A comparison of personality function among patients with seasonal depression, nonseasonal depression, and nonclinical participants

Although a large body of research has accumulated concerning the relationship between nonseasonal depression and personality, comparatively few studies have examined the relationship between seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and personality. This study compared dimensional aspects of personality in patients diagnosed with SAD (N = 60), nonseasonal depression (N = 273), and nonclinical controls (N = 297) using the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology (DAPP-BQ; Livesley & Jackson, in press). Analysis by ANCOVA indicated that significant between-group differences occurred in several of the 18 DAPP-BQ dimensions, with patients with SAD exhibiting personality psychopathology that was intermediate between the nonclinical sample and patients with nonseasonal depression. The results demonstrated that the traits associated with seasonal and nonseasonal depression differ in degree, not kind.     

Mislocalizations of touch to a fake hand

Observers can mislocalize a tactile target delivered to an unseen hand if a visible rubber glove is positioned next to a pair of distractor lights that flash in correlation with the tactile target (Pavani, Spence, & Driver, 2000). In the present study, we explored visual, tactile, and postural factors that influence this fake hand effect. Comparison with baseline conditions revealed that the fake hand effect was larger than a general spatial congruity effect but weaker than the effect obtained when tactile and visual stimuli were actually in the same locations (Experiment 1). Surprisingly, the effect did not depend on direct vision of the fake hand (Experiments 1 and 2), nor was it enhanced by congruent tactile information (Experiment 3). However, the fake hand effect was sensitive to the postural compatibility of the real and the fake hands (Experiment 4). These findings indicate that the available sensory information is used flexibly to incorporate the rubber glove into the body schema.     

The ecology of eating: smaller portion sizes in France Than in the United States help explain the French paradox

Part of the "French paradox" can be explained by the fact that the French eat less than Americans. We document that French portion sizes are smaller in comparable restaurants, in the sizes of individual portions of foods (but not other items) in supermarkets, in portions specified in cookbooks, and in the prominence of "all you can eat" restaurants in dining guides. We also present data, from observations at McDonald's, that the French take longer to eat than Americans. Our results suggest that in the domain of eating, and more generally, more attention should be paid to ecological factors, even though their mechanism of operation is transparent, and hence less revealing of fundamental psychological processes. Ironically, although the French eat less than Americans, they seem to eat for a longer period of time, and hence have more food experience. The French can have their cake and eat it as well.     

Engagement in Child and Adolescent Treatment: The Role of Parental Cognitions and Attributions

Parental engagement in the treatment process is influenced by parents' beliefs about the cause of their children's problems, perceptions about their ability to handle such problems, and expectations about the ability of therapy to help them. This paper examines the role of parental cognitions related to attributions and expectations in relation to engagement in child mental health treatment. Reviewed studies indicate that parental attributions and expectations influence three aspects of treatment: help seeking, engagement and retention, and outcome. This paper integrates findings from developmental and clinical research, highlights gaps in the literature, presents the beginnings of a model regarding the parental attributional process as it relates to engagement in treatment, recommends future research directions, and discusses clinical implications.     

Reading Aloud from Logographic and Alphabetic Texts: Comparisons Between Chinese and German

The following study investigated the effect of writing systems (logographic vs. alphabetic) on the temporal organization of reading aloud. More specifically, we wished to test Perfetti and Zhang's (1995) assertion that the reader of an alphabetic system can do better at recovering the phonological form, less well at recovering the semantic category of the word (p. 186f.). Native speakers of Chinese and German read a semantically identical passage from texts written in their own language. The Chinese version consisted of 132 characters (132 syllables), the German of 80 words (also 132 syllables). In accord with Perfetti and Zhang's position, Chinese readers articulated significantly more slowly; they also used significantly more pauses. Moreover, German readers used a set pattern of pause positions, whereas Chinese did not. Logographic and alphabetic determinants of reading aloud are discussed.     

