Coping with AIDS: Psychological and Health Implications1

The current study explored the relationship of coping to both psychological and health parameters in 50 gay men recently (within three months) diagnosed with AIDS. Three methods of coping (active behavioral, active cognitive, and avoidance) and eight different coping strategies (positive involvement, expressive/ information seeking, reliance on others, positive understanding/create meaning, passive/ruminative, distraction, passive resignation, and solitary/passive behaviors) were assessed. Findings indicate that avoidance coping is not protecting these people from distressful feelings, mood disturbance, and concerns. The three coping methods evidenced distinctly different associations with measures of psychological and health variables. Active-behavioral coping was related to lower total mood disturbance and higher self-esteem, while avoidance coping was inversely related to self-esteem and positively correlated with depression. The frequencies of specific coping strategies indicate men in this study were using cognitive strategies most frequently. Suggestions for interventions to help people cope with AIDS are given.     

Poverty and HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for Psychological Well-being

The study examines the literature on poverty and HIV/AIDS in an effort to explore the various psychological resources available for affected individuals. Poverty is an increased risk for HIV and AIDS for a majority of the citizens of sub-Saharan Africa, and also lowered their subjective well-being. Furthermore, research evidence revealed that the relationship between poverty and subjective well-being is mediated by the intervention of such psychological variables as locus of control, self esteem, depression and coping strategies among others. Psychological resources for positive well-being that could ameliorate the potentially devastating combined effects of HIV and poverty are suggested.     

Neural and Pavlovian influences on immunity

The traditional view that the nervous and immune systems are functionally independent (aside from general stress effects and autoimmune disorders of the nervous system) is being challenged by a new view that the nervous system regulates the activity of the immune system. If this is true, it should be possible to change the activity of the immune system by means of Pavlovian conditioning, just as it is possible to condition other physiological events influenced by the autonomic nervous system or neuroendocrine substances. Evidence for autonomic and neuroendocrine modulation of immune activity is briefly reviewed; and, the various studies reporting conditioned immune effects, the physiological mechanisms most likely involved, and their possible significance are discussed.     

素食的心理过程及影响因素

随着人们对健康、环境以及动物保护的关注, 素食主义日渐兴起。国内外对素食的心理学研究仍处于起步阶段。个体选择素食的心理过程涉及认知、情感、动机、认同感等方面, 素食行为受到个体差异、刻板印象、宏观因素的影响。未来研究有待深入探讨社会文化对素食行为的影响、中国文化情境下对素与素食的社会表征、素食的具身认知效应以及素食亚文化的动态形成过程, 以期引导对个体健康与环境有益的饮食模式。     

Women and AIDS: Implications for Counseling

Women's concerns regarding AIDS have been ignored or minimized by most writers and AIDS educators. Although women may share many similarities with men in their reactions to AIDS, they have unique concerns that must be recognized. Understanding these concerns is essential for counselors in order to give quality care to women at risk for infection. This article describes women at risk and offers suggestions for counselors in working with such women.     

Psychological and social-structural influences on commitment to volunteering

A model is described in which commitment to volunteering is hypothesized to be the result of demographic qualities, personality, identity, values, and social relationships. The model is tested and cross-validated using data from a nationally representative sample of American adults. The results from structural equation modeling analyses suggest that the hypothetical model provides a good fit to the data. Moreover, the findings suggest that the relations of personality and demographic characteristics to hours devoted to volunteering are largely mediated by latent constructs capturing helping identity and community participation. The implications of the model and the findings for our understanding of volunteering are discussed.     

Cultural Psychology: Implications for Basic Psychological Theory

A theoretical argument for the importance of culture in psychological explanation is offered. It is maintained that the view that culture is integral to psychological theory rests on a meaning-based view of culture and on the recognition that culture is necessary in individual psychological development. Research on cognition and on the self is discussed briefly to illustrate ways in which work in cultural psychology is contributing to basic psychological theory. In future research, greater attention needs to be given to developing more sensitive understandings of culture and to incorporating these understandings in the constructs and methods of the discipline. In conclusion, cultural psychology is shown to represent a perspective to bring to bear in all types of psychological inquiry. While building on existing work in the field, cultural psychology offers an alternative vision that underscores respects in which psychological development represents an open, culturally mediated process.     

艾滋病人心理问题的探讨及其应对策略

我国艾滋病患者持续上升。艾滋病不仅损害了人们的躯体健康,也同时损害了人们的心理健康,引发心理危机。观察300例患者发现：抑郁症41．3％、焦虑症31．4％、报复心理20．0％、麻木8．3％。艾滋病的防治不仅仅是治疗肌体病痛的问题,还应该治疗患者的心理问题。因此运用系统论对艾滋病人心理问题中的相关问题进行探索和剖析,动员患者及全社会行动起来,才能达到对艾滋病的有效控制。     

Psychological Time in Later Life: Implications for Counseling

Psychological time consists of cognitive constructs, images, and symbolic representations. It has different dimensions such as the experience of time, time perspective, attitudes and beliefs toward time, and the individual's behavior relating to time. Psychological time undergoes changes throughout the life span and is an integral part of the psychological developmental processes. In later life, it may be particularly dissonant with environmental rhythms and require re‐integration of the individual's past, present, and future. This article suggests several guidelines for counseling practice that address the many facets of psychological time in later life and their implications for the mental health and well‐being of older people.     

