Experiences of Women Who Underwent Predictive BRCA 1/2 Mutation Testing Before the Age of 30

This qualitative interview study focuses on the experiences of a sample of British female BRCA 1/2 carriers who had predictive testing before the age of 30, which is the minimum age for breast screening in the UK. Following appropriate informed consent procedures participants were recruited through the Cancer Genetics Service for Wales. Semi-structured interviews were conducted face-to-face with seven participants, transcribed in full and analyzed using thematic analysis. The motives for testing and perceived advantages described by participants were similar to those identified in previous studies with older participants, such as increased awareness and knowledge and feeling more in control. However some of the perceived disadvantages were specific to younger women, including feeling pressured to make important life decisions earlier than they would have liked, such as about family planning and risk reducing surgery. Participants also reported feeling abandoned or forgotten because of lack of ongoing clinical contact, or feeling “stuck waiting” for screening to begin. However, none felt that these disadvantages were a reason to regret having testing. Findings in this small study suggest that having BRCA 1/2 predictive testing can have positive outcomes for young women even though they may be unable to access interventions such as breast screening. However it may be helpful to encourage young women during pre-test counseling to explore the decisions and choices they may face. These young women could benefit from ongoing support and follow up and increased interaction with healthcare professionals.     

Social sharing of emotional experiences in Asian American and European American women

The present study investigated the relationships among ethnicity and social sharing of traumatic experiences in a sample of 88 East Asian and 88 European American women. Participants were asked to write about a traumatic experience for twenty minutes and then to rate how upsetting the experience was, how often they thought about it, how often and to whom they had previously disclosed the experience, as well as the perceived appropriateness of sharing the experience with different target audiences, e.g., friends and family members. The results indicated that Asian Americans reported speaking to others less frequently about the traumatic event and sharing it with fewer individuals, and tended to be more likely to share the event with friends than with family members when compared to European Americans. Asian Americans also reported thinking about the upsetting event less frequently than European Americans even though both groups reported that the events were equally upsetting. The more upsetting events were, the more often they were shared in the European American group, but there was no relationship between how upsetting events were and the degree to which they were shared in the Asian American group.     

The positives of negative emotions: willingness to express negative emotions promotes relationships

Four studies support the hypothesis that expressing negative emotion is associated with positive relationship outcomes, including elicitation of support, building of new close relationships, and heightening of intimacy in the closest of those relationships. In Study 1, participants read vignettes in which another person was experiencing a negative emotion. Participants reported they would provide more help when the person chose to express the negative emotion. In Study 2, participants watched a confederate preparing for a speech. Participants provided more help to her when she expressed nervousness. In Study 3, self-reports of willingness to express negative emotions predicted having more friends, controlling for demographic variables and extraversion. In Study 4, self-reports of willingness to express negative emotion measured prior to arrival at college predicted formation of more relationships, greater intimacy in the closest of those relationships, and greater received support from roommates across participants' first semester of college.     

What makes for a pleasant social interaction? Motivational dynamics of interpersonal relations

The authors used an event-contingent daily recording strategy, the Rochester Interaction Record (RIR), to examine the motivational dynamics of interpersonal relations. Using hierarchical linear modeling, the authors demonstrated that social interactions were more pleasant when participants felt autonomous, competent, and related. Autonomy, competence, and relatedness consistently predicted interaction quality, regardless of (a) the length of the interaction; (b) whether it was dyadic or in a group; and (c) whether it was an interaction with family, friends, or acquaintances. However, participants were more likely to report feeling autonomous and related when they were interacting either with family members and friends or in a dyadic situation. These results suggest that experiences of autonomy, competence, and relatedness may make a good day partly because they produce satisfying interpersonal experiences.     

