Understanding the Relationship of Trauma,Substance Use,and Resilience Among Religiously Affiliated University Students

This study examined patterns of association between experiencing 12 traumatic life events, resilience, and substance use at a conservative church-affiliated university. The authors used data (N?=?278) from a Health Risk and Protective Factors Study that was conducted during the 2012 spring semester. Initial bivariate analysis indicated several significant positive and negative associations between three of the traumatic life event variables and alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco use within the past year and between two of the traumatic life event variables and alcohol use within the past 30 days. Preliminarily, resilience was only inversely associated with amphetamine use within the past year for men. When examined further using partial correlations to clarify these relationships while controlling for resilience, strong significant positive associations were found specifically between experiencing a disaster-type event and alcohol use within the past year and within the past 30 days for men only. Overall significant moderate positive associations were found between experiencing parental divorce and alcohol use within the past year, and between experiencing a disaster-type event and alcohol use within the past year and within the past 30 days. Use of two-way between-groups ANOVA found no significant interaction among these variables. Results may suggest that experiencing certain traumatic life events and male gender are more likely connected to alcohol use behaviors, whereas resilience may have multiple pathways for adaptive coping.     

Psychological Predictors of Neurobehavioral Symptoms in a Polytrauma Veteran Sample

Given the high prevalence of comorbid conditions found in polytrauma settings, effective screening measures are needed. Several screening tools are commonly used in polytrauma clinics within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This study examined the use of three screening measures—the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and PTSD Checklist–Civilian Version (PCL-C)—to predict scores on the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI). Research suggests that the presence of mental health conditions, such as PTSD, shares a significant amount of variance with postconcussive symptoms. The investigators hypothesized that the PCL-C would be the best predictor of scores on the NSI. All subjects were administered the screening measures as part of an evaluation in an outpatient Level III polytrauma clinic. Regression analysis was used to determine which instrument might serve as the best predictor of NSI total scores. Regression analysis revealed that BAI, BDI-II, and PCL-C total scores were good predictors of NSI total scores, with the BAI accounting for the majority of the variance. Mental health conditions can account for higher scores on the NSI, and screening of other mental health conditions should be taken into account when reviewing the NSI for individuals in polytrauma settings.     

Pinyin and English Invented Spelling in Chinese-Speaking Students Who Speak English as a Second Language

This study examined pinyin (the official phonetic system that transcribes the lexical tones and pronunciation of Chinese characters) invented spelling and English invented spelling in 72 Mandarin-speaking 6th graders who learned English as their second language. The pinyin invented spelling task measured segmental-level awareness including syllable and phoneme awareness, and suprasegmental-level awareness including lexical tones and tone sandhi in Chinese Mandarin. The English invented spelling task manipulated segmental-level awareness including syllable awareness and phoneme awareness, and suprasegmental-level awareness including word stress. This pinyin task outperformed a traditional phonological awareness task that only measured segmental-level awareness and may have optimal utility to measure unique phonological and linguistic features in Chinese reading. The pinyin invented spelling uniquely explained variance in Chinese conventional spelling and word reading in both languages. The English invented spelling uniquely explained variance in conventional spelling and word reading in both languages. Our findings appear to support the role of phonological activation in Chinese reading. Our experimental linguistic manipulations altered the phonological awareness item difficulties.     

Survival on the Streets: Experiences of the Homeless Population and Constructive Suggestions for Assistance

This phenomenological study explored the experiences and needs of 11 individuals of the homeless population. Results revealed 5 themes: need for employment, perceptions of needs, perceptions of programs and shelters, coping mechanisms, and perceptions of treatment. Counseling implications for practice are discussed. Este estudio fenomenológico explore las experiencias y necesidades de 11 individuos de la población sin techo. Los resultados revelaron 5 temas: la necesidad de empleo, las percepciones de sus necesidades, las percepciones de los programas y albergues, los mecanismos de afrontamiento y las percepciones de tratamiento. Se discuten las implicaciones para la práctica de la consejería.     

