Lessons In The Psychology Of Loss: Accounts Of Middle-Aged Romanian Women

Abstract

In studying loss, it is important to develop a cross-cultural, interdisciplinary approach that is concerned with the historical, cultural, and social contexts in which loss occurs. However, the Western field of psychology is less well informed about the experiences and perspectives of loss across various cultures. Many countries in the contemporary world are seeking greater participation in the international community and control over their destinies. The related cultural, political, and social developments are commanding a need for heightened awareness and understanding of ethnic variations in dealing with the social change phenomenon and the psychology of loss.     

Maternal Avoidant Coping Mediates the Effect of Parenting Stress on Depressive Symptoms during Early Adolescence

We examined maternal avoidant coping as a mediator between maternal parenting stress and maternal depressive symptoms during early adolescence. Three years of self-report data were collected from 173 mothers, beginning when mothers’ adolescents were in 6th grade and aged 11–13 years. Utilizing longitudinal path analysis, results indicated that avoidant coping at time two mediated the association between parenting stress at time one and depressive symptoms at time three. Additionally, the reverse direction of effects was examined, revealing that the relation between parenting stress and avoidant coping was unidirectional, while the relation between avoidant coping and depressive symptoms was bidirectional. Our results suggest that during early adolescence, mothers who experience more stress in the parenting role are more likely to engage in higher levels of avoidant coping when faced with parenting problems. In turn, a mother’s long-term avoidant reactions to parenting problems may predict increases in depressive symptoms. Moreover, our findings of a bidirectional relation between avoidant coping and depressive symptoms suggest that prior levels of depression might serve as a barrier to efficient and effective coping. The present study may inform preventive intervention efforts aimed at decreasing the use of avoidance in response to parenting stressors by increasing adaptive parental coping with stressors, and providing appropriate support and resources for parents.     

REVIEWS

WOMAN-AFFIRMING SEX: AN EXAMINATION OF FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES ON WOMEN's SEXUALITY
Sexual Salvation: Affrming Women's Sexual Rights and Pleasures, Naomi B. McCormick. Westport, CT:
THE WIT AND WISDOM OF A FEMINIST SEXOLOGIST
Sex is Not a Natural Act and Other Essays, Leonore Tiefer. Boulder, CO:
THE BATTLEGROUND OF OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS
Male/Female Roles: Opposing Viewpoints. Jonathan S. Petrikin (Ed). San Diego, CA:
Feminism: Opposing Viewpoints. Carol Wekesser. (Ed.). San Diego, CA:
Sexual Values: Opposing Viewpoints. Charles P. Cozic (Ed.). San Diego, CA:
A "FADDISH PREOCCUPATION" COMES INTO ITS OWN
Women and Suicidal Behavior, Silvia Sara Canetto and David Lester (Eds.). New York:     

Targeting those in need: baseline data from the first English National Health Service (NHS) health trainer service

As part of a wider strategy to reduce health inequalities, England's National Health Service has introduced health trainers (HTs) to facilitate healthier behaviour among disadvantaged groups. This study reports baseline data from the first English HT service: assessing whether the HTs reached socially disadvantaged clients engaging in unhealthy behaviours and describing client belief characteristics relevant to the delivery of the service. Data from 864 clients show that the service reached disadvantaged groups and that those groups were engaging in risky health behaviours. Self-efficacy about changing behaviour was not strong and clients were unlikely to have made explicit behaviour-change plans prior to attending the service. Implications for HT services around targeting those most in need and supporting psychological triggers for change are discussed.     

Effects of delay of prospective memory cues in an ongoing task on prospective memory task performance

To address the mixed results reported in previous studies, the present experiments examined forgetting in prospective memory (PM) by manipulating the delay between the PM instructions and cue presentation in event-based PM tasks. PM performance was measured for delays of 2–20 min in Experiment 1 and for delays of approximately 1–10 min in Experiment 2. Experiment 2 included both focal and nonfocal PM tasks, and speed on the ongoing task was measured to examine evidence for monitoring processes across the delays tested. The results suggest that nonfocal PM performance follows a nonlinear forgetting function (i.e., rapid decline for shorter delays and slower decline for longer delays) when tested over delays from 1 to 20 min. No effect of delay was seen for the focal task tested in Experiment 2 from 1 to 10 min. In Experiment 2, ongoing-task costs were also found for the first delay but not for longer delays, suggesting that monitoring was significantly reduced between 1 and 2.5 min of the ongoing-task trials.     

