Staff-patient relationships and outcomes in schizophrenia: the role of staff attributions

We investigated associations between staff-patient relationships and outcomes in a randomised controlled trial of motivational interventions for drug and alcohol misuse in schizophrenia. Participants were 204 patients and their care co-ordinators. We assessed relationship status (positive versus neutral) and staff attributions of control using Five Minute Speech Samples collected at baseline. We examined associations between this baseline data and symptoms at 12-months follow-up. We found that dyads with positive relationships at baseline had significantly less symptoms at 12-months compared to those dyads with neutral relationships. As predicted, care co-ordinators with positive relationships were less likely to attribute patients' problems as being within their control. The findings highlight the potentially important role of positive staff-patient relationships in outcomes. Our findings are also in line with the hypothesis that staff attributions may contribute to the development of more positive relationships.     

Everyday conceptions of object fall: explicit and tacit understanding during middle childhood

Adults make erroneous predictions about object fall despite recognizing when observed displays are correct or incorrect. Prediction requires explicit engagement with conceptual knowledge, whereas recognition can be achieved through tacit processing. Therefore, it has been suggested that the greater challenge imposed by explicit engagement leads to elements of conceptual understanding being omitted from prediction that are included in recognition. Acknowledging that research with children provides a significant context for exploring this "omission hypothesis" further, this article reports two studies with 6- to 10-year-olds, each of which used prediction and recognition tasks. Study 1 (N=137) focused on understanding of direction of fall, and Study 2 (N=133) addressed speed. Although performance on the recognition tasks was generally superior to performance on the prediction tasks, qualitative differences also emerged. These differences argue against interpreting explicit level understanding purely in terms of omission of tacit constructs, and the article outlines alternative models that may account for the data.     

The codevelopment of skill at and preference for use of retrieval-based processes for solving addition problems: individual and sex differences from first to sixth grades

The ability to retrieve basic arithmetic facts from long-term memory contributes to individual and perhaps sex differences in mathematics achievement. The current study tracked the codevelopment of preference for using retrieval over other strategies to solve single-digit addition problems, independent of accuracy, and skilled use of retrieval (i.e., accuracy and reaction time [RT]) from first to sixth grades inclusive (N=311). Accurate retrieval in first grade was related to working memory capacity and intelligence, and it predicted a preference for retrieval in second grade. In later grades, the relation between skill and preference changed such that preference in one grade predicted accuracy and RT in the next grade as RT and accuracy continued to predict future gains in preference. In comparison with girls, boys had a consistent preference for retrieval over other strategies and had faster retrieval speeds, but the sex difference in retrieval accuracy varied across grades. Results indicate that ability influences early skilled retrieval, but both practice and skill influence each other in a feedback loop later in development and provide insights into the source of the sex difference in problem-solving approaches.     

Developing a Prevention Synthesis and Translation System to Promote Science‐Based Approaches to Teen Pregnancy,HIV and STI Prevention

The Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation (ISF) is a multi‐system framework that can guide research‐to‐practice efforts by building and supporting the work of three interacting systems: the Prevention Delivery, Support, and Synthesis and Translation Systems. The Synthesis and Translation system is vital to bridging science and practice, yet how to develop it and train support system partners to use it is under‐researched. This article bridges this gap by offering a case example of the planning, development, and use of a synthesis and translation product called Promoting Science‐based Approaches to Teen Pregnancy Prevention using Getting To Outcomes. The case presented documents the process used for developing the synthesis and translation product, reports on efforts to engage the Prevention Support system to use the product, and how we approached building interaction between the Synthesis and Translation System and the Support System partners. Practice‐oriented evaluation data are also presented. Implications for practice, policy and research are discussed. Special Issue: Advances in Bridging Research and Practice Using the Interactive System Framework for Dissemination and Implementation; Guest Editors: Abraham Wandersman, Paul Flaspohler, Catherine A. Lesesne, Richard Puddy; Action Editor: Emilie Phillips Smith     

Perceived regard explains self- esteem differences in expressivity

Baumeister, Tice, and Hutton proposed that individuals with low self-esteem (LSEs) adopt a more cautious, self-protective self-presentational style than individuals with high self-esteem (HSEs). The authors predicted that LSEs' self-protectiveness leads them to be less expressive-less revealing of their thoughts and feelings-with others than HSEs, and that this self-esteem difference is mediated by their perceptions of the interaction partner's regard for them. Two correlational studies supported these predictions (Studies 1 and 2). Moreover, LSEs became more expressive when their perceived regard was experimentally heightened-when they imagined speaking to someone who was unconditionally accepting rather than judgmental (Study 3) and when their perceptions of regard were increased through Marigold, Holmes, and Ross's compliment-reframing task (Study 4). These findings suggest that LSEs' expressiveness can be heightened through interventions that reduce their concerns about social acceptance.