Mothers' Parenting and Young Economically Disadvantaged Children's Relational and Overt Bullying

We examined links between mothers' parenting and children's relational bullying and overt bullying in a sample of children attending a Head Start program. Mothers completed surveys and face-to-face interviews. Head Start teachers completed assessments on children. Results indicated that a small percentage of children in the sample was rated by teachers as engaging in relational bullying “frequently to almost always,” and slightly over half of the sample was rated by teachers as engaging in relational bullying “occasionally to about half of the time.” Similar results were found for the frequency with which children engaged in overt physical bullying. Regarding mothers' parenting, maternal empathy was most strongly correlated with both children's relational bullying and overt physical bullying. In addition, mothers' inappropriate developmental expectations for children and mothers' need to exert power over children rather than grant them independence were related to children's relational bullying. A composite variable for mothering predicted 11% of the variance in children's relational bullying. No gender differences were found for children's relational bullying and children's overt bullying.     

The role of self-efficacy in performing emotion work

This study used a sample of 154 cabin attendants to examine the role of self-efficacy in the performance of emotion work. On the basis of the literature, we hypothesized that self-efficacy would have a moderating influence on the relationship between emotional job demands (i.e., feeling rules and emotionally charged interactions with passengers) and emotional dissonance, and on the relationship between emotional dissonance and well-being (emotional exhaustion and work engagement). In addition, we predicted that emotional dissonance mediates the relationship between emotional job demands and well-being. The results of a series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses generally supported these hypotheses. Results confirmed that emotionally charged interactions with passengers are related to emotional exhaustion and engagement through their influence on emotional dissonance. Furthermore, self-efficacy buffers the relationship between emotional job demands and emotional dissonance, and the relationship between emotional dissonance and work engagement (but not exhaustion).     

Credibility of Self‐Report for Ethnic‐Minority Pregnant Smokers1

Two independent samples of pregnant smokers were interviewed about their cigarette smoking and were tested with biochemical markers at the beginning and end of their pregnancies. Participants were mainly unmarried, racial minorities (chiefly Hispanic), and residents of the inner city. Phi coefficients between self‐reported and chemical indicators ranged from .42 to .74. Contrary to expectations, the self‐report/biochemical‐measure correlations were higher at the end than at the beginning of the pregnancy term. The higher end‐of‐term correspondence between self‐report and chemical indicators likely reflected better reliability of the measures, when taken at term. The results are in accord with earlier research with other populations, indicating adequate validity for self‐reported smoking.     

Action monitoring and perfectionism in anorexia nervosa

To study action monitoring in anorexia nervosa, behavioral and EEG measures were obtained in underweight anorexia nervosa patients (n=17) and matched healthy controls (n=19) while performing a speeded choice-reaction task. Our main measures of interest were questionnaire outcomes, reaction times, error rates, and the error-related negativity ERP component. Questionnaire and behavioral results indicated increased perfectionism in patients with anorexia nervosa. In line with their perfectionism and controlled response style patients made significantly less errors than controls. However, when controlling for this difference in error rates, the EEG results demonstrated a reduced error-related negativity in the patient group. These seemingly contradictory outcomes of improved performance and reduced error monitoring are discussed in relation with indications of anterior cingulate cortex hypoactivity in anorexia nervosa patients.     

Anxiety Sensitivity Moderates Relations Among Tobacco Smoking,Panic Attack Symptoms,and Bodily Complaints in Adolescents

The present study evaluated associations among smoking and anxiety sensitivity (fear of anxiety and anxiety related sensations) in predicting panic attack symptomatology, somatic complaints, and depressive symptomatology in a community sample of adolescents (ages 12 to 17 years; N=206). As predicted, the combination of high levels of anxiety sensitivity and being a current smoker predicted panic symptomatology and somatic complaints, but not depressive symptomatology. These findings suggest anxiety sensitivity may moderate the relation between smoking and prototypical panic psychopathology variables (panic attacks and somatic complaints) even after controlling for gender and negative affectivity, and that these associations are specific to panic-relevant processes. The primary implication of the study findings is that there may be segments of the adolescent population who are at relatively greater risk for panic-related problems by virtue of individual differences in AS and smoking status.

Enhancing children's event recall after long delays

The effects of context reinstatement as means of enhancing 5‐ and 6‐year‐old children's event memory in repeated interviews after a 6‐month delay were examined. Children were interviewed immediately after the event (baseline interview) and twice at a 6‐month delay, with 24 hours between interviews. The first 6‐month interview was conducted in a perfect‐context reinstatement (n = 15), imperfect‐context reinstatement (n = 16), or no‐context reinstatement (n = 15) condition. The second 6‐month interview was conducted 24 hours later with no‐context reinstatement for all children. Context reinstatement attenuated the effects of delay on recall. The accuracy of the details reported was greater in the perfect‐context compared to the imperfect‐context and no‐context conditions. Details repeated between the immediate‐baseline interview and in the first 6‐month interview were more accurate than details repeated between the first and second 6‐month interview. There was no increase in recall (hypermnesia) across the first and second 6‐month interviews in any condition. Practical implications of these findings are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preliminary evidence that acute and chronic daily psychological stress affect sexual arousal in sexually functional women

It is assumed that psychological stress may inhibit sexual arousal in women. Research on the effect of (acute and chronic) psychological stressors on genital and subjective sexual arousal, however, is scarce. To investigate whether psychological stressors indeed inhibit sexual responding, sexually functional women were randomly assigned to an experimental condition (n=30) in which acute psychological stress was induced by a frustrating computer task or a control condition (n=29). After the acute psychological stress or control induction women were exposed to an erotic stimulus. Genital sexual arousal was assessed using vaginal photoplethysmography. Self-report ratings of subjective sexual arousal were collected after the erotic stimulus. Furthermore, women were post hoc divided into a 'low' and a 'high' chronic stress group, based on their pre-assessment scores on a chronic daily stress questionnaire. As predicted, it was found that women in the acute stress condition responded with lower levels of genital and subjective sexual arousal to an erotic stimulus than women in the control condition. In addition, women with high levels of chronic stress responded with lower levels of genital sexual arousal to an erotic stimulus than women with low levels of chronic stress. Chronic stress did not affect the level of subjective sexual arousal.     

Secondary control critiqued: is it secondary? is it control? Comment on Morling and Evered (2006)

In an insightful review on secondary control, B. Morling and S. Evered argued that the seminal article spawning the construct (F. Rothbaum, J. R. Weisz, & S. S. Snyder) contained the roots of two distinct conceptualizations focusing on "fit" and "control" and that distinguishing between them clarifies inconsistent research findings. They concluded that the best definition of secondary control focuses on fit. The author of the current commentary agrees with Morling and Evered's premises but draws the opposite conclusion. Herein, it is argued that (a) current control-focused definitions have more valid claims to the term secondary control, and (b) current incarnations that focus on "fit" are important, but they are not secondary and they are not control. Hence, fit-focused constructs should be liberated from the domain of control and studied in their own right, under their own more appropriate label, such as accommodative processes. Moreover, theoretical clarity and depth regarding the functions of fit-focused processes can be gained by examining these processes in relation to other underlying motives, such as belongingness or autonomy, to which they are more closely allied.