Adolescents in Residential Treatment: Caregiver and Peer Predictors of Risk Behavior and Academic Performance

The purpose of this research was to better understand the substance use and sexual risk taking behavior among high-risk adolescent populations placed in residential treatment facilities, including those in the foster care and juvenile justice systems. The primary predictors considered in this study included caregiver support, caregiver closeness, other adult support, adolescent self-disclosure/communication with caregiver, caregiver expectations about sexual behavior, and peer influence regards to drugs/alcohol and sexual behavior. Participants included 120 adolescent females in grades 7 to 12 (median grade?=?10; mean age 15.7 years), primarily African American (57.2 %) and White (29 %), in a residential treatment setting in a large urban area in the Midwest. Caregiver support and self-disclosure/communication with caregivers predicted condom use at most recent intercourse, but variables related to substance use were most consistently predictive of sexuality variables including onset and frequency of behavior. None of these support variables significantly predicted onset and frequency of substance use. Caregiver support was the contributing variable in predicting academic achievement.     

Revisiting Individual Creativity Assessment: Triangulation in Subjective and Objective Assessment Methods

Compared to the significant development of creativity studies, individual creativity research has not reached a meaningful consensus regarding the most valid and reliable method for assessing individual creativity. This study revisited 2 of the most popular methods for assessing individual creativity: subjective and objective methods. This study analyzed 1,500 individuals to investigate whether the methods for assessing individual creativity affect the measurement outcomes of individual creativity. Findings indicated that subjective assessments have a smaller variance a higher mean and a moderate but significant correlation with objective assessment methods. Such differences can be motivated by social desirability, consistency motif, illusory superiority, and leniency biases. Based on these findings, this study highlighted the need to acknowledge how subjective and objective assessment methods may affect individual creativity assessment outcomes.     

Coping With Strain (CWS) course – its effects on depressive symptoms: A four‐year longitudinal randomized controlled trial

The Coping With Strain (CWS) course is a modification of the Coping With Depression (CWD) course. CWD is by far the most studied psycho‐educational intervention to reduce and prevent depression, but CWD has never been tested in a randomized controlled trial in the workplace. This study seeks to examine the extent to which CWS, on a short‐term and a long‐term basis, reduces depressive symptoms in employees. After advertising at workplaces, 119 employees were randomized into Intervention Group I (IG1), which immediately participated in CWS, or Intervention Group II (IG2), which functioned as a control group for six months until its participation in CWS. The follow up period lasted for four years in both IG1 and IG2. Linear mixed models were fitted to the data. Depressive symptoms were significantly reduced during the course. The reduction of depressive symptoms was maintained over a period of four years in both IG1 and IG2, although there is a slight increase towards the end of the follow‐up period. CWS is effective in reducing depressive symptoms among employees. The effects are long lasting and may be maintained over a period of four years.     

Power,Conflict, and Community: How Gendered Views of Political Power Influence Women's Political Ambition

We provide a novel approach to understanding the political ambition gap between men and women by examining perceptions of the role of politician. Across three studies, we find that political careers are viewed as fulfilling power‐related goals, such as self‐promotion and competition. We connect these goals to a tolerance for interpersonal conflict and both of these factors to political ambition. Women's lack of interest in conflict and power‐related activities mediates the relationship between gender and political ambition. In an experiment, we show that framing a political career as fulfilling communal goals—and not power‐related goals—reduces the ambition gap.     

Altered Cortico-Limbic Functional Connectivity During an Empathy Task in Subjects with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Empathy is a multidimensional construct consisting of cognitive (inferring mental states) and emotional (empathic concern) components. Emotional empathy is severely impaired in individuals affected by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Here, we investigated the neural correlates of such an emotional empathy dysfunction to shed light on the neural circuitry responsible for the social and emotional dysfunction in PTSD. We asked a group of PTSD and a group of healthy controls to solve a Multifaceted Empathy Test, measuring both cognitive and emotional empathy, and investigated the functional connectivity of the cortical areas involved in solving the test. The results revealed that, in healthy individuals, increased neural activity in the frontal cortex modulates activity in the insula while subjects perform the emotional empathy task; whereas, in individuals affected by PTSD, increased activity in limbic regions such the insula and the amygdala modulates activity in the frontal cortex while performing the emotional empathy task. These findings suggest that the lack of cortical top-down control of the frontal cortex on the limbic system in PTSD during empathic processing may explain the emotional and social difficulties experienced by individuals suffering from PTSD.     

Maternal representation and care of infant sleep

Maternal reports about infant sleep care and ideas about the causes of awakening were obtained from telephone interviews with 104 middle class primiparae when their infants were 1 month and 1 year old. These reports were compared with their expectations about infant sleep before the birth of their child. It was found that most of the mothers were willing to ‘help’ their infants fall asleep, with 19 different kinds of techniques being spontaneously mentioned. Most of the techniques involved physical contact. The changes in technique from before birth to the end of the first year of life mainly concerned a decrease in the use of techniques involving holding the infant in the arms. From 1 month to 1 year, there was a decrease in rocking techniques, while at 1 year the use of a (bottle) feeding technique and taking the child into the parents' bed became apparent. The reasons mothers gave for infant awakenings varied from 1 month to 1 year. At 1 year, the most frequent reason was that the infant has ‘sufficient sleep’. Mothers' representations before the infant birth did not overlap with representations and reports of sleep handling after birth. Mothers were willing to apply and use a great variety of caring techniques that they perceived to be adjusted to the individual needs of their child. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Connecting to belonging: a cross-disciplinary inquiry into rural Australian Anglican Church engagements with people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds

People from diverse backgrounds enrich the rural, regional, and remote communities where they relocate and settle. Research about rural diversity tends to focus on demographics (age, gender, country of origin) while ignoring personal narratives of integration, for example, engagements with religious institutions (such as the local Christian church). This article presents the research themes from an investigation using co-operative inquiry into rural diversity and the Anglican Church, with specific reference to the Australian experience. It is a cross-disciplinary dialogic exchange between social workers and theologians. Positive narratives about connection, welcome, participation, and belonging are shared.     

“I Just Miss Her. I Just Need Her Here.” Life After a Mother’s Cancer

The purpose of this research was to examine the lived experience of a family unit that lost their spouse/mother/sister-in-law to cancer. A phenomenological case study was used to guide this research. Four participants, or one family unit consisting of one spouse, one daughter, one son, and one sister-in-law to the deceased, were recruited from Southern Ontario. Background questionnaires and one-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with each family member. The following themes emerged: (1) Negatives and (2) Silver Linings. This paper only addresses the theme “Silver Linings”; the first theme was addressed in Part I of this research. Within the theme “Silver Linings,” there were two sub-themes: (1) “…She was remarkable” and (2) Hope for the future. Each will be discussed in turn. Overall, the research study revealed some silver linings that may come from a diagnosis of cancer in a family unit. The family found it difficult to find positives in the loss of their loved one; however, they were able to acknowledge that they have a heightened appreciation for others. This research study provides insight regarding the lived experiences of families coping with the cancer journey of a loved one. It may allow readers to develop a greater sense of appreciation for their health and family members.     

From Compassion to Obedience: Gender and Emotion in Two Danish Prayer Books

Drawing from recent scholarship on prayer, identity formation and the history and sociology of emotion, this article explores the intersection of gender and emotion in two Danish prayer books dating from before and after the Lutheran Reformation in 1536. It is argued that the introduction of Lutheranism in Denmark resulted in a more strictly gendered understanding of family prayer. In this, the social and emotional ideal of obedience to paternal authority came to eclipse the expression of compassion with the suffering Christ that was a characteristic feature of late-medieval prayer.