Emotional inhibition of effective contraception

Negative emotional responses to sex such as anxiety, guilt and fear tend to inhibit sexual behavior. When they are not sufficient to inhibit sexual intercourse, however, they frequently interfere with the ability to plan for, or cope with the consequences of sexual activity. More specifically, these emotional responses to sex frequently interfere with the ability to apply thoughtful and careful logic to contraceptive decision making, and thereby inhibit the use of effective methods of birth control. The current article is a review of the empirical support for emotional inhibition of contraception, and an examination of the psychological mechanisms by which these responses to sex mediate birth control behavior.     

Inhibitory effects of drinker and nondrinker prototypes on adolescent alcohol consumption.

This prospective study examined the relation between 308 adolescents' images of typical dinkers and nondrinkers and their subsequent alcohol consumption. The results indicate that both images are associated with changes in consumption between ages 16 and 18 but that they operate in different ways. Contrary to previous assumptions, drinker images do not represent goal states for adolescents in that they are more negative than their self-images and nondrinker images and are not correlated with their ideal selves. In contrast, nondrinker images do appear to represent goal states for adolescents who abstain from drinking. Implications for intervention are discussed.     

Movie smoking exposure and smoking onset: a longitudinal study of mediation processes in a representative sample of U.S. adolescents.

The authors tested 2 mechanisms for the relation of movie smoking exposure with onset of cigarette smoking in adolescence. Longitudinal data with 8-month follow-up were obtained from a representative sample of 6,522 U.S. adolescents, ages 10-14 years. Structural modeling analysis based on initial nonsmokers, which controlled for 10 covariates associated with movie exposure, showed that viewing more smoking in movies was related to increases in positive expectancies about smoking and increases in affiliation with smoking peers, and these variables were both related to smoking onset. A direct effect of movie exposure on smoking onset was also noted. Mediation findings were replicated across cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Tests for gender differences indicated that girls showed larger effects of movie exposure for some variables. Implications for policy and prevention research are discussed.     

Comparison-level preferences after performance: is downward comparison theory still useful?

Although often credited with prompting a paradigm shift in social comparison theory, T. A. Wills's (1981) downward comparison (DC) theory has received some criticism recently. In particular, several recent studies have failed to find support for T. A. Wills's (1981) contention that threat and accompanying negative affect lead to a desire for DC. These apparent failures have led some investigators to question basic principles of the theory. To resolve this controversy, 5 studies were conducted examining preferred comparison level (PCL) after performance; 4 of the studies also assessed change in this preference. Results supported DC theory, but with modifications. Specifically, individuals who performed poorly lowered their PCLs. Under some circumstances, this "downward shift" included an increased interest in "true" DC--comparing with worse-off others. A reconciliation of these results with those of previous studies is offered.     

A comparison of intervention for problematic speech using reinforcement with and without preferred topics

Previous research has shown that responding to the appropriate and problematic speech of individuals diagnosed with developmental disabilities with interested and uninterested listener responses, respectively, can promote more appropriate conversational engagement. However, Fisher et al. (2013) also responded to appropriate speech with access to preferred conversational topics. This study examined the influence of listener interest on the problematic speech of 8 participants and tested the additive effects of (Study 1) and participant preference for (Study 2) delivering preferred topics as reinforcement for appropriate speech. Interventions were equally effective with or without arranging access to preferred topics, but a majority of participants demonstrated a preference for intervention with contingent access to preferred topics. Caregivers and speech‐language pathologists rated the intervention procedures as acceptable and changes in participants' speech satisfactory.     

Moderation of the effects of discrimination-induced affective responses on health outcomes

Objective: The goal of the study was to examine differential mediation of long-term effects of discrimination on health behaviour and health status by internalising (anxiety and depression) and externalising (hostility and anger), and to explore moderation of these effects, specifically, by the presence of support networks and coping tendencies.

Design: The current analyses employed structural equation modelling of five waves of data from Black female participants of the Family and Community Health Study over 11 years (M age 37–48).

Main Outcomes Measures: The main outcome variables were health status and alcohol use (frequency and problematic consumption).

Results: Perceived racial discrimination was associated with increases in internalising and externalising. In addition, internalising reactions to discrimination were associated with deterioration in health status and increases in problematic drinking; externalising reactions were associated with increases in frequency of drinking. These relations were attenuated by availability of support networks, and exacerbated by use of avoidance coping.

Conclusion: The current study (a) replicated previous research suggesting that two different types of affective reactions mediate the relations between perceived racial discrimination and physical health status vs. health-impairing behaviours: internalising and externalising, and (b) revealed moderation of these effects by coping mechanisms.     

Individual differences in melancholy gender among women: does ambivalence matter?

This research offers an empirical investigation inspired by Butler's theory of melancholy gender (1995) and a revision of this theory (Jay 2007a). Psychoanalytic feminist theory is drawn on to suggest that melancholy and gender are more likely to be associated in female development than in male development, and Freud's theory of melancholy (1917) is taken to suggest that ambivalence predicts individual differences in melancholy gender among women. In a longitudinal study of women's adult development, an examination of femininity, depressive symptoms, and ambivalence in attachment was conducted in order to evaluate these claims. Findings show that depressive symptoms and femininity are significantly correlated within the sample, but that individual differences in melancholy gender exist. To understand these differences, an analysis was conducted to determine whether ambivalence in attachment accounts for the relation between depressive symptoms and femininity; complementary analyses examined whether low ambivalence in attachment attenuates, or lessens, the relation between femininity and depressive symptoms. Results from these analyses support the notion that it is not the loss and internalization of the same-sex object choice per se that results in melancholy gender in women, as Butler argues; rather, it is the internalization of a lost, ambivalent same-sex attachment that forges the link between melancholy and gender. Narrative material is presented to personify melancholy and unmelancholy gender.