Heightened male aggression toward sexualized women following romantic rejection: The mediating role of sex goal activation

Research from a variety of disciplines suggests a positive relationship between Western cultural sexualization and women's likelihood of suffering harm. In the current experiment, 157 young men were romantically rejected by a sexualized or non‐sexualized woman then given the opportunity to blast the woman with loud bursts of white noise. We tested whether the activation of sexual goals in men would mediate the relationship between sexualization and aggressive behavior after romantic rejection. We also tested whether behaving aggressively toward a woman after romantic rejection would increase men's feelings of sexual dominance. Results showed that interacting with a sexualized woman increased men's sex goals. Heightened sex goal activation, in turn, predicted increased aggression after romantic rejection. This result remained significant despite controlling for the effects of trait aggressiveness and negative affect. The findings suggest that heightened sex goal activation may lead men to perpetrate aggression against sexualized women who reject them.

     

Relationship between Trauma and Risky Behavior in Substance-Abusing Parents Involved in a Family Dependency Treatment Court

This exploratory study examined participants in a Family Dependency Treatment Court (FDTC), designed for substance-abusing parents whose children were removed from the home. Twenty-five participants were interviewed one year after FDTC enrollment to assess retrospectively the relationship between trauma history and risky behaviors. Treatment compliance rates were found to be high, and most participants had negative urinalysis results. Qualitative analyses revealed that approximately half of the participants attributed decreases in risky behaviors to the FDTC program. This study increases understanding of the effect of substance abuse and trauma on high-risk behaviors and might help to improve services for substance-abusing parents involved in the child welfare system. Finally, the future success of reducing child abuse and neglect and parental substance use could hinge on the partnership between judicial and substance abuse treatment through FDTCs. Findings from this exploratory pilot study should be replicated with more representative and larger samples.     

Methodological considerations in developing measures of HIV risk-relevant behaviors and attitudes: An empirical illustration

Abstract

This paper describes the pilot testing of a survey designed to assess the prevalence of HIV exposure risk-relevant behaviors and associated attitudes, beliefs and knowledge in a heterogeneous, ethnically diverse, sexually active population (the US Army). The specific objectives for the pilot test were to: (1) define optimal survey question formats for behavioral and attitude items; (2) identify questions that were poorly worded or that would not contribute to the overall objectives of the survey; (3) assess the extent to which respondents could accurately follow instructions; (4) identify appropriate and culturally relevant terminology for sensitive items; (5) determine the appropriate timeframe for recall of simple and complex sexual behaviors; (6) assess the degree of respondent honesty and belief in the anonymity of the survey results.     

Adolescent Religiosity as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Parental Religiosity and Adolescent Health Outcomes

Studies have demonstrated the positive impacts of both parent and adolescent religiosity on adolescent outcomes; however, the relationships among these variable have not been studied. Our study was conducted to assess whether adolescent religiosity mediates the relationship between parent religiosity and adolescent emotional and behavioral health outcomes. A sample of 491 late adolescents ages 18–22 completed surveys that assessed their parents’ religious practices, their own religious practices, deviant behaviors, and internalizing behaviors. Findings suggest that adolescent religiosity mediates the relationship between parents’ religiosity and adolescent health outcomes such as drug and alcohol use and depression.     

An open trial of a brief transdiagnostic internet treatment for anxiety and depression

The present study evaluated the efficacy of a brief version of an internet-administered transdiagnostic CBT protocol, the Wellbeing Program (Titov et al., 2011), designed to treat three anxiety disorders and major depression within the same program. This brief version included the same core CBT skills as the original, but condensed the materials from 8 to 5 online lessons, reduced the duration of treatment from 10 to 8 weeks and did not include an online forum. Thirty-two individuals with a principal diagnosis of major depression, generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder or social phobia received CBT-based online educational lessons, homework assignments, weekly contact from a clinical psychologist and automated emails. Eighty-one percent of participants completed the lessons within the 8 week program. Post-treatment and 3-month follow-up data were collected from 28/32 and 31/32 participants respectively. Participants improved significantly on the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales – 21 Item, Patient Health Questionnaire – 9 Item, and Generalised Anxiety Disorder – 7 Item scales, with corresponding within-group effect sizes (Cohen’s d) at follow-up of 1.05, .73, and .95, respectively. Participants rated the procedure as highly acceptable with gains of a similar magnitude as those found for the original program, but less time was spent per participant by the clinician in the present trial (mean = 44.61 min, SD = 34.45) compared to the original program (mean = 84.76 min, SD = 50.37). These results provide additional support for the efficacy of transdiagnostic iCBT in the treatment of anxiety and depressive disorders and indicate that a brief version may be of benefit.     

Families created through surrogacy: mother-child relationships and children's psychological adjustment at age 7

Each year, an increasing number of children are born through surrogacy and thus lack a genetic and/or gestational link with their mother. This study examined the impact of surrogacy on mother-child relationships and children's psychological adjustment. Assessments of maternal positivity, maternal negativity, mother-child interaction, and child adjustment were administered to 32 surrogacy, 32 egg donation, and 54 natural conception families with a 7-year-old child. No differences were found for maternal negativity, maternal positivity, or child adjustment, although the surrogacy and egg donation families showed less positive mother-child interaction than the natural conception families. The findings suggest that both surrogacy and egg donation families function well in the early school years.     

Assessing the Role of Spirituality in Coping Among African Americans Diagnosed with Cancer

Spirituality plays an important role in cancer coping among African Americans. The purpose of this study was to report on the initial psychometric properties of instruments specific to the cancer context, assessing the role of spirituality in coping. Items were developed based on a theoretical model of spirituality and qualitative patient interviews. The instruments reflected connections to self, others, God, and the world. One hundred African American cancer survivors completed the instruments by telephone. The instruments showed adequate internal reliability, mixed convergent validity, discriminant validity, and interpretable factor structures.     

Content Analyses of the Beliefs of Academic Procrastinators

Although relevant nomothetically-based personality literature has made great advances in recent years correlating traits to measures of procrastination, little is known about the specific irrational beliefs of procrastinators, especially when they are actively avoiding tasks or situations. Based on theories from Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), it was hypothesized that compared to non-procrastinators, college student academic procrastinators would show greater self depreciation, greater other depreciation, greater life condition depreciation, and a lower frustration tolerance. Academic procrastination was operationally defined by quartile distributions on two self- report measures and three classroom-based assignments. Procrastinators and non-procrastinating students were given instructions to write approximately 500 words about their thoughts and feelings while they were in the process of actively putting off a specific, real event. While actually procrastinating, students logged on to a web site and made text entries describing what was going through their minds. Data were analyzed with the Psychiatric Content and Diagnosis Program Version 3 (PCAD 3; Gottschalk and Bechtel in Psychiatric content and diagnosis: the PCAD 3. GB Software, Brighton, MI, 2007). Procrastinators and non-procrastinators differed on relevant PCAD scales, supporting the hypotheses derived from REBT theory. Treatment implications and directions for future research are discussed.