Travel: a long-range goal of retired women

The authors surveyed retired persons (predominately women) with regard to their immediate, intermediate, and long-range activities following retirement. As predicted, leisure travel emerged as a frequent long-range goal for persons retired more than 5 years. The travel activity preferences of long-retired older women present challenges and opportunities to both researchers and marketers. Length of trips and frequency of trips have been predicted from regression models, with trip length in particular being well predicted by the problem of daily life hassles. A theoretical model of continued post-retirement travel is presented as a variant of Solomon's opponent process theory of affect (R. L. Solomon, 1980). The authors suggest that to the degree that places traveled to are varied and different, older people may remain stimulated and continue to enjoy retirement.     

Development of a Spanish version of the Participation Motivation Inventory for young competitive swimmers

The present study examined the validity of a Spanish version of the Participation Motivation Inventory, modified for swimming by Gould, Feltz, and Weiss in 1985, and investigated whether young swimmers differing in sex and age vary in their objectives for participation. Swimmers (204 boys and 224 girls, ranging in age from 8 to 22 years) were administered the inventory. Factor analysis with varimax rotation identified seven factors fairly consistent with previous research. Differences were found across age and sex. Females placed greater emphasis than males on Friendship and Fun and indicated lower importance rating to Status. Younger children (8-10 years) rated Fun/Friendship, Competition/Skills, Significant Others, and Status significantly higher in importance than did the other age groups.     

A methodology for describing and decomposing complex psychosocial and behavioral interventions

This article presents a comprehensive conceptual framework and methodology for characterizing multidimensional psychosocial and behavioral interventions for family caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease. The methodology involved conducting a detailed task analysis of the interventions, and the application of the analytical hierarchy process. The authors were able to achieve high levels of consistency and reliability using this methodology to decompose and describe the interventions according to a complex conceptual framework comprising 3 dimensions: target domain, functional domain, and delivery system characteristics. Application of this methodology will enhance the ability to describe and measure interventions consistently, make comparisons across studies, isolate causal factors that achieve desired outcomes, and more generally elevate the science of psychosocial intervention research.     

Uncertainty in pigeons

Pigeons classified a display of illuminated pixels on a touchscreen as sparse or dense. Correct responses were reinforced with six food pellets; incorrect responses were unreinforced. On some trials an uncertain response option was available. Pecking it was always reinforced with an intermediate number of pellets. Like monkeys and people in related experiments, the birds chose the uncertain response most often when the stimulus presented was difficult to classify correctly, but in other respects their behavior was not functionally similar to human behavior based on conscious uncertainty or to the behavior of monkeys in comparable experiments. Our data were well described by a signal detection model that assumed that the birds were maximizing perceived reward in a consistent way across all the experimental conditions.     

Neurocognitive Performance in Alcoholics: Is Polysubstance Abuse Important?

The neurocognitive effects of alcohol have been frequently examined. Studies reveal a wide array of cognitive deficits. Attempts to develop a parsimonious model for these effects have been difficult because of the intra- and intersubject variability. Complicating the development of a model of cognitive deficits in substance abusers is the common practice of polysubstance abuse. The use of theoretical models that focus on the underlying cognitive processes offers flexibility while maintaining sufficient theoretical precision. This article briefly reviews the literature on neurocognitive changes associated with substance abuse as well as the various theoretical models that have been studied. It also provides an overview of recovery of function. Its primary objective is to evaluate cognitive function among alcoholic subtypes, defined by patterns of other drug use. This analysis suggests there are significant differences in neurocognitive function among these subtypes.     

Body Size Beliefs and Weight Concerns Among Mothers and Their Adolescent Children

African American and White mother/adolescent pairs were examined for familial associations in body size and weight concerns. Mothers' and adolescents' estimates of adolescents' body mass index (BMI) were significantly correlated. Compared to boys, girls had greater body dissatisfaction, higher weight concerns, and perceived higher family/friend weight concerns. By race, White adolescents had more body dissatisfaction and greater concern about weight than African American adolescents. Four items explained 70.4% of the variance in adolescents' weight concern scores: adolescents' weight management practices, mothers' reports of adolescents' saying they were too fat, adolescents' perceptions of family/friends' weight concerns, and adolescents' body dissatisfaction. Our study suggests White girls are more concerned about their weight and perceive greater weight and dieting concerns among family/friends than African American girls.     

Couple‐based Intervention for Depression: An Effectiveness Study in the National Health Service in England

This study represents an effectiveness study and service evaluation of a cognitive behavioral, couple‐based treatment for depression (BCT‐D) provided in London services that are part of the “Improving Access to Psychological Therapies” (IAPT) program in England. Twenty‐three therapists in community clinics were trained in BCT‐D during a 5‐day workshop, followed by monthly group supervision for 1 year. The BCT‐D treatment outcome findings are based on 63 couples in which at least one partner was depressed and elected to receive BCT‐D. Eighty‐five percent of couples also demonstrated relationship distress, and 49% of the nonclient partners also met caseness for depression or anxiety. Findings demonstrated a recovery rate of 57% with BCT‐D, compared to 41% for all IAPT treatments for depression in London. Nonclient partners who met caseness demonstrated a 48% recovery rate with BCT‐D, although they were not the focus of treatment. BCT‐D was equally effective for clients regardless of the clinical status of the nonclient partner, suggesting its effectiveness in assisting both members of the couple simultaneously. Likewise, treatment was equally effective whether or not both partners reported relationship distress. The findings are promising regarding the successful application of BCT‐D in routine clinical settings.     

Menstrual Knowledge and Taboo TV Commercials: Effects on Self-Objectification among Italian and Swedish Women

Despite menstruation being a physiological phenomenon in women’s life, social research has highlighted that there are still many taboos, also conveyed by advertising, which prevent an open discourse on the topic and can have negative impacts on women’s well-being. The present study examined the influence of the exposure to existing TV advertisements for sanitary napkins depicting menstruation as a taboo on self-objectification in women from Italy (n = 160) and Sweden (n = 159). To do so, we also investigated the moderating role of menstrual knowledge in this relationship. Our findings showed that in the Italian sample, exposure to the taboo TV commercial led to more self-objectification especially for participants with lower knowledge of menstruation. These effects did not occur for their Swedish counterparts, showing no differences in self-objectification when women were exposed to the taboo advertisement. The present results are discussed in light of cultural differences in sexual and menstrual education between the two countries. Theoretical and practical implications are drawn.