A two-wave cross-lagged study of business travel,work–family conflict,emotional exhaustion,and psychological health complaints

By using a two-wave panel design, the present study aimed at studying longitudinally the relation between business travel and work–family conflict (WFC) as well as the reciprocal relationships among WFC, emotional exhaustion, and psychological health complaints. The study was conducted in a large Norwegian oil and gas company (n = 1702), and the company’s business travel database was utilized to examine business travel. The results showed a positive cross-lagged relation between business travel and WFC. In addition, WFC predicted emotional exhaustion over time, whereas emotional exhaustion predicted psychological health complaints over time. Reversed influences also existed, supporting our hypotheses on reciprocal relations. The longitudinal design of the current study makes an important contribution to the research on business travel and employees’ psychological health.     

The Spectrum of Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Spectrum of Needs,Services, and Challenges

The dramatic rise in the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has resulted in a significant explosion in visibility and a substantial increase in the understanding of this complex group of disorders. Over the last decade, what was once defined only as “autism” has become a spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders, with variable presentations and levels of impairment that requires an equally broad continuum of care. A wealth of research has not discovered a single “cause” for ASDs, but rather has found a range of genetic/genomic variations that likely play a significant role in the etiology of these disorders. Routine screening for autism is becoming more common, allowing for more timely diagnosis, and hopefully for earlier entry into appropriate and effective treatment. Although there remains no single ‘‘cure’’, there are treatments available that can improve overall functioning and decrease problematic or interfering symptoms across the full spectrum of this disorder. The wide spectrum of ASD presentations complicates treatment planning, with overall ASD severity a factor in determining type, intensity, and duration of interventions and services. This article presents a two-dimensional model of “ASD severity” that considers both the level of specific ASD symptoms/deficits and the level of cognitive resources/limitations as a framework for understanding needs, challenges, and potentially effective interventions for individuals across the ASD spectrum.     

Relationship work among young adult couples: Romantic,social, and physiological considerations

We examined romantic, social, and physiological variables associated with partners discussing romantic challenges together and with friends, a process known as relationship work (RW). Actor‐partner interdependence models examining 71 heterosexual, young adult couples and their friends suggested social network approval, friendship quality, and partners' perspective taking were each associated with partners' RW patterns. Skin conductance activity readings revealed males universally experienced greater physiological arousal when discussing romantic problems than females. Unexpectedly, both males and females experienced greater skin conductance activity when discussing romantic challenges with friends than with partners. Males were more likely to discuss romantic challenges with friends when their female partners experienced greater baseline skin conductance activity. Findings inform researchers regarding links between romantic, social, and physiological functioning.     

Social support,negative social exchange,and response to case formulation-based cognitive behavior therapy

We investigated associations between pretreatment social support, negative social exchange, and slope of weekly symptom change for depression, anxiety, and stress over the course of ideographic, case formulation-based, cognitive behavior therapy. Participants were 74 adults treated in a private practice setting. We used self-report measures to assess social support and negative social exchange at intake and to assess symptoms on a weekly basis. At pretreatment, a higher level of social support was associated with lower levels of depression, and a higher level of negative social exchanges was associated with higher levels of depression and stress. Pretreatment social support was not significantly associated with slope of symptom change. However, a higher level of pretreatment negative social exchanges was associated with steeper slope of change in symptoms of depression and stress during treatment. These findings suggest that the association between pretreatment negative social exchanges and subsequent symptoms may be stronger than that of social support and subsequent symptoms. Additionally, we discuss the possibility that having data on negative social exchanges at the start of treatment may benefit the outcome of ideographic, case formulation-based, cognitive behavior therapy.     

Sleep directly following learning benefits consolidation of spatial associative memory

The last decade has brought forth convincing evidence for a role of sleep in non-declarative memory. A similar function of sleep in episodic memory is supported by various correlational studies, but direct evidence is limited. Here we show that cued recall of face-location associations is significantly higher following a 12-h retention interval containing sleep than following an equally long period of waking. Furthermore, retention is significantly higher over a 24-h sleep-wake interval than over an equally long wake-sleep interval. This difference occurs because retention during sleep was significantly better when sleep followed learning directly, rather than after a day of waking. These data demonstrate a beneficial effect of sleep on memory that cannot be explained solely as a consequence of reduced interference. Rather, our findings suggest a competitive consolidation process, in which the fate of a memory depends, at least in part, on its relative stability at sleep onset: Strong memories tend to be preserved, while weaker memories erode still further. An important aspect of memory consolidation may thus result from the removal of irrelevant memory "debris."     

