Eminence, IQ, Physical and Mental Health, and Achievement Domain: Cox's 282 Geniuses Revisited

ABSTRACT— Catharine Cox published two studies of highly eminent creators and leaders, the first in 1926 as the second volume of Terman's landmark Genetic Studies of Genius and the second in 1936 as a coauthored article. The former publication concentrated on the relation between IQ and achieved eminence, and the latter focused on early physical and mental health. Taking advantage of unpublished data from the second study, we examined, for the first time, the relationships among achieved eminence, IQ, early physical and mental health, and achievement domain. The correlation and regression analyses showed, for these 282 individuals, that eminence is a positive function of IQ and that IQ is a positive function of mental health and a negative function of physical health, implying an indirect effect of physical and mental health on eminence. Furthermore, levels of early physical and mental health vary across 10 specific domains of achievement.     

A method to optimize the response range while maintaining Rorschach Comprehensive System validity

Brief and lengthy Rorschach records have been identified as common problems in protocol administration. Clinicians have debated how to prevent overly short and long records, but they have been reluctant to alter standardized administration for fear of introducing bias. The present study examines a nonintrusive method for constraining responses by prompting for an extra response when only one is offered per card and by removing the card after four responses are given. Among patients who typically produce brief records, consisting of a residential sample of civil and forensic patients with a range of disordered thinking, the alternative administration method demonstrated improved Comprehensive System validity in assessing thought disorder and eliminated the need to readminister the test due to fewer than 14 responses. The findings have clinical implications for protocol administration with thought-disordered populations that typically produce brief records.     

Psychosocial Issues in Families Affected by Maple Syrup Urine Disease

The primary aim of this study was to ascertain the psychosocial issues faced by families affected by maple syrup urine disease (MSUD). The psychosocial adjustment and quality of life of children with MSUD were also described. Participants included 55 families and their children (ages 5 to 18 years) and teachers. Measures included a MSUD Family Survey, the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC) and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL). Parents reported via the MSUD Family Survey that the greatest sources of stress were financial and emotional. Many parents reported difficulty interacting with the medical staff and with schools. On the BASC, half of the children fell within the average range in psychosocial adjustment, although there were elevations in scales measuring attention, hyperactivity, and learning problems. On the PedsQL, the mean quality of life scores were closer to children with cancer than to a healthy sample. Despite the emotional and financial burden, parents reported that MSUD has also had a positive influence on their lives, leading to a world-view that is more compassionate and caring.     

Extending the Legacy of Sandra Bem: Psychological Androgyny as a Touchstone Conceptual Advance for the Study of Gender in Psychological Science

We retrace Bem’s original formulations for defining and assessing the concept of psychological androgyny in the United States. By focusing on the early conceptual aspects of Bem’s research, we describe three related but distinct impacts of that work. One impact was a social justice message of equality between women and men in the United States. A second impact was focusing research attention on gender roles as a malleable, socially constructed phenomena that, when polarized across gender groups, had negative consequences for psychological well-being. A third less obvious impact was helping scholars divest themselves of the previous, narrow understanding that gender was ultimately collapsible into a single dimension of masculinity–femininity. As with any new concept for its time, the legacy of psychological androgyny featured both backslides into and advances against the previous understanding of gender that it was designed to challenge. Our discussion of what we believe to be key functions and impacts of the concept of psychological androgyny serves to underscore just how important its introduction was and still is for ongoing gender scholarship and research.     

Perceived Conflict Styles of Adult Children and their Parents: What Is the Connection?

The purpose of this study was to explore the potential genesis of conflict styles for couples by evaluating the association between parents’ conflict styles and those of their adult children and their adult children’s partners. Using Social Learning Theory as a theoretical foundation, the four conflict typologies from Gottman’s work (avoidant, validating, volatile, and hostile) were applied to study the participants’ conflict styles. Multinomial logistic regression was then conducted on a sample of 25,511 participants, testing the relationships between the conflict styles of parents, their adult children’s conflict styles, and their adult children’s partners’ conflict styles. All of the perceived parental conflict styles were linked to the same conflict styles in adult children. However, for adult children and their partners, the patterns were mixed. Whereas having validating parents predicted having validating partners, having avoidant or hostile parents predicted having hostile partners. The results suggest the possibility of the intergenerational transmission of conflict styles between parents and their adult children as well as contributing to the established research on assortative mating in that individuals may be more likely to select partners who are similar to them in terms of their approaches to conflict. The results of this study have important implications for intervening early in families with less functional conflict styles.     

Treating Depression Among Adolescent Perinatal Women With a Dialectical Behavior Therapy–Informed Skills Group

Depression is a prevalent and impairing problem affecting both women and offspring during the perinatal (pregnancy and the postpartum) period. Despite this, few studies have examined treatments for perinatal adolescents with depressive symptoms. The present study examined the feasibility and preliminary outcomes of a dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) informed skills group among depressed adolescent perinatal women (N = 25) recruited from both a public health parent education program and an adolescent obstetric clinic. A brief composite case example is included to illustrate how DBT skills were taught, practiced, and applied. Findings suggest the intervention was credible, acceptable, and associated with improvement in depression. Challenges with feasibility of enrolling and retaining adolescent perinatal women were evident, as approximately half of the enrolled participants did not complete the study. This study provides preliminary evidence that a DBT-informed skills group may be a promising intervention for depressed adolescent perinatal women and points to important directions for clinical practice and research, including treatment engagement and retention.     

Behavioral avoidance tests and disgust in contamination fears: distinctions from trait anxiety

Much of the existing literature examining the role of disgust is limited to specific phobia. Recent research has begun to examine the role of disgust in contamination fear, a subtype of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Through the use of behavioral avoidance tasks (BATs), the current study was designed to examine the role of disgust in people with contamination fears, with attention to distinguishing high and low trait anxiety. From a large screening of undergraduate students, three groups were formed based on their level of contamination fear and level of trait anxiety: contamination fearful ( n = 12 ), high-trait anxiety ( n = 11 ), and low trait anxiety ( n = 15 ). Subjects were asked to engage in six different BATs corresponding to six domains of disgust (food, animals, body products, body envelope violations, death, and sympathetic magic). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant differences between the contamination fearful group and the high trait anxiety group on the animal and sympathetic magic BATs. Significant differences on the food, animal, body envelope violations, and death BATs were also found between the contamination fearful group and the low-trait anxious group. The findings modestly support the importance of disgust in contamination fears. Implications for the study of disgust in contamination fear are provided.