Psychopathic Traits in Youth: Is There Evidence for Primary and Secondary Subtypes?

The current study employed model-based cluster analysis in a sample of male adolescent offenders (n = 94) to examine subtypes based on psychopathic traits and anxiety. Using the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV; Forth et al. 2003) and the self-report Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD; Caputo et al. 1999), analyses identified three clusters in males that varied in the severity of psychopathic traits (low, moderate, and high) and anxiety. The high psychopathic group exhibited more negative personality traits and was judged to be at greater risk for dangerousness whereas the low psychopathic group exhibited more positive personality traits and was judged to be at lower risk for dangerousness. Implications regarding potential developmental differences between adolescent and adult psychopathy, as well as treatment considerations are discussed.     

Is There a Stronger Association Between Children and Happiness Among the Religious? Religion as a Moderator in the Relationship Between Happiness and Child Number

The literature on child number and happiness has progressed beyond simple associations and has begun to explore the roles of various attitudinal and environmental factors that moderate the relationship. Here the role of religiosity as a moderator in the relationship between happiness and child number is tested. This effect has not been examined before, which is surprising given the role that religion has been shown to play in child number more generally. I draw on both the psychology and demography literature to make a theoretical case that, as religiosity in the United States tends to be associated with pronatalist norms and culture, and as happiness is positively associated with fulfilling sociocultural imperatives, then, all things being equal, the more religious will have a higher happiness effect (or lower unhappiness effect) from their children than the less religious. Using General Social Survey data, my empirical analysis empirically confirmed this hypothesis, showing a positive and significant interaction term between self-identifying as very religious and child number. This interaction is partially mediated by another interaction term between higher ideal family size (measuring pronatalist tendencies) and number of children.     

Youth Developmental Assets and Perceived Life Satisfaction: Is There a Relationship?

This study explored associations between youth developmental assets (i.e., support by parents/other adults; accountability to adults; empowerment; school support; values regarding risk behaviors; quantity of other adult support; empathetic relationships) and adolescents’ perceptions of overall life satisfaction. Public high school students (N = 3,477) completed a self-report questionnaire. Analyses were conducted to examine relationships between developmental assets and perceived life satisfaction while controlling for socioeconomic status. Results indicated that significant (p ≤ .05) associations were established for perceived support by parents/other adults for all four race/gender groups, self and peer values regarding risk behavior for black females, quality of other adult support for black males and white females and life satisfaction for adolescents. Significant (p ≤ .05) associations were also established for perceived support by parents/other adults for White males and Black males, accountability to parents/other adults for White females, quality of other adult support for White males and Black females and for empathetic relationships for all four race/gender groups. Results suggest that perceived life satisfaction is related to youth developmental assets, although moderated by gender and race differences. Further research is necessary to identify the particular characteristics of youth and specific aspects of adolescent life satisfaction associated with youth developmental assets in order to develop gender appropriate and culturally sensitive health promotion programs.     

Differentiation of Self and Separation Anxiety: Is There a Similarity Between Spouses?

The aims of our study were to: (1) explore the relationship between differentiation of self and separation anxiety; and (2) examine the congruency between spouses in terms of these variables. The research is the first to study differentiation of self and separation anxiety among adults in general, and among married couples in particular. On the whole, results indicated that spouses had similar levels of differentiation on two scales: emotional cutoff and I-position, while women reported higher levels of emotional reactivity and fusion with others. A significant relationship was found among men between fusion with others and separation anxiety: a high level of fusion was found to correlate with a high level of anxiety. Among women, a high level of emotional reactivity was related to a high level of separation anxiety. These findings shed further light on Bowen’s family system theory, as they indicate correlations between several measures of differentiation and separation anxiety.     

Is There a Cultural Barrier Between Historical Epistemology and Analytic Philosophy of Science?

One of the difficulties facing the philosopher of science today is the divide between historical epistemology and analytic philosophy of science. For over half a century these two traditions have followed independent and divergent paths. Historical epistemology, which originated in France in the early twentieth century, has recently been reformulated by a number of scholars such as Lorraine Daston, Ian Hacking, and Hans-Jörg Rheinberger. Elaborating novel historical methods, they seek to provide answers to major questions in the field. In the light of this situation, my article examines the cultural barrier that explains the uneasy relationship between the two traditions. This barrier hinges on a number of factors—institutional, political and social—that are bound up with the philosophical issues in question. By resorting both to historical study and logical analysis, the new historical epistemology incites us to move beyond a rather sterile antagonism.     

