Emotional scenes elicit more pronounced self-reported emotional experience and greater EPN and LPP modulation when compared to emotional faces

Emotional faces and scenes carry a wealth of overlapping and distinct perceptual information. Despite widespread use in the investigation of emotional perception, expressive face and evocative scene stimuli are rarely assessed in the same experiment. Here, we evaluated self-reports of arousal and pleasantness, as well as early and late event-related potentials (e.g., N170, early posterior negativity [EPN], late positive potential [LPP]) as subjects viewed neutral and emotional faces and scenes, including contents representing anger, fear, and joy. Results demonstrate that emotional scenes were rated as more evocative than emotional faces, as only scenes produced elevated self-reports of arousal. In addition, viewing scenes resulted in more extreme ratings of pleasantness (and unpleasantness) than did faces. EEG results indicate that both expressive faces and emotional scenes evoke enhanced negativity in the N170 component, while the EPN and LPP components show significantly enhanced modulation only by scene, relative to face stimuli. These data suggest that viewing emotional scenes results in a more pronounced emotional experience that is associated with reliable modulation of visual event-related potentials that are implicated in emotional circuits in the brain.     

Ethical Considerations for Psychologists Taking a Public Stance on Controversial Issues: The Balance Between Personal and Professional Life

Previous literature has documented the general issues psychologists often face while balancing their personal and professional lives. The struggle stems from attempting to satisfy the need to maintain a life outside of work while having the professional obligation to follow the American Psychological Association’s (APA’s) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (Ethics Code) to prevent their personal lives from interfering with their professional roles and relationships. The present article analyzes the subject of psychologists taking a public position on controversial public issues. Although the APA Ethics Code does not restrict how psychologists conduct themselves during their personal time, taking a public stance on a controversial issue could potentially strain professional relationships and inadvertently reflect negatively on the profession. The present article examines ethical issues that (a) should be taken into account before psychologists take a public position on a controversial issue and (b) are in conflict with APA’s Ethics Code or current research.     

Transition to Adulthood Across Italy: A Comparison Between Northern and Southern Italian Young Adults

We explored the phenomenon of the transition to adulthood, focusing on how young people cope with various developmental tasks in relation to their expectations, future projects, fears and indecision in two Italian regional areas characterized by different trends in youth employability, higher educational attainment and family formation process. We measured self-perceived adulthood, self-reported satisfaction, independence, perceived support regarding personal relationships and practical and economical issues, personal projections and future life’s choices. We also explored the perception of self-fulfillment for the future concerning personal goals in life, such as in the spheres of work, studies and economic autonomy together with expectations for the quality of personal relationships. One hundred and sixty nonworking university students (M _age = 22.6; SD = 2.77; range = 19–35) from the Universities of Turin and Palermo took part in this study. Sub-groups differed on self-perceived adulthood, self-reported satisfaction, independence, perceived support and self-fulfillment. Psychological and economic independence from the family of origin was most perceived by the participants from Turin who reported a higher degree of satisfaction regarding their choice of studies and their future perspective of self-fulfillment at work. Young people from Palermo highlighted personal relationships as an important source of perceived support.     

Posttraumatic Stress Following Acute Medical Trauma in Children: A Proposed Model of Bio-Psycho-Social Processes During the Peri-Trauma Period

Millions of children worldwide experience acute medical events. Children’s responses to these events range from transient distress to significant posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSS). While many models suggest explanations for the development and maintenance of PTSS in adults, very few have focused on children. Current models of child PTSS are primarily restricted to the post-trauma period, thus neglecting the critical peri-trauma period when screening and preventive interventions may be most easily implemented. Research on PTSS in response to pediatric medical trauma typically examines predictors in isolation, often overlooking potentially important interactions. This paper proposes a new model utilizing the bio-psycho-social framework and focusing on peri-trauma processes of acute medical events. Understanding the relationships among bio-psycho-social factors during peri-trauma can inform early identification of at-risk children, preventive interventions and clinical care. Recommendations for future research, including the need to examine PTSS in the context of multiple influences, are discussed.     

Further Validation of the Social and Emotional Health Survey for High School Students

The Social Emotional Health Survey (SEHS) was developed with the aim of assessing core cognitive dispositions associated with adolescents’ positive psychosocial development. Using a new sample, the present study sought to extend previous SEHS research by coadministering it with the Behavioral Emotional Screening System (BESS). The sample included 2,240 students in Grades 9-12 from two comprehensive high schools located in a major west coast USA city. A majority of the students were of Latino/a heritage (72 %) and had experienced disadvantaged economic circumstances (80 % at school 1 and 68 % at school 2). Confirmatory factor analyses supported the original SEHS factor structure composed of the first-order constructs of belief-in-self, belief-in-others, emotional competence, and engaged living, which parsimoniously mapped on to a second-order “covitality” factor. Complete factorial invariance was found across four groups formed by crossing gender (male, female) and age (ages 13–15, ages 16–18). Latent means analysis found several small to moderate effects size differences, primarily for the belief-in-self and belief-in-others first-order latent traits. A SEM analysis found that the SEHS measurement model, including covitality was a significant negative predictor of psychological distress as measured by the BESS and was positively associated with students’ end-of-semester grade point average. The discussion focuses on implications for conceptualizing the core psychological components of adolescents’ positive quality of life and how schools can use the SEHS as part of a whole-school procedure to screen for students’ complete mental health.     

An Exploration of Stigma in the Lives of Sex Offenders and Heroin Abusers

Research was conducted on variations and commonalities of sexual offenders and heroin abusers and how they manage stigma in their everyday lives. Interviews with 13 sex offenders (SOs) and 44 heroin abusers (HAs) were conducted in New York City. Results suggest that both SOs and HAs disclose or conceal their stigmatized status based on their relationship to others and the situations in which they anticipate social condemnation. Both groups have formed intra-group hierarchies based on status, where child molesters and heroin abusers receive the most disdain. Some heroin abusers manage their stigma by engaging in behavior that we term redemptive passing, in which stigmatized individuals attempt to pass as non-stigmatized through deceptive means in order to make amends for prior harms they have caused. The stigmatization of sex offenders and heroin abusers has important implications for health, as members of these groups are less likely to seek treatment in order to distance themselves from their stigmatizing status.