Divorce mediation: the impact of mediation on the psychological well‐being of children and parents

This study evaluated levels of psychological distress experienced by children (aged 4–16) and parents at the beginning of and one month after mediation for child‐related disputes. In contrast to previous research, this study employed both child‐ and parent‐reports of child outcome. Mediation was associated with reductions in child‐reported, though not parent‐reported, child psychological distress and with reductions in parent‐reports of their own psychological distress. The negotiation of successful agreements in mediation was not related to improved psychological well‐being of family members. The difficulties encountered (i.e. small numbers, low response rate) render the results tentative. Implications of the findings for future research are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Psycho-physiological impact on women with chronic fatigue syndrome in the context of their couple relationship

The quality of dyadic adjustment is likely to play an important role in patients' relational problems and may also be associated with the clinical presentation of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) symptoms. The objective of this study was (1) to determine whether CFS patients and their partners have similar perceptions of their dyadic adjustment and (2) to evaluate whether the influence of dyadic satisfaction in women with CFS, as well as common psychological parameters such as anxiety, may correlate with physiological responses at rest and/or when performing very low intensity exercise. Forty females with CFS and their partners completed the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale. The cardiovascular adaptation of patients was evaluated during resting conditions and on a precalibrated cycle ergometer while performing very low intensity exercise. Patients and partners had similar perceptions of their marital relationship. Both at rest and during very low workload, various physiological parameters in the patient group showed statistical correlations with certain psychological parameters. Several psychological variables, such as anxiety and dyadic adjustment, were associated with the cardioventilatory response monitored at rest and during very low intensity exercise. Further studies are needed to determine the nature of this association.     

The impact of young children with externalizing behaviors on their families

Compared the impact on families of young children with externalizing behaviors (e.g., hyperactive, aggressive; n=22), autism (n=20), or no significant problem behaviors (n=22) on several measures of family functioning. Previous studies have found heightened stress and parental maladjustment in families with externalizing children. The present study expanded upon that literature by (1) including a clinical control group to determine the specific impact of externalizing problems, (2) focusing on preschool aged children, and (3) using a new measure to directly ascertain parents' perception of impact. Compared to parents with normally developing children, parents with externalizing children reported more negative impact on social life, more negative and less positive feelings about parenting, and higher child-related stress. Moreover, parents of externalizing children reported levels of impact and stress as high as those reported by parents of children with autism. On broader measures of parental and marital wellbeing, however, the three groups of families of preschoolers did not differ. The implications of these findings for intervention are discussed.This research was conducted at the Fernald Child Study Center, University of California at Los Angeles. We wish to thank Jan Blacher, Doug Granger, Stephen Hinshaw, and Karen Rudolph for comments on an earlier version of this article, and Kenny Smith and Doug Granger for computer help. We also appreciate the assistance of our colleagues on the Preschool Project, Drew Erhardt, Tracy Heller, Barbara Henker, Alice Huber, Blair Paley, Karen Rudolph, and Jennifer Treuting.     

The impact of counsellor training on emotional intelligence

This study evaluated the impact of counsellor training on emotional intelligence (EI) in 45 undergraduates and 58 postgraduates. Significant improvements were recorded by students on completion of both programmes, suggesting that these were attributable to training which enhanced intra- and interpersonal aspects of emotional functioning. As a group, postgraduates were older than undergraduates, and at the outset of the study, EISAQ scores were comparable; however, at follow-up, undergraduates recorded significantly higher EISAQ scores. Students’ EI was not significantly related to their age, and these findings indicate the potential for effective EI-skills training which is unrelated to quantity of life experiences. It is hoped that this study contributes to a growing quantitative evidence base from which the counselling profession can evaluate its training profile.     

The impact of emotional labor on work-family outcomes

Theory and research on emotional labor at work is applied to the study of the work-family interface to explore how emotional experiences in both the work and the family domain relate to the experience of work-family conflict and work-family enrichment, and ultimately attitudinal and health outcomes. Emotional intelligence is also examined as a moderator of the relationship between emotional labor and affective responses to work and family life. A model focusing on emotional experiences in the both the work and family domains is proposed and tested using path analysis. Results indicate that emotional labor in both the work and family domains relate to affective responses to each respective domain, which in turn relates to work-family conflict and work-family enrichment. In turn, consistent with previous research work-family conflict relates to domain-specific satisfaction (job, life) and health outcomes (burnout, depression). Partial support was found for the proposed moderating effect of emotional intelligence.     

