The Self in Movement: Being Identified and Identifying Oneself in the Process of Migration and Asylum Seeking

How migration influences the processes of identity development has been under longstanding scrutiny in the social sciences. Usually, stage models have been suggested, and different strategies for acculturation (e.g., integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization) have been considered as ways to make sense of the psychological transformations of migrants as a group. On an individual level, however, identity development is a more complex endeavor: Identity does not just develop by itself, but is constructed as an ongoing process. To capture these processes, we will look at different aspects of migration and asylum seeking; for example, the cultural-specific values and expectations of the hosting (European) countries (e.g., as identifier), but also of the arriving individuals/groups (e.g., identified as refugees). Since the two may contradict each other, negotiations between identities claims and identity assignments become necessary. Ways to solve these contradictions are discussed, with a special focus on the experienced (and often missing) agency in different settings upon arrival in a new country. In addition, it will be shown how sudden events (e.g., 9/11, the Charlie Hebdo attack) may challenge identity processes in different ways.     

Protective behavioral strategies and the relationship between depressive symptoms and alcohol-related negative consequences among college students

Approximately 40% of college students reported engaging in heavy episodic or "binge" drinking in the 2 weeks prior to being surveyed. Research indicates that college students suffering from depression are more likely to report experiencing negative consequences related to their drinking than other students are. The reasons for this relationship have not been well-studied. Hence, the purpose of this study was to determine whether use of protective behavioral strategies (PBS), defined as cognitive-behavioral strategies an individual can use when drinking alcohol that limit both consumption and alcohol-related problems, mediated the relationship between depressive symptoms and alcohol-related negative consequences among college students. Data were obtained from 686 participants from a large, public university who were referred to an alcohol intervention as a result of violating on-campus alcohol policies. Results from structural equation modeling analyses indicated that use of PBS partially mediated the relationship between depressive symptoms and alcohol-related negative consequences. Implications for clinicians treating college students who report experiencing depressive symptoms or consuming alcohol are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).     

The Benefits of Using Psychotherapy Skills Following Treatment for Depression: An Examination of “Afterwork” and a Test of the Skills Hypothesis in Older Adults

It has long been assumed that one of the reasons clients maintain improvement after psychotherapy is that they learn skills during the course of therapy and continue to apply them once therapy has ended. While research on homework completion and psychotherapy outcome provides support for this assumption, there has been no direct examination of “afterwork,” the use of skills learned in therapy after therapy has ended, or how those posttherapy skills differ across different theoretical approaches. The purpose of this study is to test a skills hypothesis of long-term psychotherapeutic benefit in a sample of 90 older adults who have completed psychotherapy for depression. Helpfulness of the techniques learned in therapy was negatively associated with depressive symptoms up to 2 years after treatment. The number of techniques used was positively correlated with depressive symptoms within 6 months of treatment once helpfulness was controlled, indicating that skills learned in therapy are used when symptoms return. There were also between-group differences in which skills were reported to be covered and used by patients after therapy ended. These findings support the expectation that the benefits of therapy are extended by continuing to use helpful skills learned in therapy.     

Measuring alcohol-related protective behavioral strategies among college students: further examination of the Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale.

Heavy drinking among college students has been recognized as a public health problem on American college campuses (e.g., R. Hingson, T. Heeren, M. Winter, & H. Wechsler, 2005). Recently, protective behavioral strategies, or cognitive-behavioral strategies that can be implemented when using alcohol to reduce consumption and resulting negative consequences, have been shown to be associated with less alcohol use and fewer alcohol-related problems (e.g., S. L. Benton et al., 2004; M. P. Martens et al., 2005). The purpose of the present study was to conduct additional psychometric work on a measure designed to assess the use of such strategies: the Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale (PBSS; M. P. Martens et al., 2005). Data were collected on 505 undergraduate students from 2 universities who reported having consumed alcohol at least once in the past 30 days. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized 3-factor version of the PBSS, and scores on each subscale were correlated in the expected direction with both alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. Thus, the PBSS appears to be reliable and valid for use among college student drinkers.     

