Acute stress eliminates female advantage in detection of ambiguous negative affect

The human stress response evolved to maximize an individual's probability of survival when threatened. The present study addressed whether physical danger modulates perception of an unrelated ambiguous threat and, if so, to what extent this response is sex- specific. The authors utilized a first-time tandem skydive as a stressor, which had been previously validated as producing a highly-controlled, genuinely stressful environment. In a counter-balanced within-subjects design, participants wore a virtual reality helmet to complete an emotion-identification task during the plane's ascent (stress condition) and in the laboratory (control condition). Participants were presented static male faces morphed between 20-80% aggression, which gradually emerged from degraded images. Using a binary forced-choice design, participants identified each ambiguous face as aggressive or neutral. Results showed that participants characterized emotion more rapidly under stress versus control conditions. Unexpectedly, the results also show that while women were more sensitive to affect ambiguity than men under control conditions, they exhibited a marked decrease in sensitivity equivalent to men while under stress.     

Selecting a reference object

One way to describe the location of an object is to relate it to another object. Often there are many nearby objects, each of which could serve as a candidate to be the reference object. A common theoretical assumption is that features that make a given object salient relative to the candidate set are instrumental in determining which is selected. The current research tests this assumption, assessing the relative importance of spatial, perceptual, and functional-interactive features. Three experiments demonstrated that spatial features have the strongest influence on reference object selection, with the perceptual feature of color playing no significant role. Functional-interactive features were shown to be spatially dependent, having an influence only when the spatial configuration enabled an interaction between the located object and the reference object. These findings challenge the common perspective that salience in and of itself dictates reference object selection and argue for a reliance on spatial features.     

You probably think this paper's about you: narcissists' perceptions of their personality and reputation

Do narcissists have insight into the negative aspects of their personality and reputation? Using both clinical and subclinical measures of narcissism, the authors examined others' perceptions, self-perceptions, and meta-perceptions of narcissists across a wide range of traits for a new acquaintance and close other (Study 1), longitudinally with a group of new acquaintances (Study 2), and among coworkers (Study 3). Results bring 3 surprising conclusions about narcissists: (a) they understand that others see them less positively than they see themselves (i.e., their meta-perceptions are less biased than are their self-perceptions), (b) they have some insight into the fact that they make positive first impressions that deteriorate over time, and (c) they have insight into their narcissistic personality (e.g., they describe themselves as arrogant). These findings shed light on some of the psychological mechanisms underlying narcissism.     

Psychometric properties of reverse-scored items on the CES-D in a sample of ethnically diverse older adults

Reverse-scored items on assessment scales increase cognitive processing demands and may therefore lead to measurement problems for older adult respondents. In this study, the objective was to examine possible psychometric inadequacies of reverse-scored items on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) when used to assess ethnically diverse older adults. Using baseline data from a gerontologic clinical trial (n = 460), we tested the hypotheses that the reversed items on the CES-D (a) are less reliable than nonreversed items, (b) disproportionately lead to intraindividually atypical responses that are psychometrically problematic, and (c) evidence improved measurement properties when an imputation procedure based on the scale mean is used to replace atypical responses. In general, the results supported the hypotheses. Relative to nonreversed CES-D items, the 4 reversed items were less internally consistent, were associated with lower item-scale correlations, and were more often answered atypically at an intraindividual level. Further, the atypical responses were negatively correlated with responses to psychometrically sound nonreversed items that had similar content. The use of imputation to replace atypical responses enhanced the predictive validity of the set of reverse-scored items. Among older adult respondents, reverse-scored items are associated with measurement difficulties. It is recommended that appropriate correction procedures such as item readministration or statistical imputation be applied to reduce the difficulties.     

Evaluation of the evidence for the trauma and fantasy models of dissociation

The relationship between a reported history of trauma and dissociative symptoms has been explained in 2 conflicting ways. Pathological dissociation has been conceptualized as a response to antecedent traumatic stress and/or severe psychological adversity. Others have proposed that dissociation makes individuals prone to fantasy, thereby engendering confabulated memories of trauma. We examine data related to a series of 8 contrasting predictions based on the trauma model and the fantasy model of dissociation. In keeping with the trauma model, the relationship between trauma and dissociation was consistent and moderate in strength, and remained significant when objective measures of trauma were used. Dissociation was temporally related to trauma and trauma treatment, and was predictive of trauma history when fantasy proneness was controlled. Dissociation was not reliably associated with suggestibility, nor was there evidence for the fantasy model prediction of greater inaccuracy of recovered memory. Instead, dissociation was positively related to a history of trauma memory recovery and negatively related to the more general measures of narrative cohesion. Research also supports the trauma theory of dissociation as a regulatory response to fear or other extreme emotion with measurable biological correlates. We conclude, on the basis of evidence related to these 8 predictions, that there is strong empirical support for the hypothesis that trauma causes dissociation, and that dissociation remains related to trauma history when fantasy proneness is controlled. We find little support for the hypothesis that the dissociation-trauma relationship is due to fantasy proneness or confabulated memories of trauma.     

