Job Insecurity and Depressive Symptoms in Mothers and Adolescents: A Dyadic Study

Journal of Child and Family Studies - In this study, we examined whether maternal perceived job insecurity (JI) affected depressive symptoms in their adolescent children. Specifically, we tested a...     

Attention and Memory for Newspaper Advertisements: Effects of Ad–Editorial Congruency and Location

Previous research suggests that the same ad can have different effects depending upon the media context in which the ad appears. This experiment investigated how the semantic relation between the content of advertisements and editorial texts, and the ad location on newspaper pages affect attention and memory for advertisements. We recorded participants' eye movements while they read newspaper articles to rate how interesting the texts were. Recognition for ads, logos, and editorial headlines was measured on the following day. Results revealed a discrepancy between attention and memory results, suggesting that incongruency increased attention to ads, whereas congruency improved recognition of ads. In addition, ads presented on the right attracted more attention and were recognized better than ads on the left. The results have implications for pretesting of advertisements, because attention and memory for ads were associated with higher preference for brands, and purchase intention was enhanced for the brands that were recognized. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimism and pessimism as predictors of change in health after death or onset of severe illness in family.

The authors prospectively examined changes in health after a major life event (death or onset of severe illness in family) among 5,007 employees (mean age=44.8 years) whose optimism and pessimism levels were assessed in 1997 and major life events in 2000. Health was indicated by sickness absence days during a period covering 36 months prior to the event and 18 months after the event. Increase in sick days after the event was smaller and returned to the prevent level more quickly among highly optimistic individuals than among their counterparts with low optimism. Parallel changes were not observed in relation to pessimism. These findings suggest that optimism may reduce the risk of health problems and may be related to a faster recovery after a major life event.     

Right visual field advantage in parafoveal processing: Evidence from eye-fixation-related potentials

Readers acquire information outside the current eye fixation. Previous research indicates that having only the fixated word available slows reading, but when the next word is visible, reading is almost as fast as when the whole line is seen. Parafoveal-on-foveal effects are interpreted to reflect that the characteristics of a parafoveal word can influence fixation on a current word. Prior studies also show that words presented to the right visual field (RVF) are processed faster and more accurately than words in the left visual field (LVF). This asymmetry results either from an attentional bias, reading direction, or the cerebral asymmetry of language processing. We used eye-fixation-related potentials (EFRP), a technique that combines eye-tracking and electroencephalography, to investigate visual field differences in parafoveal-on-foveal effects. After a central fixation, a prime word appeared in the middle of the screen together with a parafoveal target that was presented either to the LVF or to the RVF. Both hemifield presentations included three semantic conditions: the words were either semantically associated, non-associated, or the target was a non-word. The participants began reading from the prime and then made a saccade towards the target, subsequently they judged the semantic association. Between 200 and 280 ms from the fixation onset, an occipital P2 EFRP-component differentiated between parafoveal word and non-word stimuli when the parafoveal word appeared in the RVF. The results suggest that the extraction of parafoveal information is affected by attention, which is oriented as a function of reading direction.     

When it is better to give than to receive: long-term health effects of perceived reciprocity in support exchange

The authors examined esteem enhancement theory and equity theory in explaining the long-term health status of men (n = 178) and women (n = 575). Baseline characteristics were measured in 1990-1993, intimate reciprocity in 1993, and recorded sickness absences for a 9-year period during 1993-2001. Among women, giving more support than receiving in intimate relationships positively affected subsequent health status, as indicated by fewer sickness absences. Among men, receiving more support than giving predicted fewer absences. These effects remained even after significant covariates were included in the model. Thus, women seem to benefit from giving support in intimate relationships, and men seem to benefit from receiving support in intimate relationships. The findings on women are in line with the esteem enhancement theory. No support was obtained for the equity theory.     

Career practitioners' conceptions of competency for social media in career services

This article reports findings from a phenomenographic investigation into career practitioners' understanding of competency for social media in career services. Sixteen Danish and Finnish practitioners with experience using social media in career services were interviewed in focus groups. Competency for social media in career services was conceived as (i) an ability to use social media for delivering information, (ii) an ability to use social media for delivering career services, (iii) an ability to utilise social media for collaborative career exploration and (iv) an ability to utilise social media for co-careering. The findings can be used to develop pre-service and in-service training of career practitioners and support for the deepening of their competency, using the critical aspects that were identified.     

ICT – the new frontier? Pushing the boundaries of careers practice

Much progress has been made in integrating information and communications technology (ICT) into careers practice, but there is still room for improvement. An international lens is adopted to examine some key elements that contribute to the successful integration of ICT into careers practice. We start by exploring the role of policy, using the UK as a case study. Next, the perceptions that Finnish career practitioners have of ICT are reviewed using research findings into the different ways they think about social media and its purpose in career services. Finally, lessons learned from the design and integration of online services within career development programming in Canada are discussed that ensure accessibility both to practitioners and their clients.     

The effect of age-at-testing on verbal memory among children following severe traumatic brain injury

Memory deficits are a common sequelae following childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI), which often have serious implications on age-related academic skills. The current study examined verbal memory performance using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) in a pediatric TBI sample. Verbal memory abilities as well as the effect of age at-testing on performance were examined. A sample of 67 children following severe TBI (age average = 12.3 ± 2.74) and 67 matched controls were evaluated using the RAVLT. Age effect at assessment was examined using two age groups: above and below 12 years of age during evaluation. Differences between groups were examined via the 9 RAVLT learning trials and the 7 composite scores conducted out of them. Children following TBI recalled significantly less words than controls on all RAVLT trials and had significantly lower scores on all composite scores. However, all of these scores fell within the low average range. Further analysis revealed significantly lower than average performance among the older children (above 12 years), while scores of the younger children following TBI fell within average limits. To conclude, verbal memory deficits among children following severe TBI demonstrate an age-at-testing effect with more prominent problems occurring above 12 years at the time of evaluation. Yet, age-appropriate performance among children below 12 years of age may not accurately describe memory abilities at younger ages following TBI. It is therefore recommended that clinicians address child’s age at testing and avoid using a single test as an indicator of verbal memory functioning post TBI.