Is There a Developmental Slump in Creativity in China? The Relationship Between Organizational Climate and Creativity Development in Chinese Adolescents

The major objectives of this study were to determine the characteristics of creativity development of Chinese children, the creative organizational climate of Chinese schools, and the relations among them. The results provided evidence that the creativity scores of children in elementary school were significantly higher than those of children in middle school. The teachers' evaluation of the creative organizational climate of the elementary school was significantly higher than that of the middle school. When the two variables were analyzed together, both the creative organizational climate of schools and the creative thinking development of children decreased during the children's development. Moreover, the creativity and climate scores were highly correlated, and the results from a path analysis suggested that a school's creative organizational climate has a significant impact on all seven dimensions of creativity measured in this study.     

Does Maladaptive Coping Mediate the Relationship Between Borderline Personality Traits and Reactive and Proactive Aggression?

The aim of this study was to identify associations between borderline personality (BP) traits and reactive and proactive aggression, and to compare the meditational effects of maladaptive coping in samples of older adolescents (n = 133) and young adults (n = 93), which has not hitherto been explored. This was a cross‐sectional study that used self‐report measures to assess BP traits on a continuum, trait‐based reactive and proactive aggression, and coping strategies. In adults, maladaptive emotional coping significantly mediated the relationship between BP and reactive aggression, and maladaptive avoidant coping mediated the relationship between BP and proactive aggression; no significant mediational effects were found for adolescents. These findings highlight potential explanations for associations between BP traits and reactive and proactive aggression in young adults, and indicate that reactive aggression in adult BPs could be decreased by reducing emotional coping, and proactive aggression by reducing avoidant coping. Aggr. Behav. 38:403‐413, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Is There a Correlation Between Static and Dynamic Postural Balance Among Young Male and Female Dancers?

Aimed to investigate whether young male and female dancers have different patterns of association between static and dynamic postural balance (PB), 60 dancers from the Australian Ballet School (14–19 years old) were tested for static and dynamic PB with head and lumbar accelerometers. Monotonic relationships between static and dynamic PB were found in head movements among young female dancers in all three directions, but were found for young male dancers in the mediolateral (ML) and anteroposterior (AP) directions only. In lumbar movements, monotonic relationships were found for young female dancers in the AP direction only. Comparing head with lumbar movements in static PB, young male dancers demonstrated monotonic relationships between head and lumbar movements in all 3 directions; however, young female dancers demonstrated monotonic relationships in the AP direction only. In the dynamic measurements, both male and female dancers demonstrated monotonic relationships between head and lumbar movements for all parameters measured in the ML and vertical directions (p < .05). In conclusions, among female dancers static PB ability is correlated with their dynamic ability, whereas among male dancers, no relationship between the static and dynamic PB in the AP direction exists. Male dancers showed head and lumbar coordination in the static PB movement, but both genders manifested no head and lumbar coordination in the AP direction measured for dynamic PB.     

Is There a Relationship between Suicidal Intent and Lethality in Deliberate Self‐Poisoning?

The relationship between suicidal intent and lethality of deliberate self‐poisoning (DSP) episodes and their associations with suicide have yielded contradictory findings. The aims of this study were to investigate the association between patients’ suicidal intent and independently rated lethality of DSP episodes, and whether the association changes over time. Eighty‐nine DSP patients were investigated longitudinally. Self‐reported suicidal intent, including perceived likelihood of dying, wish to die, and whether or not the DSP was considered a suicide attempt, was measured at the time of the index episode (t1), 3 months (t2), and 12 months (t3) later. Lethality was assessed independently by three clinical toxicologists. Lethality was significantly associated with patients’ reported wish to die (p = .01) and perceived likelihood of dying (p = .04) at t1, but not at t2 and t3. No association was found between whether the episode was considered a suicide attempt or not and lethality at t1, t2, or t3. Lethality and suicidal intent should be considered as largely separate dimensions of self‐harm. Clinicians should bear this in mind during clinical assessment, especially regarding historical information.     

Are There Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Academic Performance and Social Behavior?

A growing body of research suggests that peer-related communication skills and experiences may facilitate academic achievement, especially in the college environment. However, there is substantial evidence that men and women differ in peer-related interaction skills and patterns, suggesting that there may be gender differences in the relationship between academic performance and interaction with peers. Thus far, only one study has systematically examined this gender difference: that of Nezlek, Wheeler, and Rets. In their 1990 work, they reported data that they interpreted as supporting the existence of gender differences in the relationship between the scholastic performance of college students and aspects of their social interactions. The current article presents a reanalysis of their data, snowing that there are no gender differences in the relationship between academic achievement and social participation. This article also reports a study assessing gender differences in relationships between academic performance and loneliness, communication skills, and social acceptance. Participants (208 college students) completed the revised UCLA loneliness scale, tasks assessing five communication skills, and sociometric measures providing multiple indices of social acceptance. Cumulative grade point averages (GPAs) were obtained from the university registrar. Although several significant associations were detected between CPA and the loneliness and communication skill measures, no gender differences in the associations were found. The results are discussed in terms of relationships between the orientations that students exhibit toward peers and their studies.     

