Predictors of college students' alcohol consumption: implications for student education

Understanding why young adults consume alcohol the way they do can lead to more effective educational programming for promotion of students' personal health and safety. The authors examined the predictive role of expectations about alcohol, perceived peer norms of consumption, awareness of rules, and individual self-efficacy in conjunction with demographic variables for male and female college students' weekly alcohol consumption. The sample of 4,960 students analyzed here is 10 to 20 times larger and more nationally representative than the samples used in similar studies. The authors used a general linear model; 41% of the men's variance and 33% of the women's variance in self-reported weekly alcohol consumption were explained by the set of predictors. In descending order of variance accounted for in male and female students' self-reported weekly alcohol consumption, perceived gender-specific norms of consumption, expectations about the effects of alcohol, and the importance of drinking in high school were significant predictors for both men and women. The salience of psychological variables for young adults' consumption of alcohol underscores the importance of recognizing individual predictors of behavior in the broader ecological context in which those behaviors are performed.     

Self-regulation in early childhood: the interplay between family risk,temperament and teacher–child interactions

Abstract

This study investigates the interplay between family risk and the quality of classroom interactions and their impact on self-regulation skills in two groups of children—children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds (at-risk) and non-risk children. Participants included 485 children (N = 93 classrooms)—233 (N = 47 classrooms) of which were from socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. Temperament was measured using teacher report. Trained observers rated classroom quality via live observations of a typical preschool day. Behavioral regulation was assessed using direct measures and emotional regulation was assessed using a teacher report. Analyses using multiple group structural equation modeling showed that at-risk children had lower levels of cool behavior regulation than non-risk children. In addition, classroom quality was positively linked to cool behavioral self-regulation. Moderating effects were additionally found between family risk and classroom quality on both hot behavioral regulation and emotional regulation. Classroom quality served as a protective factor for children exposed to more risk factors. Results showed complex associations between individual characteristics, classroom quality, and family risk, indicating a need to further explore the interplay among these variables.     

Knowing that strawberries are red and seeing red strawberries: the interaction between surface colour and colour knowledge information

This study investigates the interaction between surface and colour knowledge information during object recognition. In two different experiments, participants were instructed to decide whether two presented stimuli belonged to the same object identity. On the non-matching trials, we manipulated the shape and colour knowledge information activated by the two stimuli by creating four different stimulus pairs: (1) similar in shape and colour (e.g. TOMATO–APPLE); (2) similar in shape and dissimilar in colour (e.g. TOMATO–COCONUT); (3) dissimilar in shape and similar in colour (e.g. TOMATO–CHILI PEPPER) and (4) dissimilar in both shape and colour (e.g. TOMATO–PEANUT). The object pictures were presented in typical and atypical colours and also in black-and-white. The interaction between surface and colour knowledge showed to be contingent upon shape information: while colour knowledge is more important for recognising structurally similar shaped objects, surface colour is more prominent for recognising structurally dissimilar shaped objects.     

Life Design Counseling outcome and process: A case study with an adolescent

This article aims to explore the relationship between clients' narrative transformation and the promotion of vocational decidedness and career maturity in a mid-adolescent case of Life Design Counseling (LDC). To assess LDC outcomes the Vocational Certainty Scale and the Career Maturity Inventory — Form C were used before and after the intervention. To intensively analyze the process of LDC change two measures of narrative change were used: the Innovative Moments Coding System (IMCS), as a measure of innovation emergence, and the Return to the Problem Coding System (RPCS), as a measure of ambivalence towards change. The results show that the three LDC sessions produced a significant change in vocational certainty but not in career maturity. Findings confirm that the process of change, according to the IMCS, is similar to the one observed in previous studies with adults. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Depth perception: cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) respond to visual texture density gradients

