Perceived behavioural control,subjective norms,attitudes and intention to use condom: A longitudinal cross-lagged design

Based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), the purpose of this investigation was to examine the directionality of the association among condom use, intention, attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control. The present study investigated the nature of these relationships using a longitudinal cross-lagged design applied to data from a cohort of 958 randomly selected Italian adults. Using structural equation modelling, two cross-lagged panel analyses revealed reciprocal relationships between intention and attitudes and between intention and condom use. Contrary to expectations, baseline subjective norms and perceived behavioural control did not predict subsequent intention to use condom when controlled for the autoregressive effect of intention at T1 on the same variable at T2. Also, perceived behavioural control at T1 did not influence condom use at T2 after controlling for the effect of baseline intention. The possibility of reciprocity was also tested for all relations and significant results were found. The moderation effect of perceived behavioural control on the relationship between intention and condom use was not significant. The differences in age, gender and partnership status were taken into account in the analyses.     

Different Disgust Domains Specifically Relate to Mental and Contact Contamination Fear in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Evidence From a Path Analytic Model in an Italian Clinical Sample

Both contact contamination (CC) and mental contamination (MC) fears—which combined represent the most common manifestation of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)—have been widely associated with disgust propensity. However, extant research explored this relationship using measures assessing only pathogen-related disgust, not taking into account the potential role played by sexual and moral disgust, despite literature about MC suggesting that this might be particularly relevant. In Study 1, the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Three Domains of Disgust Scale (TDDS) were assessed in a large Italian community sample. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the three-factor structure of the TDDS. The scale also showed good internal consistency and construct validity. In Study 2, the differential patterns of relationships between CC and MC and the three disgust domains were explored in an Italian clinical OCD sample using a path analytic approach. The TDDS-Pathogen subscale was a unique predictor of CC while the TDDS-Sexual subscale was a unique predictor of MC, after controlling for anxiety and depression. Surprisingly, the TDDS-Moral subscale was not a predictor of either domain of contamination fear. Limitations and clinical implications are discussed.     

Is Heightened Disgust Propensity Truly a Risk Factor for Contamination-Related Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?

Disgust propensity (DP) has been conceptualized as a stable personality trait that confers risk for contamination-related OCD (C-OCD). However, the extent to which DP leads to the subsequent development of C-OCD is unclear. In fact, the presence of C-OCD might lead to an increase in DP rather than the inverse. The present study was aimed to test this hypothesis in a large clinical sample of OCD patients (≥ 21 years of age) with (C-OCD; n = 56) and without (NC-OCD; n = 103) contamination-related symptoms that completed measures of OCD symptoms, depression, anxiety, and DP. DP was assessed twice, in reference to the present situation (T1) and to when the participant was 18 years old (T0). The two groups did not significantly differ in DP at T0. However, C-OCD participants reported higher DP scores than NC-OCD at T1. Furthermore, the T1 vs T0 difference in DP was significant only in the C-OCD group. Subsequent analyses also showed that T1 DP levels, but not T0 levels, significantly predicted contamination-related symptoms. Despite study limitations, these findings question the role of DP as a risk factor for C-OCD.     

The effect of question order on evaluations of test performance: Can the bias dissolve?

Question difficulty order has been shown to affect students’ global postdictions of test performance. We attempted to eliminate the bias by letting participants experience the question order manipulation multiple times. In all three experiments, participants answered general knowledge questions and self-evaluated their performance. In Experiment 1, participants studied questions and answers in easy–hard or hard–easy question order prior to taking a test in the same order. In Experiment 2, participants took the same test twice in the opposite question order (easy–hard then hard–easy, or hard–easy then easy–hard). In Experiment 3, participants took two different tests in the opposite question order (easy–hard then hard–easy, or hard–easy then easy–hard). In all three experiments, we were unable to eliminate the bias, which suggests that repeated exposure is insufficient to overcome a strong initial anchor.     

Einfluss des Behandlungssettings auf den Gesundungsverlauf

Even though managed care systems research emerged as an important field in psychotherapy research in the last years, studies examining the effects of its psychotherapeutic measures on outcome are still rare, especially in Germany. Little is known about the effectiveness of psychotherapy in different treatment settings, i. e. whether and how patients in outpatient psychotherapy differ from inpatients in respect to initial impairment status and pace of improvement. Two longitudinal data sets—inpatient (N=759) and outpatient (N=521)—were used to scrutinize these questions. Results yielded no differences between treatment settings as to patients’ initial impairment. A linear model adequately represented the mean course of improvement in inpatient psychotherapy. For outpatient psychotherapy, a bipartite linear model for treatment and for the follow-up period proved more appropriate. During 1 year, patients in both settings attained a similar amount of improvement. However, pace of in-treatment improvement was 10 times faster in the inpatient setting. Initial impairment substantially predicted the course of psychological improvement in both treatment settings.     

Plasticity of human spatial cognition: spatial language and cognition covary across cultures

The present paper explores cross-cultural variation in spatial cognition by comparing spatial reconstruction tasks by Dutch and Namibian elementary school children. These two communities differ in the way they predominantly express spatial relations in language. Four experiments investigate cognitive strategy preferences across different levels of task-complexity and instruction. Data show a correlation between dominant linguistic spatial frames of reference and performance patterns in non-linguistic spatial memory tasks. This correlation is shown to be stable across an increase of complexity in the spatial array. When instructed to use their respective non-habitual cognitive strategy, participants were not easily able to switch between strategies and their attempts to do so impaired their performance. These results indicate a difference not only in preference but also in competence and suggest that spatial language and non-linguistic preferences and competences in spatial cognition are systematically aligned across human populations.     

Group processes and process evaluations in a new treatment setting: inpatient group psychotherapy followed by internet-chat aftercare groups

Little is known about processes characterizing therapeutic Internet-chat groups, which offer a novel way of providing group therapy over distances. In this study group processes and group evaluations were examined in a treatment setting where face-to-face inpatient groups are followed by chat aftercare groups. For a sample of 121 patients who participated in both treatment modalities, group processes and group evaluations were modeled using hierarchical linear modeling. The group evaluations followed a consistent upward course from the beginning of therapy until the end of chat aftercare. For the process measures Activity and Emotional Reactivity, the initial scores at the beginning of the chat groups were lower than at the end of the inpatient treatment, but higher than at admission. During chat aftercare, Activity and Emotional Reactivity scores increased less than during the inpatient phase, but on average Activity and Emotional Reactivity were higher during Internet-chat aftercare. The predictive value of the acquaintance of the therapist from inpatient treatment and the course of group evaluations during inpatient treatment on the course of group evaluations during chat aftercare were examined.     

Grooming and coalitions in Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata): partner choice and the time frame reciprocation

Evidence of a reciprocal exchange of grooming and agonistic support in primates is mixed. In this study, the authors analyzed a large database of grooming and coalitions in captive female Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) to investigate their within-group distribution and temporal relations. Macaques groomed preferentially those individuals that groomed them most and supported preferentially those individuals that supported them most. They also supported preferentially those individuals that groomed them most and groomed preferentially those individuals that supported them most. These results were not explained by covariation of grooming and support with third variables such as kinship, rank, or time spent in proximity. However, receiving grooming did not increase the short-term probability of supporting a partner, and being supported did not increase the short-term probability of grooming a partner. The proximate mechanisms underlying the exchange of services were discussed in relation to the time frame of the behavioral choices made by the monkeys.