Social support from friends and family in a Tibetan village

Friendships are prevalent in human societies. However, it is unclear whether people rely on the same strategy to derive support from friends and relatives. In the present study, I conducted a survey to elicit the egocentric support networks of 40 village residents in a Tibetan village in Qinghai province in China. The study showed that the participants reported equal amounts of support from friends and from relatives, and they preferred a shallow strategy over a deep strategy to derive support from friends; they equally preferred the two strategies to derive support from relatives. My study suggests that even if friends compensate for the variation of kin support in quantity, friendship should not be considered as one‐for‐one substitute for kinship.     

Sex differences in reactions to outperforming same‐sex friends

The current studies were designed to examine whether female adolescents have more negative reactions than male adolescents to achieving more than their same‐sex friends. In Study 1, 51 females and 48 males from grades 8 and 10 were administered questions assessing their reactions to performing better than their closest same‐sex friends in four domains. Across domains, females reported more negative reactions than males. Further, compared with males, female participants believed that their same‐sex friends would have more negative reactions if they performed better than their friends. In Study 2, 48 females and 49 males age 18 years were asked how they felt about performing better than and equal to their closest same‐sex friends in the domains of romance and academics in both hypothetical and actual situations. Females reported feeling more positive when they received the same outcomes as opposed to better outcomes than their friends. Males did not differ in the valence of their responses to the two outcomes. The implications for sex differences in achievement and friendship are discussed.     

Anticipated,experienced, and remembered subjective effort and discomfort on sustained attention versus working memory tasks

This study examined individuals’ ability to accurately anticipate how cognitively effortful and uncomfortable a task will feel based on a short sample of the task. Participants completed a sustained attention or working memory task. Post-practice, participants rated the effort and discomfort that they anticipated their task would require and engender, respectively. Participants also rated their effort and discomfort during task-administration and the effort and discomfort they recalled feeling after task-administration. Sustained attention task participants anticipated significantly less effort than working memory task participants. Sustained attention task participants felt significantly more effort during the task and remembered feeling more effort than they had anticipated. Working memory task participants felt significantly less effort during the task than they had anticipated. Sustained attention task participants anticipated, experienced, and recalled feeling more discomfort than working memory task participants. Individuals’ anticipation of effort required depends on the task and is different from the effort they actually feel during the task and later recall feeling.     

Children’s and Adults’ Predictions of Black,White, and Multiracial Friendship Patterns

Cross-race friendships can promote the development of positive racial attitudes, yet they are relatively uncommon and decline with age. In an effort to further our understanding of the extent to which children expect cross-race friendships to occur, we examined 4- to 6-year-olds’ (and adults’) use of race when predicting other children’s friendship patterns. In contrast to previous research, we included White (Studies 1 and 2), Black (Study 3), and Multiracial (Study 4) participants and examined how they predicted the friendship patterns of White, Black, and Multiracial targets. Distinct response patterns were found as a function of target race, participant age group, and participant race. Participants in all groups predicted that White children would have mostly White friends and Black children would have mostly Black friends. Moreover, most participant groups predicted that Multiracial children would have Black and White friends. However, White adults predicted that Multiracial children would have mostly Black friends, whereas Multiracial children predicted that Multiracial children would have mostly White friends. These data are important for understanding beliefs about cross-race friendships, social group variation in race-based reasoning, and the experiences of Multiracial individuals more broadly.     

Being a mother with anorexia: A phenomenological study of seeking and receiving professional support for white heterosexual women in the UK

Mothers are currently under-represented in the literature on anorexia, including research on treatment, with most research focussed on female adolescents. This raises questions about how adult women and particularly those who are mothers, experience eating disorder treatment. This study provides a phenomenological exploration of lived experiences of seeking and receiving professional help and interactions with health professionals for six white heterosexual mothers who experienced anorexia while raising their children. Four themes are reported that capture the women's diverse experiences of seeking and receiving support for anorexia: (1) conflict between mothering and seeking help; (2) experiences of feeling blamed, poorly treated or misunderstood by health professionals; (3) positive experiences of seeking and receiving support; and (4) the importance of ongoing support. The women's experiences suggest that healthcare professionals should adopt a more holistic approach that acknowledges the subjective reality of the client (including their mother status) when working with mothers experiencing anorexia.     