Studies concerning the perceptual processes of animals are not only interesting, but are fundamental to the understanding of other developments in information processing among non-humans. Carefully used visual illusions have been proven to be an informative tool for understanding visual perception. In this behavioral study, we demonstrate that cuttlefish are responsive to visual cues involving texture gradients. Specifically, 12 out of 14 animals avoided swimming over a solid surface with a gradient picture that to humans resembles an illusionary crevasse, while only 5 out of 14 avoided a non-illusionary texture. Since texture gradients are well-known cues for depth perception in vertebrates, we suggest that these cephalopods were responding to the depth illusion created by the texture density gradient. Density gradients and relative densities are key features in distance perception in vertebrates. Our results suggest that they are fundamental features of vision in general, appearing also in cephalopods.     

Exploring Individual and Contextual Antecedents of Attitudes Toward the Acceptability of Cheating and Plagiarism

The purpose of this study was to identify the relative contribution of individual and contextual predictors to students’ attitudes toward the acceptability of cheating and plagiarism. A group of 324 students from a tertiary institution in New Zealand completed an online survey. The findings indicate that gender, justice sensitivity, and understanding of university policies regarding academic dishonesty were the key predictors of the students’ attitudes toward the acceptability of cheating and plagiarism, both as agents of dishonest conduct and as witnesses of misconduct among their peers. The implications of these findings for the development of policies and initiatives in tertiary institutions are discussed.     

Psychotherapeutische Behandlung von depressiven Kindern und Jugendlichen

Background

Depression is a psychiatric disorder with debilitating symptoms (e.g. suicidal behavior) with a high prevalence rate even in children and adolescents and the disorder shows a chronic course in many cases. According to psychiatric guidelines, cognitive behavioral therapy and interpersonal therapy are the psychotherapeutic methods of choice.

Aim

This article gives an overview of the current studies on cognitive behavioral and interpersonal group therapy programs for the treatment of depression in children and adolescents as well as a short illustration of the most prevalent therapy programs.

Material and methods

A literature research (PsycInfo, Psyndex, Pubmed) revealed 280 hits. After a review of all titles and abstracts 25 studies were included in this study.

Results

Efficacy studies mainly exist for cognitive behavioral group therapy programs (effect sizes ranged from 0.02 to 1.34) from English-speaking countries. There are only a few German programs available. With respect to interpersonal group therapies there are only few articles published in English and to the best of our knowledge none in German.

Conclusion

There is a great need for further studies that investigate the efficacy of group therapies for the treatment of depression in children and adolescents especially in German-speaking countries.     

Externalizing Metaphors Therapy and Innovative Moments: A Four-Session Treatment Group for Anxiety

The zeitgeist for brief services psychotherapy efficacy is well underway within the individual and family therapy treatment modalities. However, this paradigm shift, to produce clinically significant mental health outcomes in a much shorter time, has evolved to a much lesser degree within the treatment group format. Longer-term treatment group protocols typically do not match treatment-seeking behaviors with high dropout rates for clients. The current authors describe a structured, four-session treatment protocol that integrates the tenets of Externalizing Metaphors Therapy (EMT) with Innovative Moments (IMs) in addressing anxiety for children and youth. EMT is based upon the externalization of problems, transformation of metaphoric imagery, and the shifting of underlying maladaptive emotional schemas. It is suggested that treatment outcomes are enhanced through the integration of three IMs between-session exercises.     

The attractiveness-positivity link: Let’s contextualize it

The statement “what is beautiful is good” reflects a persuasive heuristic that may be supported either by a general association of attractiveness with positivity or by a specific association with the perceived credibility of an attractive source. In one study (N = 58), we approach this question using an explicit and an implicit measure (Stroop Task) to assess whether attractiveness is more likely associated with valenced words when these are related (vs. unrelated) to credibility. Results show that this effect occurs but only for the implicit measure. When the word-face associations were made at an explicit level, we found a general association between positivity and attractiveness, unrestricted to the dimension of credibility. We discuss how these results inform about attractiveness as a shortcut to judgments of validity.