On the Measurement of Implicative Dilemmas

The implicative dilemma (ID) is gradually receiving attention of clinical psychologists and researchers. Although research on its clinical relevance is promising, there are still some issues regarding its measurement that need further consideration. This article explores the adequacy of the different thresholds used to determine construct association, the efficacy of the different indices commonly used to measure IDs, and a verification of the ID not being a mere subproduct of the self-ideal distance. It also introduces a new index. Finally, guidelines are provided for practitioners on how to interpret the indices' numerical results in relation to major depression.     

Ethical challenges in the COVID-19 research context: a toolkit for supporting analysis and resolution

ABSTRACTCOVID-19 is compromising all aspects of society, with devastating impacts on health, political, social, economic and educational spheres. A premium is being placed on scientific research as the source of possible solutions, with a situational imperative to carry out investigations at an accelerated rate. There is a major challenge not to neglect ethical standards, in a context where doing so may mean the difference between life and death. In this paper we offer a rubric for considering the ethical challenges in COVID-19 related research, in the form of an ethics toolkit for global research developed at the University of Edinburgh in collaboration with more than 200 global researchers from around the world. This toolkit provides a framework to support confrontation of ethical conflicts through the integrated and iterative analysis of Place, People, Principles and Precedents, throughout the research journey. Two case analyses are offered to exemplify the utility of the toolkit as a flexible and dynamic tool to promote ethical research in the context of COVID-19.     

PERCEIVED FREQUENCY OF ROLE CONFLICT AND RELATIONSHIP QUALITY FOR CAREGIVING DAUGHTERS

A role-conflict approach was employed to explore the impact of perceived frequency of conflict between caregiving and other obligations on the quality of relationships between daughters and their care-receiving mothers. Frequency of conflict between caregiving and responsibilities as a wife, mother, and paid and unpaid worker was assessed. Daughters reported relatively infrequent conflict between caregiving and other obligations. A multiple regression analysis revealed that daughters who reported frequent conflict between their obligations as caregivers and their obligations as wives had poorer relationships with their mothers. The findings emphasize the importance of a supportive spouse for married caregivers.     

The Psychological Well-Being of Women in Their Middle Years

In summary, educated, married women in their fifties generally appear to be happy regardless of their employment status, age, so-cioeconomic status, educational level, husband's attitude, life stressors, and menopausal symptoms. The empty nest transition does not seem to be anything near a universal problem for well-educated middle-aged women. It may, however, act as a "trigger event" for women with other significant problems, just as illness or retirement might trigger distress in some women. The empty nest transition does appear to be very important to women, but it seems that coping ability may be predictive of who will successfully deal with the adjustment. One implication of this finding for psychologists dealing with women in this stage is to teach general coping skills and apply them to specific problem areas relevant to this life stage such as empty nest, career decisions, retirement planning, health care, religion, recreation, and financial security.