Optimism and pessimism as predictors of physical and psychological health among grandmothers raising their grandchildren

This study examines the role of personality in predicting psychological and physical health among grandmothers who are coping with a non-normative non-traumatic stressor, i.e. serving as primary caregivers for their grandchildren. Using the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R), a measure of personality disposition, we examine the contributions of both optimism and pessimism to health outcomes. ANOVAs and regression analyses of the LOT-R and self reports of health in 67 African American and Latino grandmothers revealed psychological (obsessive compulsive symptoms, depression, hostility) and physical (sleep disorder, hypertension) health outcomes are differentially predicted by optimism and pessimism among older and younger age-groups of grandmothers. Implications for grandmothers’ response to caregiving stress and for future studies of personality’s relation to health are discussed.     

Development and validation of a brief version of the dyadic adjustment scale with a nonparametric item analysis model

The main purpose of the current research was to develop an abbreviated form of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) with nonparametric item response theory. The authors conducted 5 studies, with a total participation of 8,256 married or cohabiting individuals. Results showed that the item characteristic curves behaved in a monotonically increasing function for all items of the brief 4-item version of the DAS (DAS-4). The DAS-4 proved to be informative at all levels of couple satisfaction. Compared with the 32-item version of the DAS (DAS-32), it was as effective in predicting couple dissolution and was significantly less contaminated by socially desirable responding. In addition, structural equation modeling demonstrated that the underlying latent construct measured by the DAS-4 was very stable over a 2-year period. This brief version has the advantage of being less time consuming and constitutes a promising alternative to the original DAS-32 for clinicians and researchers.     

Sustained attention and visual processing speed in children and adolescents with bipolar disorder and other psychiatric disorders

To investigate the cognitive functioning of children and adolescents with bipolar illness, 112 child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients and day-hospital patients at a state psychiatric hospital were administered the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC-III) as part of an admission psychological assessment. There were 22 patients with Bipolar Disorder and 90 with other psychiatric disorders; all were between 8 and 17 years of age. The patients with Bipolar Disorder had a mean age of 14 yr., a mean Verbal IQ of 78, a mean Performance IQ of 76, and a mean Full Scale IQ of 75. When their WISC-III scores were compared with those who had Schizophrenia Spectrum disorders (Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder), Psychosis Not Otherwise Specified, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder, there were no significant between-group mean differences for Verbal IQ, but patients with Bipolar Disorder had a significantly lower mean Performance IQ than those with ADHD and those with Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Contrary to the expectation that the patients with Bipolar Disorder might have better sustained attention (higher Digit Span scores) than those with Schizophrenia Spectrum disorders and worse visual processing speed (lower Coding scores) than the other diagnostic groups, the bipolar patients' Digit Span and Coding scores did not differ significantly from those of the other groups. The patients with Psychosis, Not Otherwise Specified had significantly lower mean Performance IQ, Full Scale IQ, and Coding than the ADHD and the Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Disorder groups.     

Prevalence,and intellectual outcome of unilateral focal cortical brain damage as a function of age,sex and aetiology

Neurologists and neuropsychologists are aware that aging men are more at risk than women for brain damage, principally because of the well known male-predominant risk for cardiovascular disease and related cerebrovascular accidents. However, a disproportion in prevalence of brain damage between the sexes in childhood may be less suspected. Furthermore, sex-specific risk for other aetiologies of brain damage may be little known, whether in the pediatric or adult populations. Proposals of a sex difference in cognitive recovery from brain damage have also been controversial. Six hundred and thirty five "consecutive" cases with cortical focal lesions including cases of all ages and both sexes were reviewed. Aetiology of the lesion was determined for each case as was postlesion IQ. Risk was highly male prevalent in all age groups, with a predominance of cardiovascular aetiology explaining much of the adult male prevalence. However, several other aetiological categories were significantly male prevalent in juveniles (mitotic, traumatic, dysplasic) and adults (mitotic, traumatic). There was no sex difference in outcome (i.e., postlesion IQ) of these cortical brain lesions for the cohort as a whole, after statistical removal of the influence of lesion extent, aetiology and presence of epilepsy. Mechanisms potentially responsible for sex differences in prevalence, aetiology of brain damage, and recovery, are reviewed and discussed.     

