Characteristics of readmitted psychiatric inpatients

This study examined sociodemographic, diagnostic, psychological, and episode-based variables in a sample of 130 psychiatric patients admitted to treatment at least twice in a 6-yr. period. Short length of initial hospitalization (r = -.30, p < .01) and younger age on initial admission (r = -.20, p < .05) were significantly correlated with frequent hospital admissions. Scores on four of the subscales of the WAIS-R were significantly correlated with readmission, confirming that patients who have fewer cognitive resources are at risk of frequent admissions. A multiple regression analysis combining variables to predict readmission accounted for only 12% of the common variance (r128 = .34, p < .01), however, indicating that a prediction equation with these variables has limited clinical utility.     

Do gender differences in academic attainment correspond with scholastic attitudes? An exploratory study in a UK secondary school

Research has examined how standardized tests give rise to gender differences in English and STEM attainment, but little research has explored gender differences in classroom-based attainment and the degree to which these correspond to differences in school-related attitudes. To explore the extent to which gender-achievement gaps in classroom-based performance parallel differences in self-perceptions and scholastic attitudes. An independent sample of first (n = 187, age 11–12, Study 1) and second-year students (n = 113, age 12–13, Study 2) from a UK comprehensive secondary school completed a questionnaire measuring academic mindset, self-efficacy, self-concept, competence beliefs, personal and social self-esteem, and endorsement of gender-subject and career stereotypes. Responses were then matched to their respective classroom grades in English, mathematics, science, and computing. Girls outperformed boys in English in their first year but reported lower global self-esteem and greater endorsement of science-career stereotypes. Conversely, girls outperformed boys in mathematics in their second year, but paradoxically reported lower self-concept and competence beliefs in mathematics and science, and higher competence beliefs in English. Across both studies, mindset, self-efficacy, competence beliefs, and social self-esteem were positively related to English attainment; academic self-efficacy was positively related to mathematics attainment; and mindset, self-efficacy, self-concept, and competence beliefs were positively related to science attainment. Gender-achievement gaps in classroom-based academic attainment are complex and highly nuanced; they appear to vary between school subjects across years and may not correspond with similar differences in self-perceptions and scholastic attitudes.     

Post-Visit Reinforcement of Zoo Conservation Messages: The Design and Testing of an Action Resource Website

Wildlife tourism attractions such as zoos are uniquely placed to make an impact on people’s everyday environmentally responsible behaviors. However, research suggests that visitors who leave such sites with a heightened awareness and good intentions rarely translate their intentions into post-visit environmental actions. This article reports on the development of a website-based action resource designed to reinforce, complement, and extend zoos’ on-site conservation messages and support visitors’ translation of environmental behavioral intentions into actions. The effectiveness of the website in encouraging post-visit engagement in environmental behavior was tested using an experimental design with a follow-up sample of 475 zoo visitors across four sites in three countries. The group that had accessed the website scored significantly higher on a behavior change index than the group that had not accessed the website. Website features identified as most effective in engaging visitors and maximizing their uptake of environmentally sustainable behavior are discussed.     

Sibling Hostility and Externalized Symptoms of Psychological Distress

Sibling verbal and physical abuse has been underrepresented in childhood maltreatment research as a potential contributor to lifetime aggression. This study investigated associations between sibling hostility (physical abuse, threats of violence, heated verbal conflict) and conduct disorder symptoms, trait hostility, and lifetime aggression after control for variance attributable to physical and sexual abuse, exposure to domestic violence, and peer bullying. Over 20% of the respondents from this university sample (N = 1,331) recalled high levels of sibling hostility from the ages of 5 to 16. The frequency of these acts served as a significant predictor in regression models for all of the criterion measures among the women. Relationships between sibling hostility and these externalized symptom indicators were more limited among the men. Acts of sibling hostility as infrequent as once a year were associated in the total sample with higher conduct disorder symptoms, reactive aggression, lifetime acts of physical aggression, and Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire subscale scores. These findings suggested that even low frequencies of sibling abuse may have a deleterious impact on temper management. Sibling hostility warrants systematic attention in the childhood maltreatment literature.     

Differentiating corporal punishment from physical abuse in the prediction of lifetime aggression

Corporal punishment and parental physical abuse often co‐occur during upbringing, making it difficult to differentiate their selective impacts on psychological functioning. Associations between corporal punishment and a number of lifetime aggression indicators were examined in this study after efforts to control the potential influence of various forms of co‐occurring maltreatment (parental physical abuse, childhood sexual abuse, sibling abuse, peer bullying, and observed parental violence). College students (N = 1,136) provided retrospective self‐reports regarding their history of aggression and levels of exposure to childhood corporal punishment and maltreatment experiences. Analyses focused on three hypotheses: 1) The odds of experiencing childhood physical abuse would be higher among respondents reporting frequent corporal punishment during upbringing; 2) Corporal punishment scores would predict the criterion aggression indices after control of variance associated with childhood maltreatment; 3) Aggression scores would be higher among respondents classified in the moderate and elevated corporal punishment risk groups. Strong support was found for the first hypothesis since the odds of childhood physical abuse recollections were higher (OR = 65.3) among respondents who experienced frequent (>60 total disciplinary acts) corporal punishment during upbringing. Partial support was found for the second and third hypotheses. Dimensional and categorical corporal punishment scores were associated significantly with half of the criterion measures. These findings support efforts to dissuade reliance on corporal punishment to manage child behavior.

     

Verbal Disagreements and Philosophical Scepticism

Many philosophers have suggested that disagreement is good grounds for scepticism. One response says that disagreement-motivated scepticism can be mitigated to some extent by the thesis that philosophical disputes are often verbal, not genuine. I consider the implications of this anti-sceptical strategy, arguing that it trades one kind of scepticism for others. I conclude with suggestions for further investigation of the epistemic significance of the nature of philosophical disagreement.     

A dissociation between one-trial overshadowing and the effect of a distractor on habituation

Rats drank a novel vinegar flavour and were subsequently tested either for habituation of neophobia to vinegar or for the conditioning of an aversion to vinegar when it was followed 4 hr later by an injection of lithium chloride. If they drank a sucrose distractor immediately after their first vinegar trial, habituation of neophobia was disrupted but conditioning was not. Sucrose consumed 3.5 hr after the initial vinegar trial, on the other hand, had less of an effect on habituation, but did disrupt conditioning. An incidental finding, replicated in two subsequent experiments, was that the immediate sucrose distractor had no effect on habituation when animals were tested 48 hr after their initial habituation trial. We interpret these results to suggest that distractors affect habituation by a process of generalization decrement but overshadow conditioning through a process of associative competition.     

Attempted suicide, self-harm, and violent victimization among regular illicit drug users

Relationships among attempted suicide, nonsuicidal self-harm, and physical assault were examined in 400 regular users of heroin and/or psychostimulants. Twenty-eight percent had episodes of nonsuicidal self-harm, 32% had attempted suicide, and 95% had been violently assaulted. The number of suicide attempts and nonsuicidal self-harm incidents were correlated (ρ = 0.44). There were also significant correlations between the number of assaults and nonsuicidal self-harm incidents (ρ = 0.17), and suicide attempts (ρ = 0.27). The mean age onset for non-suicidal self-harm (18.9 yrs) was significantly younger than that of initial suicide (22.3 yrs). The age at initial physical assault (16.0yrs) was significantly younger than that of nonsuicidal self-harm and initial suicide attempt. Screening for all forms of violence appears warranted when determining suicide risk for this population.