The Vocational Situation and Country of Orientation of International Students

A culturally relevant career‐development needs assessment survey was administered to 227 international college students. Factor analysis indicated that the participants' vocational needs centered on obtaining work experience, overcoming interview barriers, and developing job‐search skills. Overall, the vocational needs of international students were oriented toward the American job market. Implications for cross‐cultural counseling are discussed.     

Latino College Student Adjustment: Does an Increased Presence Offset Minority‐Status and Acculturative Stresses?1

This study examined whether minority‐status stresses and acculturative stresses increase the risk of psychological maladjustment of Latino students at a university where Latinos constitute the largest ethnic group. Participants were 338 Latino (228 Mexican American, 110 Central American) college students who responded to a mailed survey. The results of 2 separate hierarchical regression analyses of psychological distress and well‐being, controlling for demographic (gender, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity). sociocultural (level of acculturation), college role (generic college stresses), and personal (academic self‐confidence) influences provided partial support for our hypothesis and demonstrated the incremental predictive validity of acculturative stresses, but not of minority‐status stresses. Results are discussed in terms of the variety of stresses that Latino college students are likely to experience.     

Neuropsychological differentiation of progressive aphasic disorders

The differentiation of subtypes of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) remains challenging. We aimed to identify optimum neuropsychological measures for characterizing PPA, to examine the relationship between behavioural change and subtypes of PPA and to determine whether characteristic profiles of language, working memory, and behavioural changes occur in PPA. Forty-seven patients with PPA and multi-domain Alzheimer's disease (AD) together with 19 age-matched controls underwent a large battery of working memory and language tests. We found that simple tasks of sentence ordering, narrative production, and buccofacial praxis were particularly useful in differentiating non-fluent/agrammatic variant PPA (nfvPPA) from other PPA subtypes, whereas a test of single word comprehension was useful in detecting semantic dementia (SD). No individual tests were discriminating for logopenic variant PPA (lvPPA) relative to nfvPPA. LvPPA and multidomain AD exhibited similar language profiles. A principal components analysis revealed that characteristic PPA profiles extended beyond the realms of language, in particular, the presence of apraxia in nfvPPA, behavioural changes in SD, and working memory deficits in lvPPA. These findings suggest that not all tests are equally discriminatory for PPA and highlight the importance of a test profile in differentiating PPA. These results also support the view that lvPPA is a focal form of AD and emphasize the difficulties classifying lvPPA.     

Child-related attributions of hostile intent and harsh discipline: Moderating effects of anger

Two studies tested whether attributions of hostile intent (AHI) and anger for ambiguous child behaviors uniquely predict parents’ harsh verbal discipline (HVD) and harsh physical discipline (HPD) or whether AHI only predicts harsh discipline when AHI occurs in conjunction with anger, as suggested by the Integrated Cognitive Model of general aggression (Wilkowski & Robinson, 2010, J. Pers., 78, 9–38). Replicating previous studies, the expected positive bivariate relationships between AHI, anger, HVD, and HPD were found in Study 1 (N = 493). However, when AHI, anger, and the AHI by anger interaction were considered simultaneously, patterns of prediction varied by discipline type. For HVD, high levels of AHI, high levels of anger, and the AHI by anger interaction (at high levels of AHI and anger) each were significant predictors. For HPD, low levels of AHI, high levels of anger, and the AHI by anger interaction (at high levels of AHI and anger) were significant predictors, suggesting a possible suppressor effect for AHI. These results were replicated in Study 2 ( N = 503). Thus, there was support for the contention that AHI only predicts harsh discipline when AHI occurs in conjunction with anger with respect to HPD but this was not the case for HVD. Since AHI suppressor effects were observed for HPD in two large sample studies, variables that may account for the AHI suppressor effects and the need for testing more complex interactive predictive models of harsh parenting behaviors are discussed.     

How Many People Are Exposed to Suicide? Not Six

It has long been stated that six people are left behind following every suicide. Despite a lack of empirical evidence, this has been extensively cited for over 30 years. Using data from a random‐digit dial survey, a more accurate number of people exposed to each suicide is calculated. A sample of 1,736 adults included 812 lifetime suicide‐exposed respondents who reported age and number of exposures. Each suicide resulted in 135 people exposed (knew the person). Each suicide affects a large circle of people, who may be in need of clinician services or support following exposure.     

Suicide Exposure in the Population: Perceptions of Impact and Closeness

Recent studies of people exposed to suicide point to a continuum of effects moderated by a perception of closeness to the deceased. We investigated the importance of perception of impact of the death on mental health outcomes of those exposed to suicide. Female sex, younger age, and multiple exposures to suicide were associated with greater risk for poorer outcomes. Suicide exposed with high impact was more likely to have depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, prolonged grief, and suicide ideation. Findings can help focus postvention resources for suicide‐exposed individuals.     

Moving Toward Self-Forgiveness: Removing Barriers Related to Shame,Guilt, and Regret

When people believe that they have hurt or offended someone, one potentially adaptive response would be to forgive the self. In an ideal process of self-forgiveness, an offender would accept an appropriate amount of responsibility, experience enough guilt to prompt reparative behaviors and improvements in character, and then release excess guilty feelings that no longer serve a useful function. In real life, however, this process often goes awry. Sometimes people avoid guilty feelings altogether, taking emotional shortcuts to repair their moods and self-images without accepting responsibility or repairing relational damage. Others go to the opposite extreme, getting caught up in negative feelings such as shame, excessive guilt, and regret about their offenses. This article briefly reviews research on these potentially problematic responses and suggests ways that each one could be addressed in interventions to facilitate self-forgiveness.     

Testing mediating variables in a school-based nutrition intervention program.

This study identified mediators of a school-based nutrition intervention for 4th graders and their parents. Nine variables were tested for satisfying 4 conclusions necessary to establish mediation of intervention effects on changes in fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC) in 4th graders (N = 1,676). FVC was measured in children by the use of 24-hr dietary recalls. Mediators were assessed by the use of questionnaires completed by children and parents. All 4 conclusions were met for positive outcome expectancies. Knowledge, self-efficacy, and parent consumption satisfied the first 3 conclusions for mediation but the mediating effects were not statistically significant (Conclusion 4). Future mediational analyses and the creation of a national database of mediators are crucial for increasing strength and efficiency of school-based nutrition programs.     

Examining memory for heterosexual college students' sexual experiences using an electronic mail diary.

To examine memory for sexual expenences, the authors asked 37 sexually active, nonmonogamous, heterosexual college students to complete an e-mail diary every day for 1 month. The diary contained questions about their sexual behaviors. Six to 12 months later, they returned for a surprise memory test, which contained questions about their sexual experiences from the diary phase. They were asked about their sexual partners, the types of sexual experiences they had, and condom use. Participants underreported the number of partners they had, but they overreported both sexual experiences and condom use. The results have implications for both sexual health educators and for people who engage in high-risk sexual behaviors.