Is the association between childhood maltreatment and aggressive behavior mediated by hostile attribution bias in women? A discordant twin and sibling study

Understanding the mechanisms behind aggressive behavior (AGG) is vital so that effective prevention and intervention strategies can be developed. Maltreated children are hypothesized to be prone to social information processing biases, such as hostile attribution bias (HAB), which, in turn, may increase the likelihood of behaving aggressively. The first aim of the present study was to replicate findings regarding associations between childhood maltreatment (CM), HAB, and aggression in a population‐based sample of Finnish female twins and their sisters (N = 2,167). However, these associations might not be causal but instead confounded by familial factors, shared between the variables. The second aim was, thus, to test the associations when potential confounding by familial (genetic or common environmental) effects were controlled for using a multilevel discordant twin and sibling design within (a) 379 pairs of twins (n_pairs = 239) or siblings (n_pairs = 140), and (b) within the 131 monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs. Consistent with previous studies, HAB mediated the association between CM and AGG when familial confounding was uncontrolled. No support was found for the mediation when controlling for familial confounding. Between‐pair associations were found between CM and AGG, and between CM and HAB. In addition, within‐pair associations were found between HAB and AGG, and between CM and AGG, however, these were nonsignificant in the discordant MZ analysis, offering the most stringent control of familial confounding. The results indicate the necessity of taking familial confounding into account when investigating the development of AGG.     

A Hierarchical Taxonomy of Human Goals

This paper presents a hierarchical taxonomy of human goals, based on similarity judgments of 135 goals gleaned from the literature. Women and men in 3 age groups—17–30, 25–62, and 65 and older—sorted the goals into conceptually similar groups. These were cluster analyzed and a taxonomy of 30 goal clusters was developed for each age group separately and for the total sample. The clusters were conceptually meaningful and consistent across the 3 samples. The broadest distinction in each sample was between interpersonal or social goals and intrapersonal or individual goals, with interpersonal goals divided into family-related and more general social goals. Further, the 30 clusters were organized into meaningful higher order clusters. The role of such a taxonomy in promoting theory development and research is discussed, as is its relationship to other organizations of human goals and to the Big Five structure of personality.     

On the Plasticity of Self-Defense

Many qualitatively different mechanisms for regulating self-esteem have been described in the literature. These include, for example, reduction of cognitive dissonance, self-affirmation, and social comparison. The work reviewed here demonstrates that despite their differences, these mechanisms may be substitutable for one another. For example, a threat to self via cognitive dissonance can affect attempts to maintain self-esteem via social comparison. This implies that these mechanisms are serving the same, unitary goal of maintaining self-esteem. Thus, there is surprising generality or flexibility in the processes used to maintain self-esteem. Substitution of one mechanism for another may depend on the transfer of affect. The issue of substitutability across domains is briefly discussed.     

Brain drain: A communitarian response to Brock and Blake

The problem of brain drain, the movement of skilled citizens of developing countries to developed ones, arises largely because of seriously unequal life prospects in different countries. Hence, there is something profoundly wrong with the brain drain, something that calls for a moral response. Brock and Blake offer such a response by debating the ethical rights and responsibilities of skilled professionals, and of the societies in which they live, from the perspective of moral liberalism. The aim of my paper is to develop a response to some of their arguments from the perspective of moral communitarianism, with particular reference to the work of one of its classical proponents in African philosophy, Kwame Gyekye.     

The Prevention Delivery System: Organizational Context and Use of Comprehensive Programming Frameworks