Female juvenile delinquency, motherhood, and the intergenerational transmission of aggression and antisocial behavior

The current study explored the intergenerational transmission of aggression and antisocial behavior by examining mothers' juvenile delinquency, their pregnancies, and its impact on their children's aggressive behavior. The sample consisted of the first 181 biological mothers recruited as part of the Vancouver Longitudinal Study on the Psychosocial Development of Children (British Columbia, Canada). Results indicated that mothers who were juvenile delinquents were more likely to experience social adversity, to use substances during pregnancy and to offend in adulthood. Furthermore, mothers who reported juvenile delinquency had children who were more physically aggressive and had an earlier onset of physical aggression. This pattern of association held when controlling for sociodemographics, social adversities, prenatal substance exposure, and criminal involvement in adulthood. The study findings highlighted the importance of understanding the role and impact of female delinquency and motherhood on the intergenerational transmission of antisocial behavior.     

Confidence via correction: The effect of judgment correction on consumer confidence

At times, consumers are motivated to reduce the influence of a product recommendation on their judgments. Based on previous research, it is unclear whether this correction process will increase or decrease consumers' confidence in their judgments. We find that source credibility moderates the effect of correction on confidence: correction decreases confidence when a product recommendation comes from a high credibility source but increases confidence when the same message comes from a low credibility source. As a result, correction increases the effectiveness of recommendations from low credibility sources on purchase intentions. Notably, this “confidence via correction” effect is further moderated by elaboration, such that the effect is attenuated for high elaboration consumers. Our results have implications for understanding consumers' reactions to persuasive messages and for both marketing practitioners and consumer protection agencies using correction cues to influence message persuasiveness.     

Interaction between emotions and somatic complaints in children who did or did not seek medical care

This study aimed to investigate how emotional functioning can be linked to health problems in children. Three groups were compared: (1) a clinical group, consisting of children with abdominal pain, attending an out-patient clinic; (2) a group from the general population who had high scores on a self-report somatic complaint list; and (3) a group from the general population who reported no or few somatic complaints. It was shown that groups 1 and 2 experienced negative moods and negative emotions with a higher frequency and/or intensity, and had a lower feeling of competence than group 3. They were also more likely to act upon physical complaints in emotionally stressful situations than group 3, although all groups made use of emotion-focused strategies. It is suggested that it is not an impaired capacity to identify emotions (an important feature of alexithymia), but an inability to differentiate between, and cope with, negative emotions that might be an important factor in children's health problems. Suggestions for future research are made.     

Beyond sexual recidivism: A review of the sexual criminal career parameters of adult sex offenders

The current study claims that measures of sexual recidivism provide a distorted view of the criminal activity of adult sex offenders. To address this important limitation, the criminal career perspective is presented and key concepts are defined and described. The study also provides an up-to-date review of the scientific literature on various criminal career parameters of the sexual criminal activity of adult sex offenders. Hence, current empirical knowledge on the prevalence, age of onset, frequency, continuity, versatility, and desistance from sex offending is presented. The findings highlight the complexities of the sexual criminal career of adult sex offenders, and most importantly, its dynamic aspect, both of which are not captured by traditional measures of sexual recidivism. The review also underscores the importance of recognizing that sexual offending develops according to a series of stages, that, if not recognized, may lead to the underestimation of risk for some and over-estimation of risk for others. The review provides a framework to stimulate new areas of research as well as policy-development that is not limited to the identification of the “high-risk” convicted sex offenders.     

Mosques,Churches, and Civic Skill Opportunities in Indonesia

This article examines the role of houses of worship as institutions where individuals acquire civic skills that can be deployed for political participation in the world's largest Muslim‐majority democracy: Indonesia. Drawing on participant observation and interviews in Muslim, Protestant, and Catholic religious communities in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, this article investigates three questions: (1) What opportunities exist for individuals worshipping in Indonesian churches and mosques to develop and practice civic skills as part of their religious engagement? (2) Does civic skill opportunity vary across religious denominations? and (3) What factors might explain variation across different religious settings? The study shows that mosques offer fewer prospects for their worshippers to develop civic skills than do churches. These denominational differences can be explained by a house of worship's management practices, which are shaped by its degree of autonomy, style of worship, and the relative size of the religious denomination.