Psychological Distress Reported by Patients Undergoing Limb Reconstruction Surgery: Implications for Psychological Interventions

Limb reconstruction is an orthopaedic surgical technique designed to restore or improve functioning and appearance. The aims of the present study were to investigate levels of psychological distress in adults undergoing limb reconstruction as a result of traumatic injury, to examine which variables could account for any variations in distress during and after treatment, and to ascertain the potential relevance of psychological interventions. A cross-sectional sample of patients completed measures of psychological distress, posttraumatic symptomatology, coping, social support, pain, and disability. Self-reported levels of psychological distress and posttraumatic symptoms were high but did not tend to vary across stage of treatment, suggesting that distress is not solely attributable to limb reconstruction treatment per se but to other factors. Both medical variables (pain and mobility) and psychological variables (symptoms of trauma and coping strategies) accounted for a significant percentage of the variance in HAD scores. These results suggest that both medical and psychological interventions have potential for reducing distress and increasing well-being in an orthopaedic population who are experiencing high levels of emotional distress.     

Psychological Implications of Women's Spiritual Health

The burgeoning women's spirituality movement is concrete evidence of feminist awakening in the culture. Women are finding some forms of feminist spirituality helpful for good mental health. Three specific shifts which have been occasioned by the feministization of religion are: (1) Women as protagonists of religion; (2) Women role models in the ministry, the academic study of religion, and as healers and leaders; and (3) Feminist changes in the content of the world's religions. This feminist theological overview clarifies the dynamics so that mental health professionals will understand what is happening and how it might figure into their strategies for health and healing.     

对安徽阜阳地区艾滋儿童社会心理支持问题的思考

艾滋病的快速传播不但直接威胁到人类的健康,而且对艾滋病家庭中儿童的心理产生了较大的伤害。开展对艾滋孤儿的社会心理支持,不仅需要心理咨询的介入,而且是一项社会救助的综合工程。针对安徽阜阳地区艾滋病流行的特点,以及艾滋病对儿童身心的影响,提出了为艾滋儿童提供社会心理支持的内容与措施。     

Psychological Implications of the Psychopathy Q-Sort

The construct validity of the Psychopathy Q-sort (PQS; Reise & Oliver, 1994) was investigated by correlating it with an array of observer-based and self-report personality measures in a sample of 350 men and women assessed at the Institute of Personality Assessment and Research (IPAR). High discriminant validity of the PQS was indicated by a pattern of significant correlations with self-report measures of the Cluster B personality disorder scales of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 1980) and the absence of correlations with scales belonging to Clusters A and C of the manual. The PQS also correlated positively with the California Psychological Inventory measures of social poise and assurance and correlated negatively with measures of normative control of impulse. Gender differences in psychopathy were explored using Adjective Check List (Gough & Heilbrun, 1983) ratings provided by IPAR staff observers and by 76 pairs of spouses.     

Affective influences on thinking and behavior: Implications for clinical, applied and preventive psychology

What role do affective states play in everyday social behavior? This article presents an overview of recent research on the influence of affective states on the way people think and act in social situations, with a special emphasis on the applied and preventive implications of this work. We review psychodynamic, conditioning, and cognitive explanations of affective influences, and present an integrative theory, the affect infusion model (AIM; Forgas, 1995a). We then review recent evidence for affective influences on social memory, self- and other judgments, attitudes, strategic interaction, stereotyping, future forecasting and a range of other everyday psychological phenomena. We also consider the relevance of these findings for practitioners and professionals in applied areas such as health, counseling, clinical, educational, and organizational psychology.     

Paternal influences in non-organic failure to thrive: Implications for psychosocial management

Clinical experience indicates that fathers have a salient influence on the development of non-organic failure to thrive (NOFT) infants and on the feeding and attachment disturbances that often accompany this pediatric condition. As shown in case examples, fathers influence the origins and outcomes of NOFT through their participation in maladaptive patterns of parenting and/or conflicts with the child's mother, which disrupt maternal emotional adjustment and maternal-child interactions. Clinical assessment of paternal influences through interview and observation can help formulate more realistic treatment planning and family-centered interventions for NOFT children.     

Forgiveness in Marriage: Implications for Psychological Aggression and Constructive Communication

Two studies examined whether forgiveness in married couples predicted partner reports of psychological aggression and constructive communication. Study 1 found that forgiveness of hypothetical acts of psychological aggression predicted partner reports of psychological aggression. Study 2 examined actual transgressions and found two underlying dimensions of forgiveness (positive and negative). The negative dimension predicted partner reports of psychological aggression, and, for husbands, the positive dimension predicted partner reports of constructive communication. All findings were independent of both spouses’ marital satisfaction. The implications for understanding marital interaction and future research on forgiveness are discussed.