myriad of problems. Research has consistently demonstrated that counseling interventions using mindfulness improve well‐being and reduce psychopathology. This article provides a detailed definition of mindfulness, including a discussion of the mechanisms underlying mindfulness practice; explores the implementation of mindfulness as a counseling intervention; and examines literature supporting its effectiveness.     

Kant on Acting from Juridical Duty

ABSTRACT

A much debated passage in the Metaphysics of Morals often leads commentators to believe that it is not possible to act from juridical duty. On the one hand, Kant says that all lawgiving includes an incentive ‘which connects a ground to determining choice to this action subjectively with the representation of the law’ (MM: 218). On the other hand, he claims that juridical lawgiving ‘does not include the incentive of duty in the law’ (MM: 219). The first claim seems to entail that agents can perform a juridical duty for the sake of that duty; the second seems to entail that agents cannot perform a juridical duty for the sake of that duty. This paper shows that it is possible to reconcile both passages and to claim that one can act from juridical duty in Kant’s terms. First, it gives an account of what can be called the paradox of juridical duties. Second, it discusses briefly how responses to the paradox remain somewhat unsatisfactory. Finally, it clarifies how agents can act with no other incentive but the actual juridical duty without endangering the Kantian morality-law divide.