CBT for Medication Adherence and Depression (CBT-AD) in HIV-Infected Patients Receiving Methadone Maintenance Therapy

For individuals with HIV who are current or former injection drug users, depression is a common, distressing condition that can interfere with a critical self-care behavior—adherence to antiretroviral therapy. The present study describes the feasibility and outcome, in a case series approach, of cognitive behavioral therapy to improve adherence and depression (CBT-AD) among individuals with HIV and depression undergoing methadone maintenance treatment for heroin dependence. CBT-AD integrates cognitive behavioral therapy for depression with our intervention for improving adherence to antiretroviral therapy for HIV (Life-Steps; [Safren, S. A., Otto, M. W., Worth, J., Salomon, E., Johnson, W., Mayer, K., et al. (2001). Two strategies to increase adherence to HIV antiretroviral medication: Life-Steps and medication monitoring. Behavioral Research and Therapy, 39, 1151–1162]). Specifically, in CBT-AD, patients first receive a cognitive behavioral intervention focusing on improving skills related to medication adherence. Each of the subsequent CBT modules (activity scheduling, cognitive restructuring, problem-solving training, and relaxation training/diaphragmatic breathing) is designed to address both self-care/adherence behaviors as well as depression. The process and outcome with 4 cases suggest that the treatment was feasible and acceptable and was generally associated with improvements. This case series provides an example of how cognitive behavioral therapists can integrate the treatment of depression with the enhancement of critical self-care behaviors in the context of highly complex, medical and psychiatric comorbidity.     

Worth the wait: Children trade off delay and reward in self‐ and other‐benefiting decisions

Human prosocial behaviors are supported by early‐emerging psychological processes that detect and fulfill the needs of others. However, little is known about the mechanisms that enable children to deliver benefits to others at costs to the self, which requires weighing other‐regarding and self‐serving preferences. We used an intertemporal choice paradigm to systematically study and compare these behaviors in 5‐year‐old children. Our results show that other‐benefiting and self‐benefiting behavior share a common decision‐making process that integrates delay and reward. Specifically, we found that children sought to minimize delay and maximize reward, and traded off delays against rewards, regardless of whether these rewards were for the children themselves or another child. However, we found that children were more willing to invest their time to benefit themselves than someone else. Together, these findings show that from childhood, other‐ and self‐serving decisions are supported by a general mechanism that flexibly integrates information about the magnitude of rewards, and the opportunity costs of pursuing them. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/r8S0DGe7f8Q     

The development of children's preferences for equality and equity across 13 individualistic and collectivist cultures

A concern for fairness is a fundamental and universal element of morality. To examine the extent to which cultural norms are integrated into fairness cognitions and influence social preferences regarding equality and equity, a large sample of children (N 2,163) aged 4–11 were tested in 13 diverse countries. Children participated in three versions of a third‐party, contextualized distributive justice game between two hypothetical recipients differing in terms of wealth, merit, and empathy. Social decision‐making in these games revealed universal age‐related shifts from equality‐based to equity‐based distribution motivations across cultures. However, differences in levels of individualism and collectivism between the 13 countries predicted the age and extent to which children favor equity in each condition. Children from the most individualistic cultures endorsed equitable distributions to a greater degree than children from more collectivist cultures when recipients differed in regards to wealth and merit. However, in an empathy context where recipients differed in injury, children from the most collectivist cultures exhibited greater preferences to distribute resource equitably compared to children from more individualistic cultures. Children from the more individualistic cultures also favored equitable distributions at an earlier age than children from more collectivist cultures overall. These results demonstrate aspects of both cross‐cultural similarity and divergence in the development of fairness preferences.     

A review of error correction procedures during instruction for children with developmental disabilities

Error correction procedures are remedial strategies presented following an incorrect response that increases the probability that a correct response will occur in the future. Error correction is commonly used during skill acquisition programs for children with developmental disabilities; however, the specific strategy used may differ considerably. Recent comparative studies have examined the effect of numerous error correction procedures on the efficiency of acquisition for children with developmental disabilities. Despite considerable merit, minor procedural differences and unique terms for similar procedures likely affect comparisons across studies. Here, we clarify the procedures and findings of these studies and suggest areas of future research.     

Ranks and rivals: a theory of competition

Social comparison theories typically imply a comparable degree of competition between commensurate rivals who are competing on a mutually important dimension. However, the present analysis reveals that the degree of competition between such rivals depends on their proximity to a meaningful standard. Studies 1 to 3 test the prediction that individuals become more competitive and less willing to maximize profitable joint gains when they and their commensurate rivals are highly ranked (e.g., #2 vs. #3) than when they are not (e.g., #202 vs. #203). Studies 4 to 6 then generalize these findings, showing that the degree of competition also increases in the proximity of other meaningful standards, such as the bottom of a ranking scale or a qualitative threshold in the middle of a scale. Studies 7 and 8 further examine the psychological processes underlying this phenomenon and reveal that proximity to a standard exerts a direct impact on the basic unidirectional drive upward, beyond the established effects of commensurability and dimension relevance.     

