Sexual Prejudice among Christian College Students, Denominational Teachings, and Personal Religious Beliefs

Although numerous studies have examined the role of religious tradition and religiosity on attitudes toward lesbian, gay, and bisexual people, the role of endorsement of denominational teachings has largely been overlooked, even though such teachings are often cited to explain study findings. To better understand the complex relationship between religion and sexual prejudice, this study explores the unique contributions of religious tradition, religiosity, and individual endorsement of denominational doctrine about same-sex sexuality in shaping these attitudes. Findings indicate that endorsement of denominational doctrine concerning same-sex sexuality is more influential than religiosity, and that endorsement of denominational doctrine is not simply a proxy for believing that same-sex sexuality is a sin. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Less is more: The effect of multiple implementation intentions targeting unhealthy snacking habits

Implementation intentions have been shown to effectively change counter‐intentional habits. Research has, however, almost solely been concerned with the effectiveness of a single plan. In the present research, we investigated the behavioral and cognitive implications of making multiple implementation intentions targeting unhealthy snacking habits and its underlying processes, linking multiple habitual snacking cues to healthy alternatives. Study 1 revealed that formulating multiple implementation intentions was not effective in decreasing unhealthy snacking, whereas formulating a single plan successfully induced behavior change. By using a lexical decision task in Study 2, it was found that when making a single plan, but not multiple plans, the healthy alternative became cognitively more accessible in response to a critical cue prime than the habitual response. However, when making additional plans in an unrelated domain, the negative effects of making multiple plans were absent. In sum, the current findings suggest that formulating multiple implementation intentions is ineffective when changing unwanted behavior. These reduced effects of multiple implementation intentions do not occur when making the plan but are rather due to interference in the enacting phase of the planning process. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Motor Development During the First Year: A Comparative Study

This investigation of the motor development characteristics of Brazilian infants during the 1st year of postnatal life compared the findings with those of a widely used U.S. sample (N. Bayley, 1993). Analysis of the 12 monthly assessments indicated that Brazilian infants' scores increased with age, with the greatest increase occurring over the first 8 months. As a general comparison, the results are similar to the U.S. patterns of development. However, the Brazilian sample exhibited mean scores significantly lower than the U.S. sample's in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th months. More specific analyses indicated that the difference within these months was on tasks of sitting and grasping. Possible explanations for the differences focus on variations in child-rearing practices and the influence of biological maturation in early movement behaviors.     

Sport type and interpersonal and intrapersonal predictors of body dissatisfaction in high school female sport participants

Through multiple group structural equation modeling analyses, path models were used to test the predictive effects of sport type and both interpersonal (i.e., mothers’ body dissatisfaction, family dynamics) and intrapersonal factors (i.e., athletic self-efficacy, body mass index [BMI]) on high school female sport participants’ (N = 627) body dissatisfaction. Sport types were classified as esthetic/lean (i.e., gymnastics), non-esthetic/lean (i.e., cross-country), or non-esthetic/non-lean (i.e., softball). Most participants reported low body dissatisfaction, and body dissatisfaction did not differ across sport types. Nevertheless, mothers’ body dissatisfaction was positively associated with daughters’ body dissatisfaction for non-esthetic/lean and non-esthetic/non-lean sport participants, and high family cohesion was predictive of body dissatisfaction among non-esthetic/lean sport participants. Across sport types, higher BMI was associated with greater body dissatisfaction, whereas greater athletic self-efficacy was associated with lower body dissatisfaction. These findings highlight the complex relationship between interpersonal and intrapersonal factors and body dissatisfaction in adolescent female sport participants.     

Attachment,Mental Health,and Verbal Aggressiveness in Personal Relationships

This study examined the association between verbal aggressiveness and individual differences in attachment orientations and mental health, defined as a state of emotional well-being. One hundred and thirty-two college-aged students completed measures assessing their attachment orientations, mental health, and verbal aggressiveness. Results indicated that security in attachment was negatively associated with verbal aggressiveness, and preoccupation with relationships was positively associated with verbal aggressiveness. In addition, mental health was negatively associated with verbal aggressiveness. Results indicated support for a statistical model in which mental health mediated the association between attachment orientations and verbal aggressiveness.     

Childhood Domestic Violence Exposure among a Community Sample of Adult Perpetrators: What Mediates the Connection?

The association between childhood exposure to domestic violence and later intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration in adulthood has been well established in the literature. However, the literature examining the factors of exposure that contribute to perpetration in adulthood is fraught with mixed findings, with some studies finding a direct link between childhood domestic violence exposure and later IPV perpetration and others ruling out a link after controlling for other contextual barriers such as community violence and socioeconomic status. This study examined 124 non-treatment-seeking and unadjudicated adult male IPV perpetrators and found exposure to domestic violence in childhood contributes to the normalization of violence, which could predict future adult IPV perpetration. Practice implications are discussed, namely primary and secondary prevention of intimate partner violence.     

Childhood Cruelty to Animals: Psychiatric and Demographic Correlates

This retrospective study compared frequencies of aggressive behaviors and abuse histories noted during a psychiatric intake assessment for children where animal cruelty was endorsed and a control sample of youth for whom animal cruelty was not endorsed to determine if rates of concerning behaviors differed significantly. Relative to the control group, the cruelty group was significantly more likely to have had problems with peers, perpetrated bullying, experienced sexual abuse, and have a history of sexually acting out. Recommendations for childhood animal cruelty screening in mental health settings are discussed.     

Closure of autobiographical memories moderates their directive effect on behaviour

Specific autobiographical memories have been theorised to serve a directive function, whereby the content of the memory directs behaviour outside awareness. The present research tested whether the extent to which a memory feels low in closure, or psychologically not in the past, moderates this directive effect. A total of 163 participants in an online experiment were asked to recollect a specific autobiographical memory of a time they had failed to donate to charity, or were not asked to recollect a memory. Those who recollected a memory were randomly assigned to think of the memory as high versus low in closure. Recollecting an autobiographical memory made to feel low in closure led to more memory-relevant behaviour than either recollecting a memory made to feel high in closure, or no memory at all. Moreover, the directive effect of a low-closure memory occurred whether participants were made aware of an upcoming behavioural opportunity or not. Discussion centres on possible processes linking low closure and behaviour, as well as implications for the self-memory system theory of autobiographical memory.     

Psychological closure as a memory phenomenon

A theory is proposed that life events are remembered with a satisfying sense of closure when there is decreased emotional detail in the constructed autobiographical memory representation. The first three studies show that, although properties of the experienced event (such as valence and recency) accounted for some variance in participants' sense of closure, the amount of emotional detail in the memory was also a significant predictor. The third study shows that emotion-focused biased retelling of the experience increased emotional detail and decreased the sense of closure participants reported. Related approaches and implications for psychological adjustment are discussed.     

A one year study of coping,social support and quality of life in parkinson's disease

Abstract

The role of coping and social support in the quality of life for Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients is not well understood. Most studies are cross-sectional and concentrate on depression as an outcome measure. The aim of the present study was to explore the role of coping and social support in quality of life for patients with PD. Self-report measures were completed by 105 sufferers of PD; 75 completed the same questionnaire a year later. Patients had the most problems with social function, followed by problems with mobility control and psychological autonomy and communication. After controlling for age, gender and illness duration, the number of PD symptoms predicted mobility control, social functioning and psychological function. Passive coping explained additional variance in most functional domains with more passive coping being related to increased problems. The quality of life was highly stable over the course of the year. Active coping was related to superior psychological functioning one year later. In fact, this was the only coping and social support variable related to functioning after one year, when controlling for previous functions. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of symptom management in PD.