Etiology of obsessions and compulsions: a behavioral-genetic analysis

It is unknown whether various types of obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms have a common genetic or environmental etiology. For example, it is unknown whether hoarding is etiologically associated with prototypic OC symptoms, such as washing, checking, and obsessing. Also unknown is whether particular OC-related symptoms are etiologically linked to the general tendency to experience emotional distress (negative emotionality). To investigate these and other issues, a community sample of 307 pairs of monozygotic and dizygotic adult twins provided scores on 6 OC-related symptoms (obsessing, neutralizing, checking, washing, ordering, and hoarding) and 2 markers of negative emotionality (trait anxiety and affective lability). Genetic factors accounted for 40%-56% of variance in the 8 phenotypic scores (M = 49% of variance for OC-related symptoms). Remaining variance was due to nonshared (person-specific) environment. More detailed analyses revealed a complex etiologic architecture, where OC-related symptoms arise from a mix of common and symptom-specific genetic and environmental factors. A general genetic factor was identified, which influenced all symptoms and negative emotionality. An environmental factor was identified that influenced all symptoms but did not influence negative emotionality. Each of the 6 types of symptoms was also shaped by its own set of symptom-specific genetic and environmental factors. The importance of genetic factors did not vary as a function of age or sex, and the architecture of general and specific etiologic factors was replicated for participants having relatively more severe OC symptoms. Gene-environment interactions were identified. Implications for an etiology-based classification system are discussed.     

Impact of Interpersonal Conflict on Individuals High in Unmitigated Communion1

The current study examined the impact of interpersonal conflict on mood and physical symptoms for individuals who scored high on a personality characteristic called unmitigated communion (UC), as compared to individuals who did not score high in UC. UC is defined as a focus on others to the exclusion of the self. Forty‐one undergraduate students participated in 7 consecutive nightly interviews. Participants described their social interactions, indicated whether the interaction involved interpersonal conflict, and indicated their distress and physical symptoms at the end of the day. Multilevel modeling analysis demonstrated that conflict adversely affected UC and non‐UC individuals similarly on the same day, but had a more negative impact for UC individuals on the following day.     

Processing emotion information from both the face and body: An eye-movement study

This study examined the perception of emotional expressions, focusing on the face and the body. Photographs of four actors expressing happiness, sadness, anger, and fear were presented in congruent (e.g., happy face with happy body) and incongruent (e.g., happy face with fearful body) combinations. Participants selected an emotional label using a four-option categorisation task. Reaction times and accuracy for the categorisation judgement, and eye movements were the dependent variables. Two regions of interest were examined: face and body. Results showed better accuracy and faster reaction times for congruent images compared to incongruent images. Eye movements showed an interaction in which there were more fixations and longer dwell times to the face and fewer fixations and shorter dwell times to the body with incongruent images. Thus, conflicting information produced a marked effect on information processing in which participants focused to a greater extent on the face compared to the body.     

Imagining what might be: why children underestimate uncertainty

Children’s well-documented tendency to behave as if they know more than they do about uncertain events is reduced under two conditions: when the outcome of a chance event has yet to be determined and when one unknown outcome has occurred but is difficult to imagine. In Experiment 1, in line with published findings, 5- and 6-year-olds (N = 61) preferred to guess the unknown location of a known object when the object was in place rather than before its location had been determined. There was no such preference when the object’s identity was unknown. In Experiment 2, 29 5- and 6-year-olds were more likely to correctly mark both possible locations when an already hidden object’s identity was unknown rather than known. We conclude that children’s vivid imaginations can lead them to underestimate uncertainty in a similar way to imagination inflation or fluency effects in adults.     

A multilevel examination of interpartner intimate partner violence and psychological aggression reporting concordance

Low concordance of reports across partners has consistently been observed when partners report the frequency of intimate partner violence (IPV) and psychological aggression (PA) in their relationship. Researchers have been unsuccessful in the quest to discover systematic biases across reporters, perhaps due to examining constructs that are not the source of bias (e.g., gender, victim/perpetrator status) or examining potentially fruitful constructs using underpowered statistics or erroneous conceptualizations (e.g., examining variables at a dyadic, rather than an individual, level). We used multilevel modeling with two samples (Ns = 88 and 164 couples) to examine husbands' and wives' relationship satisfaction as individual-level correlates of husband- and wife-perpetrated IPV and PA reporting concordance. Consistent with prior literature, low to moderate levels of agreement were observed, and gender and victim/perpetrator status were not consistently associated with reporting concordance. In contrast, for both husbands and wives, relationship satisfaction was associated with reporting concordance such that high relationship satisfaction was related to reporting less of one's partner's PA than the partner reported, whereas low relationship satisfaction was related to reporting more of one's partner's PA than the partner reported. A similar pattern of results emerged for the reporting of IPV, but results did not cross validate between samples. These findings suggest that relationship satisfaction may lead to either reluctance, or increased willingness, to attribute negative relationship events to partner behavior, potentially due to partner blame and relationship schemas. In addition, the influence of individual-level factors may be occluded when aggregated across partners to examine correlates of interpartner reporting concordance.     

