Depressive symptom patterns among older women

The structure of depressive symptom patterns was investigated in a community sample of 344 women between the ages of 51 and 92 who were administered the SCL-90-R Depression and Additional Symptoms Scales. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test alternative measurement hypotheses implied by clinical formulations of depressive symptom patterns among elderly persons. The findings show support for the hypothesis that 2 somewhat different depressive syndromes, along with 4 more delimited forms of distress, underlie symptom-reporting patterns. Implications of these findings for future research on the relation between aging and depression are discussed.     

The effect of specific hypnotic suggestions on blood pressure in normotensive subjects

Twenty normotensive subjects participated on a voluntary basis in an experiment designed to study the effects of specific suggestions on blood pressure (BP). After an induction procedure, the experimental group received suggestions presumed to be relatively nonactivating, although capable of lowering or raising BP. A control group was used to record the BP changes over time. All subjects met for one session. Eight subjects from the experimental group met for a second session. Both adaptation and induction resulted in significant BP decreases. A specific suggestion to increase BP gave a significant result when compared to the induction point. There was no significant change from induction to the BP decrease suggestion. Both systolic and diastolic BP behaved in the same way. A second experimental session resulted in no significant change compared with the first session. Also, no significant difference was found in suggestibility scores from the first to the second session. The results are in line with previously published studies.     

Development and psychometric validation of the verbal affective memory test

We here present the development and validation of the Verbal Affective Memory Test-24 (VAMT-24). First, we ensured face validity by selecting 24 words reliably perceived as positive, negative or neutral, respectively, according to healthy Danish adults’ valence ratings of 210 common and non-taboo words. Second, we studied the test's psychometric properties in healthy adults. Finally, we investigated whether individuals diagnosed with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) differed from healthy controls on seasonal changes in affective recall. Recall rates were internally consistent and reliable and converged satisfactorily with established non-affective verbal tests. Immediate recall (IMR) for positive words exceeded IMR for negative words in the healthy sample. Relatedly, individuals with SAD showed a significantly larger decrease in positive recall from summer to winter than healthy controls. Furthermore, larger seasonal decreases in positive recall significantly predicted larger increases in depressive symptoms. Retest reliability was satisfactory, rs?≥?.77. In conclusion, VAMT-24 is more thoroughly developed and validated than existing verbal affective memory tests and showed satisfactory psychometric properties. VAMT-24 seems especially sensitive to measuring positive verbal recall bias, perhaps due to the application of common, non-taboo words. Based on the psychometric and clinical results, we recommend VAMT-24 for international translations and studies of affective memory.     

A two wave cross‐lagged study of work‐role conflict,work‐family conflict and emotional exhaustion

By using a two‐wave panel design, the present study aimed to study causal, reversed, and reciprocal relations among work‐role conflict, work‐family conflict, and emotional exhaustion. The Conservation of Resources theory was applied as a theoretical framework. The study was conducted in a large Norwegian oil and gas company (n = 1703). The results demonstrated positive cross‐lagged effects of work‐role conflict and work‐family conflict on emotional exhaustion. In addition, emotional exhaustion predicted work‐family conflict over time, and work‐family conflict predicted work‐role conflict over time, indicating the presence of reciprocal effects. The current study adds new knowledge to the positioning of work‐family conflict in relation to perceived conflict in the workplace and emotional exhaustion.     

Evaluating the Utility of MFT Models in the Treatment of Trauma: Implications for Affect Regulation

The purpose of this paper is to discuss polyvagal theory as a theoretical foundation for helping clinicians more effectively treat clients who have experienced major trauma. More specifically, we emphasize that through the use of both modern and post-modern models, marriage and family therapists may use emotion regulation strategies to assist clients in overcoming the negative repercussions of traumatic events. We suggest that the nature of emotional arousal which accompanies trauma alters the physical process by which the body regulates future affective stimuli in ways that are potentially detrimental to human relationships. We then offer a discussion of how a selection of MFT models contain strategies that promote reconnection to self and others that should be utilized with greater precision, ultimately to target the physiological symptoms of trauma-altered emotion regulation processes. Finally, we discuss the need for more specific, process-oriented research that integrates cross-disciplinary theory to contribute to a more intricate and useful understanding of the treatment of trauma in the relational context.     

Structure Building Predicts Grades in College Psychology and Biology

Knowing what skills underlie college success can allow students, teachers, and universities to identify and to help at‐risk students. One skill that may underlie success across a variety of subject areas is structure building, the ability to create mental representations of narratives (Gernsbacher, Varner, & Faust, 1990 ). We tested if individual differences in structure‐building ability predicted success in two college classes: introductory to psychology and introductory biology. In both cases, structure building predicted success. This effect was robust, with structure building explaining variance in course grades even after accounting for high school GPA and SAT scores (in the psychology course) or a measure of domain knowledge (in the biology course). The results support the claim that structure building is an important individual difference, one that is associated with learning in different domains. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gender Integration in the Military: A Rawlsian Approach

Following the recent decisions by Western militaries to pursue greater integration of women into combat roles, this paper examines the principles that motivate integration and organizes them into a theoretically coherent scheme that could serve as a roadmap for policymakers as they rebuild military institutions and their combat units in an integrated fashion. The strategy of the paper is Rawlsian: the right relationship between the principles that motivate integration can be derived through an application of Rawls's methodology as described in A Theory of Justice. The result is a lexically ordered set of principles that begin with gender‐blind equal opportunity but permit adjustments that take gender into account when these adjustments serve the interests of military institutions. The paper concludes with a discussion of two concerns, one practical and one theoretical, that one might have about the account.     

Sensation seeking, aggressiveness, and adolescent reckless behavior

Sensation seeking and aggressiveness were hypothesized to contribute to the developmental basis of reckless behavior in adolescence. This hypothesis was investigated in two studies, one on high school students and the other on college students. Sensation seeking was found to be related to every type of reckless behavior, including five types of automobile driving, sex without contraception, sex with someone known only casually, number of sexual partners, alcohol and drug use, vandalism, and theft. Aggressiveness was related to several of the driving variables, as well as to vandalism and theft. For every type of reckless behavior, frequencies of reckless behavior were as high or higher for the college students than for the high school students. Findings are discussed in relation to socialization in the culture of the American middle-class.     

Component probability and component reinforcer rate as biasers of free-operant detection

Six pigeons were trained on multiple schedules whose components were concurrent variable-interval extinction and concurrent extinction variable-interval schedules. In Experiments 1a and 1b the stimuli signaling the components were two different light intensities, and in Experiments 2a and 2b they were two identical intensities. The components of the multiple schedule changed probabilistically after each reinforcer. In Experiments 1a and 2a, the probability of presenting the components was varied over five conditions and a replication. In Experiments 1b and 2b, the component probability was .5 and the component reinforcer rates were varied systematically over five conditions and a replication. The data, analyzed according to the Davison-Tustin behavioral detection model, confirmed that the discriminability of the stimuli signaling the components was high when the stimuli were different, and low when the stimuli were the same. Discriminability, measured by log d, was unaffected by component probability variation and by component reinforcer-rate variation. When discriminability was high, bias, or the response allocation between the two keys, was more strongly affected by variation of reinforcer rate within components than by variation of component probability, but the reverse was found when discriminability was low. The results suggest that free-operant detection performance is controlled by the rates of reinforcers in periods of time in which stimuli signal differential contingencies. These periods comprise the components when the component stimuli are discriminable, and comprise the total session when the components are indiscriminable. An extension of the Davison-Tustin behavioral detection model that incorporates these results is presented.