Longitudinal Dynamics of Substance Use and Psychiatric Symptoms in Count Data with Zero Inflation

We examine the dynamics of substance use and psychiatric symptoms from childhood to adolescence using a longitudinal study of Mexican-origin families (N = 674). We present a longitudinal model capturing the trajectories of substance use and psychiatric symptoms (depression, conduct disorder), as well as the interrelations between these trajectories over time. Such a model is an extension of latent change score models designed to account for the occurrence of psychiatric symptoms while also accommodating a large amount of zeros for nonoccurrence and characterizing the changes over time in the count data. We compare this model with a more traditional approach based on a log transformation of the data. We describe differences between these approaches and highlight the benefits of using the two-part model when the data include a large amount of zeros for nonoccurrence of the behavior.     

Perceptions of the Limitations of Confidentiality Among Chinese Mental Health Practitioners,Adolescents and Their Parents

The present study aims to (a) survey Chinese mental health professionals’ attitudes toward therapeutic confidentiality with adolescent patients in specific clinical situations, and (b) compare Chinese adolescents’ and parents’ beliefs about when most mental health professionals would breach confidentiality. A sample of 36 mental health practitioners, 152 parents, and 164 adolescents completed a survey to assess their opinions about when confidentiality should be breached in 18 specific clinical situations (e.g., an adolescent tells his or her therapist that he or she smoked a cigarette, had unprotected sex, or attempted suicide). Nearly half of the parents (46%) and adolescents (41%) and 78% of the therapists in our sample selected “yes” in response to the question of whether the principle of confidentiality applies to adolescents. However, 49% of parents indicated “no,” and 53% of adolescents indicated “not sure.” Compared to adolescents, parents were significantly more likely to believe that therapists would breach confidentiality for the high-breach-likelihood items. For the low-breach-likelihood items, adolescents and parents were significantly more likely than therapists to believe confidentiality should be breached. Results from this study provide data to inform the development, refinement, practical implementation, and communication of guidelines and recommendations specific to adolescents receiving psychotherapy in China.     

Owner attention facilitates social play in dog–dog dyads (Canis lupus familiaris): evidence for an interspecific audience effect

Animal Cognition - Domestic dogs are a highly playful species that are evidently sensitive to the attentional state of conspecifics as well as humans. Given that an animal’s social...     

Life-span development of self-esteem and its effects on important life outcomes

We examined the life-span development of self-esteem and tested whether self-esteem influences the development of important life outcomes, including relationship satisfaction, job satisfaction, occupational status, salary, positive and negative affect, depression, and physical health. Data came from the Longitudinal Study of Generations. Analyses were based on 5 assessments across a 12-year period of a sample of 1,824 individuals ages 16 to 97 years. First, growth curve analyses indicated that self-esteem increases from adolescence to middle adulthood, reaches a peak at about age 50 years, and then decreases in old age. Second, cross-lagged regression analyses indicated that self-esteem is best modeled as a cause rather than a consequence of life outcomes. Third, growth curve analyses, with self-esteem as a time-varying covariate, suggested that self-esteem has medium-sized effects on life-span trajectories of affect and depression, small to medium-sized effects on trajectories of relationship and job satisfaction, a very small effect on the trajectory of health, and no effect on the trajectory of occupational status. These findings replicated across 4 generations of participants--children, parents, grandparents, and their great-grandparents. Together, the results suggest that self-esteem has a significant prospective impact on real-world life experiences and that high and low self-esteem are not mere epiphenomena of success and failure in important life domains.     

The link between dispositional pride and creative thinking depends on current mood

Pride has long been considered a characteristic of creative geniuses, but the link between pride and creative thinking has yet to be systematically examined. In Study 1, we found that authentic pride related positively, whereas hubristic pride related negatively to creative thinking, assessed using the Unusual Uses Task, a behavioral measure of creative thinking. In Study 2, we found that the relation between pride and creativity depends on current mood. Specifically, authentic pride was most strongly related to creativity in the happiness condition, whereas hubristic pride was most strongly related to creativity in the anger condition. We discuss implications for understanding the affective processes underlying creativity and the adaptive and maladaptive consequences of pride.     

