A Community‐Responsive Adaptation to Reach and Engage Latino Families Affected by Maternal Depression

As family researchers and practitioners seek to improve the quality and accessibility of mental health services for immigrant families, they have turned to culturally adapted interventions. Although many advancements have been made in adapting interventions for such families, we have yet to understand how the adaptation can ensure that the intervention is reaching families identified to be in greatest need within a local system of care and community. We argue that reaching, engaging, and understanding the needs of families entails a collaborative approach with multiple community partners to ensure that adaptations to intervention content and delivery are responsive to the sociocultural trajectory of families within a community. We describe a cultural adaptation framework that is responsive to the unique opportunities and challenges of identifying and recruiting vulnerable families through community partnerships, and of addressing the needs of families by incorporating multiple community perspectives. Specifically, we apply these principles to the cultural adaptation of an intervention originally developed for low‐income African American and White families facing maternal depression. The new intervention, Fortalezas Familiares (Family Strengths), was targeted to Latino immigrant families whose mothers were in treatment for depression in mental health and primary care clinics. We conclude with key recommendations and directions for how family researchers and practitioners can design the cultural adaptation of interventions to be responsive to the practices, preferences, and needs of underserved communities, including families and service providers.     

Responses to Lucretia B. Yaghjian's “Pedagogical challenges in teaching ESOL/multilingual writers in theological education”

This article consists of four brief responses to Lucretia B. Yaghjian's “Pedagogical challenges in teaching ESOL/Multilingual writers in theological education,” published in this issue of the journal.     

Transfer of conditioned fear and avoidance: Concurrent measurement of arousal and operant responding

A reversal design was employed for the analysis of transfer of fear and avoidance through equivalence classes. Two 5-member equivalence classes (A1-B1-C1-D1-E1 and A2-B2-C2-D2-E2) were established. Then B1 and C1 were paired with shock (CS+) and served as S^Ds in avoidance training (B2 and C2 were trained as CS-/S^∆s for avoidance). Further avoidance training followed with D1 and E1 (as S^Ds) and D2 and E2 (as S^∆s), with the first presentation of each of these stimuli serving as the first transfer test. Afterwards, aversive conditioning contingencies were reversed: B2 and D2 were paired with shock and trained as S^Ds for avoidance, B1 and D1 were presented without shock (CS-/S^∆s). Transfer was tested again with C1, E1, C2 and E2. This reversal was implemented to allow for the within-subject replication of transfer effects upon changes in the function of only a subset of each class's elements. Avoidance (key presses) and conditioned fear (skin conductance and heart rate) were simultaneously measured. Results show a clear transfer effect for avoidance, with between- and within-subject replications. For physiological measures, transfer effects in the first test could only be imputed on the basis of group-based inferential statistical analysis. Evidence for between-subject replication was weaker, with only a limited proportion of participants meeting the individual criterion for transfer.     

Moderating Role of the Experience of having had a Female Boss in Relationship between Neosexism and Unfavorable Attitudes toward Female Leaders

Modern sexist beliefs are currently emerging as one of the most important barriers to achieving gender equality in managerial positions in organizations. However, little research addresses the factors that can reduce or soften the negative effects that these beliefs have on unfavorable attitudes toward female leaders. In the present study, it is analyzed whether the experience of having a female leader moderates this relationship. Additionally, we sought to verify whether this moderation is found in both genders. A sample of 307 employees from various positions in Spanish companies participated in this study. We performed regression analyses in blocks. The results indicate that this moderating role emerges only among women. Nevertheless, the findings also indicate that coming into contact with female leaders can increase these attitudes when the level of neosexism is low. The results suggest that the organizational policies that are introduced with the aim of reducing unfavorable attitudes and discriminatory behaviors toward female leaders should take into account that the assignment of women to leadership positions may favor the achievement of this aim in, at least, female employees who highly adhere to neosexist beliefs. However, this could also lead to an increase of these attitudes in female employees who present a low adherence to them.     