Recovery from aphasia: Spontaneous speech versus language comprehension

Seventy-four aphasic patients, subdivided into four groups (fluent, mixed, nonfluent, and severely nonfluent), were tested three times in the course of 1 year to assess recovery of spontaneous speech and sentence comprehension. Although 12 of the 28 spontaneous speech variables employed showed significant time changes, some of these changes indicated improvement and others deterioration. There was no overall clinical improvement in spontaneous speech in any group. On the sentence comprehension tests, however, all four groups did show considerable, significant improvement. There were no qualitative or quantitative differences among the groups in the course of recovery, despite the fact that the groups differed in the severity of aphasia as well as on the fluency dimension. In certain patients there was also some improvement in spontaneous speech, but this did not in most cases correlate with an improvement in either fluency or sentence comprehension. Possible reasons why receptive abilities improved more than expressive abilities are discussed.     

Positive crossover: Parent perceived partner responsiveness and health of youth with asthma

Romantic relationship functioning has implications that extend beyond the romantic dyad. This study tests whether a key positive aspect of relationships, perceived partner responsiveness, can cross over from parents' romantic relationships to children's health and well-being via parenting behavior. In a sample of 112 youth with asthma and their primary caregivers, when caregivers perceived higher partner responsiveness in their romantic relationship, youth experienced improved self-reported asthma symptoms, pulmonary functioning, and positive affect. The associations were robust while controlling for parents' relationship conflict and other relevant covariates, except for the pulmonary functioning outcome, which was instead predicted by parents' conflict. However, parenting behavior (i.e., positive and negative parenting) did not appear to mediate these links. This work highlights the importance of positive romantic relationship processes for youth health and well-being, emphasizing the relevance of clinical intervention work and the need to continue investigating mechanisms through which these processes may be linked.     

Collective views of vaccination predict vaccine hesitancy and willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine

We examined the association between sociodemographic factors, views of vaccines as being an individual choice to protect oneself versus a collective choice to protect others, general vaccine hesitancy, and willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. In a sample of adults (N = 619; 33% non-white), we showed that demographic factors explain significant variance in both vaccine hesitancy and willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Viewing vaccines as an individual choice to protect oneself explained additional variance in vaccine hesitancy. However, people who viewed vaccines as a collective choice to protect others showed both less vaccine hesitancy and greater willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These findings suggest that promoting prosocial attitudes about vaccinations may decrease vaccine hesitancy and increase vaccine uptake.     

A Multifaceted and Dyadic Examination of Intimate Relationship Quality during Pregnancy: Implications for Global Relationship Satisfaction

Understanding how couples navigate and negotiate the challenges and demands of pregnancy has important implications for family health. The aim of this study was to apply a multidimensional model of intimate relationship quality in a sample of 154 pregnant, cohabitating couples, to investigate the association between a range of intimate relationship processes (i.e., emotional intimacy, conflict management, sexual quality, received respect and acceptance, and received support) and the global relationship satisfaction of each partner. Semistructured clinical interviews were administered to each partner assessing multiple qualities of the relationship, and participants completed home surveys of global relationship satisfaction each day for 14 days. Results demonstrated that multiple dimensions of the intimate relationship were associated with greater relationship satisfaction. Some processes (e.g., degree of emotional intimacy and closeness, conflict management) had larger effects on relationship satisfaction than others (e.g., quality of the sexual relationship). Furthermore, some processes were more important for maternal than paternal satisfaction (e.g., emotional intimacy, support, respect). Finally, results varied, to some degree, as a function of whether parents were transitioning to parenthood for the first time. We discuss the implications of adopting a multidimensional approach to studying the specific relationship processes associated with global relationship satisfaction and present implications for clinicians working with couples navigating the transition into parenthood.     

Increasing item engagement and decreasing automatically reinforced problem behavior within a modified competing stimulus assessment

A competing stimulus assessment (CSA) is commonly used to identify leisure items for use in treatments designed to decrease automatically reinforced problem behavior. However, this type of assessment may not yield useful information if participants do not readily engage with leisure items. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a modified CSA that included additional treatment components (i.e., prompting, prompting plus differential reinforcement of alternative behavior). The modified CSA identified the treatment components and leisure items that were most effective for increasing leisure-item engagement and decreasing problem behavior for each participant. Modified CSA outcomes maintained during an extended treatment analysis in a natural setting and when intervention components were faded.