The impact of rewards on empathic accuracy and emotional mimicry

The notion that motivation influences empathic accuracy has been inferred from aspects of the task, the situation or the relationship between interaction partners or between groups. The present research assessed whether monetary reward influences cognitive and affective empathy. In Study 1, cognitive empathy was assessed for 42 participants who decoded briefly (33 ms) presented expressions of sadness and anger. For half the participants, correctly decoded expressions on male faces were rewarded, for the other half correctly decoded expressions on female faces were rewarded. The results showed that rewards increase empathic accuracy for both emotions equally. In Study 2, facial EMG was measured as well to assess emotional mimicry as an index of affective empathy. Study 2 replicated the findings from Study 1 and found a moderation of affective empathy as indexed through facial mimicry for sadness. Thus, simple monetary rewards affect both cognitive and affective empathy.     

Three intensive community-based programs for children and youth with serious emotional disturbance and their families

Systems of care for children with serious emotional disturbance and their families have generally lacked intensive community-based programs. We describe three types of newly established community-based programs in New York State and present a general evaluation plan for determining which programs work for various children and their families. The three community-based programs are Intensive Case Management, Family-Based Treatment, and Family-Centered Intensive Case Management. Process and outcome evaluations are being conducted for each of these programs. These evaluations make use of common intake and termination instruments, based on a minimum data set, standardized assessment instruments, and a common logic model, thus facilitating the comparison of findings across evaluations.     

Memory scanning by children: Meaningfulness and mediation

Two experiments were performed for the purpose of isolating factors that influence speed of memory scanning by children. The first experiment revealed an interaction involving age and type of stimulus. Young children required relatively greater time to process ambiguous stimuli. The second experiment, involving a pretraining phase designed to induce mediation, showed that preschool children scan representations more rapidly when given instructions to apply a mediator.     

情绪表达性对人际关系的影响概述

在日常生活中情绪表达性指:人们交流体验的影响和影响人际关系的方式、个体对表达内容、表达方式、表达对象的选择,决定了他人会作出怎样的反应,并将对个体的人际关系产生影响。良好的人际关系有利于大学生形成和发展健康的个性品质,也有利于培养他们的合作精神。本文主要介绍了情绪表达和人际关系的部分研究概述和研究所使用的工具,为以后的研究打下基础。     

Nanopatents and their impact on the medical environment

The nano-medical field is seen, by governments as well as the business sector as a very promising one. The process of converting basic research in nanomedecine into commercially viable products has already begun, even if it might be long and difficult. Part of the difficulties that could occur comes from regulatory and safety issues. Some of them are also coming from patent uncertainty in the global nanotechnology field. Indeed, the rush towards patents in the nanotechnology arena has already begun. Nanopatents are about to alter the legal landscape of the innovation economy, of research and development, and of industry--no doubt to an unprecedented extent because of the scope covered by these technologies. From a global point of view, the very delineation of the scope of nanotechnologies confronts patent law with complex problems of definition. The emergence and characteristics of this technology are also giving rise to a reassessment of the criteria for patentability that could be prejudicial to innovation. In the medical environment, this issue is even exacerbated in the real challenges which pharmaceutical companies are running up against.     

The impact of school emotional climate on student psychopathology

Reports of differences among schools in emotional and social climate were related to changes in behavioral and emotional problems and alcohol use in students who remained in these schools over a 2-year interval. Four dimensions of school climate were examined. School conflict and social facilitation were shown to be related to increases in childhood psychopathology, whereas student autonomy was not. Effects of academic focus were even stronger than those of conflict, in the sense of being independently related to more syndromes. School climate effects were examinedfor conditionality on student characteristics and for synergism, It was concluded that intervention to alter the school climate may promote the emotional and behavioral well-being of children and adolescents.This research was supported by NIMH Grants MH36971 and MH30906. The authors wish to thank Robert Ouellette for his assistance.     

Cognitive and emotional control and perspective taking and their relations to empathy in 5-year-old children

The experience of empathy has been described as involving both emotional and cognitive components. The primary hypothesis tested in this study is that cognition and emotion are integrated within 2 distinct types of abilities-control and perspective taking-and that interactions between emotional and cognitive control and between affective and cognitive perspective taking would be related to children's empathic responding. We also hypothesized that boys' control and perspective-taking skills would be more strongly related to empathy than would those of girls. Fifty-seven 5-year-olds completed tasks measuring cognitive control, cognitive and affective perspective taking, and empathy, and their mothers completed a measure of children's emotional control. Results indicated that cognitive perspective taking moderated the relation between affective perspective taking and empathy. In addition, the relation between cognitive inhibitory control and empathy was moderated by gender; boys' control was positively related to empathy, but girls' control was marginally negatively related to empathy.     

