Hope and cardiovascular health-promoting behaviour: Education alone is not enough

We investigated hope’s ability to predict cardiovascular disease (CVD) knowledge and health-promoting behaviours. Snyder defined hope as the combination of goal-directed planning and motivation, and theorised that high-hope people seek knowledge relevant to goal pursuits. We surveyed 391 Latino and Asian participants undergoing CVD risk screening, nearly all immigrants to the USA. This was a particularly important sample because, in general, these populations are considered underserved and under-researched. Pre-screening hope levels were measured. After screening and education, participants rated perceived importance of behaviour change. Behaviour change (salt/fat intake, exercise, CVD information-seeking and visiting a physician) and CVD knowledge were assessed one month later by telephone. Unexpectedly, hope did not predict knowledge. However, hope predicted self-reported behaviour change, though results differed by ethnicity. Among Asian individuals, hope?×?knowledge predicted reduced salt/fat, CVD information-seeking and physician visits. Among Latino individuals, hope?×?perceived importance of diet change predicted reduced salt/fat and hope?×?perceived importance of exercise change predicted increased exercise.     

Relationship-focused group therapy (RFGT) to mitigate marital instability and neuropsychophysiological dysregulation

This article describes an innovative model of couples therapy designed to mitigate marital instability. The authors suggest that combining ongoing couples therapy with a separate relationship-focused group for each partner favorably impacts each person's neuropsychophysiological regulation and their ability to participate in a stable intimate marriage. The neurobiology of attachment theory is seen as providing understanding of the affect regulation issues operational in many couple relationships. The safe and secure attachments worked out in the relationship-focused group therapy are seen as improving neuropsychophysiological integration and regulation.     

Maternal and paternal plasma, salivary, and urinary oxytocin and parent-infant synchrony: considering stress and affiliation components of human bonding

Studies in mammals have implicated the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) in processes of bond formation and stress modulation, yet the involvement of OT in human bonding throughout life remains poorly understood. We assessed OT in the plasma, saliva, and urine of 112 mothers and fathers interacting with their 4-6-month-old infants. Parent-infant interactions were micro-coded for parent and child's social behaviors and for the temporal coordination of their socio-affective cues. Parents were interviewed regarding their attachment to the infant and reported on bonding to own parents, romantic attachment, and parenting stress. Results indicated that OT in plasma (pOT) and saliva (sOT) were inter-related and were unrelated to OT in urine (uOT). pOT and sOT in mothers and fathers were associated with parent and child's social engagement, affect synchrony, and positive communicative sequences between parent and child. uOT was related to moments of interactive stress among mothers only, indexed by the co-occurrence of infant negative engagement and mother re-engagement attempts. pOT and sOT were associated with mothers' and fathers' attachment relationships throughout life: to own parents, partner, and infant, whereas uOT correlated with relationship anxiety and parenting stress among mothers only. Similar to other mammals, OT is involved in human attachment and contingent parenting. The dual role of OT in stress and affiliation underscores its complex involvement in processes of social bonding throughout life.     

Sex differences in developmental trends of suicide ideation, plans, and attempts among European American adolescents

Although suicide ideation, plans, and attempts increase during adolescence, it remains unclear whether boys' and girls' risk for these outcomes peaks at different ages. We used longitudinal categorical data (never, once, 2+ times) from the Family Transitions Project (N = 1,248 rural European Americans, ages 11-19) to investigate whether yearly prevalence rates of adolescent suicidal episodes follow different patterns by sex. Multiple-group growth models revealed that peak levels of past-year ideation and plans occurred during mid adolescence for girls, but slowly increased through late adolescence for boys. We found that prevalence patterns for attempts were very similar for boys and girls, with both increasing through mid adolescence and then declining, although girls' risk declined slightly more rapidly. This information may help alert gatekeepers to developmental periods during which boys and girls are particularly vulnerable to suicide-related experiences, and also may help inform the timing of preventive efforts.