Mother–infant behavioral interactions in teenage and adult mothers during the first six months postpartum: Relations with infant development

The purpose of this study was to compare adolescent mothers' (high‐risk group), at‐risk adult mothers' (moderate‐risk group), and no‐risk adult mothers' (low‐risk group) behavioral interactions at one and six months postpartum, and to examine the relationships between maternal behaviors and infant developmental scores on the Bayley scales. Results indicated that high‐risk teenage mothers and moderate‐risk adult mothers vocalized less and had lower contingency rating scores compared to low‐risk adult mothers. Also, infants in the high‐risk and moderate‐risk groups obtained lower mental scores at six months compared to the low‐risk group. Moderate stability across time was found for maternal vocalizations and infant scores on the mental scale. Maternal vocalizations and behavioral contingency rating scores at one month were associated with infants' six‐month performance on the Bayley scales. Specific intervention strategies were discussed with the aim of targeting and improving early maternal behavioral patterns in at‐risk groups. ©2003 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

A Broader Understanding of Moral Distress

On the traditional view, moral distress arises only in cases where an individual believes she knows the morally right thing to do but fails to perform that action due to various constraints. We seek to motivate a broader understanding of moral distress. We begin by presenting six types of distress that fall outside the bounds of the traditional definition and explaining why they should be recognized as forms of moral distress. We then propose and defend a new and more expansive definition of moral distress and examine how it can enable the development of a taxonomy of moral distress.     

Ecumenical and Inter‐religious Engagement of Asian Pentecostals and Charismatics

The Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) has been a significant platform for all ecumenical organizations and churches in Asia to collaborate. However, although Pentecostal and charismatic churches have been growing rapidly in Asia and a number of megachurches have been founded, none of them have become members of the CCA. This article sets out the official ecumenical engagements of Asian Pentecostals with other Protestant churches and the Roman Catholic Church in recent years, before discussing the ecumenical impact of the charismatic renewal in several Asian countries. Finally, since Asia is the birthplace of Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, and ecumenism is also concerned with inter‐religious relations, it discusses the development of Pentecostalism in the countries dominated by those three religions.     

Neural correlates of Traditional Chinese Medicine induced advantageous risk-taking decision making

This fMRI study examined the neural correlates of the observed improvement in advantageous risk-taking behavior, as measured by the number of adjusted pumps in the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), following a 60-day course of a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) recipe, specifically designed to regulate impulsiveness in order to modulate risk-taking behavior. The 14 participants recruited for this study were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups and the TCM recipe (Panax, 520 mg; Astragalus membranaceous Bunge, 520 mg; Masnetitum, 840 mg; Ostrea gigas Thumb, 470 mg; Thinleaf Milkwort Root Radix Polygalae, 450 mg; and Os Draconis, 470 mg) was administered, as a diet supplement, to the seven participants in the experimental group. The neural activity of the two groups was monitored by a 3T MRI scanner, before and after the 60-day treatment. Associated with the improved advantageous risk-taking behavior seen in the experimental group, significantly stronger blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) responses were observed in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), left putamen, left thalamus, right insula, and right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), regions which have previously been reported as being involved in risk-taking decision making. The effect of the TCM in improving advantageous risk-taking decision making appears to have been related to the enhanced efficiency of the cognitive affective system, the PFC–ACC–insula–striatum network, which functions to inhibit impulsiveness, to sensitize reward-related information, and to allow the opportunity, during risk estimation, to evaluate potential gains and losses. The findings of this study suggest that interventions acting on factors modulating risk-taking decision making could have a beneficial effect in terms of optimizing risk-taking behavior.     

Does Global Context Modulate Cerebral Asymmetries? A Review and New Evidence on Word Imageability Effects

In this article we examine whether the distribution of function across the right and left cerebral hemispheres for lexical processing is influenced by the global context within which words are presented. A review of previously published studies indicates that the ubiquitous right visual field (RVF)/left hemisphere advantage for word recognition may be reduced or eliminated for nouns, content words, or high image words, but only when such items are presented along with verbs, function words, or low image words. However, paradoxically, when the former items are presented in more homogeneous contexts, the RVF advantage is uniformly observed. We propose that the processing efficiency of a hemisphere for a given stimulus depends on that item's relation to the other stimuli provided, that is, the global context. This was examined in a visual half-field experiment that varied whether high and low image nouns were presented in homogeneous (blocked lists) or heterogeneous (mixed lists) contexts. An unvarying RVF advantage was observed for high image words in homogeneous contexts, but this advantage was eliminated when the same items were presented in heterogeneous contexts. We suggest that stimulus heterogeneity maximizes reliance on differing, but complementary, computational biases across hemispheres. Hence, the extent to which the left and right hemispheres are recruited for the recognition of individual word types can vary dynamically with variation in the stimulus environment.     

Common problems and coping strategies I: Findings with normal adolescents

This study investigated problems commonly experienced by adolescents and the strategies they use to cope with these events. Coping strategies were examined across the subjects' omotional state and their evaluation of the problem. In general, adolescents reported four common Stressors that were similar across age groups and gender. However, males differed from females in the frequency of these problems. Further, while the Stressors were similar, the frequency with which the coping strategies were employed and the efficacy ascribed to them differed across sex and across problem type. These findings are discussed in terms of the stress and coping literature with adults and the implications for clinical assessment and treatment of adolescents.     

Development of a Career Task Self-Efficacy Scale: The Kuder Task Self-Efficacy Scale

The present study consisted of developing the Kuder Task Self-Efficacy Scale (KTSES). The KTSES is a 30-item scale measuring a person's self-efficacy for tasks corresponding to Kuder's 10 occupational interest areas (Kuder Zytowski, 1991). Responses from the KTSES were compared with responses to the Self-Esteem Inventory (SES; Rosenberg, 1965) and the Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale (CDMSE; Taylor Betz, 1983) to see if career task self-efficacy was related to self-esteem and career decision-making self-efficacy. Answers to the KTSES were also compared with responses given for occupations corresponding to the Kuder Occupational Interest Survey (KOIS; Kuder Zytowski, 1991) to see if occupational self-efficacy was related to career task self-efficacy. Results supported the validity and reliability of the KTSES. The utility of having a task self-efficacy scale to go with the KOIS is discussed, and ideas for future research are given.     

Self-perceptions of reactions to doing well or poorly: The roles of stability and level of self-esteem

We examined how individual differences in stability and level of self-esteem relate to self-perceptions of reactions to evaluative events. After exposure to either positive or negative mood-inducing stimuli, participants indicated the likelihood that they would react in reasonable, defensive/aggrandizing, and self-deprecating ways to doing well or poorly at something. Compared to stable high self-esteem individuals (stable high SEs), unstable high SEs reported a greater likelihood of reactions that appear to reflect fragile feelings of self-worth (e.g. more defensive/aggrandizing reactions). Fewer differences as a function of stability of self-esteem emerged among low SEs. Mood interacted with the self-esteem variables in the prediction of several reaction categories. These findings lend support for a multifaceted conceptualization of self-esteem and its role in psychological functioning.