Positive and problematic dissertation experiences: The faculty perspective

We interviewed 14 clinical and counseling psychology faculty regarding their experiences chairing positive and problematic dissertations. Data were analyzed using consensual qualitative research (CQR). Participants reported that advisors’ roles involved guiding/facilitating dissertations and helping students shape research ideas; students’ roles included taking responsibility, working independently, and maintaining good relationships with the chair/committee. With positive dissertation experiences, chairs and students collaborated before the dissertation, worked together well during the dissertation, and students began the dissertation feeling competent and motivated; such dissertations positively affected participants. Problematic dissertation experiences evinced difficult relationships between chair and student, and students’ low research capability; such dissertations negatively affected participants.     

You give me the chills: embodied reactions to inappropriate amounts of behavioral mimicry

In the research reported here, we investigated how suspicious nonverbal cues from other people can trigger feelings of physical coldness. There exist implicit standards for how much nonverbal behavioral mimicry is appropriate in various types of social interactions, and individuals may react negatively when interaction partners violate these standards. One such reaction may be feelings of physical coldness. Participants in three studies either were or were not mimicked by an experimenter in various social contexts. In Study 1, participants who interacted with an affiliative experimenter reported feeling colder if they were not mimicked than if they were, and participants who interacted with a task-oriented experimenter reported feeling colder if they were mimicked than if they were not. Studies 2 and 3 demonstrated that it was not the amount of mimicry per se that moderated felt coldness; rather, felt coldness was moderated by the inappropriateness of the mimicry given implicit standards set by individual differences (Study 2) and racial differences (Study 3). Implications for everyday subjective experience are discussed.     

ASIAN AMERICAN WOMEN's RETROSPECTIVE REPORTS OF THEIR SEXUAL SOCIALIZATION

This study used qualitative research methods to investigate the sexual socialization experiences of young Asian American women, a group often overlooked in psychological research on sexuality. Focus group interviews were conducted with 30 ethnically diverse young Asian American women to explore their perceptions and interpretations of the direct and indirect sexual communication they received from parents during adolescence. Interviews were analyzed using open and focused coding techniques based on principles of grounded theory. Although most participants initially reported that sexuality was a closed or taboo topic of discussion in their family, they described several indirect, implicit, and nonverbal strategies their parents used to clearly convey their sexual attitudes and expectations, most of which were restrictive in nature. Women interpreted parents' silence and restrictiveness about sexuality as tied to their upbringing and cultural heritage and as a feature characterizing Asian parents more broadly.     

Stigma by Association Among Family Members of People with a Mental Illness: A Qualitative Analysis

People with mental illness are not the sole recipients of stigmatisation; their immediate family members may be subjected to stigma by association. Through semi‐structured interviews, we investigated experiences of stigma by association among 23 immediate family members of people with mental illness. Participants reported experiencing stigma by association from community members, mental health professionals, and civil servants. Familial relationship, co‐residence, and the gender of participants appeared to play a role in their stigma experiences; parents and spouses reported different manifestations of stigma by association than siblings and children, participants who lived together with their family member with mental illness reported increased experiences of stigma by association, and in contrast to male participants, female participants reported others thinking they are overprotective and as such perpetuated, maintained, or sustained their family members' mental illness. The relevance of these factors points to the need for tailored education and emotional support provision to family members of people with mental illness. Moreover, in‐service training for mental health professionals should include the development of relevant social skills that enable the recognition of familial relationships and roles, and family members' fears, concerns, and problems. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Happiness Runs in a Circular Motion: Evidence for a Positive Feedback Loop between Prosocial Spending and Happiness

We examine whether a positive feedback loop exists between spending money on others (i.e. prosocial spending) and happiness. Participants recalled a previous purchase made for either themselves or someone else and then reported their happiness. Afterward, participants chose whether to spend a monetary windfall on themselves or someone else. Participants assigned to recall a purchase made for someone else reported feeling significantly happier immediately after this recollection; most importantly, the happier participants felt, the more likely they were to choose to spend a windfall on someone else in the near future. Thus, by providing initial evidence for a positive feedback loop between prosocial spending and well-being, these data offer one potential path to sustainable happiness: prosocial spending increases happiness which in turn encourages prosocial spending.     

