Description and Evaluation of a Measurement Technique for Assessment of Performing Gender

The influence of masculinity and femininity on behaviors and outcomes has been extensively studied in social science research using various measurement strategies. In the present paper, we describe and evaluate a measurement technique that uses existing survey items to capture the extent to which an individual behaves similarly to their same-gender peers. We use data from the first four waves of The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), a nationally representative sample of adolescents (age 12–18) in the United States who were re-interviewed at ages 13–19, 18–26, and 24–32. We estimate split-half reliability and provide evidence that supports the validity of this measurement technique. We demonstrate that the resulting measure does not perform as a trait measure and is associated with involvement in violent fights, a pattern consistent with theory and empirical findings. This measurement technique represents a novel approach for gender researchers with the potential for expanding our current knowledge base.     

Letter transpositions within and across morphemic boundaries: Is there a cross-language difference?

Research on the impact of letter transpositions that arise across morpheme boundaries has yielded conflicting results. These results have led to the suggestion that a cross-linguistic difference may exist in the recognition of Spanish and English words. In two masked-priming experiments run on separate groups of Spanish and English speakers, we tested this hypothesis by comparing the impacts of primes with letter transpositions that arose within morphemes or across morpheme boundaries on the recognition of identical or near-identical Spanish–English cognate targets. The results showed transposed-letter benefits in both Spanish and English that were not modulated by the position of the transposed letter in the prime stimulus. Our findings therefore add to the growing body of literature suggesting that the transposed-letter benefit is not affected by the position of the transposed letters relative to the morpheme boundary, and they dispel previous suggestions that there might be a genuine difference in orthographic coding across the Spanish and English writing systems.     

Effect of the Healthy MOMs Lifestyle Intervention on Reducing Depressive Symptoms Among Pregnant Latinas

Depression during the prenatal and postpartum periods is associated with poor maternal, perinatal and child outcomes. This study examines the effectiveness of a culturally and linguistically tailored, social support-based, healthy lifestyle intervention led by trained community health workers in reducing depressive symptoms among pregnant and early postpartum Latinas. A sample of 275 pregnant Latinas was randomized to the Healthy MOMs Healthy Lifestyle Intervention (MOMs) or the Healthy Pregnancy Education (control) group. More than one-third of participants were at risk for depression at baseline. MOMs participants were less likely than control group participants to be at risk for depression at follow-up. Between baseline and 6 weeks postpartum, MOMs participants experienced a significant decline in depressive symptoms; control participants experienced a marginally significant decline. For MOMs participants, most of this decline occurred during the pregnancy intervention period, a time when no change occurred for control participants. The change in depressive symptoms during this period was greater among MOMs than control participants (“intervention effect”). From baseline to postpartum, there was a significant intervention effect among non-English-speaking women only. These findings provide evidence that a community-planned, culturally tailored healthy lifestyle intervention led by community health workers can reduce depressive symptoms among pregnant, Spanish-speaking Latinas.     

What people desire, feel conflicted about, and try to resist in everyday life

In the present study, we used experience sampling to measure desires and desire regulation in everyday life. Our analysis included data from 205 adults, who furnished a total of 7,827 reports of their desires over the course of a week. Across various desire domains, results revealed substantial differences in desire frequency and strength, the degree of conflict between desires and other goals, and the likelihood of resisting desire and the success of this resistance. Desires for sleep and sex were experienced most intensively, whereas desires for tobacco and alcohol had the lowest average strength, despite the fact that these substances are thought of as addictive. Desires for leisure and sleep conflicted the most with other goals, and desires for media use and work brought about the most self-control failure. In addition, we observed support for a limited-resource model of self-control employing a novel operationalization of cumulative resource depletion: The frequency and recency of engaging in prior self-control negatively predicted people's success at resisting subsequent desires on the same day.     

Direct Comparison of Episodic Encoding and Retrieval of Words: An Event-related fMRI Study

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to compare directly episodic encoding and retrieval. During encoding, subjects studied visually presented words and reported via keypress whether each word represented a pleasant or unpleasant concept (intentional, deep encoding). During the retrieval phase, subjects indicated (via keypress) whether visually presented words had previously been studied. No reliable differences were found during the recognition phase for words that had been previously studied and those that had not been studied. Areas preferentially active during encoding (relative to retrieval) included left superior frontal cortex, medial frontal cortex, left superior temporal cortex, posterior cingulate, left parahippocampal gyrus, and left inferior frontal gyrus. Regions more active in retrieval than encoding included bilateral inferior parietal cortex, bilateral precuneus, right frontal polar cortex, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and right inferior frontal/insular cortex.     

