A Multimethod Examination of the Effect of Insomnia Symptoms on Anxious Responding to a Social Stressor

A growing number of studies identify insomnia symptoms as a potential risk factor for the development of anxiety disorders. However, little research has examined potential mechanisms through which insomnia could confer increased risk for anxiety. A separate line of literature suggests sleep is necessary for adaptive emotional and behavioral responding to stressors, a potential mechanism linking insomnia symptoms to anxiety risk. To test whether insomnia symptoms affect emotional and behavioral responding to an anxiety-relevant stressor, the current study recruited a sample of 99 undergraduates with varying levels of insomnia symptoms. Participants completed self-report and psychophysiological measures before, during, and after an impromptu speech task. Results indicated that, after covarying for negative affectivity, increased insomnia symptoms were significantly associated with elevated anticipatory anxiety and skin conductance response prior to the speech, and increased skin conductance response, emotion regulation difficulties, and safety aid use during the speech. Taken together, results provide evidence for the notion that insomnia symptoms are associated with maladaptive emotional and behavioral responding to an anxiety-relevant stressor.     

Clarifying the Relationship of Dissociative Experiences to Suicide Ideation and Attempts: A Multimethod Examination in Two Samples

Fears of pain, injury, and death may represent key barriers to acting on suicidal thoughts. Dissociation, which involves a disconnection from one’s body, may reduce fears and sensations of pain associated with harming the body, in turn facilitating suicide attempts. This study examined whether dissociation differentiated individuals with a history of suicide attempts from those with a history of suicide ideation, and investigated whether other relevant constructs explain this relationship. Sample 1 included 754 undergraduates (M_age = 21, 79% female) who completed a battery of self-report measures. Sample 2 included 247 undergraduates (M_age = 19, 74% female) who completed a self-report measure of dissociation, a clinical interview regarding suicide history, and four counterbalanced behavioral pain tolerance tasks. In both samples, dissociation was elevated in lifetime attempters compared to ideators (d = 0.28; d = 0.46; ps = 0.01) and slightly elevated in lifetime ideators compared to nonsuicidal individuals (d = 0.19, p = .02; d = 0.24, p = .47), though this effect was non-significant in the latter sample. In Sample 1, dissociation no longer differentiated attempters from ideators after controlling for clinical covariates. In Sample 2, dissociation was unrelated to behavioral pain tolerance tasks, and these tasks did not account for the association between dissociation and attempts. Overall, dissociation differentiated individuals with a history of suicide attempts from those with ideation alone in both samples. Pain tolerance did not explain this association; instead, it is possible that the relationship of dissociation to suicide attempts is due to “third variables” associated with both phenomena, such as symptoms of borderline personality disorder or posttraumatic stress disorder.     

A Research Note on Adolescent Steroid Use: An Examination of Social Learning Theory and Self-Control Theory

This study compared the criminological theories social learning theory and low self-control to determine their effects on adolescent steroid use. The data for this study came from the 12th-grade survey of the 2009 Monitoring the Future Project Form 6 that is a nationally representative sample. We found that social learning theory and the sex (i.e., male) of the adolescent are all significant predictors of adolescent steroid use.     

A Multimethod Exploration of the Friendships of Children Considered Socially Withdrawn by Their School Peers

Friendships of children considered socially withdrawn by their school peers were investigated within a population of elementary school children. Reciprocal friends were identified by a friendship nomination procedure; social withdrawal was assessed by peer nominations. Trained graduate students rated videotapes of dyads of friends (n = 58 dyads, of which 29 contained at least one withdrawn child) for selected features of friendship quality. In addition, each friend within a dyad provided ratings of the quality of the relationship. The videotaped data showed the withdrawn children to be somewhat restricted in their verbal communication with their friends, and less competitive with their friends, than were friends in a comparison group. In dyads consisting of one withdrawn and one nonwithdrawn child, the withdrawn child perceived the relationship as characterized by greater closeness and helpfulness than did the nonwithdrawn friend. Despite some signs of inhibited behavior within the friendship context, withdrawn children seem to have access to close friendships of high quality.     

An Examination of the Lost-letter Technique1

The results of three investigations of the validity and economics of the lost-letter technique are reported. Although the return rate of the lost-letter technique was higher than in the case of more obtrusive survey techniques involving hand-distributed postcard questionnaires and mail surveys, the more obtrusive survey techniques were more economical to carry out, were more accurate in their predictions of election outcomes, and gave results more highly consistent among themselves than with the results obtained by the lost-letter technique. Furthermore, the results indicated that the act of returning a lost letter may not be strongly affected by the identity of the sender or addressee indicated on the letter.     

Effects of Parent Emotion Socialization on the Neurobiology Underlying Adolescent Emotion Processing: A Multimethod fMRI Study

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Parents’ emotion socialization (ES) practices impact socioemotional development throughout adolescence. Little is known, however, regarding...     

