Out of the depths

A fundamental approach of theology as practiced within the palliative setting is care for the whole human being, with particular focus on spirituality and the spiritual dimension. Theology and medicine come together in palliative care in which the spiritual aspect is an important component together with the physical, psychological, and social. This article is based on a mixed methods study of spirituality among persons receiving palliative care. Findings revealed the importance of spirituality and its multidimensional elements by which spirituality was perceived as a complex phenomenon relating to religious and non-religious aspects of human life. Theological reflection based on the present findings indicates that a sharp distinction between the concepts of religion and spirituality is not beneficial. It also reveals the significance of the spiritual dimension and that theology has an important role in creating a deeper understanding of this complex part of human existence. Spiritual needs, expressed in various ways, were evident among the participants receiving palliative care. The findings confirm that the theological approach in palliative care, with its focus on the whole human being and emphasis on spirituality and the spiritual dimension, continues to be the hallmark of practicing theology within palliative care.     

Sexual Assault Training in the Military: Evaluating Efforts to End the “Invisible War”

Sexual assault is an insidious problem in the United States military. In 2005 the Department of Defense (DoD) created the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, which centralizes responsibility for sexual assault training. However, this training initiative has undergone little evaluation by outside researchers. Addressing this need, we analyzed responses from over 24,000 active duty personnel who completed the 2010 DoD Workplace and Gender Relations Survey. We assessed whether sexual assault training exposure (None, Minimal, Partial, or Comprehensive) predicted accurate knowledge of sexual assault resources and protocols. Using a social-ecological framework, we investigated whether institutional and individual factors influenced Service members’ training exposure and judgment of training effectiveness. According to our results, exposure to comprehensive training predicted lower sexual assault incidence and superior knowledge. However, comprehensive training differed as a function of military branch, rank, gender, and sexual assault history. Judgments of training effectiveness also varied across these dimensions. Our results highlight the importance of considering context, gender, and victimization history when evaluating institutional efforts to end sexual violence. The DoD’s 2010 annual report on military sexual assault concluded that “most Active Duty members receive effective training on sexual assault” (p. 104). Our results cast doubt on that assertion.     

Acceptability of virtual reality interoceptive exposure for the treatment of panic disorder with agoraphobia

Interoceptive exposure (IE) is a standard component of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for panic disorder and agoraphobia. The virtual reality (VR) program ‘Panic-Agoraphobia’ has several virtual scenarios designed for applying exposure to agoraphobic situations; it can also simulate physical sensations. This work examines patients' acceptability of the IE component as applied in two different ways: using VR versus traditional IE. Additionally, it explores the relationship between users' treatment expectations and satisfaction and clinically significant change. Results showed that VR and traditional IE were well accepted by all participants. Furthermore, treatment expectations predicted efficacy.     

Individual differences in timing of discrete and continuous movements: a dimensional approach

This study investigated aspects of individual differences in timing of continuous and discontinuous movements to different pacing signals (auditory or visual), pacing intervals (500, 650, 800, 950 ms), and across effectors (dominant versus non-dominant hand). Correlation and principal component analysis demonstrated that a single statistical dimension accounted for up to 60 % of the explained variance in discontinuous tasks and 25 % of the variance in continuous tasks, when applied to performance obtained from tasks conducted with different effectors and at different pacing rates. Correlation analysis of factor scores representing effector and rate independent task performances showed that timing of discrete or continuous movements can be associated with modality independent mechanisms. Timing variability from discrete and continuous trials was not significantly correlated. This study goes beyond previous correlational work on individual differences in discrete and continuous movements, demonstrating that individual differences in discrete (event-based) or continuous (emergent) motor timing tasks can be modeled as distinctive statistical components with dissimilar capability to capture effector, rate, and modality independent variance.     

Advancing an Understanding of the Anxiety Control Questionnaire for Children (ACQ-C) in Clinically Anxious and Non-Anxious Youth: Psychometric Properties,Incremental Prediction and Developmental Differences

A lack of perceived control over anxiety-related situations is theorized to be characteristic of anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. In the current study we tested several theoretical predictions and developmental variation with the Dutch translation of the Anxiety Control Questionnaire for Children (ACQ-C). The theoretical factor structure of anxiety control was tested using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) in 548 non-referred children (8–18 years old, M?=?12.5 years; 50.7 % girls). The incremental predictive validity of perceived control for anxiety status was assessed using logistic regression in 141 clinically anxious children (age M?=?12.6 years; 56.7 % girls) and 298 non-referred non-anxious children (age M?=?12.6 years; 52.7 % girls). CFA showed that both a one-factor model and two-factor model (perceived control over internal reactions and external events) fit well. The one-factor model proved invariant across age and gender. Internal consistency was excellent (Cronbach’s α?=?.93). Two-month test-retest reliability was adequate. The ACQ-C was able to incrementally predict diagnostic status, even after controlling for age, gender and self-reported anxiety symptoms. Finally, both younger children and girls reported less perceived control, independent of anxiety level. Findings advance the understanding of the psychometric properties of the ACQ-C, the role of control in childhood anxiety and point to the potential utility of the ACQ-C in both clinical and community samples. The Dutch translation of the ACQ-C demonstrated sound psychometric properties.     

Effects of the psycholinguistic variables on the lexical decision task in Spanish: A study with 2,765 words

In order to explore the role of the main psycholinguistic variables on visual word recognition, several mega-studies have been conducted in English in recent years. Nevertheless, because the effects of these variables depend on the regularity of the orthographic system, studies must also be done in other languages with different characteristics. The goal of this work was to conduct a lexical decision study in Spanish, a language with a shallow orthography and a high number of words. The influence of psycholinguistic variables on latencies corresponding to 2,765 words was assessed by means of linear mixed-effects modeling. The results show that some variables, such as frequency or age of acquisition, have significant effects on reaction times regardless of the type of words used. Other variables, such as orthographic neighborhood or imageability, were significant only in specific groups of words. Our results highlight the importance of taking into account the peculiarities of each spelling system in the development of reading models.     

Older Workers with Disabilities: Job Satisfaction Differences in the Public and Private Sectors in Europe

This study analyzes the differences in job satisfaction of older European people (aged 50-64), with or without disabilities, who are employed in either the public or the private sector. Using the data taken from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) for the years 2004, 2007 and 2011, job satisfaction equations are estimated for workers from both the public and private sectors, with panel data techniques that include variables related to the worker's degree of disability (nondisabled, non-limited disabled, and limited disabled), among others. The results show that the disabled workers who are limited in their everyday activities are less satisfied in both the public and private sectors than those who are non-disabled and non-limited. In addition, the levels of job satisfaction for non-limited disabled people are higher than their non-disabled counterparts but only in the public sector. From a point of view of public policies, it is necessary to design and undertake measures and actions that would contribute to improving the levels of job satisfaction of older workers with disabilities, especially among those who are limited in their everyday activities.