Recruiting and Retaining High-Risk Adolescents into Family-Based HIV Prevention Intervention Research

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of evidence-based recruitment and retention strategies for a longitudinal, family-based HIV prevention intervention study targeting adolescents in psychiatric care by (1) determining consent rate (recruitment), rate of participation at the first intervention session (retention), and follow-up attendance rate (retention); and (2) examining socio-demographic factors, family-level processes, sexual risk-related indices, and intervention factors (i.e., treatment arm) associated with study retention. Only one-third of the families contacted ultimately enrolled in the study. 81% of those enrolled participated in the workshop and 72% attended the booster sessions with no significant differences between families on any variable based on attendance. Retention over 1?year was 85% and did not differ by treatment arm. Strategies employed were successful at retaining families once they were enrolled. Findings highlight barriers to enrollment for adolescents in psychiatric care and suggest that it may be critical to integrate HIV prevention programs within community-based mental health services in order to counteract recruitment challenges.     

Performance During a 3-Hour Simulated Sentry Duty Task Under Varied Work Rates and Secondary Task Demands

The performance of 14 soldiers was evaluated during 3 hr of simulated sentry duty when (a) the primary work rate was varied and (b) participants were required to intermittently perform a simple secondary task. Performance measurements included latency to detect a target, number of correct target detections, correct friend versus foe identification, targets hit, and latency to respond to the presentation of a continuous tone (secondary task). Activity monitors measured motor activity during study participation. During higher work rate sessions, participants responded to the appearance of a target more quickly, discriminated friend from foe more accurately, and hit more foe targets. The addition of a simple auditory task to the primary task did not affect performance on any of the sentry duty measures. These findings demonstrated that moderate increases in task engagement, or work rate, improved most performance metrics on a long duration (3-hr), militarily relevant vigilance task.     

Perception of Maximum Reaching Height When the Means of Reaching Are No Longer in View

Previous research has shown that perception of maximum reaching height is relative to reaching ability even when the means of performing this behavior would bring about (future) changes in reaching ability. Two experiments investigate whether this continues to be the case even when the means of reaching are no longer in view. The results show perception of maximum reaching height reflects impending changes to reaching ability both when the means of performing the reaching task (and changing reaching ability) are present and when they are no longer in view. The results are discussed in the context of prospectivity, retrospectivity, and flexibility—3 fundamental hallmarks of goal-directed behavior.     

Flexibility of the Frame Revisited: Commentary on Tony Bass's “When the Frame Doesn't Fit the Picture”

The author argues that the word frame is misleading because it conjures up the image of a picture frame constructed of unyielding material like wood or metal. Psychoanalytic work demands a flexible frame in which patient and analyst together jointly construct a comfortable envelope within which to interact. Bass candidly acknowledges countertransference blind spots and illustrates the complexities of frame management in the course of analytic work. The transference–countertransference dimensions of psychoanalytic relationship cannot be seen from a position outside the dyad. Hence, periodic consultation with a senior and trusted colleague can be extremely useful in frame considerations. What we think may be in the best interests of the patient can be a rationalization designed to serve our own interests, consultation may be the best strategy for us to allow our blind spots to come into our visual field.     

Moral Ambition

The paper opens with an account of moral ambition which, it argues, is both a coherent ideal and an admirable trait. It closes with a discussion of some of the ways in which this trait might differ from traditional virtues such as temperance, courage, or benevolence.     

A stop-signal task for sheep: introduction and validation of a direct measure for the stop-signal reaction time

Huntington’s disease (HD) patients show reduced flexibility in inhibiting an already-started response. This can be quantified by the stop-signal task. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a sheep version of the stop-signal task that would be suitable for monitoring the progression of cognitive decline in a transgenic sheep model of HD. Using a semi-automated operant system, sheep were trained to perform in a two-choice discrimination task. In 22% of the trials, a stop-signal was presented. Upon the stop-signal presentation, the sheep had to inhibit their already-started response. The stopping behaviour was captured using an accelerometer mounted on the back of the sheep. This set-up provided a direct read-out of the individual stop-signal reaction time (SSRT). We also estimated the SSRT using the conventional approach of subtracting the stop-signal delay (i.e., time after which the stop-signal is presented) from the ranked reaction time during a trial without a stop-signal. We found that all sheep could inhibit an already-started response in 91% of the stop-trials. The directly measured SSRT (0.974 ± 0.04 s) was not significantly different from the estimated SSRT (0.938 ± 0.04 s). The sheep version of the stop-signal task adds to the repertoire of tests suitable for investigating both cognitive dysfunction and efficacy of therapeutic agents in sheep models of neurodegenerative disease such as HD, as well as neurological conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.