Attitudinal Consequences of the Preemployment Polygraph Examination1

An important factor concerning the use of the polygraph in employment settings has been overlooked: How does the polygraph experience affect a new employee's work-related attitudes? In two experiments, subjects were exposed to different hiring scenarios-one included a polygraph examination, the other did not—and then responded to a questionnaire of work-related attitudes. Results indicated that preemployment polygraph examinations may induce negative work-related attitudes. These findings suggest that the polygraph experience acts as a symbolic communication from the employer to the prospective employee, imparting information that may induce feelings of distrust and dislike. Moreover, the polygraph experience may be interpreted by prospective employees as evidence of high levels of employee theft, thus establishing a new (higher) norm of peer theft behavior.     

A Multitrait Multimethod Measurement Approach to the Traits (or States) of Anxiety,Depression and Hostility

This study tested the convergent and discriminant validities of various psychological techniques used for the measurement of the affects of anxiety, depression and hostility. The subjects were 29 psychiatric patients and 25 normal controls, all males. Subjects were interviewed and rated for the three affects and given an extensive battery of tests. Anxiety and depression measures from ratings, checklists, and questionnaires demonstrated good convergent validity but poor discriminant validity. The projective methods did not demonstrate much convergent validity. Hostility was separable from anxiety and depression but the tests showed poor convergent validity for hostility. In the normals, fantasy hostility (TAT) and admitted hostility (Multiple Affect Adjective Check List) showed some convergence, but in the patients there was no congruence between these two levels.     

Rorschach Differentials of Homosexuality in Male Convicts: An Examination of Wheeler and Schafer Signs

In an attempt to cross-validate the Wheeler and Schafer signs of homosexuality in the Rorschach, the present study made use of 60 male adult convicts of a Calcutta jail, divided into four equal groups: active homosexual, passive homosexual, sex-role disturbed and heterosexual normals. The protocols of the individually administered Rorschach were examined for both Wheeler and Schafer signs of homosexuality. Statistical analyses revealed that while Wheeler's signs could differentiate only homosexuals (active and passive) and sex-disturbed convicts at .05 level of significance, Schafer's signs were able to differentiate most of the studied groups at level of significance varying between .01 and .05. Failure of the Schafer signs to distinguish between active and passive homosexuals as well as between sex-disturbed and heterosexuals is discussed with reference to the characteristics of prison subculture.     

Social Power Bases: A Meta-Anaiytic Examination of Interrelationships and Outcomes1

French and Raven (1959) inferred how the existence of social power bases influences a subordinate's perception and a leader's use of other powers. Based on their propositions, we tested a model using meta-analytic correlations as input to structural equations analysis. We also used recent literature to test a revised model, which fit the data better. Additionally, the meta-analytic effects of the social bases of power on satisfaction with supervision, job satisfaction, and performance were examined.     

Equivocality and Escalation: A Replication and Preliminary Examination of Frustration1

An equivocality theory account of escalation of commitment was investigated using a computer simulated marketing scenario in a replication and extension of Hantula and DeNicolis Bragger (1999). Participants acted as marketing executives and invested money to promote sales of a new sneaker, and received high or low equivocality feedback from their investments for one phase and then received failure feedback in a second phase. Participants were videotaped throughout the experiment. Replicating previous research, participants receiving highly equivocal feedback invested a greater relative amount of money during failure than did those who received feedback low in equivocality. Furthermore, analyses of the videotapes for behaviors indicative of frustration showed that participants in both feedback groups displayed a greater degree of frustration while receiving failure feedback than during the first phase of the study. These data replicate and extend previous equivocality findings, but do not resolve the role of frustration in escalation unambiguously.     

A Multimethod Multitrait Validity Assessment of Self‐Construal in Japan,Korea, and the United States

A large number of previous studies have used self‐construal to predict communication outcomes. Recent evidence, however, suggests that validity problems may exist in self‐construal measurement. The current study conducted a multimethod multitrait (Campbell & Fiske, 1959) validation study of self‐construal measures with data (total N= 578) collected in Korea (N= 200), Japan (N= 212), and the U.S. (N= 166). The data showed that the Singelis (1994) Self‐Construal Scale, the Cross, Bacon, and Morris (2000) Relational Interdependent Self‐Construal Scale (RISC), and the Kuhn and McPartland (1954) Twenty Statements Test (TST) lacked convergent and discriminant validity, both pan‐culturally and within each of the three countries included in the study. Scores on the TST were not significantly related to scores on the self‐construal scales, and the various self‐construal measures correlated more highly with measures of communication directness than with alternative measures of the same type of self‐construal. Substantial method effects were also observed. The results were tested for both 2‐ and 3‐dimensional models of self‐construal and for refined scales and scales with all items retained. The results of all analyses were inconsistent with the claim that self‐construal measures are construct valid.     