Examining Walkability and Social Capital as Indicators of Quality of Life at the Municipal and Neighborhood Scales

Walkability has been linked to quality of life in many ways. Health related benefits of physical exercise, the accessibility and access benefits of being able to walk to obtain some of your daily needs, or the mental health and social benefits of reduced isolation are a few of the many positive impacts on quality of life that can result from a walkable neighborhood. In the age of increasing energy costs and climate considerations, the ability to walk to important locations is a key component of sustainable communities. While the health and environmental implications of walkable communities are being extensively studied, the social benefits have not been investigated as broadly. Social capital is a measure of an individual’s or group’s networks, personal connections, and involvement. Like economic and human capital, social capital is considered to have important values to both individuals and communities. Through a case study approach this article argues that the generation and maintenance of social capital is another important component of quality of life that may be facilitated by living in a walkable community. Residents living in neighborhoods of varying built form and thus varying levels of walkability in three communities in New Hampshire were surveyed about their levels of social capital and travel behaviors. Comparisons between the more walkable and less walkable neighborhoods show that levels of social capital are higher in more walkable neighborhoods.     

A two-study examination of work–family conflict,production deviance and gender

Building on the spillover and crossover literatures of work–family conflict and the theoretical framework of Conservation of Resources Theory (Hobfoll, 1989) we examine the effects of conflict on production deviance. Using a two-study constructive replication and extension design, we examine how partner work-to-family conflict contributes to job incumbent family-to-work conflict and subsequent engagement in production deviance. In addition, we examine the moderating role of gender on the incumbent family-to-work conflict to production deviance relationship. Study 1 of 344 job incumbents supported the positive relationship between incumbent family-to-work conflict and deviance. In addition, this was moderated by gender such that men engaged in more deviant behaviors in response to family-to-work conflict. Study 2 consisted of 190 matched job incumbents and their partners. These findings supported the mediation of partner work-to-family conflict to production deviance through incumbent family-to-work conflict. Again gender was supported using moderated mediation analysis such that men engaged in more deviant behaviors in response to family-to-work conflict. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

The higher mental processes in the American Journal of Psychology

Research on the higher mental processes throughout the history of The American Journal of Psychology is reviewed. The domains covered include reasoning, judgment and decision, problem solving, and metacognition. Within each domain, the earliest contributions to the Journal are discussed, as is the development of the research domain over time. The increasing refinement of research methods and theoretical tools over time is accompanied by much consistency in research questions.     

Young Adult Women’s Reports of Their Male Romantic Partner’s Pornography Use as a Correlate of Their Self-Esteem, Relationship Quality, and Sexual Satisfaction

Pornography is both prevalent and normative in many cultures across the world, including United States’ culture; however, little is known about the psychological and relational effects that it can have on young adult women involved in heterosexual romantic relationships in which their male partners view pornography. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between men’s pornography use, both frequency and problematic use, on their heterosexual female partner’s psychological and relational well-being among 308 young adult college women. In addition, psychometric properties for the Perceived Partner’s Pornography Use Scale are provided. Participants were recruited at a large Southern public university in the United States and completed an online survey. Results revealed women’s reports of their male partner’s frequency of pornography use were negatively associated with their relationship quality. More perceptions of problematic use of pornography was negatively correlated with self-esteem, relationship quality, and sexual satisfaction. In addition, self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between perceptions of partner’s problematic pornography use and relationship quality. Finally, results revealed that relationship length moderated the relationship between perceptions of partner’s problematic pornography use and sexual satisfaction, with significant dissatisfaction being associated with longer relationship length.     

Genetic and caregiving-based contributions to infant attachment: unique associations with distress reactivity and attachment security

In the longitudinal study reported here, we examined genetic and caregiving-based contributions to individual differences in infant attachment classifications. For 154 mother-infant pairs, we rated mothers' responsiveness to their 6-month-old infants during naturalistic interactions and classified infants' attachment organization at 12 and 18 months using the Strange Situation procedure. These infants were later genotyped with respect to the serotonin-transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR). Maternal responsiveness uniquely predicted infants' attachment security. Infants' 5-HTTLPR variation uniquely predicted their subtype of attachment security at 12 months and their subtype of attachment insecurity at 12 and 18 months. The short allele for 5-HTTLPR was associated with attachment classifications characterized by higher emotional distress. These findings suggest that 5-HTTLPR variation contributes to infants' emotional reactivity and that the degree to which caregivers are responsive influences how effectively infants use their caregivers for emotion regulation. Theoretical implications for the study of genetic and caregiving influences are discussed.