Understanding How Participation in a Consumer-Run Organization Relates to Recovery

The goal of this study was to examine how different types of participation in a consumer-run organization (CRO) are related to recovery. More specifically, this study uses structural equation modeling to examine the relative impact of empowering and socially supportive participation experiences on progress towards recovery among 250 CRO members from 20 CROs. An empowering participation experience refers to involvement in leadership roles and contribution to organizational functioning. A socially supportive participation experience refers to social involvement in mutually supportive friendships with intimacy and sharing. Results indicate that both types of participation are associated with recovery, although a socially supportive participation experience maintains a stronger relationship with recovery than an empowering participation experience. Findings are consistent with the idea that CROs should encourage both types of participation. Drawing from over ten years of experience supporting CROs, the discussion section explores several strategies CROs can use to foster empowering and socially supportive participation experiences.     

Memory profiling in mild cognitive impairment: Can we determine risk for Alzheimer's disease?

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered a transitional stage between normal ageing and Alzheimer's disease (AD), but not all MCI cases progress to AD and there has been limited focus on how to identify who will progress. Given claims for a characteristic kind of memory impairment in AD involving deficits in encoding and consolidation of information, we propose that ‘memory profiling’ of individuals with MCI may help identify which individuals will progress. We initially set out to establish whether the same characteristic memory profile was present prior to the onset of AD (preAD). Very few studies provided data that allowed us to examine this, but results tentatively supported an encoding/consolidation profile in preAD. A single study tested the clinically important contrast of preAD versus non‐preAD MCI cases and found no difference under any condition or in memory profiles, but interpretation of the findings is limited by short duration of follow‐up, ceiling effects, and task limitations in assessing more complex and qualitative aspects of memory. Although existing data lead to equivocal conclusions, we believe that memory profiling is an endeavour worth pursuing, particularly given the increasing number of people with MCI presenting for clinical assessment. We propose that tests designed specifically to measure memory processes should be sensitive to preAD and are required in prospective longitudinal designs to identify these clinically crucial MCI cases.     

Chronic worry and the temporal dynamics of emotional processing

Worriers avoid upsetting thoughts yet also demonstrate vigilance for aversive emotional information. Potentially, these processes coexist but are separated in time. Individuals scoring high on a measure of chronic uncontrollable worry were compared to low scorers during valence categorization of emotional stimuli with interleaved Stroop color word trials to monitor extended effects of emotional processing. High worriers were especially fast and accurate in judging the valence of emotional words compared to low worriers. Worriers also had smaller pupil diameters following personally relevant negative emotional stimuli compared to low worriers. Correlations with self-report scales indicated associations between the worrier pupil response profile and symptoms of chronic worry and depression. The combined behavioral and physiological data support theories of emotional vigilance followed by avoidance in worriers.     

Affective Functioning Among Early Adolescents at High and Low Familial Risk for Depression and Their Mothers: A Focus on Individual and Transactional Processes across Contexts

This study aimed to characterize affective functioning in families of youth at high familial risk for depression, with particular attention to features of affective functioning that appear to be critical to adaptive functioning but have been underrepresented in prior research including: positive and negative affect across multiple contexts, individual and transactional processes, and affective flexibility. Interactions among early adolescents (ages 9–14) and their mothers were coded for affective behaviors across both positive and negative contexts. Primary analyses compared never-depressed youth at high (n = 44) and low (n = 57) familial risk for depression. The high risk group showed a relatively consistent pattern for low positive affect across negative and positive contexts at both the individual and transactional level. In contrast to prior studies focusing on negative contexts that did not support disruptions in negative affect among high risk youth, the data from this study suggest variability by context (i.e. increased negativity in a positive, but not negative, context), and individual vs. transactional processes (e.g., negative escalation). Findings are discussed in concert with attention to affect flexibility, contextual and transactional factors.     

The representational theory of phenomenal character: A phenomenological critique

According to a currently popular approach to the analysis of phenomenal character mandates that the phenomenal character of an experience is entirely determined by, and is in fact identical with, the experience’s representational content. Two underlying assumptions motivate this approach to phenomenal character: (1) that conscious experiences are diaphanous or transparent, in the sense that it is impossible to discern, via introspection, any intrinsic features of an experience of x that are not experienced as features of x; and (2) that the immediate objects of consciousness are not objects per se, but rather properties. This paper explores these assumptions, advancing the thesis that each is rejectable on phenomenological grounds.     

Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial of the Student Success Skills Program on Grade 5 Students’ Academic and Behavioral Outcomes

A randomized controlled trial of Student Success Skills (SSS) was conducted to determine the effect of the classroom program on Grade 5 students’ (N = 4,305) standardized test scores and proximal socioemotional variables associated with academic achievement. The SSS program was delivered by school counselors and reinforced through cuing and coaching by classroom teachers, which reflects the advocating student‐within‐environment approach to school counseling (Lemberger‐Truelove & Bowers, 2018). Hierarchical linear modeling analyses revealed the SSS program affected the treatment students’ behavioral engagement, disruption, assertion, cooperation, and test anxiety but did not result in a statistically significant difference on the participants’ reading and mathematics test scores. Implications for practice and further research are discussed.     

The Relationships Between Codependency and Femininity and Masculinity

Feminist writers critical of the codependency model have argued that codependency refers to an overly strong conformity to the traditional feminine role. Canonical correlation analysis using data from 192 first-year university students found a moderate association between codependency and gender-role identification. The specific nature of this association varied with different aspects of codependency. External focus (approval seeking) was associated with high scores on the negative aspects of femininity and low scores on positive aspects of masculinity. Self-sacrificing was associated with high positive femininity and low negative masculinity. Women scored higher than men on one aspect of codependency: external focus. Although the data are broadly consistent with a feminist critique of codependency, the relationship between codependency and gender-role identification appears to be more complex than previously suggested.