Occupational Endeavor As Life History: Anne Roe

As an exemplar of the fulfilled and integrative life, Harvard Professor Emerita Anne Roe provides a model of both personal and professional achievement. In her adult life the roles of researcher, administrator and teacher have been in dialectical interaction with those of wife and mother defined in the normative terms of the times. Her work, complicated by years of chronic illness, has been concerned with the intellectual functions of normal, aphasic and mentally disordered adults; behavior of newborn infants; status of foster children from different backgrounds; the effects of alcohol; personalities of artists and scientists; the psychology of occupations; behavior and evolution; the psychology of creativity; and the relations between early experiences and career patterns. Professional recognition has taken many forms, including entry in the World Who's Who in Science in which she and her husband George Caylord Simpson, the evolutionist, are separately listed for achievement in distinct fields. Forced curtailment of professional life has led to development in arts and crafts as a new occupational endeavor.     

Factors Associated with Suicidality Among a National Sample of Transgender Veterans

Correlates of past‐year suicidal ideation and lifetime suicide risk among a national sample of transgender veterans were examined. An online, convenience sample of 212 U.S. transgender veterans participated in a cross‐sectional survey in February–May 2014. We evaluated associations between sociodemographic characteristics, stigma, mental health, and psychosocial resources with past‐year suicidal ideation and lifetime suicide plans and attempts. Participants reported high rates of past‐year suicidal ideation (57%) as well as history of suicide plan or attempt (66%). Transgender‐related felt stigma during military service and current posttraumatic stress disorder and depressive symptoms were associated with suicide outcomes as were economic and demographic factors.     

Current and Military‐Specific Gender Minority Stress Factors and Their Relationship with Suicide Ideation in Transgender Veterans

Research suggests the prevalence of suicide ideation and suicide attempts in the transgender veteran community may be upwards of 20 times higher than nontransgender veterans, who are known to be at increased risk than the general US population. This study aimed to understand the potential influence of external and internal minority stress experienced during and after military service on past‐year and recent suicide ideation in a sample of 201 transgender veterans. Nonparametric bootstrapping analyses indicated past‐year transgender‐specific discrimination and rejection (external minority stress) indirectly predicted frequency of both past‐year and past 2‐week suicide ideation through past‐year shame related to gender identity (internal minority stress). This result was significant when controlling for symptoms of depression and demographics. Similar patterns emerged when examining relationships among military external and internal minority stress on suicide outcomes. These results suggest that attempts to reduce both the experience and impact of minority stressors related to gender identity during and after military service may be an important avenue for suicide prevention.     

Depth discrimination from optic flow

A simple scheme for deriving relative depth (time-to-collision, or TTC) from optic flow is developed in which the total flow is first sensed by unconnected motion (imperfect filter) sensors and then the rotational component is subtracted to yield the translational component. Only the latter component yields depth information. This scheme is contrasted with one where the TTC sensors respond only to the translational component at the initial registration of the flow (perfect filter sensors or looming detectors). The simple scheme predicts the results of three experiments on discrimination of TTC: discrimination thresholds are elevated if the objects withdraw from rather than approach the observer, thresholds are elevated if a rotational component is added to the flow, and the amount of threshold elevation resulting from the addition of a rotational component is reduced by prior adaptation to a pure rotational flow. These results confirm the simple model and disconfirm predictions based on the looming detector scheme.     

Family Therapy for Substance Use among Sexual Minority Youth: A Review of Treatment Options

Abstract

Substance use disorders are nearly twice as common among sexual minority youth (SMY) as among their heterosexual peers. Most applied literature about this population suggests interventions on either the individual or community level, and the benefits of family therapy for this population are often overlooked. The present literature review (a) outlines clinical knowledge related to sexual minority youth and substance use (e.g., prevalence rates, contributing factors), (b) discusses the importance of clinical self-awareness around these topics, and (c) outlines clinical behaviors and interventions from literature that may be employed when working with substance-using SMY and their families.