Mothers' thoughts about their children: Links between mind‐mindedness and emotional availability

Maternal mind‐mindedness (MM) and emotional availability (EA) were examined in 89 middle‐class mothers and their 4‐year‐old children. Each mother‐child dyad was videotaped in their home during a 20‐minute play interaction and aspects of EA (sensitivity, structuring, intrusiveness, and hostility) were assessed using the EA scales ( Biringen, Robinson, & Emde, 1998 ). Meins, Fernyhough, Russell, and Clark‐Carter's (1998) maternal interview was used to measure MM and the proportion of mental comments was calculated. Mothers who used a higher proportion of mental comments tended to demonstrate less hostility during interaction with their child. The findings are discussed in relation to the need to consider other interactional variables, in addition to maternal sensitivity, when examining how parental representations are transmitted to children.     

The impact of an emotional self-management skills course on psychosocial functioning and autonomic recovery to stress in middle school children

Unmanaged emotional reactions to stress not only lead to behavior problems in young people but also create physiological conditions that inhibit learning and potentially increase the risk of disease later in life. For these reasons, the integration of emotional self-management skills training programs has become an increased priority in some schools. In this study, middle school students enrolled in a course in emotional competence skills learned techniques designed to intercept stressful responses during emotionally challenging situations. Behavioral outcomes were assessed using the Achievement Inventory Measure and autonomic function was measured by heart rate variability (HRV) analysis during and after a stressful interview. Following the program, students exhibited significant improvements in areas including stress and anger management, risky behavior, work management and focus, and relationships with family, peers and teachers. These improvements were sustained over the following six months. Students using the skills taught in the course to recover from acute emotional stress were also able to positively modulate their physiological stress responses. As compared to a control group, trained students demonstrated significantly increased HRV and more rhythmic, sine wave-like heart rhythm patterns during recovery. This response pattern reflects increased parasympathetic activity, heart rhythm coherence, and entrainment of other biological oscillatory systems to the primary heart rhythm frequency. Increased physiological coherence is associated with improved cognitive performance, emotional balance, mental clarity and health outcomes. These physiological shifts could promote the sustained psychological and behavioral improvements associated with the use of emotional management skills. It is suggested that learning emotional competence skills in childhood establishes healthier physiological response patterns which can benefit learning and long-term health. Results provide support for the integration in school curricula of courses designed to teach effective self-management skills to children.     

Exploring the impact of personality on performance: How time-on-task moderates the mediation by self-efficacy

Despite the widely acknowledged impact of dispositional traits on performance, little is known about how personality affects performance. We address this gap by investigating the relationships between the Big Five personality traits, self-efficacy, and academic performance in a moderated mediation model using time-on-task as the moderating variable. Results indicate that self-efficacy partially mediates the conscientiousness–performance relationship and that time-on-task moderates the mediating effect of self-efficacy. Time-on-task moderates the indirect effect of conscientiousness on course performance through self-efficacy such that the indirect effect is not significant at low levels of time-on-task, but becomes significant and stronger at higher levels of time-on-task.     

The impact of changes in spatial distance on emotional responses

Drawing on motivational approaches to emotion, the authors propose that the perceived change in spatial distance to pictures that arouse negative emotions exerts an influence on the significance of these pictures. Two experiments induced the illusion that affective pictures approach toward the observer, recede from the observer, or remain static. To determine the motivational significance of the pictures, emotional valence and arousal ratings as well as startle responses were assessed. Approaching unpleasant pictures were found to exert an influence on both the valence and the arousal elicited by the pictures. Furthermore, movement of pleasant or neutral pictures did not influence startle responses, while the second experiment showed that approaching unpleasant pictures elicited enhanced startle responses compared to receding unpleasant pictures. These findings support the view that a change of spatial distance influences motivational significance and thereby shapes emotional responses.     

The impact of emotional priming on MMPI-2 scale scores

The current study investigated potential emotional priming effects on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) scale scores. Participants included 98 college students who completed a personal narrative intended to induce temporary mood states, the MMPI-2, and a mood rating inventory. Results of the mood manipulation indicated that the individuals who first wrote a negative personal narrative reported a less positive mood (d = -.79). However, analysis of variance results indicated no statistically significant differences on MMPI-2 scale scores between groups (median η(2) = .005). Limitations and future directions are discussed.