Counseling Past and Present: Is There a Future?

Major criticisms directed at counseling are identified and prominent suggestions for their elimination are described through an analysis of the counseling literature of the past 10 years. A brief outline of the history of counseling offers a historical perspective to the discussion. One suggestion to improve counseling, that counselors become change agents in their institutions, is examined and described with steps for its implementation. The implementation of the change-agent role for counselors would address much of the substantive criticism directed at counseling, and would remold the profession to more effectively meet today's needs.     

Is Maternal Fatigue Mediating the Relationship Between Maternal Depression and Child Outcomes?

Fatigue, a subjective state that has been defined as a decreased capacity for physical or mental activity, has many behavioral similarities to depression (e.g., weariness, difficulty concentrating, diminished motivation). We hypothesized that fatigue might mediate the relationship between depression and poor child outcomes. A sample of mothers (14 well women, 57 with multiple sclerosis, and 36 with rheumatoid arthritis) completed an online survey where they reported on their fatigue (using the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale), depression (using the 20-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale), child internalizing and externalizing behaviors (using the Child Behavior Checklist), and child prosocial behaviors (using a 10-item abbreviated Positive Behavior Scale). Maternal fatigue mediated the relationship between maternal depression and the total problems T-score on the Child Behavior Checklist but a mediated relationship was not found for the Positive Behavior Scale. Findings are discussed in light of the need to elucidate the relationship between maternal fatigue, depression, and child outcomes.     

What Is Music? Is There a Definitive Answer?

Philosophers frequently defend definitions by appealing to intuitions and contemporary folk classificatory norms. I raise methodological concerns that undermine some of these defenses. Focusing on Andrew Kania's recent definition of music, I argue that the way in which it has been developed leads to problems, and I show that a number of other definitions of interest to philosophers of art (and others) run into similar problems.     

Roommate Compatibility: Is There An Ideal Relationship?1

Three theories of interpersonal attraction were tested for their ability to predict roommates' compatibility. The similarity hypothesis (that we are attracted to and compatible with people who are similar to our self-concepts) received moderate support; the social desirability hypothesis (that we are attracted to and compatible with people who possess socially desirable traits) received scant support. The ideal hypothesis (that we are attracted to and compatible with people who are similar to our ideals) received strong support. The utility of these theories in terms of preinteractionally matching students in order to maximize compatibility was found to be minimal because it could not be assumed that students peiceive their roommates in the same manner as their roommates perceive themselves.     

Somatic Markers and Response Reversal: Is There Orbitofrontal Cortex Dysfunction in Boys with Psychopathic Tendencies?

This study investigated the performance of boys with psychopathic tendencies and comparison boys, aged 9 to 17 years, on two tasks believed to be sensitive to amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex functioning. Fifty-one boys were divided into two groups according to the Psychopathy Screening Device (PSD, P. J. Frick & R. D. Hare, in press) and presented with two tasks. The tasks were the gambling task (A. Bechara, A. R. Damasio, H. Damasio, & S. W. Anderson, 1994) and the Intradimensional/Extradimensional (ID/ED) shift task (R. Dias, T. W. Robbins, & A. C. Roberts, 1996). The boys with psychopathic tendencies showed impaired performance on the gambling task. However, there were no group differences on the ID/ED task either for response reversal or extradimensional set shifting. The implications of these results for models of psychopathy are discussed.     

IFPS - Is There a Difference?

This paper tries to answer a question about the difference between IFPS and other psychoanalytical institutions. The author states that there is a linkage between the ethics of psychoanalysis and the ethics of the institution. The ethics can not be represented by rules or standards of prerequisites, but by creating a space where the unconscious as desire, singularity and difference takes place. The bureaucratic organization and the hierarchy in the categories of members of IPA institutions goes straight against the transgressor experience of the unconscious. The training analysis under such conditions leads to an identification process with the training analyst, giving as final result standardized, homogeneous, obedient analysts. The author describes a new experience in the training of analysts in his institution without any kind of interference from IFPS. Finally, he concludes that differences exists between the two institutions and that they are mainly due to the identification process typical for IPA and the process of ''choice'' in IFPS.