Avoidant coping in panic disorder: a yohimbine biological challenge study

Few studies have addressed whether the use of avoidance-oriented coping strategies is related to the development of panic in patients with panic disorder(PD). Self-report, clinician-rated, and physiological data were collected from 42 individuals who participated in a yohimbine biological challenge study, performed under double-blind, placebo-controlled conditions. Participants included 20 healthy controls and 22 currently symptomatic patients who met DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for PD. Consistent with prediction, patients with PD who had higher perceived efficacy of avoidance-oriented strategies in reducing anxiety-related thoughts reported increased severity in panic symptoms during the yohimbine challenge condition as compared to the placebo. Further, patients with PD who had more fear of cognitive dyscontrol, cardiovascular symptoms, and publicly observable anxiety also reported increased severity in panic symptoms during the challenge. Healthy controls who had more fear of cardiovascular symptoms similarly reported increased severity in panic symptoms during the challenge. No effects were found for heart rate response to the challenge agent. These results provide support for the role of avoidance-oriented coping strategies and fear of anxiety-related symptoms as risk and maintenance factors in the development of panic symptoms, particularly within a biological challenge model.     

Body image satisfaction among Norwegian adolescents and young adults: a longitudinal study of the influence of interpersonal relationships and BMI

This study used a latent growth curve modeling approach to examine body image satisfaction in 1132 Norwegian adolescent and adult males and females measured at six times between ages 13 and 30. An additional model examined the long term influence of parent-child relationship, peer relationship (both relationships assessed at age 13), and BMI (measured at each interval) to the patterns of change. The results showed a linear growth in body image satisfaction through adolescence followed by a stabilizing of the latent curve in adulthood for both genders. There were gender and developmental variations in the relative contributions of parents and peers for the slope and quadratic growth and in the contribution of BMI to body image satisfaction. When controlling for BMI, initial parent-child relationships and peer relationship predicted the variance in slope growth for males. Parent-child relationship predicted quadratic growth for males. Among females, only initial peer relationships predicted linear growth. No effect was found for quadratic growth. BMI had an additional negative effect on body image satisfaction during adulthood.     

Testing Models of Psychopathology in Preschool-aged Children Using a Structured Interview-based Assessment

A number of studies have found that broadband internalizing and externalizing factors provide a parsimonious framework for understanding the structure of psychopathology across childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. However, few of these studies have examined psychopathology in young children, and several recent studies have found support for alternative models, including a bi-factor model with common and specific factors. The present study used parents’ (typically mothers’) reports on a diagnostic interview in a community sample of 3-year old children (n?=?541; 53.9 % male) to compare the internalizing-externalizing latent factor model with a bi-factor model. The bi-factor model provided a better fit to the data. To test the concurrent validity of this solution, we examined associations between this model and paternal reports and laboratory observations of child temperament. The internalizing factor was associated with low levels of surgency and high levels of fear; the externalizing factor was associated with high levels of surgency and disinhibition and low levels of effortful control; and the common factor was associated with high levels of surgency and negative affect and low levels of effortful control. These results suggest that psychopathology in preschool-aged children may be explained by a single, common factor influencing nearly all disorders and unique internalizing and externalizing factors. These findings indicate that shared variance across internalizing and externalizing domains is substantial and are consistent with recent suggestions that emotion regulation difficulties may be a common vulnerability for a wide array of psychopathology.     

Establishing the Validity of the Spirituality in Clinical Training Scale: Measuring the Level of Integration of Spirituality and Religion in Family Therapy Training

The existing literature suggests that family therapy training programs are not adequately preparing students to address spiritual and/or religious beliefs as a resource for change in therapy. Therefore, this study sought to validate the Spirituality in Clinical Training Scale (SCTS) as a measure of the level of integration of spirituality and/or religion in family therapy training. Additionally, this study examined the latent associations among the subscales of the SCTS and measures of personal importance of spirituality, spiritual clinical competence, and spiritual self-exploration. Finally, given that the type of educational institution (i.e., religious compared to non-religious schools) may influence the extent to which spirituality is addressed in training, this study examined whether attending a religious or non-religious institution moderated the associations among the SCTS and constructs used to assess validity. A sample of 341 master’s and doctoral family therapy students completed an on-line survey for this study. The results suggest that the SCTS is a reliable and valid measure for assessing integration of spirituality into family therapy training. The establishment of this measure is important given that no previous scale measuring the integration of spirituality into therapy training exists. The results also suggest that spiritual self-exploration is associated with increased use of interventions that integrate spirituality into therapy. Implications for clinical training are discussed.     

The Precalculus Concept Assessment: A Tool for Assessing Students’ Reasoning Abilities and Understandings

This article describes the development of the Precalculus Concept Assessment (PCA) instrument, a 25-item multiple-choice exam. The reasoning abilities and understandings central to precalculus and foundational for beginning calculus were identified and characterized in a series of research studies and are articulated in the PCA Taxonomy. These include a strong understanding of ideas of rate of change and function, a process view of function, and the ability to use covariational reasoning to examine and represent how two covarying quantities change together. This taxonomy guided the PCA development and now provides the theoretical basis for interpreting and reporting PCA results. A critical element of PCA's design was to identify the constructs essential for learning calculus and to employ methods to assure that PCA items are effective in assessing these constructs. We illustrate the role that cognitive research played during both the design and validation phases of the PCA instrument. We also describe our Four-Phase Instrument Development Framework that articulates the methods used to create and validate PCA. This framework should also be useful for others interested in developing similar instruments in other content areas. The uses of PCA are described and include (a) assessing student learning in college algebra and precalculus, (b) comparing the effectiveness of various curricular treatments, and (c) determining student readiness for calculus.