Trends in Publication of Spirituality/Religiosity Articles in Critical Care Populations

Research on spirituality and religion (S/R) is receiving more attention as healthcare staff recognize the importance of treating the whole person. This is especially pertinent in critical care, where patients and families deal with a multitude of issues. As not all research comes exclusively from theologically educated authors, this study explored publication trends of S/R articles in critical care. Findings indicated medically credentialed professionals, not chaplains and/or pastoral care staff, constituted the majority of authors in S/R articles.     

Sing that tune: Infants’ perception of melody and lyrics and the facilitation of phonetic recognition in songs

To better understand how infants process complex auditory input, this study investigated whether 11-month-old infants perceive the pitch (melodic) or the phonetic (lyric) components within songs as more salient, and whether melody facilitates phonetic recognition. Using a preferential looking paradigm, uni-dimensional and multi-dimensional songs were tested; either the pitch or syllable order of the stimuli varied. As a group, infants detected a change in pitch order in a 4-note sequence when the syllables were redundant (experiment 1), but did not detect the identical pitch change with variegated syllables (experiment 2). Infants were better able to detect a change in syllable order in a sung sequence (experiment 2) than the identical syllable change in a spoken sequence (experiment 1). These results suggest that by 11 months, infants cannot “ignore” phonetic information in the context of perceptually salient pitch variation. Moreover, the increased phonetic recognition in song contexts mirrors findings that demonstrate advantages of infant-directed speech. Findings are discussed in terms of how stimulus complexity interacts with the perception of sung speech in infancy.     

Hemispheric specialization for emotional word processing is a function of SSRI responsiveness

Vulnerability to depression and non-response to Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are associated with specific neurophysiological characteristics including greater right hemisphere (RH) relative to left hemisphere (LH) activity. The present study investigated the relationship between hemispheric specialization and processing of emotional words using a divided visual field paradigm administered to never-depressed and previously-depressed individuals, who were subdivided into SSRI responders and non-responders. SSRI responders and never-depressed participants were similar in their left hemispheric lateralization for evaluating emotional words. In contrast, SSRI non-responders showed a relative shift towards RH processing of negative words, and a strong bias toward negative evaluation of words presented to the RH. The results are discussed within the context of a biological-cognitive model of vulnerability to depression.     

Vocational and overall identity: A person-centered approach in Italian university students

Establishing a vocational and overall identity involve defining life altering plans and associated commitments to pursue and achieve them and are, therefore, among the most central aspects of the developmental tasks of late adolescents and emerging adults. In the Italian context, young adults' opportunity to develop coherent and fulfilling future plans are strongly threated by the current distressed economic climate in Italy. Assuming these features of the Italian context can produce specific identity patterns, the present study aimed to contribute to the understanding of overall and vocational identity processes in Italian emerging adults and to explore the relationship between the two domains of identity using a person-centered approach. The study is composed of two parts. The first study assessed the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Vocational Identity Status Assessment (VISA) in a sample of university students from Italy (N = 560). The second study included a cluster analytic approach in order to explore the configuration of both vocational and overall identity domains. The findings suggest that the Italian version of the VISA is a promising tool for assessing vocational identity dimensions in the Italian context. Furthermore, unlike the previous literature, we found different patterns of vocational and overall identity in Italian university students. The findings suggest that the current socio-economic Italian situation may be hindering students' progress toward achieving a vocational identity, especially for freshmen.     

A Note on Family Acceptance Involving Interracial Friendships and Romantic Relationships

Perceptions of family acceptance concerning interracial friendships and romantic relationships were investigated in a group of 142 undergraduates. The Assessment Scale of Interracial Relationships (ASIR) was constructed by the authors and administered to 68 men and 74 women recruited from introductory psychology courses. Results showed that both men and women held negative attitudes toward interracial relationships, although Black students held more favorable attitudes than did White students. These findings also showed that the women were less accepting of interracial friendships and romantic relationships than the men were. Both Black and White students indicated that family perception of these interracial relationships would be negative.     

