Exploration of a Marital Typology: Implications for Marital Functioning in a Multi-Ethnic Sample

Marital conflict is associated with multiple negative outcomes for couples, including marital dissatisfaction and divorce. Little research, however, has examined conflict in Hispanic/Latino couples or its association with marital satisfaction, which creates an unfortunate knowledge gap for clinicians working with diverse client groups. The present study sought to examine both marital conflict and satisfaction using a sample of 231 European American (EA; n = 108) and Hispanic/Latino (H/L; n = 123) couples. Through observational coding, couples were placed into four groups based on their type of conflict management strategies: Harmonious, Withdrawn, Conflictual-Expressive, or Conflictual-Hostile. For both ethnic groups, couples in the Harmonious group were nondistressed and couples in the Conflictual-Hostile group were in the distressed range of marital satisfaction. Cross-ethnic differences emerged. EA couples experienced distress when both hostile (Conflictual-Hostile) and nonhostile conflict (Conflictual-Expressive) communication types were observed, while only hostile conflict was associated with distress for the H/L group. H/L couples reported similar levels of satisfaction in both the Harmonious and Conflictual-Expressive groups. H/L couples also fell within the distressed range when withdrawn communication patterns were observed; however, this was not the case for EA couples. These differences suggest that both types of conflict are associated with marital distress for EA couples, whereas hostile conflict and withdrawn behavior appear to be more negatively associated with marital satisfaction in H/L couples. Results provide support for the use of an observational coding system with H/L and EA couples and also suggest the importance of understanding how differences in expressions of conflict across ethnicities may relate to marital satisfaction.     

A comparison of isolated and synthesized contingencies in functional analyses

Recently, researchers have compared the utility of isolated versus synthesized contingencies in functional analysis (FA) methodology (e.g., Fisher et al., 2016; Slaton et al., 2017). A limitation of these studies is that there were other differences across FA methodologies (e.g., design, contingency) that did not allow for isolation of the influence of isolated versus synthesized contingencies. Therefore, the current study compared outcomes of FAs that involved isolated versus synthesized contingencies for problem behavior of 5 children while controlling for these other differences across FAs (Experiment 1). Next, the current study compared the effects of interventions based on the functions identified in the isolated and synthesized contingencies for each participant (Experiment 2). Results indicated isolated contingency FAs produced differentiated responding for 1 or both functions for all 5 participants, and there were little to no differences between treatments informed by isolated and synthesized contingency FAs.     

Bullying Victimization and Use of Substances in High School: Does Religiosity Moderate the Association?

Alcohol, tobacco and other drug use continue to pose serious public health concerns among youth. Bullying victimization has been identified as a risk factor and religiosity a protective factor for adolescent substance use. No previous research has examined the potential moderating role of religiosity. We explore the association between bullying victimization and substance use in adolescents with low and high levels of religiosity. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a representative sample of high school students in greater Beirut. Binary and multinomial logistic models were used, adjusting for demographics, and stratified by level of religiosity. Of the 986 students responding to the survey, 65% were females; 48% had experienced some form of bullying; and 52% self-rated as low in religiosity. Between 10 and 30% were current users of alcohol or tobacco. Students of lower religiosity levels who had been bullied were more likely to use substances than those who self-rated as high religiosity. Religiosity may be a potential moderator of the association between being bullied and substance use, but the exact mechanisms and underlying reasons need further investigation.

     

Problem-solving in a cooperative task in peach-fronted conures (Eupsittula aurea)

Animal Cognition - Cooperation is a complex behaviour found in many kinds of organisms and occurs between individuals of the same and different species. Several studies have examined the...     