Choosing Across Cultures: The Effect of Choice Complexity on Treatment Outcomes

Prior research has revealed that having choice over treatments can improve their efficacy. However, it is currently unknown if the benefits of treatment choice hold for complex decisions and different cultures. The effects of differing numbers of treatment options were explored across two cultural contexts: United States and Japan. Participants were exposed to an uncomfortable stimulus and provided with up to 15 placebo treatment options they believed would reduce discomfort. There was a significant interaction such that participants from Japan benefited most from fewer treatment options (2 and 5) compared with more treatment options (10 and 15). Participants from the United States, however, showed either no change in discomfort or less discomfort as the number of choices increased. Additionally, participants from Japan reported less satisfaction with the decision process when they had more treatment options to choose from whereas U.S. participants reported similar, if not slightly higher, satisfaction with more treatment options. Further, a second study indicated that a positive experience with the decision process mediated the relationship between choice complexity and treatment efficacy for Japanese participants. These data demonstrate the importance of culture and choice complexity when discussing treatment choice and resulting outcomes in the medical context. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Impact of Participating in Suicide Research Online

The impact of participation in online mixed‐methods suicide research was investigated. Participants, who described feeling suicidal, completed an 18‐item questionnaire before and after taking part (n = 103), and answered open‐ended questions about participation (n = 97). Overall, participation reduced negative experiences and had no effect on positive experiences. Feelings of calm increased, but participants felt less supported. Some participants did experience distress, but some also reported this distress to be manageable. Anonymously sharing experiences of suicidality was viewed as important, had therapeutic benefits, and engendered hopes for recovery. The findings suggest a need to ensure vulnerable participants in online studies are well supported while protecting their anonymity.     

What role does substance use play in the social world of Australian people who have experienced homelessness? A critical realist mixed‐methods exploration

Substance use is prevalent amongst Australians who have experienced homelessness, but the social impacts of using substances amongst this group are poorly understood. This study uses a relational and critical realist approach to understand the role of substance use on the social lives of people with lived experience of homelessness. A mixed‐methods design was used to explore this question and assess the experiences of people who have exited homelessness. Recruiting across services catering to marginalised populations, 110 participants completed a cross‐sectional survey. Findings showed substance use both socially connected and disconnected participants, and that attempting abstinence required participants to negotiate and alter their social networks. To participants, being a substance “user,” or “non‐user,” was a social identity that they actively negotiated to facilitate competing social, psychological and material/embodied needs. Participants chose to engage and not engage with others to craft a social identity they valued, which had the sometimes‐negative side‐effect of limiting potential relationships, leaving users feeling isolated from their non‐users and a continued imperative to keep using. The impacts of substance use on social networks were similar for currently and formerly homeless participants, suggesting transitioning into housing may not immediately prompt a reduction in substance use or influence from substance‐using peers. Interventions with substance users with lived experience of homelessness would benefit from taking a social identity approach that incorporates an understanding of the material/embodied aspects of addiction to provide a holistic model of care that best supports the relational needs of the client.     

Why people make friends: The nature of friendship

Friendship constitutes an important facet of human behavior, and the current research investigated the reasons that motivate people to make friends. First, a combination of qualitative research methods were used to identify 41 perceived reasons why people make friends. Using a sample of 1,316 Greek‐speaking participants, these reasons were classified into five broad factors. Participants indicated that the most important reasons for making friends were to receive social input, support, and because of someone else's good qualities. Sex differences and age effects were found in most factors. Finally, the five factors were classified into two broader domains, the first reflecting motivation to make a true friendship and the second to gain opportunistic benefits.