Perceptions of Parenting Style Among College Students in India and the United States

Although a growing body of psychological literature has examined the influence of culture on parenting style, relatively less attention has been paid to gender differences in parenting style across cultures. The present study examined perceptions of parenting style as a function of participant’s culture, participant’s gender, and parent gender in college students in India and the United States. Using a new vignette-based self-report measure that characterizes each of Baumrind’s three parenting styles, participants rated perceptions of effectiveness, helpfulness, caring, and normativeness of each style. Contrary to expectation, results showed that Indian college students considered the parent demonstrating permissive parenting to be more effective and helpful than US college students. In contrast, US college students considered the parents demonstrating authoritative and authoritarian parenting to be more effective, helpful, and caring than Indian college students. A majority of Indian and US college students selected the parent demonstrating authoritative parenting as most similar to their own parents, and the type of parent they wish to be in the future. Females considered the parent demonstrating authoritative parenting to be more effective and helpful than males. Relatively few effects of parent gender were found.     

Unrecognized Posttraumatic Stress Disorder as a Treatment Barrier for a Gang-Involved Juvenile Offender

This study examines the case of GH, an 18-year-old Latino male participating in an employment-based delinquency intervention for gang-affiliated youth. Although postintervention measures revealed that GH showed gains on key outcomes (i.e., delinquency, employment), he experienced sporadic treatment setbacks (e.g., work absenteeism, fighting) that disrupted his progress. A comprehensive psychological assessment suggested that his aggressive, illegal behavior and difficulty maintaining employment could have been influenced by previously undiagnosed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Excerpts from counseling sessions illustrated how reactive aggression, hypervigilance, sleep disruptions, and emotional numbing could have interfered with treatment gains and ultimately contributed to GH's re-arrest. Implications for early, accurate identification of PTSD in delinquency interventions for gang youth are discussed.     

Girls’ Spatial Skills and Arithmetic Strategies in First Grade as Predictors of Fifth-Grade Analytical Math Reasoning

This study investigated longitudinal pathways leading from early spatial skills in first-grade girls to their fifth-grade analytical math reasoning abilities (N = 138). First-grade assessments included spatial skills, verbal skills, addition/subtraction skills, and frequency of choice of a decomposition or retrieval strategy on the addition/subtraction problems. In fifth grade, girls were given an arithmetic fluency test, a mental rotation spatial task, and a numeric and algebra math reasoning test. Using structural equation modeling, the estimated path model accounted for 87% of the variance in math reasoning. First-grade spatial skills had a direct pathway to fifth-grade math reasoning as well as an indirect pathway through first-grade decomposition strategy use. The total effect of first-grade spatial skills was significantly higher in predicting fifth-grade math reasoning than all other predictors. First-grade decomposition strategy use had the second strongest total effect, while retrieval strategy use did not predict fifth-grade math reasoning. It was first-grade spatial skills (not fifth-grade) that directly predicted fifth-grade math reasoning. Consequently, the results support the importance of early spatial skills in predicting later math. As expected, decomposition strategy use in first grade was linked to fifth-grade math reasoning indirectly through first-grade arithmetic accuracy and fifth-grade arithmetic fluency. However, frequency of first-grade decomposition use also showed a direct pathway to fifth-grade arithmetic reasoning, again stressing the importance of these early cognitive processes on later math reasoning.     

A technique for continuous measurement of body movement from video

The movements that we make with our body vary continuously along multiple dimensions. However, many of the tools and techniques presently used for coding and analyzing hand gestures and other body movements yield categorical outcome variables. Focusing on categorical variables as the primary quantitative outcomes may mislead researchers or distort conclusions. Moreover, categorical systems may fail to capture the richness present in movement. Variations in body movement may be informative in multiple dimensions. For example, a single hand gesture has a unique size, height of production, trajectory, speed, and handshape. Slight variations in any of these features may alter how both the speaker and the listener are affected by gesture. In this paper, we describe a new method for measuring and visualizing the physical trajectory of movement using video. This method is generally accessible, requiring only video data and freely available computer software. This method allows researchers to examine features of hand gestures, body movement, and other motion, including size, height, curvature, and speed. We offer a detailed account of how to implement this approach, and we also offer some guidelines for situations where this approach may be fruitful in revealing how the body expresses information. Finally, we provide data from a small study on how speakers alter their hand gestures in response to different characteristics of a stimulus to demonstrate the utility of analyzing continuous dimensions of motion. By creating shared methods, we hope to facilitate communication between researchers from varying methodological traditions.     

