What if I am the one? Measuring individual differences in emotional sensitivity to probability and emotional reactivity to possibility

Current theories of risk perception point to the powerful role of emotion and the neglect of probabilistic information in the face of risk, but these tendencies differ across individuals. We propose a method for measuring individuals' emotional sensitivity to probability to assess how feelings about probabilities, rather than the probabilities themselves, influence decisions. Participants gave affective ratings (worry or excitement) to 14 risky events, each with a specified probability ranging from 1 in 10 to 1 in 10,000,000. For each participant, we regressed these emotional responses against item probabilities, estimating a slope (the degree to which emotional responses change with probability) and an intercept (the emotional reaction to an event with a fixed probability). These two parameters were treated as individual difference scores and included in models predicting reactions to several health risk scenarios. Both emotional sensitivity to probability (slope) and emotional reactivity to possibility (intercept) significantly predicted responses to these scenarios, above and beyond the predictive power of other well‐established individual difference measures.     

The roles of delay and probability discounting in texting while driving: Toward the development of a translational scientific program

A sample of 109 college students completed a survey to assess how frequently they send or read text messages while driving. In a novel discounting task with a hypothetical scenario in which participants receive a text message while driving, they rated the likelihood of replying to a text message immediately versus waiting to reply until arriving at a destination. The scenario presented several delays to a destination and probabilities of a motor vehicle crash. The likelihood of waiting to reply decreased as a function of both the delay until the destination and the probability of a motor vehicle crash. Self‐reported higher frequencies of texting while driving were associated with greater rates of both delay and probability discounting. The degree of delay discounting was altered as a function of the probability of a motor vehicle crash and vice versa. These results suggest that both delay and probability discounting are important underlying mechanisms of drivers' decision to text while driving.     

The Use of Relational‐Cultural Theory in Counseling Clients Who Have Traumatic Stress Disorders

Counseling scholarship has increasingly demonstrated the utility of relational‐cultural theory (RCT) in promoting the relationship‐building and growth‐fostering connections many clients require to manage problems in living. The authors applied RCT to counseling clients with traumatic stress disorders rooted in traumas of an interpersonal nature (e.g., child abuse, interpersonal partner violence, sexual assault). An overview of traumatic stress disorders and RCT, as well as the ways in which RCT can inform trauma conceptualization and treatment approaches with victims, is provided.     

Writing Effective Insurance Justification Letters for Cancer Genetic Testing: A Streamlined Approach

The topic of insurance coverage and justification letters for cancer predisposition testing has been the subject of much discussion on the National Society of Genetic Counselors Cancer Special Interest Group (NSGC Cancer-SIG) listserv. Some counselors have stated that they have had difficulty in obtaining insurance coverage for their patients, while others have indicated that they would appreciate seeing examples of successful letters. The purpose of this paper is to provide practical guidance in writing successful letters of justification and to share insurance success stories in the area of cancer genetic testing.     

Intentions to Use the Female Condom Among African American Adults1

The present study tested whether the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and self‐efficacy for female condom use predicted intentions to use the female condom among African American adults. Participants were 137 men and women, 18 to 35 years of age, who were recruited from a community‐based organization. Results indicate that: (a) the TRA model has predictive utility for women's but not for men's intentions to use the female condom with both main and casual sex partners, and (b) the TRA model was a better predictor of intentions to use the female condom with main than with casual partners. Implications for female condom‐use promotion are discussed.     

“Heart Trouble” and Religious Involvement among Older White Men and Women

Objective Few studies examine how older adults’ health status affects spiritual and religious involvement. This study examined the effects of gender and poor cardiac health on older adults’ ends, means, and quest religious motivations and frequency of private devotion. Method Longitudinal data (12 months between the T₁ and T₂ interviews) with 182 older adults sampled from a Northeast city were used to examine in a multivariate analysis of covariance whether gender and the existence of cardiac health problems at T₁ affected older adults’ spiritual and religious involvement at T₂. Findings A gender and cardiac health condition interaction showed older men with heart trouble had more changes in religious involvement—they engaged in more religious doubt, prayed less, and were not as intrinsically oriented at T₂. Discussion The findings strongly suggest that older men with heart trouble may maintain a masculine style and shun seeking divine help.     

Modeling the Bullying Prevention Program Preferences of Educators: A Discrete Choice Conjoint Experiment

We used discrete choice conjoint analysis to model the bullying prevention program preferences of educators. Using themes from computerized decision support lab focus groups (n = 45 educators), we composed 20 three-level bullying prevention program design attributes. Each of 1,176 educators completed 25 choice tasks presenting experimentally varied combinations of the study’s attribute levels. Latent class analysis yielded three segments with different preferences. Decision Sensitive educators (31%) preferred that individual schools select bullying prevention programs. In contrast, Support Sensitive educators (51%) preferred that local school boards chose bullying prevention programs. This segment preferred more logistical and social support at every stage of the adoption, training, implementation, and long term maintenance processes. Cost Sensitive educators (16%) showed a stronger preference for programs minimizing costs, training, and implementation time demands. They felt prevention programs were less effective and that the time and space in the curriculum for bullying prevention was less adequate. They were less likely to believe that bullying prevention was their responsibility and more likely to agree that prevention was the responsibility of parents. All segments preferred programs supported by the anecdotal reports of colleagues from other schools rather than those based on scientific evidence. To ensure that the bullying prevention options available reflect the complex combination of attributes influencing real world adoption decisions, program developers need to accommodate the differing views of the Decision, Support, and Cost Sensitive segments while maximizing the support of parents and students.     

Impact of Behavioral Inhibition and Parenting Style on Internalizing and Externalizing Problems from Early Childhood through Adolescence

Behavioral inhibition (BI) is characterized by a pattern of extreme social reticence, risk for internalizing behavior problems, and possible protection against externalizing behavior problems. Parenting style may also contribute to these associations between BI and behavior problems (BP). A sample of 113 children was assessed for BI in the laboratory at 14 and 24 months of age, self-report of maternal parenting style at 7 years of age, and maternal report of child internalizing and externalizing BP at 4, 7, and 15 years. Internalizing problems at age 4 were greatest among behaviorally inhibited children who also were exposed to permissive parenting. Furthermore, greater authoritative parenting was associated with less of an increase in internalizing behavior problems over time and greater authoritarian parenting was associated with a steeper decline in externalizing problems. Results highlight the importance of considering child and environmental factors in longitudinal patterns of BP across childhood and adolescence.