The Effects of Family Structure and Family Processes on Externalizing and Internalizing Behaviors of Male and Female Youth: A Longitudinal Examination

The present study examined potential gender differences in the effects of family structure and family processes on externalizing and internalizing behavioral outcomes among youth over time. Using data from waves one through three of the Add Health study, results indicated that the relationship between family structure and family processes on behavioral outcomes varied depending on the specific externalizing or internalizing behavior. Family structure directly influenced three different externalizing behaviors, but indirectly influenced internalizing behaviors through its effect on maternal attachment and to some degree parental permissiveness. The long-term influence of family structure, family processes, and later externalizing and internalizing behaviors is complex. These relationships played out similarly across both male and female youth, suggesting that the effect of living in a single-parent home, subsequent family processes, and individual behavior and well-being may not be different across gender.     

雄性HSF1基因缺陷小鼠的行为改变

为研究HSF1基因缺陷小鼠的行为特征,探索HSF1基因在小鼠行为表现中的作用。选取6~7个月大雄性HSF1基因缺陷小鼠39只及野生型小鼠36只进行情绪性评分、旷场实验、高架十字迷宫实验、简易迷津实验、T-CAT实验、独木桥实验和悬挂实验以观察其情绪性唤醒水平、焦虑水平、探索行为、工作记忆能力和运动能力。结果表明HSF1基因缺陷小鼠的情绪唤醒水平和焦虑水平较低、探索行为减少、T-CAT中转换率较低,提示小鼠的情绪、探索动机和工作记忆受HSF1基因的调控     

意外考试悖论的博弈分析

本文从博弈的角度分析了意外考试悖论,指出了以往解决方案的不足,给出了一种新的方案。根据这个新方案,考试悖论的推理中使用了倒推法和弱下策反复剔除法。本文接着讨论了这些博弈推理方法的不足。然后把这个新的博弈方案用到卡片悖论和方格悖论这些考试悖论的变种里。最后指出,在考试悖论里,比起倒推法,弱下策剔除法是引起悖论的更根本的原因。     

道教戒律书考要

成熟的组织化的宗教都有自己的一套宗教道德,这些宗教道德主要体现于戒律。作为条文内容的戒律,是道教徒必须遵守的思想行为准则,其在道教内部结构的重要性仅次于教义。道教的戒律书可分为戒、律、科、清规、功过格和善书六类。前三类有严格的传授次序。本文仅就前三类考其要者。主要考证成书年代,对于内容要点及其文献价值亦予指出。     

Examination of the Relationship Between PTSD and Distress Tolerance in a Sample of Male Veterans With Comorbid Substance Use Disorders

Distress tolerance (DT), the perceived or actual ability to tolerate negative emotional or physical states, is inversely related to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in civilian, community samples. No studies to date have examined the relationship between DT and PTSD in clinical samples of veterans with a comorbid diagnosis of PTSD and a substance use disorder (SUD). Thus, the present study examined the relationship between DT and PTSD in a sample of predominately African American, male veterans (n = 75) diagnosed with comorbid PTSD and SUD (according to a structured clinical interview). Results of hierarchical linear regression models indicated that DT was inversely related to total PTSD symptom severity score, above and beyond depressive symptoms and SUD severity. Of the 4 symptom clusters, DT was inversely associated with intrusions and hyperarousal. These findings are discussed in light of previous work with civilian samples. Determining whether treatment incorporating DT skills would be useful for veterans undergoing PTSD treatment should be evaluated.     

Soft Prosody and Embodied Attunement in Therapeutic Interaction: A Multimethod Case Study of a Moment of Change

This study focused on a moment of weeping in one psychotherapy case. The overall aim was to explore the role of “soft prosody” in psychotherapy interaction—that is, the participants’ use of pauses, a lower volume, slower rhythms, and softer intonation than in the surrounding speech. A mixed-method, micro-analytic perspective was applied to investigate (a) social interaction, including its verbal and nonverbal elements; (2) the participants’ bodily responses, including autonomic nervous system (ANS) measurements; and (3) the participants’ thoughts and feelings during the therapy session, as reported in subsequent individual interviews. Soft prosody was observed to be an important conversational tool. It was used in conveying affiliation and offering therapeutic formulations, and it appeared to contribute both to emotional attunement between the participants and to the therapeutic change that occurred during the interaction under study. Two differing bodily synchronization tendencies in the arousal levels were observed among the participants: (a) a complementary tendency—that is, when the client's arousal increased, the therapist's decreased (occurring during the active therapeutic processing); and (b) a tendency to concurrent decreased arousal in all of the participants.