Satisfying Friendship Maintenance Expectations: The Role of Friendship Standards and Biological Sex

The ideal standards model predicts linear relationship among friendship standards, expectation fulfillment, and relationship satisfaction. Using a diary method, 197 participants reported on expectation fulfillment in interactions with one best, one close, and one casual friend (N = 591) over five days (2,388 interactions). Using multilevel modeling, our study found that hypothesized relationships were moderated by participant sex. For males, ideal standards had a curvilinear relationship with expectation fulfillment, where higher standards were associated with less fulfillment, but both expectation fulfillment and standards directly predicted satisfaction. For females, ideal standards linearly predicted expectation fulfillment, but an interaction between standards and fulfillment predicted satisfaction. Implications for the relationship between ideal standards and sex on friendship maintenance and satisfaction are discussed.     

Creative Cognitive Processes in Higher Education

This paper explores whether or not students in higher education settings are using creative cognitive processes, how these processes are related to deep approaches to learning, and in what types of settings and students these processes are most prevalent. Data collected from 8,724 students at 17 institutions participating in the 2010 National Survey of Student Engagement suggests that first‐year and senior students employ several different creative cognitive processes in their everyday activities. Results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggest two distinct types of processes: deliberate creative processes and intuitive cognitive processes. Additional analyses indicate significant positive relationships between both types of creative processes and deep approaches to learning, as well as statistically significant differences in the use of creative processes based on gender, enrollment type, and type of institution. Potential reasons for and implications of these findings are discussed.     

Influence of Child Factors on Health-Care Professionals’ Recognition of Common Childhood Mental-Health Problems

Early recognition of childhood mental-health problems can help minimise long-term negative outcomes. Recognition of mental-health problems, needed for referral and diagnostic evaluation, is largely dependent on health-care professionals’ (HCPs) judgement of symptoms presented by the child. This study aimed to establish whether HCPs recognition of mental-health problems varies as a function of three child-related factors (type of problem, number of symptoms, and demographic characteristics). In an online survey, HCPs (n = 431) evaluated a series of vignettes describing children with symptoms of mental-health problems. Vignettes varied by problem type (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Conduct Disorder (CD) and Major Depressive Disorder), number of symptoms presented (few and many), and child demographic characteristics (ethnicity, gender, age and socio-economic status (SES)). Results show that recognition of mental-health problems varies by problem type, with ADHD best recognised and GAD worst. Furthermore, recognition varies by the number of symptoms presented. Unexpectedly, a child’s gender, ethnicity and family SES did not influence likelihood of problem recognition. These results are the first to reveal differences in HCPs’ recognition of various common childhood mental-health problems. HCPs in practice should be advised about poor recognition of GAD, and superior recognition of ADHD, if recognition of all childhood mental-health problems is to be equal.     

Sustainable Family Care for Children with Disabilities

The majority of parents want to continue caring for their sons and daughters with disabilities at home, and they are expected and actively encouraged to do so. Notwithstanding, and for reasons that are not well understood, a substantial number of parents seek to place their disabled son or daughter out-of-home. The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes of parent-carers in Alberta, Canada, toward out-of-home placement. The primary objective was to identify factors that may explain why some families, and not others, seriously consider out-of-home placement as an option for their child. This knowledge is vital for developing social care policies and programs that support parents and promote sustainable family care for children with disabilities. A stratified (by child age group) random sample of 538 families raising children with disabilities in Alberta, Canada took part. Participants completed the family life survey, which incorporated measures of child and family characteristics, sustainability of the daily routine, and out-of-home placement propensity. Results suggest that family placement propensity is inversely associated with the sustainability of the daily routine. Sustainability of the daily routine is, in turn, more strongly associated with social-ecological resources, including parental control-over-work and the adequacy of child care options, than with child characteristics, including activity limitations and behaviour problems. If families have the social-ecological resources they need to create and maintain a daily routine that is congruent with their values and goals, and with the needs, interests and competences of family members, then they are unlikely to give out-of-home placement any serious consideration.     

Readiness for Change: Involving the Family with Adolescents in Residential Settings

Adolescence is a pivotal time in human development and can be a challenging time for individuals to learn to regulate emotions, while also balancing biopsychosocial changes. The family plays a key role in an adolescent’s development. Thus, it is imperative for families to remain involved when adolescents are in residential treatment for emotional or behavioral issues. In this paper, we explore the benefits of, and methods for, increasing the identified patient’s (i.e., the adolescent’s) and the family’s readiness for change. The process of increasing family engagement in residential treatment is considered through the lens of the Stages of Change model. Barriers practitioners may face with adolescents and their families are also addressed.     