Relational approach to work: conceptual definition and scale development

The aim of this study is to conceptually define and develop a scale to measure relational behavior in the workplace associated with theorized differences in how women and men approach work. Drawing from the gender studies and organizational literatures, the construct is defined and a relational approach to work scale is developed. Data were collected from a sample of 223 graduate students with work experience. Findings show preliminary evidence of reliability and validity.     

Social Distancing in Adolescents’ Perceptions of Alcohol Use and Social Disapproval: The Moderating Roles of Culture and Gender1

College students attribute more conservative attitudes and behaviors concerning alcohol use to themselves and progressively less conservative attitudes and behaviors to their friends and more distal peers. We examined whether a similar social‐distancing effect would occur with adolescents in America and Ireland. Students (n= 2, 554) attributed the most conservative drinking frequency to themselves and progressively less conservative frequencies to their best friends, other good friends, other students their age at their own school, and other students their age at other schools, respectively. Similarly, adolescents attributed more disapproval of drinking to their best friends and progressively less conservative disapproval to other good friends, other students their age at their own school, and other students their age at other schools, respectively. As predicted, more social distancing occurred among Americans (relative to Irish) and girls (relative to boys).     

Omnibenevolence and Eternal Damnation

In “Omnibenevolence and Eternal Damnation”, I consider whether it is consistent to hold both that God is omnibenevolent and that he infinitely punishes human beings for the commission of finite transgressions. In exploring this problem, I discuss the utilitarian and retributive notions of punishment and justice, the possible mitigating effect of forewarning, and differing conceptions of the nature of the relationship of God to human beings. My conclusion is that it is inconsistant to hold both of these beliefs.     

Spatial and reversal learning in the Morris water maze are largely resistant to six hours of REM sleep deprivation following training

This first test of the role of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep in reversal spatial learning is also the first attempt to replicate a much cited pair of papers reporting that REM sleep deprivation impairs the consolidation of initial spatial learning in the Morris water maze. We hypothesized that REM sleep deprivation following training would impair both hippocampus-dependent spatial learning and learning a new target location within a familiar environment: reversal learning. A 6-d protocol was divided into the initial spatial learning phase (3.5 d) immediately followed by the reversal phase (2.5 d). During the 6 h following four or 12 training trials/day of initial or reversal learning phases, REM sleep was eliminated and non-REM sleep left intact using the multiple inverted flowerpot method. Contrary to our hypotheses, REM sleep deprivation during four or 12 trials/day of initial spatial or reversal learning did not affect training performance. However, some probe trial measures indicated REM sleep-deprivation-associated impairment in initial spatial learning with four trials/day and enhancement of subsequent reversal learning. In naive animals, REM sleep deprivation during normal initial spatial learning was followed by a lack of preference for the subsequent reversal platform location during the probe. Our findings contradict reports that REM sleep is essential for spatial learning in the Morris water maze and newly reveal that short periods of REM sleep deprivation do not impair concurrent reversal learning. Effects on subsequent reversal learning are consistent with the idea that REM sleep serves the consolidation of incompletely learned items.     

A prospective study of pediatric loss of control eating and psychological outcomes

Loss of control (LOC) eating in youth is associated cross-sectionally with eating-related and psychosocial distress and is predictive of excessive weight gain. However, few longitudinal studies have examined the psychological impact and persistence of pediatric LOC eating. We administered the Eating Disorder Examination and self-reported measures of depressive and anxiety symptoms to 195 boys and girls (mean age = 10.4 years, SD = 1.5) at baseline and again 4.7 years (SD = 1.2) later to 118 of these youth. Missing data were imputed. Baseline report of LOC was associated with the development of partial- or full-syndrome binge eating disorder (p = .03), even after accounting for the contribution of sex, race, baseline characteristics (age, disordered eating attitudes, and mood symptoms), body mass index growth between baseline and follow-up, and years in study. Half (52.2%; 95% CI [1.15, 6.22]) of children who endorsed experiencing LOC at baseline reported persistence of LOC at follow-up (p = .02). Compared with children who never reported LOC eating or reported LOC only at baseline, those with persistent LOC experienced significantly greater increases in disordered eating attitudes (ps < .001) and depressive symptoms (p = .027) over time. These data suggest that LOC eating in children is a problematic behavior that frequently persists into adolescence and that persistent LOC eating is associated with worsening of emotional distress.