Observer ratings of health and sickness: can other people tell us anything about our health that we don't already know?

After administering interviews covering health conditions, physical limitations, optimism, and affect to 851 older adults, interviewers rated the health and sickness of the interviewees. Observers' ratings of health and sickness were more highly correlated with the severity of participants' self-reported health conditions than were participants' self-ratings of health. This finding is likely attributable to participants' self-ratings of health being more highly correlated with their optimism and positive affect than the observers' ratings. Participants rated as sicker and less healthy at baseline were at a 3 times greater risk for mortality over 114 months. This association was independent of participants' self-rated health as well as demographics, self-reported health conditions, years of smoking, physical limitations, body mass index, optimism, and affect.     

Aggression and Fire: Antisocial Behavior in Firesetting and Nonfiresetting Juvenile Offenders

This study examined the association between firesetting and antisocial behavior in 219 juvenile offenders. The study showed, through a series of a priori model comparisons using confirmatory factor analysis, that reliable data on both firesetting (n = 85) and nonfiresetting (n = 134) juvenile offenders best fit a 3-factor model composed of aggressive, nonaggressive, and oppositional antisocial behavior. Although the same general structure of antisocial behavior best fit the data for both groups, the firesetting group exhibited a significantly higher variety and frequency of aggressive and total antisocial acts and an earlier age of index arrest. It is argued that results from this study support a conceptualization of firesetting as accompanying serious and versatile antisocial behavior. Consistency with an early starter pattern of antisocial behavior among firesetting offenders is noted, and evidence suggesting that firesetting is indicative of developmentally advanced, serious, and varied antisocial behavior among troubled youth is discussed.     

Adolescent Neurodevelopment and Psychopathology

Adolescence is a high-risk period for the onset of psychopathology. The occurrence of depression increases markedly in the years following the onset of puberty, and most individuals who are eventually diagnosed with a psychotic disorder show a marked rise in adjustment problems during adolescence. It is well established that puberty involves increases in the secretion of gonadal hormones. More recently, research has shown that stress hormones show a similar normative rise following puberty. Accumulating findings indicate that the postpubescent period is also characterized by significant neurodevelopment; there are changes in brain structure and function that are partially a consequence of hormonal factors. Researchers are now challenged to elucidate the neural mechanisms relating postpubertal neurodevelopment with the elevations in risk for psychopathology that characterize adolescence. One plausible mechanism is the effect of hormones on gene expression. The normal neuromaturational processes observed in adolescence partially reflect the effect of gonadal hormones on the expression of genes that control brain development. Hormone surges following puberty may also trigger the expression of genes that code for brain abnormalities that give rise to mental disorders.     

Genes in Context: Gene–Environment Interplay and the Origins of Individual Differences in Behavior

ABSTRACT— Interactions between genes and the environment are a critical feature of development. Insights into the dynamic interplay between these factors have come from laboratory studies exploring experience-dependent changes in gene function, which illustrate the importance of environmental factors in determining activity of the genome. These studies have implications for our understanding of the origins of individual differences in behavior and may provide new ways of thinking about the transmission of traits across generations. Here we will highlight how these new findings illustrate the importance of putting genes in context.     

What is Equity in Education? Reflections from the Capability Approach

While there is a substantial conceptual literature on equality in education, there has been little clarificatory discussion on the term equity, despite its frequent use in policy and planning documents. The article draws out some different ways in which equity can be understood in education. It distinguishes three forms of equity, looking at the social context when major shifts in the meaning of the term took place in English—the fourteenth century, the sixteenth century and the eighteenth century. Terming these equity from below, equity from above, and equity from the middle, the analysis highlights how each helps clarify aspects of the concern with diversity within the capability approach. The conclusion drawn is that all three forms of equity need to be placed in articulation to expand capabilities in education.     

Perceptions of Clients and Counseling Professionals Regarding Spirituality in Counseling

Although current research indicates that psychotherapeutic change both affects and is affected by spiritual concerns, relatively little is known about the degree to which spirituality is used as an intervention in counseling and how it is perceived by clients and mental health professionals. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of clients and professionals regarding the use of spirituality in counseling. The results suggest that more professionals may be using spirituality in counseling than has previously been reported.     

The Traditional Explanation for Resistance Versus Attitude Accessibility

This investigation compared the traditional explanation for the way inoculation confers resistance to influence with an alternative rationale for resistance based on attitude accessibility. Four hundred forty‐three participants took part in the investigation in four phases spanning 54 days. The combined multiple regression and structural equation modeling results suggest that the traditional and alternative explanations for the way that inoculation confers resistance involve separate processes; counterarguing and accessibility appear to be distinct tracks en route to resistance, but the two explanations also are overlapping processes in which elicited threat plays an integral role.     

African and African American Graduate Students' Racial Identity and Personal Problem-Solving Strategies

This study examined differences on the Racial Identity Attitude Scale (RIAS; Helms & Parham, 1985) and the Problem Solving Inventory (PSI; Heppner, 1981, 1988) among 34 African and 48 African American graduate students. Significant differences were found on the preencounter and internalization scales of the RIAS. There were no group differences in coping ability as measured by the PSI. In addition, the African group experienced an acculturation effect as time in the United States was extended beyond 3 years. These differences in racial identity states have implications for cross-cultural counseling.     

The Therapeutic Frame: On the Need for Flexibility

A fundamental function of the therapeutic frame is protection of the therapeutic process from the intrusion of elements antithetical to the best interest of the client and detrimental to treatment outcome. It is argued that dogmatic interpretation of the frame promotes conformity rather than growth in the client, blinds the therapist to legitimate issues of client diversity, and constricts the therapist's ability to be appropriately responsive to the client. It is suggested that while the frame is essential to maintain the focus of treatment on the welfare of the client, inflexible adherence undermines this purpose.