Weight Stigmatization Moderates the Effects of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage-Related PSAs Among U.S. Parents

Research indicates that media campaigns targeting weight-related behaviors can make overweight individuals feel stigmatized and may create backlash effects in weight-related health behavior. Using weight-based identity threat theory as a guiding framework, this study investigates the role of prior weight stigmatization in adults’ reactions to public service advertisements (PSAs) encouraging sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) reduction. In an online survey experiment among 807 U.S. parents, participants were randomly assigned to view anti-SSB PSAs containing one of three persuasive appeals (fear, humor, or nurturance). Emotional responses, evaluation of argument strength, and intention to reduce SSB consumption were measured following PSA exposure. Non-stigmatized parents felt less empowerment and hope and perceived weaker arguments if they viewed humorous PSAs instead of fear-based PSAs. Argument strength and empowerment or hopeful emotions predicted increased intention to reduce SSB consumption, regardless of whether participants had been stigmatized. There was weak support for the moderation of emotional responses on intentions by stigmatization history such that negative emotions were associated with lower SSB-reduction intentions only among stigmatized participants. Experiences of stigmatization can shape audiences’ responses to health-related messages in unintended ways. The findings suggest that campaign designers should choose empowering messages with strong arguments and avoid evoking negative emotions.     

Promoting Attachment and Mentalization for Parents and Young Children in the Foster Care System: Implementing a New Training and Treatment Approach in an Agency

The Building Blocks Program is an innovative psychodynamic treatment approach that was designed to fit within a social service agency structure. It is based on concepts of attachment, attunement, and mentalization and builds on the research of Beatrice Beebe (2003), Peter Fonagy and colleagues (2002), Arietta Slade (2005), Howard and Miriam Steele (2008), and Dan Stern (1985). The Building Blocks Program targets birth mothers and their young children under age 5 who have been or are in danger of being removed from their families. In the beginning of the program, the Building Blocks therapists faced many challenges. As noted (Remez, this issue), many of the therapists were unfamiliar with a Reflective Supervision model of learning. They were accustomed to a more traditional pedagogical approach that emphasized critiquing their work, with a focus on their clients’ pathology. The Building Blocks model focuses on therapist and client safety and support, prompting a paradigm shift in the therapists’ thinking about supervision and how to conduct therapy.     

Understanding Differences in Mental Health History and Behavioral Choices in a Community Sample of Individuals with and without Body Modifications

This study investigated the differences in mental health history and social, health, alcohol and substance, and sexual behaviors of individuals with and without body modification in a community sample. Previous research primarily focused on negative behavioral and psychological correlates of body modification practices in college student, juvenile delinquent, inpatient, and incarcerated populations. This tendency does not take into account changes in the demographics and motivations of individuals who obtain body modifications in the last two decades. The Community Body Modification Checklist was developed based on previous studies; reliability and validity for the measure were established using Cronbach’s alpha and factor analysis. The results indicated that individuals with body modifications were not more likely to engage in risky behaviors or report a history of mental health problems when compared to non-modified persons; however, they were more likely to engage in social and health behaviors. These findings may be best explained by the body modification community becoming diversified by the middle class whose meanings, motivations, and usage of tattoos and piercings are unique.     

Positive affective tone and team performance: The moderating role of collective emotional skills

Research on affect as a group-level phenomenon has shown that over time, individual members within a group become highly similar in their affect (i.e., members experience and display similar emotions and moods), and often become similar enough that the aggregation of individuals’ affect can meaningfully represent the “affective tone” of the group. It is generally assumed that a more positive affective tone will lead to better team performance. We challenge the conclusion that positive affective tone is always good for team performance, suggesting that the relationship between positive affective tone and team performance is subject to moderating influences. Across two studies, we demonstrate that the self-reported collective emotional skills of team members play a crucial role in determining whether positive affective tone is beneficial or detrimental to team performance. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Is Passive Syntax Semantically Constrained? Evidence From Adult Grammaticality Judgment and Comprehension Studies

To explain the phenomenon that certain English verbs resist passivization (e.g., *£5 was cost by the book), Pinker (1989) proposed a semantic constraint on the passive in the adult grammar: The greater the extent to which a verb denotes an action where a patient is affected or acted upon, the greater the extent to which it is compatible with the passive. However, a number of comprehension and production priming studies have cast doubt upon this claim, finding no difference between highly affecting agent‐patient/theme‐experiencer passives (e.g., Wendy was kicked/frightened by Bob) and non‐actional experiencer theme passives (e.g., Wendy was heard by Bob). The present study provides evidence that a semantic constraint is psychologically real, and is readily observed when more fine‐grained independent and dependent measures are used (i.e., participant ratings of verb semantics, graded grammaticality judgments, and reaction time in a forced‐choice picture‐matching comprehension task). We conclude that a semantic constraint on the passive must be incorporated into accounts of the adult grammar.     

Reconsidering Criterion A for the Diagnosis of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Disorder

Empirical research is needed to verify that the DSM-5 proposed diagnostic criteria for non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) disorder provide a valid and clinically meaningful symptom set. The current study used data-driven methods to examine the diagnostic validity of the frequency and recency thresholds (i.e., Criterion A) for NSSI disorder. Data were collected from a random sample (n = 2206) of undergraduates. Participants completed counter-balanced questionnaires assessing the frequency, recency, and functions of NSSI, psychopathology symptoms, and indicators of distress and functional impairment. Discriminant functional analyses identified a significant differentiation for frequency between 10 or more acts of NSSI and 1–9 acts. Groups were also differentiated with a split on recency between less than 12-months ago and more than 12-months ago. After re-grouping the sample into categories based on the new frequency and 12-month recency threshold, the 10+ NSSI group reported significantly more functions for NSSI, including higher scores on affect regulation, self-punishment, and sensation seeking, than the subthreshold NSSI group. The 10+ NSSI group also reported significantly worse psychopathology, greater distress, and more impairment than both the subthreshold group and controls (no NSSI history). These findings indicate the current DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for NSSI disorder may be too liberal, and offer support for increasing the frequency thresholds for the diagnosis to ensure clinical validity and utility.     

Parent Management of Organization,Time Management,and Planning Deficits among Adolescents with ADHD

Organization, Time Management, and Planning (OTP) problems are a key mechanism of academic failure for adolescents with ADHD. Parents may be well positioned to promote remediation of these deficits; yet, almost nothing is known about OTP management behaviors among parents of middle and high school students with ADHD. In a sample of 299 well-diagnosed adolescents with ADHD, a measure of parental OTP management was psychometrically validated. Latent Class Analysis was conducted to detect distinct patterns of parental OTP management and yielded four unique classes: Parental Control (18.7 %), Parent-Teen Collaboration (20.4 %), Homework Assistance (20.4 %), and Uninvolved (40.5 %). Logistic Regression analyses indicated that maladaptive parental OTP strategies were related to higher levels of parent and adolescent psychopathology. Parental OTP management did not relate to current adolescent OTP skills or GPA, indicating that parents did not select OTP management strategies in immediate response to adolescent functioning. Implications for parent-directed intervention are discussed.