Child anger proneness moderates associations between child-mother attachment security and child behavior with mothers at 33 months

Child-mother attachment security, assessed via a modified Strange Situation procedure (Cassidy & Marvin, with the MacArthur Attachment Working Group, 1992), and parent-reported child proneness to anger were examined as correlates of observed child behavior toward mothers during a series of interactive tasks (N = 120, 60 girls). Controlling for maternal sensitivity and child gender and expressive language ability, greater attachment security, and lower levels of anger proneness were related to more child responsiveness to maternal requests and suggestions during play and snack sessions. As hypothesized, anger proneness also moderated several security-behavior associations. Greater attachment security was related to (a) more committed compliance during clean-up and snack-delay tasks for children high on anger proneness, (b) more self-assertiveness during play and snack for children moderate or high on anger proneness, and (c) more help-seeking during play and snack for children moderate or low on anger proneness. Findings further our understanding of the behavioral correlates of child-mother attachment security assessed during late toddlerhood via the Cassidy-Marvin system and underscore child anger proneness as a moderator of attachment-related differences in child behavior during this developmental period.     

Effects of symptom presentation order on perceived disease risk

People are quick to perceive meaningful patterns in the co-occurrence of events. We report two studies exploring the effects of streaks in symptom checklists on perceived personal disease risk. In the context of these studies, a streak is a sequence of consecutive items on a list that share the characteristic of being either general or specific. We identify a psychological mechanism underlying the effect of streaks in a list of symptoms and show that the effect of streaks on perceived risk varies with the length of the symptom list. Our findings reveal a tendency to infer meaning from streaks in medical and health decision making. Participants perceived a higher personal risk of having an illness when presented with a checklist in which common symptoms were grouped together than when presented with a checklist in which these same symptoms were separated by rare symptoms. This research demonstrates that something as arbitrary as the order in which symptoms are presented in a checklist can affect perceived risk of disease.     

Modifications in basal and stress-induced hypothalamic AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activity in rats chronically treated with an angiotensin II receptor blocker

5' adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) plays a prominent role as a metabolic stress sensor. The role of hypothalamic AMPK in response to restraint and surgical stress has not been previously investigated. It has been recently suggested that the renin-angiotensin system, in addition to its role in stress regulation, may play a significant role in regulating metabolic pathways including the regulation of the AMPK system. This study was thus aimed to evaluate the effects of candesartan, an angiotensin II AT1 receptor blocker drug, on hypothalamic AMPK activity under basal conditions and after restraint in conscious rats or after surgical stress under general anesthesia. Male Wistar rats were treated with 5 mg/kg/day candesartan in the drinking water for 2 weeks. The hypothalamic AMPK activity was determined under basal and stress conditions, using a kinase activity assay. Chronic administration of candesartan significantly increased hypothalamic AMPK activity. Hypothalamic AMPK activity was also increased by restraint stress whereas no change was observed during surgical stress under anesthesia. The high levels of hypothalamic AMPK activation observed in candesartan-treated rats were not changed by restraint stress but were reduced to control levels by anesthesia and surgery. In conclusion, chronic candesartan treatment and restraint stress in conscious rats stimulate the hypothalamic AMPK activity, whereas surgical stress under anesthesia inhibits pathways regulating the AMPK activity even in candesartan-treated rats.     

Alcohol‐aggression expectancies and dispositional aggression moderate the relationship between alcohol consumption and alcohol‐related violence

Alcohol consumption increases aggression, but only in some drinkers. This study examines how expectancies for alcohol‐induced aggression and dispositional aggression moderate the link between alcohol consumption and alcohol‐related violence, building on previous studies that have employed limited measures of alcohol‐related violence and included few women. A sample of 212 men and women reported their alcohol consumption, alcohol‐aggression expectancies, dispositional aggression, and incidents of alcohol‐related aggressive acts. Alcohol‐aggression expectancies and quantity of alcohol consumed interacted to predict alcohol‐related aggression. Alcohol‐aggression expectancies covaried with alcohol‐related aggressive acts, particularly in heavier drinkers. Dispositional aggression also correlated with alcohol‐related aggression among heavier drinkers. These results help identify that alcohol might increase aggression only among heavy drinkers who expect alcohol to increase aggression or who are dispositionally aggressive. Aggr. Behav. 32:517–527, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Is Traditional Gender Ideology Associated with Sex-Typed Mate Preferences? A Test in Nine Nations

Social role theory (Eagly, Wood, & Diekman, 2000) predicts that traditional gender ideology is associated with preferences for qualities in a mate that reflect a conventional homemaker-provider division of labor. This study assessed traditional gender ideology using Glick and Fiske's (1996, 1999) indexes of ambivalent attitudes toward women and men and related these attitudes to the sex-typed mate preferences of men for younger mates with homemaker skills and of women for older mates with breadwinning potential. Results from a nine-nation sample revealed that, to the extent that participants had a traditional gender ideology, they exhibited greater sex-typing of mate preferences. These relations were generally stable across the nine nations.     

Coloring-book-type experiences and children's divergent pictorial production

Sixty-four children in kindergarten and first grade were asked to color one of three pictures which varied in complexity. Following the coloring exercise the children were administered the CIRCUS: Make a Tree, a measure of divergent pictorial production which yields three scores (Appropriateness, Unusualness, Difference). A one-way ANOVA revealed a main effect of the coloring exercise in Unusualness and Difference. The findings suggest that giving children models to color can increase the novelty displayed in their subsequent productions, and that giving children complex models to color can increase the variety displayed in the pictures that they make. The findings are consistent with Gardner's (1980) suggestion that adult models can contribute to the substance of the child's pictoral productions by providing new ideas and information about how to achieve desired effects, and that they do not necessarily induce the slavish copying feared by many early childhood- and art-educators.     

Reviews of current books

Pastoral Psychology -     

Emergence of attributional style and its relation to depressive symptoms

The development of depressive attributional style (AS) and its role as a cognitive diathesis for depression were examined in children and adolescents (Grades 2-9). In a 4-wave longitudinal study of 3 overlapping age cohorts, AS, negative life events, and depressive symptoms were evaluated every 12 months. Consistency of children's attributions across situations was moderately high at all ages. The cross-sectional structure of AS changed with age, as stability became a more salient aspect of AS than internality and globality. The structure of AS also changed, becoming more traitlike as children grew older. In longitudinal analyses, evidence of a Cognitive Diathesis x Stress interaction did not emerge until Grades 8 and 9, suggesting that AS may not serve as a diathesis for depression at younger ages. Results suggest that attributional models of depression may require modification before they are applied across developmental levels.     

Aging, body image, and body shape

Participants were 25 older men (M age = 72 years, SD = 10 years) and 27 older women (M age = 71 years, SD = 8 years) who examined multiple line-drawing figures of babies, children, young adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults. Participants picked a number on a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (very thin) to 9 (very obese) in response to questions including "Which is the most attractive?" and "Which figure would you most like to look like?" They also completed questionnaires about their body image and body shape. In response to the age-specific line drawings (e.g., those depicting older men and older women), older women endorsed thinner figures (e.g., picked smaller numbers) than did men. Likewise, older women reported thinking more about their body shape and appearance than did men and perceived their body image as "a little too big" in comparison with the older men who perceived their body image as "just the right size." However, a breakdown of normal and overweight women in this sample revealed that for some overweight elderly women, obesity could become a satisfactory way of life. Much as with college-aged women, the endorsement of a thinner body image by many of the older adult female participants appeared to persist into late adulthood and suggests that research into body image issues with older adults is relevant and necessary.