Predicting Quality of Life After Lumbar Spondylodesis

Quality of life after spondylodesis was predicted by pretreatment psychological variables and findings in a standardized physical examination. Four quality-of-life criteria were used: functional capacity, vocational rehabilitation, satisfaction with the outcome of the operation, and pain intensity recorded in a pain diary. Those of six presurgery variables that proved to be associated with the outcome 9 months postsurgery, by means of a multiple stepwise regression procedure, were selected for discriminant analyses. The sample consisted of 50 consecutive patients who underwent either ventral (n = 10) or posterolateral (n = 40) spondylodesis with or without posterior instrumentation. Their average age was 44.9 years (SD = 12.9) with an average duration of pain of 8.6 years (SD = 8.8). Nearly half of the patients had had previous spine surgery. Follow-up data indicate that about half of the patients show a beneficial outcome in terms of quality-of-life measures. Discriminant analyses suggest that poor presurgical functional capacity and an unclear finding in the physical examination before surgery contribute to our knowledge about patients who are likely to show continuous pain and poor functional capacity after surgery.     

Gender stereotypes in education: Development,consequences, and interventions

Despite many efforts to increase gender fairness in education in recent years, the issue has not yet become obsolete: Gender discrimination still exists and finds expression in unused chances and limited action repertoires for both sexes. This article gives an overview on existing gender differences across the lifespan before providing explanations for these differences from a developmental perspective. We present psychological theories of development dealing with the adoption of gender typical preferences and behaviors in children, and draw the connection to the role parents’ and teachers’ gender stereotypes play in this process. The mechanisms contributing to the perpetuation of gender differences are illustrated via empirical studies. Finally, we offer starting points for interventions to prevent the development of these gender differences, and introduce the REFLECT program which enhances gender competence in secondary school teachers and their students, and a training program for kindergarten teachers as concrete examples of such interventions.     

What's in an accent? General spontaneous biases against nonnative accents: An investigation with conceptual and auditory IATs

Nonnative accents are prevalent in our globalized world and constitute highly salient cues in social perception. Whereas previous literature has commonly assumed that they cue specific social group stereotypes, we propose that nonnative accents generally trigger spontaneous negatively biased associations (due to a general nonnative accent category and perceptual influences). Accordingly, Study 1 demonstrates negative biases with conceptual IATs, targeting the general concepts of accent versus native speech, on the dimensions affect, trust, and competence, but not on sociability. Study 2 attests to negative, largely enhanced biases on all dimensions with auditory IATs comprising matched native–nonnative speaker pairs for four accent types. Biases emerged irrespective of the accent types that differed in attractiveness, recognizability of origin, and origin‐linked national associations. Study 3 replicates general IAT biases with an affect IAT and a conventional evaluative IAT. These findings corroborate our hypotheses and assist in understanding general negativity toward nonnative accents.     

Ethnic Differences in Substance Use Patterns in a Sample of Pregnant Substance‐Using Women in Treatment

This study investigated substance use patterns among 192 pregnant substance‐using women to assess whether ethnic differences exist regarding drugs of choice, frequency and recency of use, and severity of use. Substance use patterns differed across ethnic groups. Alaska Native women were more likely to choose alcohol as their primary drug of choice and less likely to choose cocaine; White women used a wider variety of substances in their lifetime and used substances more often. Alaska Native women had an earlier age of onset of use and more blackouts. These findings suggest that prevention and intervention efforts have to be tailored to the targeted audience.     

Belonging to a majority reduces the immediate need threat from ostracism in individuals with a high need to belong

Ostracism—being ignored and excluded—threatens the basic human needs for belonging, self‐esteem, control, and meaningful existence. This work introduces belonging to a majority as a buffer against the immediate negative impact of ostracism on basic needs for individuals with a high need to belong, for whom social groups are especially relevant. Three studies show that for individuals high in the need to belong, need threat was attenuated by membership in a majority group, but not by membership in a minority group (Studies 1 and 3) or a group of unknown size (Study 2). By contrast, individuals low in the need to belong—who place less importance on group membership in general—did not benefit from belonging to a majority group. The general pattern replicated across different manipulations of group membership and social exclusion, with two measures of need threat, and with participants from two different countries.     

Mechanisms underlying heightened risk taking in adolescents as compared with adults

Self-report surveys and behavioral tasks indicate greater risk-taking behavior in adolescents as compared with adults. However, the underlying causes of these behavioral differences remain unclear. The present study examined the possibility that adolescents may be more susceptible to immediate positive and negative outcomes than adults. We compared the behavior of adolescents and adults on a modified version of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (Lejuez et al., 2002). The task required that participants press a button to "inflate" a series of balloons on a computer screen. Balloons inflated until either the participant released the button ("saved" balloons) or the balloon "burst." Accumulated points increased as the duration of the buttonpress increased; however, simultaneously, the likelihood that the balloon would burst also increased. Adolescents inflated balloons to a larger size prior to saving them than adults did, suggesting relatively higher levels of risk taking, although the adolescents' behavior was not uniformly risk prone. Further, in comparison with adults, behavior in adolescents was more influenced by whether a balloon was saved or had burst on the preceding trial, suggesting that sensitivity to immediate consequences is one mechanism that underlies the observed difference in risk taking.