Commitment to legal claiming: influences of attributions,social guidance,and organizational tenure

This study investigates antecedents of individuals' commitment to the legal-claiming process. Individuals were surveyed as they entered a district office of the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to file an employment discrimination claim. Respondents' attributions regarding who they blamed for their grievance, the social guidance received, their organizational tenure, and their commitment to legal claiming were assessed. Results showed that individuals who made strong external attributions had a higher commitment to legal claiming than did those who made weak external attributions. Social guidance and organizational tenure were significant moderators of the attribution-claiming relationship. Specifically, commitment to legal claiming was more strongly related to external attributions when social guidance was low and organizational tenure was high. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

The impact of communal-mastery versus self-mastery on emotional outcomes during stressful conditions: a prospective study of Native American women

Past research has examined the stress resiliency of individuals high in sense of personal-mastery. However, it has been theorized that within more collectivist cultures, a sense of shared efficacy, which we call communal-mastery, may be more central to people's resiliency in the face of challenging life circumstances. We compared the impact of sense of self-mastery (i.e., I am the key to my success) to that of communal-mastery (i.e., I am successful by virtue of my social attachments) in a prospective study among a group of rural 103 Native American women residing on Indian Reservations in Montana. We found that women high in communal-mastery experienced less increase in depressive mood and anger, especially when faced with high stress circumstances, than women who were low in communal-mastery. In addition, the beneficial impact of communal-mastery was found to be more effective than self-mastery for these women.     

Burnout syndrome in the helping professions

Burnout can be defined as a long-term reaction to occupational stress which involves, particularly, the helping professions. The main aim of this study was the assessment of burnout in a sample of professional and voluntary health care workers and comparison of the two samples on scores from the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Analysis suggests a significant difference in mean scores for Emotional Exhaustion of volunteers vs professional workers. Some evidence has supported the hypothesis of a fourth dimension, called Behavioral Exhaustion, in the burnout syndrome.     

Mapping of olfactory memory circuits: region-specific c-fos activation after odor-reward associative learning or after its retrieval

Although there is growing knowledge about intracellular mechanisms underlying neuronal plasticity and memory consolidation and reconsolidation after retrieval, information concerning the interaction among brain areas during formation and retrieval of memory is relatively sparse and fragmented. Addressing this question requires simultaneous monitoring of activity in multiple brain regions during learning, the post-acquisition consolidation period, and retrieval and subsequent reconsolidation. Immunoreaction to the immediate early gene c-fos is a powerful tool to mark neuronal activation of specific populations of neurons. Using this method, we are able to report, for the first time, post-training activation of a network of closely related brain regions, particularly in the frontal cortex and the basolateral amygdala (BLA), that is specific to the learning of an odor-reward association. On the other hand, retrieval of a well-established associative memory trace does not seem to differentially activate the same regions. The amygdala, in particular, is not engaged after retrieval, whereas the lateral habenula (LHab) shows strong activation that is restricted to animals having previously learned the association. Although intracellular mechanisms may be similar during consolidation and reconsolidation, this study indicates that different brain circuits are involved in the two processes, at least with respect to a rapidly learned olfactory task.     

Religiosity and obsessive-compulsive behavior in Israeli Jews

Individual differences in obsessive-compulsive (OC) behavior in various cultures correlate with religiosity. The current paper explored the so far unstudied relationship between religiosity and OC behavior in Israeli Jews. Two studies were conducted. Study 1 focused on the relationship between religiosity and OC behavior in a representative sample of Israeli students. Study 2 focused on religious change and OC behavior in a non-random sample of 31 individuals who had become more religious (the MR group), and 30 individuals who were less religious (the LR group) than their parents. Instruments used were the Maudsley obsessive-compulsive inventory (MOCI), the student religiosity questionnaire, and questions about parental home observance, upbringing, and changes in religiosity. In the first study, no association was found between religiosity and OC behavior. Religiosity was related to some degree to perfectionism and to the parental attitude to upbringing. In the second study, a significant difference was observed between the MR and the LR groups on OC behavior as measured by the MOCI. Conclusion, among Israeli Jews a lot of religious observance is non-reflective, and is not associated with individual differences in personality or OC symptoms. Those who undergo religious change may do so in response to their behavioral propensities. One such path is that the more OC become MR, and the less OC less religiously observant.