A categorical and dimensional perspective on depression within a nonclinical sample of couples

The present study investigated the role of psychosocial variables that are indicators for depressive symptomatology within a couple. The variables chosen for this study were conflict communication, marital adjustment, attachment, attribution style, and personality traits--all potentially specific indicators. A global factor analysis on all our measures revealed that our individual and relational measures were stable findings. We wanted to compare a dimensional and categorical view of depression. First, we focused on the total nonclinical sample, considering depression on a continuum, and studying the selected characteristics along with the varying degree of depressive complaints. The results highlighted the importance of individual characteristics (neuroticism and life satisfaction) covarying with the level of depressive symptomatology in the nonclinical sample (n = 186 couples). Second, in addition to this correlational design, we compared the group of most depressed subjects and their partners with a control sample (n = 34). Both approaches pointed to the same conclusion: individual characteristics covaried with mild depression, whereas couple characteristics only came into the picture with a higher level of depressive complaints. The lowest levels of depressive complaints were associated with individual co-morbidity only, whereas increasing complaints went along with additional relational complaints. Implications for assessment and future research are discussed.     

Effects of the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01 on employee attitudes

Much has been stated in the popular press about the effects of the events of 9/11/01 on employee attitudes about work. This study examined a large sample (N = 70,671) of employees of a multinational manufacturer whose annual employee survey data collection was interrupted by the events. After demonstrating measurement equivalence across time and countries, changes in attitudes pre- and post-9/11 were examined. Only negligible differences were found in Job Satisfaction, Supervisor Evaluation, Stress, and Organizational Commitment to Diversity for U.S. employees or for employees worldwide. Demographic differences in response to events were not found. Implications for understanding effects of stressful external events on employee perceptions of work are discussed.     

The neuroendocrinology of posttraumatic stress disorder: new directions

Studies of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in persons with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have produced variable findings. This review focuses on the factors likely to have affected the outcome of these studies, including population characteristics and experimental design. Also discussed is a possible role for the adrenal neurosteroid dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) as a mediator of HPA axis adaptation to extreme stress and the psychiatric symptoms associated with PTSD. The antiglucocorticoid properties of DHEA may contribute to an upregulation of HPA axis responses as well as mitigate possible deleterious effects of high cortisol levels on the brain in some PTSD subpopulations. The neuromodulatory effects of DHEA and its metabolite DHEAS at gamma-aminobutyric acid and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors in the brain may contribute to psychiatric symptoms associated with PTSD. The possible importance of other neurohormone systems in modulating HPA axis and symptom responses to traumatic stress is also discussed. Understanding the complex interactions of these stress-responsive neurosteroid and peptide systems may help explain the variability in patterns of HPA axis adaptation, brain changes, and psychiatric symptoms observed in PTSD and lead to better targeting of preventive and therapeutic interventions.     

Pain and Pain-Related Impairment in Adults with Cystic Fibrosis

The Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI) was utilized in a sample of adult outpatients with cystic fibrosis (CF) to assess their perception of pain and its psychosocial consequences. Subsequently, the data were compared to the ratings of pain and pain-related impairment in these patients as perceived by two nurses from the CF treatment team, as well as to a quantitative measure of illness severity. The results of these comparisons demonstrate that the majority of adult outpatients with CF reported experiencing lower levels of pain and pain-related impairment than expected, although the male patients tend to report experiencing significantly less impact in these domains than do the female patients. Additionally, the nurses do not underestimate the degree to which patients, especially males, experience pain and pain-related interference from chronic illness. Finally, there was no significant relationship between patients' self-report of pain severity or pain-related interference and an objective measure of disease severity.     

Training Japanese listeners to identify English /r/and /l/: Long-term retention of learning in perception and production

Previous work from our laboratories has shown that monolingual Japanese adults who were given intensive high-variability perceptual training improved in both perception and production of English /r/-/l/ minimal pairs. In this study, we extended those findings by investigating the long-term retention of learning in both perception and production of this difficult non-native contrast. Results showed that 3 months after completion of the perceptual training procedure, the Japanese trainees maintained their improved levels of performance on the perceptual identification task. Furthermore, perceptual evaluations by native American English listeners of the Japanese trainees’ pretest, posttest, and 3-month follow-up speech productions showed that the trainees retained their long-term improvements in the general quality, identifiability, and overall intelligibility of their English /r/-/l/ word productions. Taken together, the results provide further support for the efficacy of high-variability laboratory speech sound training procedures, and suggest an optimistic outlook for the application of such procedures for a wide range of “special populations.” nt]mis|This work was supported by NIDCD Training Grant DC-00012 and by NIDCD Research Grant DC-00111 to Indiana University.     

Performance Monitoring as a Moderator of the Relations Between Two Conscientiousness Measures and Task Performance

The present study investigated the moderating effects of performance monitoring on the relations between two measures of conscientiousness (general and business-oriented) and performance on a data entry task. A significant interaction was evidenced between conscientiousness and performance monitoring in predicting task performance for the general measure of conscientiousness; however, it was opposite than expected. No significant interaction was evidenced between conscientiousness and performance monitoring in predicting task performance for the business-oriented measure of conscientiousness. Possible explanations for these findings are suggested. Implications and limitations of the present research are identified and various suggestions for future research in this area are recommended.     

Teaching peer reinforcement and grocery words: An investigation of observational learning and instructive feedback

A multiple probe across behaviors design, replicated across participants, assessed the effectiveness of constant time delay in teaching appropriate peer reinforcement and grocery words to 3 elementary students with moderate intellectual disabilities. Additionally, pretests and posttests assessed the acquisition of the participants' observational learning (acquisition of peers' grocery words) and instructive feedback (related information supplied by the teacher in the consequent event). Results indicate that the participants learned (a) how to appropriately reinforce peers, (b) to read their grocery words, (c) some of the targeted stimuli of their peers, and (d) much of the instructive feedback that was associated with each of the grocery words. Maintenance data indicate that the participants maintained their target grocery words at high levels of accuracy.     

Self and modernity on trial: A reply to cergen's saturated self

Abstract

In The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life, Kenneth Gergen (1991) suggests that the rising uncertainty ushered in by the postmodern age has resulted in the collapse of traditional conceptions of self, truth, and social life. Although we agree that meaning is a product of social construction, we believe that Gergen has overextended his case. We argue that there is a need to maintain a notion of personal agency in constructionist models of human functioning and that an epigenetic-systems model of development (Gottlieb, 1991a, 1991b) provides a useful framework for doing so. We also suggest that even though social frameworks structure people's observations, data from their worlds nevertheless constrain theory making and foster scientific progress. Finally, we question whether postmodernism has provided a convincing strategy for dealing with the conflicts that arise from competing value systems.