Dispositional optimism: a psychological resource for Mexican-origin mothers experiencing economic stress

Dispositional optimism is believed to be an important psychological resource that buffers families against the deleterious consequences of economic adversity. Using data from a longitudinal study of Mexican-origin families (N = 674), we tested a family stress model specifying that maternal dispositional optimism and economic pressure affect maternal internalizing symptoms, which, in turn, affects parenting behaviors and children's social adjustment. As predicted, maternal optimism and economic pressure had both independent and interactive effects on maternal internalizing symptoms, and the effects of these variables on changes over time in child social adjustment were mediated by nurturant and involved parenting. The findings replicate and extend previous research on single-parent African American families (Taylor, Larsen-Rife, Conger, Widaman, & Cutrona, 2010), and demonstrate the generalizability of the positive benefits of dispositional optimism in another ethnic group and type of family structure.     

Childhood and Offense-Related Trauma in Young People Imprisoned in England and Wales for Murder and Other Acts of Serious Violence: A Descriptive Study

This study describes the prevalence of traumatic childhood experiences and the extent of trauma-related symptomatology in a group of incarcerated young men within the Young People’s prison estate in England. Semistructured interviews using the Trauma History Interview, the Intrusions and Ruminations Interview, and the Impact of Events Scale–Revised were conducted with 34 young men aged 15 to 17 years who had either murdered or committed serious violence and were serving indeterminate or long-term sentences. Many of the young men had experienced high levels of childhood trauma, and some were still experiencing trauma related to the committal of their offenses approximately 18 months after their offenses had been committed. This is an important finding in relation to the prevalence of unrecognized and untreated traumatized young prisoners.     

The influence of functional social support on executive functioning in middle-aged African Americans

ABSTRACT

Social support has a positive influence on cognitive functioning and buffers cognitive decline in older adults. This study examined the relations between social support and executive functioning in middle-aged adults. A community-based sample of African Americans completed the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List, a measure of functions of social support, and two measures of executive functioning, the Stroop Color and Word Test and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Hierarchical regression analyses were used to explore the hypothesis that different facets of perceived social support influence performance on measures of executive functioning. After controlling for age, gender, and education, social support facets including belonging support, selfesteem support, appraisal support, and tangible support were significant predictors of Stroop performance. In addition, tangible support significantly predicted WCST performance. These findings add to previous literature on social support and cognition; however, findings for middle-aged adults are unique and suggest that social support has a positive influence on some executive functions in African Americans prior to old age.     

Stressors and Coping Strategies among Early and Middle Adolescent Premier League Academy Soccer Players: Differences According to Age

The purpose of this study was to examine stressors and coping strategies among early (12–14 years) and middle adolescents (15–18 years). Forty male academy soccer players, aged between 12–18 years (M age = 14.22 years), participated in semi-structured interviews, which were inductively and deductively content analyzed. Findings revealed that middle adolescents reported more stressors than early adolescents and that these two groups experienced both common and different stressors. Early adolescents identified making errors, opponents, team performance, and family as salient stressors. Making errors, team performance, coaches, selection, contracts, social evaluation, and playing at a higher level were more prominent among middle adolescents. Middle adolescents reported a greater number and repertoire of coping strategies than early adolescents, and used more problem- and emotion-focused strategies, but fewer avoidance strategies than early adolescents. Based on these findings, it is recommended that applied practitioners working within soccer academies take into account the players' age when providing psychological support.     

A tutorial on methods for the modeling and analysis of social network data

This article provides a tutorial review of some fundamental ideas and important methods for the modeling of empirical social network data. It describes basic concepts from graph theory and central elements from social network theory. It presents models for the network degree distribution and for network roles and positions, as well as algebraic approaches, before reviewing recent work on statistical methods to analyze social networks, including boot-strap procedures for testing the prevalence of network structures, basic edge- and dyad-independent statistical models, and more recent statistical network models that assume dependence, exponential random graph models and dynamic stochastic actor oriented models. Network social influence models are reviewed. The article concludes with a summary of new developments relating to models for time-ordered transactions.