The evolutionary psychology of small‐scale versus large‐scale politics: Ancestral conditions did not include large‐scale politics

The current research question sought to examine political psychology as it relates to evolutionary mismatch. The basic hypothesis is that people will be more cognitively prepared to think about political situations that are relatively small in scale compared with political situations that are large in scale. This research also examined the effects of whether the political situation is highly relevant to oneself. To test these questions, 49 young adults were presented with four sets of instructions. They were asked to write paragraphs describing (i) a large‐scale, self‐relevant political situation, (ii) a large‐scale non‐self‐relevant political situation, (iii) a small‐scale self‐relevant political situation, and (iv) a small‐scale non‐self‐relevant political situation. Paragraphs generated by the participants were analyzed using Tyler's ( 2013 ) Writing Sample Readability Analyzer. Results demonstrated that paragraphs designed for large‐scale political situations had more sentences and were less readable than paragraphs designed for small‐scale situations—while paragraphs designed for small‐scale political situations were relatively readable and included more words per sentence, suggesting that, consistent with the core hypothesis, participants had an easier time processing information related to small‐scale political situations than large‐scale political situations. Implications for the nature of modern politics are discussed.     

Effects of anisomycin on inhibitory avoidance in male and female CD1 mice

The antibiotic anisomycin inhibits protein synthesis, which much research has suggested is required for the formation of long-term memory. The present work studied the effects of acute subcutaneous administration of anisomycin on the consolidation of memory in an inhibitory avoidance task in CD1 mice of both sexes. The animals were separated by sex and randomly distributed into three groups: two groups were injected with 150 mg/kg anisomycin, one immediately after the training phase and the other 24 h later, while the control group received saline. The interval between training and test was four days. Anisomycin administrated immediately after training produced statistically significant impairment of memory, which was not observed when the drug was administered 24 h after training. No sex differences were observed in the effects of anisomycin. These results extend to female mice the memory impairing effects of anisomycin previously observed in males and endorse the hypothesis that the establishment of long-term memory depends on protein synthesis shortly after training.     

Gender and the Construction of Intimacy among Committed Couples with Children

This study began with curiosity regarding how long‐term couples with children manage their relationships in view of changing societal demands and ideals. Couples interviewed for this study described the intersection of time and intimacy as a core issue. Thus, this analysis focused on how couples construct intimacy in shared time. The diverse sample included 17 heterosexual working and professional class couples in the United States who had been committed for at least 10 years and whose oldest child was aged 6–16. Analysis identified four types of shared time experiences: gender divided, elusive, growing, and emotionally connected. Four factors influenced these types: (a) negotiated gendered differences, (b) intentionality, (c) mutual attending, and (d) dyadic friendship. The most emotionally connected couples reported that time together reinforced satisfaction and pleasure from their relationships. Results help explain different ways couples successfully negotiate changing expectations for heterosexual relationships and why some couples struggle. Findings suggest that therapists help couples intentionally develop habits of friendship and mutual attending.     

A pilot study of a family‐focused intervention for children and families affected by maternal depression

A non‐experimental pilot study examined child, mother and family outcomes of a 10‐session multi‐family group intervention designed to reduce risk and promote resilience for mothers with depression and their families. Positive changes following the Keeping Families Strong intervention included mother‐reported decreases in child behaviour and emotional problems, improvements in the quality of family interactions and routines and improvements in their own well‐being and support from others. Children (9–16 years) reported decreased internalizing symptoms, improved coping, increased maternal warmth and acceptance and decreased stressful family events. Attendance and mother‐reported satisfaction were high, indicating the perceived value of the intervention.     

Achievement goals, social goals, and motivational regulations in physical education settings

This study examined the relationship between achievement and social goals, and explored how both goals affect students' level of informed self-determination in Physical Education. Participants were 395 high school students. Three scales were used to assess achievement, social goals, and motivation. Several hierarchical regression analyses revealed that mastery-approach goals were the greatest contributors to the individuals' levels of self-determination. Achievement and social goals were found to be separate predictors of students' levels of self-determination, and this highlights the importance of separating mastery and performance goals into avoidance and approach profiles. Girls reported significantly higher values than boys on responsibility, relationship, and mastery-avoidance goals, whereas boys scored higher on performance-approach goals. Researchers could use achievement and social goals to study students' motivation and achievement in Physical Education settings.