Working Memory Capacity and Self‐Explanation Strategy Use Provide Additive Problem‐Solving Benefits

The present study examined the impact of working memory capacity (WMC) on college students' ability to solve probability problems while using a self‐explanation strategy. Participants learned to solve probability problems in one of three conditions: a backward‐faded self‐explanation condition, an example problem pairs self‐explanation condition, or a control (no self‐explanation) condition. Even when accounting for the impact of WMC, learning to problem‐solve using self‐explanation led to superior problem‐solving performance. Conditions that prompted self‐explanation during problem‐solving resulted in significantly better problem‐solving performance than the control condition. These findings provide insight into the influence of individual differences on problem‐solving when strategies are provided, as well as information about the effectiveness of the self‐explanation strategy during mathematical problem‐solving. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Differential effects of assisted cycling therapy on short-term and working memory of adolescents with Down syndrome

Persons with Down syndrome (DS) suffer from prefrontal cortex dysfunction and deficits in executive functions. The current study examined the effects assisted cycling therapy (ACT) on short-term (STM) and working memory (WM) in adolescents with DS. During ACT, the cadence of participants on a stationary bicycle was augmented with an electrical motor to 180% of the voluntary cadence. Participants completed eight weeks of ACT (n?=?17), eight weeks of voluntary cycling (VC) at their own preferred cadence (n?=?16), or eight weeks of no cycling (np?≥?.149) and working memory improved only in the ACT group (Hedge’s g?=?1.66; p?=?.003). The results indicate that assisted high-cadence cycling (i.e. ACT) produces superior neural benefits in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex compared to VC.     

Powerless Men and Agentic Women: Gender Bias in Hiring Decisions

Sex Roles - We examined male power-roles as a potential moderator of gender bias in hiring decisions. Drawing from previous work on perceptions of agentic women and precarious manhood theory, we...     

Impact of maternal adverse childhood experiences on child socioemotional function in rural Kenya: Mediating role of maternal mental health

Mothers in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMIC) suffer heightened vulnerability for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which is exacerbated by the multitude of risk factors associated with poverty and may lead to increased risk of psychiatric disorder. The constellation of complex, co‐occurring biological, environmental, social, economic and psychological risk factors are in turn transmitted to her child, conferring vulnerability for adverse development. This study examines the association between maternal intra‐ and extra‐familial ACEs, maternal education and the mental health of her child, mediated by maternal mental health. Mother‐child dyads (n = 121) in Machakos, Kenya were examined cross‐sectionally using self‐report measures of ACEs, maternal mental health and child internalizing and externalizing mental health problems. The four models proposed to examine the relationship between intra‐ and extra‐familial maternal ACEs and child internalizing and externalizing problems demonstrated indirect pathways through maternal mental health. These effects were found to be conditional on levels of maternal education, which served as a protective factor at lower levels of maternal ACEs. These models demonstrate how the impact of ACEs persists across the lifespan resulting in a negative impact on maternal mental health and conferring further risk to subsequent generations. Elucidating the association between ACEs and subsequent intergenerational sequelae, especially in LMIC where risk is heightened, may improve targeted caregiver mental health programs for prevention and intervention.     

Social Integration may Moderate the Relationship between Neighborhood Vacancy and Mental Health Outcomes: Initial Evidence from Flint,Michigan

Long-term residence in neighborhoods is thought to promote the development and maintenance of supportive relationships and trust. These strong social ties may, however, be limited in communities in post-industrial cities characterized by high levels of vacant properties. This study aimed to examine the relationship between neighborhood vacancy and mental health with adjustment for length of residence and possible moderation by social (dis)integration in a sample of Flint, MI, residents. We found that short-term (but not long-term) increases in neighborhood vacancy were associated with poorer mental health, after adjustment for individual covariates. When considering neighborhood vacancy, length of residence and individual covariates, however, the only significant association detected was between higher social disintegration and lower wellbeing. This effect was direct and not mediated by other factors. In this way, it appears that the social conditions of neighborhoods may be important, particularly in places that have experienced declines in the built environment. In addition, we identified evidence that social integration moderates the relationship between neighborhood vacancy and mental health outcomes. The level of neighborhood vacancies had a weaker relationship to wellbeing among those with higher levels of social ties. But none of the independent variables in our study were able to predict social integration, highlighting some potential areas for future research. From these findings, we posit that establishing strong social connections can buffer residents against negative mental health outcomes, and health promotion efforts could usefully assist in maintaining social ties among neighbors.