Moral worry and religiosity in US and Canadian college samples

The objective of this study was to investigate the presence of worry about personal moral attitudes and behaviors in two college samples, and to check associations with religiosity, age, gender, personality traits, and geographic region. The study sample was drawn from college students in Minneapolis, Minnesota (N?=?333) and Sydney, Nova Scotia (N?=?137). Instruments consisted of moral worry and religiosity questionnaires, and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Principal-components analysis was used to develop components for the worry and religiosity scales, and MANOVA for correlations between variables. Moral worry emerged as a domain distinct from worry about practical issues. Moral worry was not related to religiosity, age, gender, or Eysenck personality traits. Whereas the US sample scored higher in religiosity than the Canadian sample, the Canadian sample scored higher on moral worry. The present study supports our previous work and that of others that worry about one's moral emotions and behaviors is an important aspect of daily life. As such, consideration should be given to including some inquiry about moral worries (guilt, shame, regret, remorse, and others) in psychiatric assessments.     

The Relationship Between Childhood Trauma,Combat Exposure,and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Male Veterans

The current study investigated the effects of combat exposure, childhood trauma, and depression on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) severity. Participants were 299 male veterans from the Korean War, World War II, Vietnam, and the first Gulf War who were being screened for admission to the PTSD unit. Participants were assessed with the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), Combat Exposure Scale (CES), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and Mississippi Scale for PTSD (MPTSD). Results of multiple regression analyses indicated that, as expected, combat exposure and depression were significant predictors of PTSD severity. When examined with combat exposure, childhood trauma has a complex relationship to PTSD severity. Examination of the interaction between the CES and CTQ suggests that when levels of combat are low and childhood trauma levels are high, the CTQ is related to higher levels of PTSD severity on the CAPS, regardless of depression. Treatment implications are discussed.     

The effects of therapist-client age similarity on pretherapy expectations

The present study investigated the effects of similarity between psychotherapist age and client age on client's preference for a therapist, willingness to disclose, expected therapeutic climate, and perceptions of therapist competence. Similarity theory provided a rationale for the hypothesis that prospective clients would perceive a psychotherapist similar in age more favorably than a therapist dissimilar in age. Support for the hypothesis was obtained on the dimensions of client preference, willingness to disclose, and therapist competence. Also, consistent with previous research, high experienced therapists were viewed more favorably than low experienced therapists.This research is based on a doctoral dissertation submitted by Kathleen M. Tall under the direction of Michael J. Ross to Saint Louis University.     

Surgeons and the Spirit: A Study on the Relationship of Religiosity to Clinical Practice

This study aimed to identify the religious practices and beliefs of surgeons and the relationship between surgeons locus of control and religiosity. Thirty-five surgeons completed a survey that included items from the Duke University Religion Index, the Salesian Center Intrinsic Religiosity Scale for Clinicians, and Rotters Locus of Control Scale. Over 68% of sampled surgeons affirmed that their religious beliefs play a part in their practice, 47% attend religious services at least weekly, and 44% pray daily. There was no correlation between locus of control and religiosity. These results challenge the myth of the egocentric, agnostic surgeon.     

Clinical status of at-risk individuals 5 years later: further validation of the psychometric high-risk strategy

The authors hypothesized that at-risk individuals identified on the basis of their Chapman scale scores would be diagnosed with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders at follow-up. In the present study, the authors interviewed 135 young adults approximately 5 years following their initial assessment. The at-risk groups included high scorers on the Perceptual Aberration and/or Magical Ideation Scales (n=59) and high scorers on the revised Social Anhedonia Scale (n=32). The control participants (n=44) scored below 0.5 SD of the same-sex group means on all the scales. At the follow-up, the groups differed in terms of their likelihood of having a schizophrenia-spectrum diagnosis, Chi2(2)=9.79, p<.01. The at-risk groups reported more frequent and severe psychotic-like experiences relative to the control group. These findings support the predictive validity of the Chapman psychosis-proneness scales and may enhance the power of early detection efforts.