The purpose of this exploratory study is to investigate organizational‐level mechanisms in the Prevention Delivery System (PDS) and their influence on implementing comprehensive programming frameworks (e.g., Communities that Care‐CtC) as the innovation. The PDS is part of the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation (ISF) and describes key characteristics of innovation implementation and dissemination. The study addresses two research questions: (1) What types of organizational characteristics are related to successful use of each of the programming processes (i.e., planning, implementation, evaluation, and sustainability) that are part of comprehensive programming frameworks?; and (2) What are the similarities and differences in the organizational patterns correlated with use of each of the programming processes? Surveys, interview data, and other documents designed to assess organizational characteristics and extent of use of a comprehensive programming framework over time, were collected from 8 Community boards and 23 provider agencies. These organizations were responsible for planning and delivering substance abuse prevention services as part of a statewide initiative in Ohio. Data were analyzed using Spearman rho (and rank‐biserial) correlations, with an emphasis on effect sizes. Results indicated that leadership, shared vision, process advocates, and technical assistance were common correlates of use across programming processes. However, the role played by these organizational variables differed for each programming process, pointing to complex interactions of the organizational infrastructure with other variables (i.e., characteristics of the innovation itself and external macro‐level factors). This exploratory study provides preliminary data on the organizational‐level mechanisms of the PDS and the complexity of their relationships with the other Systems in the Interactive Systems Framework.     

Spirituality as a Resiliency Quality in Xhosa-speaking Families in South Africa

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore spirituality as a characteristic of family resilience in Xhosa-speaking families in South Africa. A parent, and in some cases an adolescent, represented each of the 51 families that participated. Participants were expected to respond to three open-ended questions regarding their family and identify factors or strengths that had recently helped their family. The results indicate that spirituality is an important coping resource. The core theme of spirituality consists of six related categories that facilitated the successful adaptation of the participating families after a crisis. These categories are Gifts from God; Guidance; God's Works; God's Plan; Prayer; and Faith.     

Statistical Power Analysis in Psychological Research

Reviews of the psychological literature suggest that many studies lack sufficient statistical power to detect effects of interest. Increased attention to statistical power by journal editors, reviewers, and funding agencies has led to a need for researchers to consider power carefully when designing studies. Our goal is to present an overview of issues that influence statistical power in the context of traditional research designs and analytic methods. We then extend the discussion of statistical power to complex designs and analyses providing readers with sources useful for evaluating power in the design stage of conducting research. Finally, we advocate the use of simulation and Monte Carlo methods as a flexible general strategy for designing research studies with adequate statistical power.     

A loss of status and a sense of defeat: an evolutionary perspective on professional burnout

This longitudinal study among Spanish teachers (N = 558) examined burnout from an evolutionary social rank perspective. The types of stress differed among various school levels, and a sense of defeat was highest among teachers in primary schools. A low status, a loss of status and a sense of defeat were independent cross‐sectional predictors of burnout. Longitudinally a sense of defeat predicted an increase in burnout over time, especially among males and teachers in high schools. The status related variables were in general more important predictors of burnout than stressors that are usually associated with burnout. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Neuropsychological impairments in schizophrenia: Integration of performance-based and brain imaging findings

Until recently, the dominant view was that schizophrenia patients have limited, if any, neuropsychological impairments, and those that are observed are only secondary to the florid symptoms of the disorder. This view has dramatically changed. This review integrates recent evidence demonstrating the severity and profile of neuropsychological impairments in schizophrenia. We present quantitative evaluation of the literature demonstrating that the most severe impairments are apparent in episodic memory and executive control processes, evident on a background of a generalized cognitive deficit. The neuropsychological impairments potentially represent genetic liability to the disorder, as similar, yet milder, impairments are evident in schizophrenia patients even before the onset of psychotic symptoms, as well as in the nonpsychotic relatives of schizophrenia patients. Corresponding cognitive neuroimaging literature on executive functions, episodic memory, and working memory in schizophrenia documenting abnormalities in frontal and medial temporal lobes is summarized, and current models integrating neuropsychological and neuroimaging data are discussed.     

Culture, gender, and the self: variations and impact of social comparison processes

Psychological differences between women and men, far from being invariant as a biological explanation would suggest, fluctuate in magnitude across cultures. Moreover, contrary to the implications of some theoretical perspectives, gender differences in personality, values, and emotions are not smaller, but larger, in American and European cultures, in which greater progress has been made toward gender equality. This research on gender differences in self-construals involving 950 participants from 5 nations/cultures (France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States, and Malaysia) illustrates how variations in social comparison processes across cultures can explain why gender differences are stronger in Western cultures. Gender differences in the self are a product of self-stereotyping, which occurs when between-gender social comparisons are made. These social comparisons are more likely, and exert a greater impact, in Western nations. Both correlational and experimental evidence supports this explanation.