Relationship context and personality shape people's preferences for network relationship partners

This study investigates how people weight potential relationship partners' personal characteristics (i.e., warmth and competence) when deciding to initiate professional versus personal network relationships, and it also examines how certain personality traits (extraversion and conscientiousness) shape this process. Results from two samples indicate that people tend to value competence more highly when initiating professional relationships, whereas they tend to value warmth more highly when initiating personal relationships. Furthermore, neither extraversion nor conscientiousness was related to how people weighted competence when initiating professional relationships. However, supplementary analyses demonstrated that people high in conscientiousness tend to value competence and people high in agreeableness tend to value warmth in their network relationship partners, regardless of whether they are initiating a professional or personal relationship.     

Beyond the Belmont Principles: A Community‐Based Approach to Developing an Indigenous Ethics Model and Curriculum for Training Health Researchers Working with American Indian and Alaska Native Communities

Individuals responsible for carrying out research within their diverse communities experience a critical need for research ethics training materials that align with community values. To improve the capacity to meet local human subject protections, we created the research Ethics Training for Health in Indigenous Communities (rETHICS), a training curriculum aligned within American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) context, culture, and community‐level ethical values and principles. Beginning with the Belmont Report and the Common Rule that defines research with human subjects (46 CFR 45), the authors convened three different expert panels (N = 37) to identify Indigenous research values and principles common across tribal communities. The resulting culturally grounded curriculum was then tested with 48 AI/AN individuals, 39 who also had recorded debriefing interviews. Using a thematic analysis, we coded the qualitative feedback from the expert panel discussions and the participant debriefings to assess content validity. Participants identified five foundational constructs needed to ensure cultural‐grounding of the AI/AN‐specific research training curriculum. These included ensuring that the module was: (a) framed within an AI/AN historical context; (b) reflected Indigenous moral values; (c) specifically linked AI/AN cultural considerations to ethical procedures; (d) contributed to a growing Indigenous ethics; and (e) provided Indigenous‐based ethics tools for decision making. Using community‐based consultation and feedback from participants led to a culturally grounded training curriculum that teaches research ethical principles and procedures for conducting research with AI/ANs. The curriculum is available for free and the community‐based process used can be adapted for other cultural groups.     

Exploring the When and Why of Schadenfreude

We summarize the empirical work on schadenfreude , or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune. Although schadenfreude is a socially undesirable emotion, research reveals at least three conditions in which it commonly arises. One condition is when observers gain from the misfortune. We discuss research showing that gains in ingroup outcomes based on the failures of rival outgroups can create schadenfreude , especially for those highly identified with their ingroups. A second condition is when another's misfortune is deserved. We focus on research showing that the misfortunes of hypocrites are perceived as highly deserved and therefore create schadenfreude in observers. A third condition is when a misfortune befalls an envied person. We summarize studies showing that the core ingredients of envy prime the envying person for schadenfreude when the envied person suffers.     

The properties of geophysical fields and their effects on elephants and other animals

Geophysical properties of acoustic, seismic, electric, and magnetic waveforms create opportunities and constraints for animals' communication and sensory monitoring of the environment. The geometric spreading of waves differs; at some frequencies, transmission is most efficient and has minimal noise. The spreading properties of seismic waves favor long-distance propagation for communication and environmental monitoring, and would benefit elephants (Elephas maximus and Loxodonta africana), such as in locating subsurface water. Extending C. E. O'Connell-Rodwell, B. T. Amason, and L. A. Hart (2000), a man jumping at 1.11 km propagated seismic waves at 10-40 Hz. Given the noise of lightning and the Schumann resonances, near field magnetic and electric transmission by animals would be most efficient around 1000 Hz.     

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Adolescent Body Dysmorphic Disorder

The onset of appearance-related concerns associated with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) typically occurs in adolescence, and these concerns are often severe enough to interfere with normal development and psychosocial functioning. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for adults with BDD. However, no treatment studies focusing on adolescents with BDD have been conducted. The need for an effective treatment in this population led to the development of a brief CBT protocol with family involvement. The treatment focuses on enhancing an adolescent's quality of life through the reduction of maladaptive thoughts and behaviors, and incorporates skills training and parent training. Similar treatment packages have already been shown to be efficacious for children and adolescents with similar disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and social phobia. The following case illustrates the application of this brief CBT protocol for BDD in an adolescent, and highlights clinical considerations needed when adapting CBT for a pediatric population. Treatment was associated with clinically significant improvement in symptoms of BDD, self-esteem, depression, and quality of life. This report extends extant literature by suggesting that CBT may be a helpful treatment for adolescents with BDD.