Religious Attendance Serves as a Protective Variable Against Suicidal Ideation During Treatment

Several studies have proposed potential mediators of the association between religion and mental health, including social support (SS), locus of control (LOC), and substance abuse (SA), but have been limited by their use of non-clinical samples. The current study, therefore, drew from a clinical sample at risk of violence to self to test associations among these variables, specifically examining the effect of these variables on the relation between religious attendance (RA) and suicidal ideation (SI). A total of 144 adult outpatient psychotherapy clients evidencing SI during treatment were assessed pre-treatment for diagnostic presentation and frequency of RA. Subsequently, before each therapy session, SI, SS, SA, and external LOC (eLOC) during the preceding week were assessed via self-report. RA exerted a significant direct effect on SI within this clinical sample, with increased attendance associated with decreased SI. In contrast to prior reports based on non-clinical samples, SS, SA, or eLOC did not mediate the association of RA to SI. However, these variables did work in tandem, independent of RA, to affect SI. Findings support prior research suggesting that focusing on SS, SA, and LOC may be beneficial to clients experiencing SI. Additionally, for those clients who hold religious practices as a personal value, incorporating discussion of RA may help thwart SI.     

High-probability stimulus control topographies with delayed S+ onset in a simultaneous discrimination procedure

Experimenters and teachers use discrimination learning procedures to encourage reliable attending to stimulus differences defined as relevant for their purposes. Put another way, the goal of discrimination training is to establish high-probability stimulus control topographies that are coherent with experimenter or teacher specifications. The present research was conducted to investigate a novel procedure for encouraging stimulus control topography coherence. Participants were 13 adolescents with severe intellectual handicaps. During an initial Condition A, all were exposed to a simultaneous discrimination procedure. Participants could select a form alternating with a black field (S+) or an identical form that did not alternate (S-). Accuracy scores were typically low, and there was little evidence of coherent stimulus control topographies. Subsequently, the procedure was changed. During Condition B, every trial initially presented two identical nonalternating S- forms (Trial State 1). If the participant made no selection for 5 s, one of the forms began to alternate with the black field, and he or she could make the S+/S- discrimination (Trial State 2). Selections during Trial State I prolonged the delay to Trial State 2 until there had been no response for 5 s. During Condition B, S+/S- discrimination accuracy scores improved rapidly and markedly for most participants. Reinstating Condition A often resulted in diminished accuracy scores. This study thus (a) demonstrated a novel procedure for encouraging stimulus control topography coherence and (b) provided support for the interpretation that intermediate accuracy scores may be due to different topographies of stimulus control that co-occur in the same discriminative baseline.     

Prioritizing Patients for Surgery: Factors Affecting Allocation of Medical Resources for Kidney Transplantation,IVF, and Rhinoplasty1

The present study sought to investigate whether the factors that affect the allocation of scarce medical resources vary across different types of treatment and whether participants prioritize hypothetical patients based on patients' marital status, annual income, history of mental illness, and smoking habits. Study participants (N = 114) made prioritization decisions that were found to be very different across treatments. Repeated‐measure ANOVAs showed that single patients were favored for rhinoplasty, while married patients were favored for in vitro fertilization (IVF) and kidney transplant treatment. Nonsmoking patients were preferred over their smoking counterparts. Low‐income patients were favored for rhinoplasty and kidney transplant operations, but not for IVF. Mentally healthy patients were generally preferred over mentally ill patients.     

The Effect of Violent Videogame Playtime on Anger

Studies have found evidence that, after playing violent videogames for 20 min, people experience a mean short‐term increase in aggression, hostility, and anger. The current research investigated whether or not players habituate during longer, more realistic lengths of play. Participants (N = 98) were randomly assigned to play the game Quake III Arena for either 20 or 60 min. Participants in the long condition showed a smaller change in state anger (CSA) from pre‐ to post‐gameplay than those in the short condition, although this did not reach significance. Change in scores for gamers (not novice players) showed that short gaming led to a larger increase in anger ratings than long gaming. When the results for violent videogame players were analysed separately, there was no significant increase in anger post‐gameplay—irrespective of length of time playing. Results also supported the hypotheses that females would show a significantly larger CSA than males and that participants previously unexposed to violent videogames would show a significantly larger CSA than exposed participants.     

Age-Related Changes in Neural Activation During Working Memory Performance

Changes in frontal lobe functions are a typical part of aging of the brain. There are age-related declines in working memory performance, a skill requiring frontal lobe activation. This study examined neural activation, using [15 O] water positron emission tomography (PET) methodology, during performance on two verbal working memory tasks in younger and older participants. The results demonstrated the typical areas of activation associated with working memory performance (e.g., dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and inferior parietal cortex) in both groups. However, the younger participants utilized the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate gyrus significantly more than the older participants. In turn, the older participants used the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex significantly more than the younger participants and maintained material-specific lateralization in their pattern of activation. These findings are consistent with a previous report of different age-related patterns of frontal activation during working memory.     

Psychological assessment of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse within a naturalistic clinical sample

This study investigates the long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). Differences between abused and nonabused individuals in psychiatric symptomatology, interpersonal functioning, social and occupational functioning, personality dynamics, and therapeutic alliance were examined. The relationship between abuse severity and long-term effects was also analyzed. Data were gathered from 51 patients seeking individual psychotherapy at a community outpatient clinic. Findings suggested that CSA survivors tend to experience greater psychiatric distress and poorer interpersonal functioning than nonabused clinical controls. No significant differences were found in social and occupational functioning or in alliance developed by the end of the therapeutic assessment process. Abuse severity was significantly related to increased symptomatology and poorer interpersonal functioning. Findings support and extend existing literature and are especially useful for clinicians working with abuse survivors.     

Who is responsible? Adolescents' acceptance of theoretical child abuse models

Three primary theoretical models have been presented to explain child abuse: psychopathological, sociological, and ecological. Four hundred forty-seven later adolescents were surveyed to determine which approach was most consistent with their beliefs, attitudes and opinions. Overwhelmingly, adolescents indicated that their views were most closely aligned with the psychopathological model, followed by the ecological model. Subjects maintained that parental psychological factors and characteristics of victims contributed strongly to maltreatment. Societal factors were perceived as relatively unimportant causative agents or correlates of abuse. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for parent education programs.