Interparental violence and children's long-term psychosocial adjustment: the mediating role of parenting practices

The objectives of this study were: (a) to examine the direct and indirect relationships among witnessing interparental violence, parenting practices, and children's long-term psychosocial adjustment; (b) to analyze the possible gender differences in the relationships specified. The sample consisted of 1295 Spanish university students (M age = 21.21, SD = 4.04). We performed statistical analyses using structural equation modeling. The results showed that witnessing parental violence as a child is related to poor long-term psychosocial adjustment during the child's adult years. Furthermore, we found that parenting practices fully mediated the relation between witnessing interparental violence and the child's long-term adjustment. The multigroup analyses showed that most of the relations among the variables did not differ significantly by gender. However, the relation between harsh discipline and antisocial behavior was stronger for males, whereas the relation between harsh discipline and depressive symptoms was stronger for females. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings for the clinicians and specialists who plan and develop intervention programs for populations at risk.     

Evaluation of the effectiveness of minimum intervention measures on young offenders

The goal of this study was to analyze the recidivism rate in minor offenders to whom a minimum intervention measure was applied after their first felony or misdemeanor, and to determine the variables associated with recidivism. The sample was made up of 154 minors from the province of Santa Cruz of Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). The information was collected from the database of the Minors' Court. The recidivism rate depends on the measure imposed, ranging between 14 and 40.6%. The degree of agreement between the Technical Team's proposal and the court decision was 70%. With regard to the variables associated with recidivism, a model was obtained through logistic regression that correctly classified 83.7% of the cases, and was made up of the variables perception of parenting problems, intervention of social services, and social isolation.     

Your work is interfering with our life! The influence of a significant other on employee job search activity

This research draws on family systems theory to examine the influence of the significant other on employees’ job search behaviours. Data from 102 matched pairs of employees and their significant others showed that significant others’ perception of the employee's work‐to‐family conflict was positively related to the employee's job search activity after controlling for employee self‐reported work‐to‐family conflict. Contributions and implications are discussed.     

Gender Biases and Therapists’ Conceptualization of Couple Difficulties

In spite of the fact that gender issues have played an important role in many family therapy training programs, little research has been developed to explore the effects of gender and gender biases in therapists’ conceptualizations of client problems. This study explores beginning and advanced marriage and family therapy (MFT) student’s inclusion of gender in the conceptualization of a clinical case. To examine clinician’s thinking, 32 therapists (18 beginning MFT students and 14 advanced MFT students) were asked to 1) view the first 20 minutes of an intake interview conducted by a sex therapist, and 2) identify the couple’s central issues. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were used to explore constructs associated with therapists considerations and inclusion of gender and cultural issues in their conceptualizations of marital difficulties. Results revealed that trained MFT students who considered gender may have analyzed gender issues more extensively than untrained MFT students. In addition, results of qualitative analysis of participant critiques revealed subtle forms of gender and cultural biases. Discussion focuses on how these biases, some of which are linked to clinical theory, can lead to differential expectations and inequality in the treatment of men and women in couple therapy. Implications for clinical training, curriculum development, and future research are also discussed.     

How equivalent are the action execution,imagery, and observation of intransitive movements? Revisiting the concept of somatotopy during action simulation

Jeannerod (2001) hypothesized that action execution, imagery, and observation are functionally equivalent. This led to the major prediction that these motor states are based on the same action-specific and even effector-specific motor representations. The present study examined whether hand and foot movements are represented in a somatotopic manner during action execution, imagery, and action observation.     

To Act or Not to Act: Nonconsequentialism in Environmental Decision-Making

Research on environmental-decision making is usually based on utilitarian models, which imply that people's decisions are only influenced by the outcomes. This research provides evidence for values and moral positions that reflect nonconsequentialist rather than consequentialist views. In doing this, this article refers to “sacred values,” which are values that are seen as not-substitutable and nontradable. Two studies were designed to examine evidence for sacred values and their role on act versus omission choices within the environmental domain. The studies revealed that sacred values were closely associated with preferences for actions, trade-off reluctance, deontological focus, and position of moral universalism. The results suggest that it is important to account for sacred values and nonconsequentialist views in environmental decision-making research.     

Categorical or Dimensional: A Reanalysis of the Anxiety Sensitivity Construct

Anxiety sensitivity, or the fear of anxiety sensations, has been implicated in the etiology of anxiety disorders, particularly panic disorder. Recently, inconsistent findings have been reported regarding the latent structure of anxiety sensitivity. Whereas some taxometric studies of anxiety sensitivity have reported evidence of categorical latent structure, others have found evidence of a latent dimension. The purpose of the present research was to further examine the latent structure of anxiety sensitivity using taxometric procedures and commonly utilized measures of anxiety sensitivity. To this end, three mathematically independent taxometric procedures (MAXEIG, MAMBAC, and L-Mode) were applied to data collected from two large nonclinical samples (n's = 1,171 and 2,173) that completed the Anxiety Sensitivity Index and the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-Revised. Results from both studies converged in support of a dimensional conceptualization of anxiety sensitivity. A third study was conducted using indicators derived from the newly revised Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 in a separate sample of 1,462 nonclinical participants. Results of these analyses provided further support for a dimensional anxiety sensitivity solution. The implications of these results for anxiety sensitivity research are discussed, and several potential directions for future research are considered.     

Signing an Organ Donation Letter: The Prediction of Behavior From Behavioral Intentions1

The signing of an organ donation letter was examined among 149 unmarried university students. The letter was developed for the purpose of conveying one's wishes regarding posthumous donation to one's next of kin. Predictors of letter signing were examined that explain hypothesized inconsistencies between the behavioral intention to sign and actual letter-signing behavior. Respondents were offered the opportunity to sign and send the donation letter to their parents. As predicted, reported willingness to sign the letter was only moderately related to actual behavior. Decision confidence, organ donation knowledge, and perceived decision importance positively influenced signing, independent of willingness. Unfavorability toward defending one's donation decision to one's parents inhibited signing, even among those expressing a high initial willingness to sign.     

Hardy personality, self-efficacy, and general health in nursing professionals of intensive and emergency services

In this study, the predictive power of hardy personality and generalized self-efficacy on general health perception was investigated in a sample of nursing personnel working in emergency and intensive care services. A cross-sectional retrospective design was used, and the following measurement instruments were applied: a sociodemographic and work questionnaire, Goldberg's GHQ-28 Health Questionnaire, the Baessler and Schwarzer General Self-efficacy Questionnaire, and the Hardy Personality Subscale of Moreno's Nursing Burnout Questionnaire (CDPE). The results revealed a positive and statistically significant relationship between the individual variables of generalized self-efficacy and hardy personality. A canonical correlation analysis carried out on the psychological distress symptoms with self-efficacy and hardy personality as predictor variables, led us to emphasize the relevance of the construct total hardy personality as a predictor and, consequently, as a protective factor against the onset of psychological distress symptoms in the sample of professionals studied. Lastly, the implications of the results for clinical practice are discussed.