Abortion, embryonic stem cell research, and waste

Can one consistently deny the permissibility of abortion while endorsing the killing of human embryos for the sake of stem cell research? The question is not trivial; for even if one accepts that abortion is prima facie wrong in all cases, there are significant differences with many of the embryos used for stem cell research from those involved in abortion—most prominently, many have been abandoned in vitro, and appear to have no reasonably likely meaningful future. On these grounds one might think to maintain a strong position against abortion but endorse killing human embryos for the sake of stem cell research and its promising benefits. I will argue, however, that these differences are not decisive. Thus, one who accepts a strong view against abortion is committed to the moral impermissibility of killing human embryos for the sake of stem cell research. I do not argue for the moral standing of either abortion or the killing of embryos for stem cell research; I only argue for the relation between the two. Thus the conclusion is relevant to those with a strong view in favor of the permissibility of killing embryos for the sake of research as much as for those who may strongly oppose abortion; neither can consider their position in isolation from the other.     

Therapeutic Practices and Ethical Beliefs of Professionals Working With Adolescents in Residential Treatment

The authors investigated dual relationships between 2 groups of staff (direct care and professional) and adolescent clients in 2 residential treatment programs. Staff were surveyed on their behavior and corresponding ethical beliefs regarding interactions they believed to be acceptable with minor clients specifically at termination of the treatment program. Direct care staff were more likely than were professional staff to have inconsistencies in behaviors and ethical beliefs. The American Counseling Association's (1995) Code of Ethics would prohibit some of the staff beliefs regarding acceptable behavior. Both groups were uncertain about the ethical appropriateness of certain interactions with adolescent clients. Implications are discussed.     

Adaptive Dynamics of the Leg Movement Patterns of Human Infants: I. The Effects of Posture on Spontaneous Kicking

This is the first of two articles in which we describe how infants adapt their spontaneous leg movements to changes in posture or to elicitation of behaviors by a mechanical treadmill. In this article, we compare the kinematics of kicks produced by 3-month-old infants in three postures, supine, angled (45 degrees ), and vertical, and examine the changes in muscular and nonmuscular force contributions to limb trajectory. By manipulating posture we were able to assess the sensitivity of the nascent motor system to changes in the gravitational context. The postural manipulation elicited a distinct behavioral and dynamic effect. In the more upright postures, gravitational resistance to motion at the hip was 4 to 10 times greater than resistance met in the supine posture, necessitating larger muscle torques to drive hip flexion. Kicks produced in the vertical posture showed a reduction in hip joint range of motion and an increase in synchronous joint flexion and extension at the hip and knee. At the same time, hip and knee muscle torques were also more highly correlated in kicks performed in the vertical than in the supine or angled posture. This increased correlation between muscle torques at the hip and knee implicates anatomical and energetic constraints-the intrinsic limb dynamics-in creating coordinated limb behavior out of nonspecific muscle activations.     

Gravity constraints in infant motor development

The effect of gravity in determining if and when during infancy movements eventuate and the rate at which they develop is unknown. In accordance with intersegmental relationships (Hof, 1992), a muscle moment during infancy would have to develop more rapidly than the gravitational moment before movement could occur. In this investigation, the effect of growth through the influence of gravity on the joint moments in the axial region when infants were in a prone or supine posture was examined. A mathematical model that considers the body to be composed of transverse elliptical cylinders, 1 cm deep and of known density, was used in estimating the mass of the 16 segments of the body. The gravitational moments about 3 joints within the axial region (C7-T1, T12-L1, and the hip) were determined by summation, using the radii from the joint transverse axis to the center of mass of the segments. Infants (N = 27) aged between 9 and 36 weeks at the beginning of the study were tested monthly 6 times, and the effect of growth on the gravitational moments was represented by first-order polynomials. Age x Joint analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the mean slopes of the regressions for the gravitational moments revealed significant main effects for age and joint. The means increased monotonically with the number of segments and decreased as infants aged. The mean slopes of the neck and trunk joints were significantly smaller than that of the hip joint. With increasing age, the gravitational slope was significantly smaller. The changes in the gravitational moments during infancy are seen as likely control parameters effecting phase shifts in motor patterns during development.     

Individual and group differences in intelligence and speed of information processing

A battery of eight different reaction time (RT) tests, measuring the speed with which individuals perform various elementary cognitive processes, and a group test of scholastic aptitude (the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, ASVAB) were given to 50 black and 56 white male vocational college students. The regression of the general factor scores of the ASVAB on the RT measures yielded a shrunken multiple correlation of 0.465. Although discriminant analyses, when applied separately to the ASVAB subtests and to the RT variables, showed highly comparable overall discrimination (over 70% correct classification) between the black and white groups, factor scores derived from the general factor (labeled ‘speed of information processing’) of the RT battery show only about one-third as large a mean black-white difference as the mean group difference on the general factor scores derived from the ASVAB. Comparisons were also made between the 106 vocational college students and 100 university students of higher average academic aptitude who had previously been tested on the same RT battery (Vernon, 1983a). These groups showed marked differences on the RT variables, the largest differences occuring on the tests that required more complex cognitive processing. The more complex RT tests also correlate most highly with the psychometric measures of ability within each group. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that individual differences and the mean differences between groups in psychometric abilities and scholastic achievement are related to differences in the speed of information processing as measured in elementary cognitive tasks.