Enriching the Genetic Counseling Recruitment Pipeline: A National Cross-Sectional Study of Public High School Counselors

Early awareness of careers is helpful in recruiting students into a career pipeline. School counselors are among the top resources that students turn to when seeking advice about choosing their career. Studies show that high school is the ideal time to generate interest in the genetic counseling career, especially for minorities. This novel study of 291 high school counselors working in ethnically diverse public school districts in the United States examined to what extent members of this important group discuss genetic counseling as a career option with their students. The findings indicate that the majority of school counselors in this study (83%) did not discuss genetic counseling with their students, citing a lack of resources and lack of student interest as the major barriers. Suggestions of ways to increase high school counselors’ awareness of the genetic counseling career in order to enhance the goal of enriching recruitment of ethnic minorities into the genetic counseling pipeline are presented.     

The relationship between change in self-perceptions of aging and physical functioning in older adults

Negative self-perceptions of aging (SPA) have been linked to poor physical health and functioning outcomes in late life, yet the direction of this relationship remain unclear. Using data from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Aging, we investigated the directionality of the dynamic relationship between self-perceptions of aging and physical functioning in 1,212 adults 65 years and above (mean age = 76.89, SD = 6.12) over 5 waves (up to 16 years). Bivariate Dual Change Score Models (BDCSM) revealed that the best fitting model for the data was that which allowed SPA to predict change in physical functioning over time lags of 1 year. The direction of the relationship remained after controlling for age, gender, partner status, residential care, number of medical conditions, self-rated health, and psychological well-being. Findings suggest that more positive SPA may be protective of decline in physical functioning in late life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Rocking to the beat: effects of music and partner's movements on spontaneous interpersonal coordination

People move to music and coordinate their movements with others spontaneously. Does music enhance spontaneous coordination? We compared the influence of visual information (seeing or not seeing another person) and auditory information (hearing movement or music or hearing no sound) on spontaneous coordination. Pairs of participants were seated side by side in rocking chairs, told a cover story, and asked to rock at a comfortable rate. Both seeing and hearing the other person rock elicited spontaneous coordination, and effects of hearing amplified those of seeing. Coupling with the music was weaker than with the partner, and the music competed with the partner's influence, reducing coordination. Music did, however, function as a kind of social glue: participants who synchronized more with the music felt more connected.     

(De)Constructing Paula Radcliffe: Exploring media representations of elite running,pregnancy and motherhood through cultural sport psychology

ObjectivesLittle is known about elite athletes who are mothers within the context of sociocultural expectations concerning motherhood and sport. The aim of this study was to extend such understanding by examining how the media manages and constructs one elite athlete's (Paula Radcliffe) identities within the context of motherhood and sport.DesignA qualitative approach grounded in cultural sport psychology was used to explore motherhood and athletic identity as socio-cultural creations shaped by cultural narratives (i.e., media). The psychological and behavioural implications were of interest.MethodA textual analysis (see McKee, 2003) of two issues of Runner's World magazine (March 2008, October, 2010) surrounding elite British marathon runner Paula Radcliffe's pregnancies was conducted. Visual data analysis of 37 images (see Griffin, 2010) further contextualized textual meaning(s).ResultsRadcliffe's identities were constructed within a higher order narrative: pregnancy and motherhood as redemption. This narrative had fluid meanings depending on how it framed two contrasting identities: 1. athlete and mother as one and 2. primarily a mother; athlete as secondary. An athlete and mother as one identity reinforced an elite athlete identity and high performance narrative. A primarily mother, athlete as secondary identity was linked to athletic accomplishments being downplayed and/or sacrificed in favour of motherhood.ConclusionsThis study opens a new window of cultural understanding and possibility for research and application concerning motherhood and athletic identities. These findings add to the cultural sport psychology and qualitative literature exploring elite mothering athletes.     

A media analysis of a sport celebrity: Understanding an informal “team cancer” role as a socio-cultural construction

Objectives

Negative informal roles in sport such as a “team cancer” warrant further attention because of the association with athletes’ negative psychological experiences, impaired team processes, and reduced performance. The purpose of the current study is to extend understandings of the team cancer role by analyzing the socio-cultural context (i.e., sport media narratives surrounding a sport celebrity and key media incident) within which one “team cancer” was constituted in a professional sport context.

Method

National Hockey League (NHL) star Sean Avery was the sport celebrity of interest. The key media incident was the “sloppy seconds” comment made by Avery regarding his former girlfriend. The comment was an attack towards the opposing team’s defenseman, who was dating her. Newspaper representations of the comment (n = 62) were explored via ethnographic content analysis (see Altheide, 1996).

Results

It was found that the depiction of the team cancer emerged differently depending on two paradoxical discourses found within the media: a hockey moral code as truth vs. a hockey moral code as hypocrisy. This paradox surrounding the morality of sport was exemplified within the two hockey moral code discourses surrounding the personification of Avery’s team cancer identity and the “sloppy seconds incident”.

Conclusions

This study adds to our understanding regarding how the media influences the construction of an informal team cancer role from one professional sport incident. This focus opens up a window of new understandings and possibilities for research and application beyond current theories and understandings of negative informal team roles in sport psychology.