The Ebbs and Flows: Stresses of Sandwich Generation Caregivers

The term sandwich generation describes individuals who are caught between the competing demands of caring for at least one dependent child and one or more aging parents. Of the approximate 8.1 million caregivers in Canada, 28 % were considered “sandwiched”. Similar trends were found in the United States, with 15 % of middle-aged adults being sandwiched financially. Currently, little is known about the unique experiences of those providing care at both ends of the generational ladder. The purpose of this qualitative investigation was to explore the lived experiences of two married sandwich generation caregivers through the use of a case study. A married male and female who were caring for two dependent children and three aging parents each completed two one-on-one interviews with the researcher. The aging parents had varying ailments and needs, and thus the level of care required for each senior fluctuated. Several salient themes emerged from the data, but the following will be the focus of this paper: (1) Ebbs and Flows and (2) Stresses of Being Sandwiched. Notably, the participants’ discussed how their lived experience differed depending on their current situation, as was also evident when the two interviews were compared. During difficult times, the participants’ faced a number of challenges which will be discussed within the paper. As such, future research being conducted with this population should be conducted at multiple time points in order to fully capture the dynamic lived experiences of sandwich generation caregivers.     

Self‐Regulation and Personality Profiles: Empirical Development,Longitudinal Stability and Predictive Ability

We used Latent Profile and Latent Profile Transition Analysis to empirically develop and compare competing models of personality profiles (three‐ and four‐profile models). We do so using data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study, a large longitudinal national probability sample of New Zealanders. Both three‐ and four‐profile solutions demonstrated good fit and longitudinal stability. Trait configurations and predictive outcomes of the four‐profile model were the most interpretable in terms of the theoretical literature, as this solution mirrored the theoretical foundation of self‐regulatory ego‐constructs. This supported the interpretation of a four‐profile model as providing a useful distinction over and above the three‐profile model. We conclude that, compared to the three‐profile model, the four‐profile solution provides a better foundation to serve as a complementary approach to variable‐centre research. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Executive Functioning, Temporal Discounting, and Sense of Time in Adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)

Clinic-referred teens (ages 12–19) with ADHD and ODD (N = 101) were compared to community control (CC) teens, equated for age and sex, (N = 39) on a variety of psychological tasks assessing executive functioning (EF), temporal reward discounting, and time estimation and reproduction. A factor analysis reduced the EF measures to three dimensions, representing CPT Inattention, Working Memory, and CPT Inhibition. Results indicated that the ADHD group had significantly more CPT Inattention than the CC group. No differences were found for Working Memory or CPT Inhibition. The ADHD group displayed significantly greater temporal discounting of delayed hypothetical monetary rewards relative to immediate ones and manifested more impaired time reproduction, but not time estimation, than did the CC group. Main effects for level of IQ were found only on the Working Memory factor and largely did not interact with the group factor otherwise. The group differences in CPT Inattention, temporal discounting, and time reproduction were not a function of level of comorbid oppositional defiant disorder, delinquency, or anxiety–depression. Results are reasonably consistent with past research on EF and sense of time in children with ADHD and extend these findings to the adolescent age group. Problems with working memory and CPT inhibition found in prior studies of children with ADHD, however, were not evident here, perhaps owing to age-related improvements or insufficient task difficulty.     

Male and female body image and dieting in the context of intimate relationships.

The influence of family and peers on dieting and body image is well known, but, despite the centrality of romantic partnerships in the lives of adults, little research has investigated dieting and body image in the context of intimate relationships. This study investigated unhealthy dieting (e.g., skipping meals, vomiting), healthy dieting (e.g., reducing calories, reducing or eliminating snacks), and body satisfaction in intimate relationships in 57 predominantly unmarried couples, who were recruited in a college setting. The within-participant findings replicated prior research showing that women with higher self-esteem and lower depressive symptoms were more satisfied with their own bodies and dieted less. Controlling for body mass index and the relevant self-perceptions of each partner, the across-partner associations showed that men who had more depressive symptoms and were less satisfied with their relationships had female partners who dieted more and were less satisfied with their bodies. In contrast, men dieted more when their female partners had higher self-esteem and fewer depressive symptoms. These results suggest that psychological processes in intimate relationships are linked with dieting and body satisfaction but that these links are different for men and for women.     

Impact of acceptance and commitment therapy versus education on stigma toward people with psychological disorders

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has previously been shown to alter stigmatizing attitudes and to be relatively useful for psychologically inflexible participants. The present study is the first to bring those two findings together by comparing ACT to an education intervention for reducing stigma toward people with psychological disorders, and examining whether results differ for psychologically inflexible versus flexible individuals. A sample of college students (N =95) was randomly assigned to a 2(1)2h ACT or educational workshop. Measures were taken before and after the workshop and at a 1-month follow-up. ACT reduced mental health stigma significantly regardless of participants' pre-treatment levels of psychological flexibility, but education reduced stigma only among participants who were relatively flexible and non-avoidant to begin with. Acceptance could be an important avenue of exploration for stigma researchers.     

Recoding low-level simulator data into a record of meaningful task performance: The integrated task modeling environment (ITME)

The Integrated Task Modeling Environment (ITME) is a user-friendly software tool that has been developed to automatically recode low-level data into an empirical record of meaningful task performance. The present research investigated and validated the performance of the ITME software package by conducting complex simulation missions and comparing the task analyses produced by ITME with taskanalyses produced by experienced video analysts. A very high interrater reliability (> or = .94) existed between experienced video analysts and the ITME for the task analyses produced for each mission. The mean session time:analysis time ratio was 1:24 using video analysis techniques and 1:5 using the ITME. It was concluded that the ITME produced task analyses that were as reliable as those produced by experienced video analysts, and significantly reduced the time cost associated with these analyses.     

The development of change blindness: children's attentional priorities whilst viewing naturalistic scenes

Change blindness describes the surprising difficulty of detecting large changes in visual scenes when changes occur during a visual disruption. In order to study the developmental course of this phenomenon, a modified version of the flicker paradigm, based on Rensink, O’Regan & Clark (1997 ), was given to three groups of children aged 6–12 years and to a group of adults. This paradigm tested the ability to detect single colour, presence/absence and location changes of both high and low semantic importance in a complex scene. Semantically important changes were detected more quickly and accurately than less semantically important changes, by all age groups, indicating that children had the same attentional priorities as adults. Older children achieved more efficient and accurate detection of changes than younger children and reached almost adult level at 10–12 years old. These improvements parallel age‐related developments in attention and visual perception.     

On Hatzimoysis on Sentimental Value

Despite its apparent ubiquity, philosophers have not talked much about sentimental value. One exception is Anthony Hatzimoysis (The Philosophical Quarterly 53:373–379, 2003). Those who wish to take sentimental value seriously are likely to make use of Christine Korsgaard’s ideas on two distinctions in value. In this paper I show that Hatzimoysis has misrendered Korsgaard’s insight in his discussion of sentimental value. I begin by briefly summarising Korsgaard’s idea before showing how Hatzimoysis’ treatment of it is mistaken.