How psychological resources mediate and perceived social support moderates the relationship between depressive symptoms and help-seeking intentions in college students

There is a high prevalence of depression among college students, which is linked to lower levels of help-seeking intentions. However, there has been a lack of research examining variables that may help explain this relationship. The present study aimed to address this gap by examining whether psychological resources (optimism and self-esteem) mediate the relationship between depressive symptoms and help-seeking intentions, and whether this relationship is moderated by perceived social support. Participants were 8121 college students (66% female) aged 17–25 years (M?=?20.42, SD?=?1.90), who completed the My World Survey Post-Second Level, a national survey on youth mental health. Linear regression analysis confirmed that depressive symptoms predicted lower informal help-seeking intentions. Moderated mediation indicated that social support moderated the direct relationship between depressive symptoms and informal help-seeking intentions and that optimism and self-esteem mediated this relationship, when gender was controlled for. Findings indicate that social support and psychological resources help further our understanding of the relationship between depressive symptoms and help-seeking in young people. Campaigns promoting help-seeking in college students should focus on the beneficial role of social support and on fostering optimism and self-esteem as facilitators of help-seeking intentions.     

Genetic Counselors in Startup Companies: Redefining the Genetic Counselor Role

Genetic counselors (GCs) have recently begun moving into non-clinic based roles in increasing numbers. A relatively new role for GCs is working for startup companies. Startups are newly established companies in the phase of developing and researching new scalable businesses. This article explores the experiences of four GCs working at different startup companies and aims to provide resources for GCs interested in learning more about these types of roles. The article describes startup culture, including a relatively flat organizational structure, quick product iterations, and flexibility, among other unique cultural characteristics. Financial considerations are described, including how to understand and evaluate a company’s financial status, along with a brief explanation of alternate forms of compensation including stock options and equity. Specifically, the article details the uncertainties and rewards of working in a fast-paced startup environment that affords opportunities to try new roles and use the genetic counseling skill set in new ways. This article aims to aid GCs in determining whether a startup environment would be a good fit, learning how to evaluate a specific startup, and understanding how to market themselves for positions at startups.     

Respiratory Patterns in Students Enrolled in Schools for Disruptive Behaviour Before, During, and After Yoga Nidra Relaxation

This study investigated the effects of one session of Yoga Nidra (relaxation technique) on the breathing patterns/respiratory effort in the thoracic and abdominal chest regions of boys with disruptive behaviour using a Respiratory Inductive Plethysmography (RIP). The participants (n?=?7) were aged 10–15?years and attending NSW, Department of Education (DET) special schools for children with disruptive behaviour (DB). Results were compared with three students (one female) aged 15?years without DB. The seven boys had previously participated in a 13-week yoga program. During this program participants were progressively taught the practice of Yoga Nidra. The comparison group did not participate in the yoga program but underwent the same procedure for collection of data as the yoga group. Using Compumedics “ProFusion Polysomnography (PSG)” software and further analyses in “Polyman” European Data Format?+?(EDF), data were analysed by identifying breathing as unstable or stable. Unstable breathing was identified as fluctuations in rate/s of breathing effort, amplitude, cessation of breath, and thoracic or abdominal predominance. Results indicated that boys with disruptive behaviour generally displayed unstable breathing patterns throughout the pre-recording period and showed more stable breathing during Yoga Nidra compared with pre- or post-recording periods. There were also examples of reductions in thoracic dominance during Yoga Nidra. The comparison group’s breathing patterns throughout the three phases of the process were found to be stable.     

Can skilled readers perform a second task in parallel? A functional connectivity MRI study

When asked to search for a target letter while reading, the patterns with which people miss the target letter reveal information about the process of reading itself. Questions remain as to whether this paradigm reflects normal reading processes however. We used a novel continuous-performance neuroimaging paradigm to address this question. In separate scanning runs, subjects either read alone, read while searching for a target letter, or searched non-words continuously. Functional connectivity analysis recovered the full extent of brain areas identified for reading in a localizer scan, with no differences between reading alone and the dual task condition. Differences were found, however, between both reading conditions and the nonword search condition. These results demonstrate that in skilled readers brain activation associated with reading is unaffected by a concurrent letter-search task. They further demonstrate the utility of a naturalistic, continuous-performance paradigm for studying the neural basis of language processing.     

Exploring How Parents Make Sense of Change in Parent-Child Psychotherapy

Understanding how change occurs in psychotherapy is imperative in informing clinical practice. Increasing attention has been given to the role that qualitative research could play in enhancing our understanding of therapeutic change. Although quantitative research suggests that parent-child psychotherapy is effective in facilitating change, no research to date has focused on how parents make sense of their change experience. In this study, interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyze semi-structured interviews of eight parents who had completed parent-child psychotherapy about their understanding of change. Five master themes emerged that encapsulated participants’ understanding of change. These included constructing a survivor narrative, the experience of being understood enabling further understanding, adjusting expectations and practicing acceptance, and feeling empowered to relinquish control. The final theme summarized how despite psychotherapy being conceptualized as a “precious” resource, there was a sense that its limitations could negatively impact participant’s well-being.     

Exploring urban students' constructions about school, work, race, and ethnicity

This qualitative study is an exploration of 32 urban high school students' narratives about the connection between school, work, and societal expectations of their future success related to their racial and ethnic background. The sample varied along 2 contextual dimensions: participation in a psychoeducational intervention (Tools for Tomorrow) and developmental status (i.e., half the sample were 9th-grade students and the other half were 12th-grade students). Using consensual qualitative research, the narratives revealed 3 major domains: future orientation; students' perceptions of society's expectations based on race and ethnicity; and students' perception of the role of their race and ethnicity in future success. Results reveal that the majority of students endorse a connection between school and work, believe that society holds low expectations for them based on their racial and ethnic background, and cannot predict their future success based on their background.     

The Role of Axioms in Mathematics

To answer the question of whether mathematics needs new axioms, it seems necessary to say what role axioms actually play in mathematics. A first guess is that they are inherently obvious statements that are used to guarantee the truth of theorems proved from them. However, this may neither be possible nor necessary, and it doesn’t seem to fit the historical facts. Instead, I argue that the role of axioms is to systematize uncontroversial facts that mathematicians can accept from a wide variety of philosophical positions. Once the axioms are generally accepted, mathematicians can expend their energies on proving theorems instead of arguing philosophy. Given this account of the role of axioms, I give four criteria that axioms must meet in order to be accepted. Penelope Maddy has proposed a similar view in Naturalism in Mathematics, but she suggests that the philosophical questions bracketed by adopting the axioms can in fact be ignored forever. I contend that these philosophical arguments are in fact important, and should ideally be resolved at some point, but I concede that their resolution is unlikely to affect the ordinary practice of mathematics. However, they may have effects in the margins of mathematics, including with regards to the controversial “large cardinal axioms” Maddy would like to support.

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