The Cross-Temporal Associations between Rumination Subtypes and Substance Use in Adolescence: Exploring the Moderating Role of Gender

Several studies have linked rumination to substance use. However, only one study thus far has focused on the differential associations between the subtypes of rumination (brooding and reflection) and substance use. This previous study was cross-sectional in nature, so less is known about how these variables are related across time. To address this issue, the present three-wave longitudinal study investigated the cross-temporal associations between subtypes of rumination, alcohol consumption, drug consumption and substance use problems, using cross-lagged path analyses. In addition, the study investigated whether the cross-lagged paths of interest were moderated by gender. The sample consisted of 309 adolescents (62.1 % boys) between the ages of 13 to 20 years old (M _age at T1?=?16.82 years, SD?=?1.32). Results indicated that substance use problems predicted increases in levels of brooding and reflection over time. These effects were moderated by gender so that substance use problems only predicted increases in levels of brooding and reflection in girls. In contrast to our expectations, higher levels of brooding predicted a decrease in alcohol consumption over time, and this effect was not moderated by gender. Cross-lagged analyses also showed that alcohol consumption predicted an increase in substance use problems. All results emerged independently of depressive symptoms. The findings of the present study add to the growing body of literature on the associations between rumination subtypes and substance use in adolescence, and highlight the importance of using longitudinal designs to address the issue of directionality.     

Is Belief in God Related to Differences in Adolescents’ Psychological Functioning?

Many studies have documented links between positive psychological functioning and religiousness during the adolescent years, but very few have contrasted religious and nonreligious youth. The purpose of the present study was to examine differences in psychological functioning among adolescent atheists, agnostics, and believers using a profile analysis approach. The authors conducted a survey of Grade 8 students (N = 1,925) enrolled in Catholic schools in two Australian states. The survey included 10 measures of psychological functioning, broadly divided into three categories (positive adjustment, social well‐being, and negative outcomes). Results indicated that belief in God was related to distinct profiles of psychological adjustment. The implications of these findings for understanding how differing value systems are related to particular developmental stages are discussed.     

Correction to: Effects of Parental Acceptance-Rejection on Children’s Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors: A Longitudinal,Multicultural Study

Journal of Child and Family Studies -     

Adjustment and acceptance beliefs in achievement settings: Implications for student wellbeing

Social Psychology of Education - Research suggests that when dealing with personal setbacks, secondary control (SC) adjustment and acceptance beliefs can foster psychological wellbeing. However,...     

Gender stereotypes and belonging across high school girls’ social groups: beyond the STEM classroom

Social Psychology of Education - Previous research on the impact of gender stereotypes on female adolescents’ feeling of belonging to peer groups has focused on STEM classrooms and...     

An ethical framework for the responsible management of pregnant patients in a medical disaster

The ethics of managing obstetric patients in medical disasters poses ethical challenges that are unique in comparison to other disaster patients, because the medical needs of two patients--the pregnant patient and the fetal patient--must be considered. We provide an ethical framework for doing so. We base the framework on the justice-based prevention of exploitation of populations of patients, both obstetric and non-obstetric, in medical disasters. We use the concept of exploitation to identify a spectrum from ethically acceptable, to ethically challenging, to ethically unacceptable, management of obstetric patients in medical disasters. We also address the ethics of the care of obstetric and neonatal patients when the resources of a hospital are completely overwhelmed in a large-scale medical disaster.     

The fundamental need to belong: on the distinction between growth and deficit-reduction orientations

The need for belongingness (the universal need to form and maintain positive, stable interpersonal relationships) has led to much research over the past decade. Although such a need is universal, some qualitative differences exist in its orientation. Specifically, two belongingness need orientations are proposed: a growth orientation (a belongingness need directed toward interpersonal actualization) and a deficit-reduction orientation (a belongingness need directed toward interpersonal deficit reduction or repair). It is hypothesized that a deficit-reduction orientation to the need to belong is associated with lower levels of intrapersonal and interpersonal psychological functioning compared to a growth orientation. The results of a series of four studies supported the proposed hypotheses. Implications of the proposed model for future research on the need to belong are discussed.     

Older adults' configural processing of faces: role of second-order information

Problems with face recognition are frequent in older adults. However, the mechanisms involved have only been partially discovered. In particular, it is unknown to what extent these problems may be related to changes in configural face processing. Here, we investigated the face inversion effect (FIE) together with the ability to detect modifications in the vertical or horizontal second-order relations between facial features. We used a same/different unfamiliar face discrimination task with 33 young and 33 older adults. The results showed dissociations in the performances of older versus younger adults. There was a lack of inversion effect during the recognition of original faces by older adults. However, for modified faces, older adults showed a pattern of performance similar to that of young participants, with preserved FIE for vertically modified faces and no detectable FIE for horizontally modified faces. Most importantly, the detection of vertical modifications was preserved in older relative to young adults whereas the detection of horizontal modifications was markedly diminished. We conclude that age has dissociable effects on configural face-encoding processes, with a relative preservation of vertical compared to horizontal second-order relations processing. These results help to understand some divergent results in the literature and may explain the spared familiar face identification abilities in the daily lives of older adults.