Self-monitoring and the prediction of one's own and others' personality test scores

This study had two aims. Firstly, it examined the similarity between subjects' ratings of themselves and others and their scores on various personality tests. A group of 264 undergraduates in psychology completed Snyder's (1974) Self-Monitoring Scale and the Neuroticism and Extraversion Scales from the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Eysenck and Eysenck, 1975; 1986). Then, they estimated both their own score and that of a peer on those questionnaires. The results showed that subjects (i) were fairly good at estimating their own and others' extraversion and neuroticism scores, (ii) were less accurate at estimating self-monitoring scores, (iii) were better at predicting their own scores than those of others, and (iv) erroneously believed themselves to be significantly similar to the chosen peer. Secondly, individual differences in the accuracy of personality estimation were studied. According to Synder's (1974) self-monitoring construct, people high in self-monitoring would be especially adept at reading others' expressive behaviours; therefore, any differences in the accuracy of perceiving the personality of others might be associated with differences in self-monitoring. High self-monitors were more accurate than low self-monitors at estimating neuroticism scores for others. Another implication of the self-monitoring theory is that, taking high and low self-monitors as targets of others' estimations, there should be greater discrepancy between actual scores and peer estimations for high self-monitors. The results here supported this prediction, but only in self-monitoring estimation.     

Activation and elaboration effects in recognition and word priming

Two experiments investigated the effect of direct and indirect activation on subsequent accessibility to individual items. In the first experiment, words were semantically processed in the context of either phonologically (rhyming) or conceptually (categorical) related words and tested subsequently for recognition and word completion. On the completion test the initial three letters of a word are presented for completion. The previously presented target word is one of several possible completions. The presence of different contexts had no differential effect either on recognition memory—which persisted at high levels for two days—or on completion—which decayed in the course of about 15 min.

In the second experiment, the contexts were presented but the target words were not. Thus the rhyming and categorical contexts were directly activated but not the actual words that were scored on the subsequent tests. Prior activation of phonologically similar items affected both recognition and completion performance on immediate testing, but not after 10 min. Conceptual activation affected only recognition—an effect that lasted for a period of days. Completion performance demonstrates access to the integration component of recognition. The results were compared with attempts to demonstrate independence of recognition and completion.     

Coping strategies,stress and health of grandmothers caring for ascending and descending relatives / Afrontamiento,estrés y salud en abuelas cuidadoras de familiares ascendentes y descendentes

The progressive increase in life expectancy and the verticalization of the family mean that the provision of family care can be stressful and risky for the health of grandmothers who act as caregivers. One hundred and twenty grandmothers were interviewed in southwest Spain; they were daughters of a generation still characterized by high levels of dependence. A questionnaire with standardized psychological scales and items specifically designed for the study was used. Results showed that the burden of the instrumental and economic support had a detrimental effect on their health through stress, which in turn increased when they used coping strategies of denial and self-blame, and decreased with acceptance of reality and when they sought emotional support.     

Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence: Relationship with Personality,Prosociality and Well-Being

Appreciation of beauty and excellence (ABE) is one of the least studied character strengths. Therefore, this study aims at advancing the knowledge in this area by (1) developing a scale that measures the three categories of appreciation (i.e., beauty, moral excellence, and non-moral excellence), (2) assessing many of its psychometric properties, and (3) examining the relationship of ABE with personality, prosociality, and well-being. In Study 1, we create and assess an initial set of items measuring ABE. In Study 2, we examine the dimensionality of ABE, and test the internal consistency and validity of the scale. Moreover, we assess the relationships between ABE and personality, prosociality and well-being. In Study 3, we test the temporal stability of the scale. Results revealed that a three-dimensional model of ABE showed the best fit to the data. The scale showed good validity (construct, factorial, incremental) and reliability (internal and temporal). Finally, ABE yielded positive associations with prosociality and well-being, and demonstrated to be more than a linear combination of the Big Five factors of personality.