Stress-related immune changes in middle-aged and older women: 1-year consistency of individual differences.

This study reviews prior research and reports longer-term consistency of stress-related immune variables in middle-aged and older women who performed mental math and speech tasks 2 times 1 year apart. Leukocyte subsets, mitogen-induced lymphocyte proliferation, and natural killer cell activity were measured at baseline, after tasks, and after 30-min recovery. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antibody titers were assessed at baseline. Pearson coefficients and standardized maximum-likelihood estimates of year-to-year covariances for leukocyte subsets and EBV titers showed moderately high to high baseline and posttask consistency and lower recovery consistency; consistency for other functional immune assays and reactivity scores for all variables was moderate to low. Results support longitudinal study of psychosocial context effects on tonic immune function and posttask scores.     

Conceptual Metaphors in Internship: Creative Journeys in Counselor Development

The use of metaphors is considered a cognitive and affective process in which individuals can creatively explain and understand unfamiliar experiences. Through the Metaphor Identification Procedure, 453 metaphors were identified within semester-long reflective journals from 49 students enrolled in a clinical mental health internship course. Six overarching categories resulted, highlighting creativity used in processing, understanding, and describing events within internship. Implications for supervision and counselor education are provided.     

The Impact of the American and British Equal Pay Guarantee on Job Evaluation

Aux USA et en Grande-Bretagne, la legislation a prevu de garantir aux femmes un salaire egal pour un travail egal. Ceux qui veulent respecter cette garantie sont confrontes a la tache de definir ce que veut dire legalement travail egal. Des questions se posent sur la definition officielle du terme travail egal ou travail de valeur egale. Cet article passe en revue la plupart des cas ou le travail est d'egale valeur, et attire l'attention particulierement sur la methode d'evaluation des taches et la maniere d'etablir des taux de salaires a discuter dans ces cas. L'analyse est realisee pour expliquer la pensee legale, et ne signifie pas que Ton applaudisse ou que Ton critique des methodes particulieres d'evaluation de taches ou d'etablissement de grilles salariales. Le but de cette recherche est de savoir quelles methodes d'evaluation seront trouvees par les lois americaines et anglaises et reconnues comme methodes legalement accep-tables pour determiner les valeurs.     

Gender Differences in Trauma Types and Themes in Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Background: This study aimed to determine whether there were gender differences in trauma types and cognitive-emotional themes among veterans with deployment-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Methods: Case notes or writing excerpts from two pilot studies were reviewed to determine types of traumas and emerging themes, with 20 women and 31 men comprising the sample. Results: Most women developed PTSD after sexual assault, with reactions emphasizing mistrust, betrayal, and anger. Men experienced more combat, with reactions including survivor guilt, moral injury, and horror. Conclusions: Both genders developed PTSD, but the causes of and reactions to their traumas differed. Emerging themes can be useful treatment foci.     

Postdeployment Suicide Risk Increases Over a 6‐month Period: Predictors of Increased Risk among Midwestern Army National Guard Soldiers

National Guard (NG) soldiers returning from deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan were surveyed at 6 and 12 months following their return (N = 970). The overall prevalence of suicide risk at 6 and 12 months following their return was assessed, as were changes in suicide risk among soldiers initially at high or low risk. Factors associated with changes in risk were assessed. The percentage of NG soldiers with high suicide risk increased from 6.8% at 6 months to 9.2% at 12 months (odds ratio = 1.7, p = .02). In the 882 soldiers initially at low risk, 5.9% (52/882) became high risk at 12 months; in the 64 soldiers initially at high risk, 46.9% (30/64) became low risk at 12 months. Initial levels of depressive symptoms were predictive of changing to high risk; this association appeared to be partially explained by soldier reports of increased search in the meaning in life and higher levels of perceived stress. Because suicide risk increases over the first 12 months, continued risk assessments during this time period should be considered. Supporting soldiers to find meaning in their life after deployment and enhancing their capacity to cope with perceived stress may help prevent increases in suicide risk over time.     

Friendship,Depression, and Suicide Attempts in Adults: Exploratory Analysis of a Longitudinal Follow‐Up Study

Social support is thought to protect against the risk of suicidal behavior in young people and late life, but less is known about the role of friendship in adults. We explored the effect of friendship on suicide attempt risk during 1‐year follow‐up of 132 adults presenting with major depressive episode (MDE). Items from the Social Adjustment Scale–Self‐Report were used as an index of frequency and quality of recent friendship contacts. Survival methods tested associations of friendship with risk of suicide attempt, recurrent MDE, and related outcomes during follow‐up. Impaired friendship predicted greater risk of suicide attempt in an unadjusted Cox model. This association was stronger for quality (p = .009) than frequency (p = .081) of friendship contacts. In the adjusted model, the effect of friendship on suicide attempts was largely explained by self‐reported depression severity. Friendship has a potentially bidirectional relationship with depression, and its effect on suicidal behavior appears to occur through its relationship with depression. Future research should examine the effect of antidepressant treatment on friendship and be designed to test mediation models of relationships between friendship, depression, and suicidal behavior.