Correction to: Closed but Not Protected: Excess Deaths Among the Amish and Mennonites During the COVID‑19 Pandemic

Journal of Religion and Health -     

Nonnormality and divergence in posttreatment alcohol use: reexamining the Project MATCH data "another way."

Alcohol lapses are the modal outcome following treatment for alcohol use disorders, yet many alcohol researchers have encountered limited success in the prediction and prevention of relapse. One hypothesis is that lapses are unpredictable, but another possibility is the complexity of the relapse process is not captured by traditional statistical methods. Data from Project Matching Alcohol Treatments to Client Heterogeneity (Project MATCH), a multisite alcohol treatment study, were reanalyzed with 2 statistical methodologies: catastrophe and 2-part growth mixture modeling. Drawing on previous investigations of self-efficacy as a dynamic predictor of relapse, the current study revisits the self-efficacy matching hypothesis, which was not statistically supported in Project MATCH. Results from both the catastrophe and growth mixture analyses demonstrated a dynamic relationship between self-efficacy and drinking outcomes. The growth mixture analyses provided evidence in support of the original matching hypothesis: Individuals with lower self-efficacy who received cognitive behavior therapy drank far less frequently than did those with low self-efficacy who received motivational therapy. These results highlight the dynamical nature of the relapse process and the importance of the use of methodologies that accommodate this complexity when evaluating treatment outcomes.     

How do implementation intentions promote goal attainment? A test of component processes

Implementation intentions are plans that specify the when, where, and how of goal striving in advance, and have been shown to enhance rates of goal attainment compared to merely forming respective goal intentions. The present research investigated whether the accessibility of the specified situation (cue accessibility) and the strength of the association between the specified situation and the intended response (cue-response linkage) explain the impact of implementation intentions on goal achievement. Findings indicated that participants who planned how to undertake a verbal task better attained their goal compared to participants who did not form a plan. Crucially, implementation intention effects were mediated by the accessibility of the specified cue and by the strength of cue-response links. These findings support the idea that implementation intentions benefit performance because control of behavior is delegated to specified situational cues that initiate action automatically.     

What's "up" with God? Vertical space as a representation of the divine

"God" and "Devil" are abstract concepts often linked to vertical metaphors (e.g., "glory to God in the highest," "the Devil lives down in hell"). It is unknown, however, whether these metaphors simply aid communication or implicate a deeper mode of concept representation. In 6 experiments, the authors examined the extent to which the vertical dimension is used in noncommunication contexts involving God and the Devil. Experiment 1 established that people have implicit associations between God-Devil and up-down. Experiment 2 revealed that people encode God-related concepts faster if presented in a high (vs. low) vertical position. Experiment 3 found that people's memory for the vertical location of God- and Devil-like images showed a metaphor-consistent bias (up for God; down for Devil). Experiments 4, 5a, and 5b revealed that people rated strangers as more likely to believe in God when their images appeared in a high versus low vertical position, and this effect was independent of inferences related to power and likability. These robust results reveal that vertical perceptions are invoked when people access divinity-related cognitions.     

The relationship between pain tolerance and trait aggression: effects of sex and gender role

The literature on pain and aggression has indicated that pain elicits aggression. However, research has generally examined pain as a situational variable and focused less on the dispositional ability of an individual to tolerate pain. The dearth of research on pain tolerance and aggression appears to contradict the existing theory on the aggression‐eliciting effect of pain, in that studies have found a positive relationship between pain tolerance and aggression. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the relationship between pain tolerance and aggression is moderated by sex and whether the positive relationship could be explained by masculine gender role conformity. A sample of 195 collegiate men and women completed trait measures and a laboratory assessment of pain tolerance. Results indicated that correlations between pain tolerance and trait aggression were significant and positive for men but not women. However, when men's conformity to masculine gender role was controlled for, the relationship between pain tolerance and trait aggression was nil and nonsignificant. Results are discussed in reference to socialization and maintenance of masculine status. Aggr. Behav. 35:422–429, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

‘Unwilling’ versus ‘unable’: capuchin monkeys’ (Cebus apella) understanding of human intentional action

A sensitivity to the intentions behind human action is a crucial developmental achievement in infants. Is this intention reading ability a unique and relatively recent product of human evolution and culture, or does this capacity instead have roots in our non‐human primate ancestors? Recent work by Call and colleagues (2004) lends credence to the latter hypothesis, providing evidence that chimpanzees are also sensitive to human intentions. Specifically, chimpanzees remained in a testing area longer and exhibited fewer frustration behaviors when an experimenter behaved as if he intended to give food but was unable to do so, than when the experimenter behaved as if he had no intention of giving food. The present research builds on and extends this paradigm, providing some of the first evidence of intention reading in a more distant primate relative, the capuchin monkey (Cebus apella). Like chimpanzees, capuchin monkeys distinguish between different goal‐directed acts, vacating an enclosure sooner when an experimenter acts unwilling to give food than when she acts unable to give food. Additionally, we found that this pattern is specific to animate action, and does not obtain when the same actions are performed by inanimate rods instead of human hands (for a similar logic, see Woodward, 1998 ). Taken together with the previous evidence, the present research suggests that our own intention reading is not a wholly unique aspect of the human species, but rather is shared broadly across the primate order.     

Development of the positive–negative asymmetry effect: in‐group exclusion norm as a mediator of children's evaluations on negative attributes

Two studies were conducted that go beyond previous research by examining when and why children might show intergroup bias in the attribution of positive, but not negative traits (PNAE: the positive–negative asymmetry effect, Mummendey & Otten, 1998, European review of social psychology, Vol. 9). In Study 1 (n = 107) children completed a ‘mixed’ trait attribution task in a dichotomous group context. As predicted there was a developmental trend between 7 and 12 years of age in the PNAE. The 7‐year olds were the only age group not to show the effect. Study 1 also found a quadratic developmental trend in children's national intergroup bias. Study 2 (n = 62) replicated the developmental path of the PNAE found in Study 1 using a wider age range of 6–16 years. This study used a ‘mixed’ list of traits which were not only antonyms and a procedure that made the positive and negative trait dimensions explicitly independent. Significantly, Study 2 found in‐group exclusion norm partially mediated the development of the PNAE. These findings support an account of the positive–negative asymmetry effect based upon normative processes. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Racial/Ethnic Differences in Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in Adolescents

The prevalence of most adult psychiatric disorders varies across racial/ethnic groups and has important implications for prevention and intervention efforts. Research on racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence of internalizing and externalizing symptoms and disorders in adolescents has been less consistent or generally lacking. The current study examined the prevalence of these symptom groups in a large sample of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in which the three major racial/ethnic groups in the U.S. (White, Black, and Hispanic/Latino) were well-represented. Hispanic females reported experiencing higher levels of depression, anxiety, and reputational aggression than other groups. Black males reported the highest levels of overtly aggressive behavior and also reported higher levels of physiologic anxiety and disordered eating than males from other racial/ethnic groups. Hispanic females also exhibited higher levels of comorbidity than other racial/ethnic groups.     

Management of Behavioral Problems in Late Life—Therapeutic Approaches and Related Issues: Introduction to a Special Issue

In this introduction, I provide a brief overview of the five papers contained within this special issue of the Journal of Clinical Geropsychology. The purpose of this issue is to provide new information and insight into various therapeutic approaches and issues related to the assessment and treatment of behavioral problems in older adults. These papers cover both basic and applied issues pertaining to the broad topic of behavioral management in late adulthood, offering new insights and directions for future research.