Effects of fear and anger on perceived risks of terrorism: a national field experiment

The aftermath of September 11th highlights the need to understand how emotion affects citizens' responses to risk. It also provides an opportunity to test current theories of such effects. On the basis of appraisal-tendency theory, we predicted opposite effects for anger and fear on risk judgments and policy preferences. In a nationally representative sample of Americans (N = 973, ages 13–88), fear increased risk estimates and plans for precautionary measures; anger did the opposite. These patterns emerged with both experimentally induced emotions and naturally occurring ones. Males had less pessimistic risk estimates than did females, emotion differences explaining 60 to 80% of the gender difference. Emotions also predicted diverging public policy preferences. Discussion focuses on theoretical, methodological, and policy implications.     

Friendship Values and Cross-Category Friendships: Understanding Adult Friendship Patterns Across Gender, Sexual Orientation and Race

The present research used an intersectional analysis in examining whether women and men who have, versus do not have, cross-category friendships differ in what they value as important in a close friendship. Parallel analyses were conducted to examine cross-orientation and cross-race friendships across gender and identity status (minority and majority), with age as a covariate for all analyses. Participants were 1415 adult women and men, ranging in age from 18-80, residing in the United States, who completed a friendship profile questionnaire by reporting basic demographic information about themselves and their close friends. Participants’ importance ratings of six different friendship values were utilized to interrogate existing friendship patterns. Three general friendship values (trust and honesty, respect friend as person, there when needed) and three cross-identity salient friendship values (similar lives & experiences, similar values, nonjudgmental) were considered. Individuals with and without cross-category friendships did not significantly differ in their ratings for any of the three general friendship values. Individuals with cross-orientation and cross-race friendships placed less importance on similar lives & experiences than those with no such friendships. Other cross-identity salient friendship values were uniquely related to cross-orientation and cross-race friendship patterns. Although women rated all six friendship values as more important than did men, women and men displayed similar friendship value patterns across cross-category friendships and identity. These findings are discussed in the context of feminist intersectional theory.     

Academic Workload Typologies and Burnout Among Faculty in Seventh-day Adventist Colleges and Universities in North America

The focus of this investigation was to determine the possible relationship of workload typologies and other selected demographic variables to levels of burnout among full-time faculty in Seventh-day Adventist colleges and universities in North America. Four typologies of academic workload emerged from the study of the data. The results revealed that there was a significant relationship between academic workload typologies and other selected demographic variables in levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. No relationship was found between the variables studied and levels of personal accomplishment.     

Effects of Cannabis on Neurocognitive Functioning: Recent Advances, Neurodevelopmental Influences, and Sex Differences

Decades of research have examined the effects of cannabis on neurocognition. Recent advances in this field provide us with a better understanding of how cannabis use influences neurocognition both acutely (during intoxication) and non-acutely (after acute effects subside). Evidence of problems with episodic memory is one of the most consistent findings reported; however, several other neurocognitive domains appear to be adversely affected by cannabis use under various conditions. There is significant variability in findings across studies, thus a discussion of potential moderators is increasingly relevant. The purpose of this review was to 1) provide an update on research of cannabis’ acute and non-acute effects on neurocognition, with a focus on findings since 2007 and 2) suggest and discuss how neurodevelopmental issues and sex differences may influence cannabis effects on neurocognition. Finally we discuss how future investigations may lead to better understanding of the complex interplay among cannabis, stages of neurodevelopment, and sex on neurocognitive functioning.     

The Relation Between Emotional Dysregulation and Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms, Pain-Related Anxiety, and HIV-Symptom Distress Among Adults with HIV/AIDS

The current study investigated the relations between emotional dysregulation and anxiety and depressive symptoms, pain-related anxiety, and HIV-symptom distress among individuals living with HIV/AIDS. This research is important in its explanatory value regarding the unique effects of emotional dysregulation as it relates to psychological and disease-specific distress given high rates of distress specific to HIV infection (e.g. medicatin side-effects, stigma). Participants included 164 adults (17.1 % female, Mage = 48.40, SD?=?9.57) with HIV/AIDS. Results indicated that emotional dysregulation was significantly and positively related to anxiety and depressive symptoms, pain-related anxiety, and HIV-symptom distress. All emotional dyregulation effects were evidenced above and beyond the variance accounted for by demographic and HIV-specific characteristics, and the main effects of anxiety sensitivity and distress intolerance. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of emotional dysregulation in negative affective experiences within the HIV/AIDS population.