Recovery from post‐traumatic stress disorder in children following road traffic accidents: the role of talking and feeling understood

Forty children were assessed 6 weeks and 8 months after involvement in a road traffic accident (RTA). Ten of the 21 children suffering post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at 6 weeks continued to fulfil diagnostic criteria at 8 months. There was no evidence of delayed onset of PTSD in children who had not developed this condition at 6 weeks. Talking about the accident and feeling understood were associated with recovery. Providing children with opportunities to talk about their accident may be helpful in preventing or reducing psychological distress. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sources of information for discriminating dynamic human actions

Despite the importance of action identification and discrimination in action perception and social cognition more broadly, little research has investigated how these processes are achieved. To this end, we sought to identify the extent to which adults capitalize on featural versus configural sources of information when discriminating small-scale human actions such as grasp and place. Results across two experiments indicate adults are sensitive to both sources of information in action discrimination, but selectively attend to featural over configural action information. The findings also parallel what is known regarding face processing: processing of configural information is especially disrupted by inversion, whereas processing of featural information is specifically affected by low-pass filtering.     

Interpersonal Understanding Fuels Knowledge Acquisition

Beginning in infancy, humans acquire knowledge at a pace far outstripping that found in any other species. Recent evidence indicates that interpersonal understanding—in particular, skill at inferring others' intentions—plays a pivotal role in this achievement. Infants as young as 12 to 18 months actively utilize clues to others' intentions to guide their interpretation of language, emotion, and action more generally. In the language domain, for example, on hearing a new word, infants spontaneously check the speaker for intentional clues such as gaze direction, emotional expression, gestures, and body posture, and interpret the word in light of such information. By capitalizing on information about intentions, infants are able to avoid a wide range of potential errors, and to quickly learn relevant new skills. Current research is exploring the origins and developmental course of such early-emerging interpersonal skill, ultimately with an eye to understanding how disruptions in such abilities affect children's cognitive and social development.     

Hypersensitivity to Social Rejection and Perceived Stress as Mediators between Attachment Anxiety and Future Burnout: A Prospective Analysis

Drawing on Sociometer Theory, the current study examined whether the tendency to focus on and worry about social rejection at the workplace can predict stress and burnout. Data were collected at two time points from 231 hotel employees. Prospective‐longitudinal design, structural equation modeling analyses revealed that participants' hypersensitivity to social rejection at the workplace predicted an increase in stress and in burnout across the 1 month of participation. Furthermore, the findings revealed that hypersensitivity to social rejection fully mediated the link between attachment anxiety and future stress and that hypersensitivity to social rejection and stress fully mediated the link between attachment anxiety and future burnout. Approximately 64 per cent of the variance in future burnout was explained by these variables. The results demonstrate the significant role social evaluative stressors play in the development of stress responses at the workplace. S’appuyant sur la sociometer theory, la présente étude examine si la tendance à se préoccuper et s’inquiéter du rejet social sur le lieu de travail peut prédire le stress et l’épuisement. Les données ont été collectées par deux fois auprès de 231 employés d’hôtellerie. Le traitement des études longitudinales par des analyses de modélisation par équations structurelles révèle que l’hypersensibilité des sujets au rejet sur le lieu de travail contribue à une augmentation du stress et de l’épuisement au cours du mois de participation. Les conclusions soulignent que l’hypersensibilité au rejet social est totalement influencée par le lien entre anxiété, attachement et stress futur et que l’hypersensibilité au rejet social et au stress est totalement influencée par le lien entre anxiété, attachement et épuisement à venir. Approximativement 64% de la variance de l’épuisement à venir est expliqué par ces variables. Les résultats montrent le rôle significatif joué par des sources de stress liées au jugement social d’autrui dans le développement des réponses de stress sur le lieu de travail.     

The impact of self-efficacy on behavior change and weight change among overweight participants in a weight loss trial.

Despite considerable clinical interest, attempts to link perceived self-efficacy with successful weight control have had mixed success. Definitive data on prospective associations between self-efficacy and weight loss are particularly sparse. This study examined relationships between self-efficacy beliefs, weight control behaviors, and weight change among individuals participating in a weight loss trial (N = 349, 87% women). Cross-sectionally, eating and exercise self-efficacy beliefs were strongly associated with corresponding weight loss behaviors. Self-efficacy beliefs prospectively predicted weight control behavior and weight change during active treatment but not during follow-up. Mediational models indicate that people's weight control behaviors mediate the impact of self-efficacy on weight change.     

Specifying the determinants of the initiation and maintenance of behavior change: an examination of self-efficacy, satisfaction, and smoking cessation.

Using data from smokers (N = 591) who enrolled in an 8-week smoking cessation program and were then followed for 15 months, the authors tested the thesis that self-efficacy guides the decision to initiate smoking cessation but that satisfaction with the outcomes afforded by quitting guides the decision to maintain cessation. Measures of self-efficacy and satisfaction assessed at the end of the program, 2 months, and 9 months were used to predict quit status at 2, 9, and 15 months, respectively. At each point, participants were categorized as either initiators or maintainers on the basis of their pattern of cessation behavior. Across time, self-efficacy predicted future quit status for initiators, whereas satisfaction generally predicted future quit status for maintainers. Implications for models of behavior change and behavioral interventions are discussed.