Spousal Influence on CPAP Adherence: Applications of Health‐related Social Control

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is one of the most prevalent sleep disorders in the United Sates and is a risk factor for poor health outcomes. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is an effective treatment for OSA, but adherence rates are poor. Although the spouses of patients with OSA have high potential to influence adherence, there has been minimal research to date. The purpose of this review is to summarize key findings regarding spousal influence on health‐related behavior change and treatment adherence from other medical fields (e.g., type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease) in which this line of inquiry has been more thoroughly developed. Recommendations are presented to guide future research investigating spousal influence on CPAP adherence based on findings from other patient populations. In particular, we emphasize the use of spousal health‐related social control as it applies to adherence and provide guidance regarding conceptual and methodological moderators.     

Scale Alignment in the Between-Item Multidimensional Partial Credit Model

In between-item multidimensional item response models, it is often desirable to compare individual latent trait estimates across dimensions. These comparisons are only justified if the model dimensions are scaled relative to each other. Traditionally, this scaling is done using approaches such as standardization—fixing the latent mean and standard deviation to 0 and 1 for all dimensions. However, approaches such as standardization do not guarantee that Rasch model properties hold across dimensions. Specifically, for between-item multidimensional Rasch family models, the unique ordering of items holds within dimensions, but not across dimensions. Previously, Feuerstahler and Wilson described the concept of scale alignment, which aims to enforce the unique ordering of items across dimensions by linearly transforming item parameters within dimensions. In this article, we extend the concept of scale alignment to the between-item multidimensional partial credit model and to models fit using incomplete data. We illustrate this method in the context of the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS), a multidimensional survey of kindergarten readiness used in the state of Illinois. We also present simulation results that demonstrate the effectiveness of scale alignment in the context of polytomous item response models and missing data.     

Acceptance of Illness Among Patients Pursuing Transplantation or Left Ventricular Assist Device

Acceptance of illness is related to better mental health among patients with chronic illness; however, this construct has not been evaluated as part of routine transplantation evaluations. The purpose of this study was to create a brief measure of acceptance of illness for patients pursuing organ transplantation and examine how acceptance is related to distress. Retrospective medical record reviews were conducted for 290 patients who completed a routine psychosocial evaluation prior to transplant listing which included the Illness Acceptance Scale (IAS). Internal consistency for the IAS was excellent (Cronbach’s alpha?=?.92). Illness acceptance was negatively correlated with depression, anxiety, and catastrophizing and was not related to health literacy or health numeracy. The IAS is a reliable and valid measure for patients who are pursuing thoracic transplant or left ventricular assist device. Clinicians may want to screen transplant candidates for illness acceptance and refer those with lower levels to psychological interventions.

     

The impact of maternal postnatal depression on men and their ways of fathering: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Objectives: Postnatal depression affects approximately 15% of women in Western countries. There are conflicting findings about the effects on fathers as well as the extent to which fathers buffer against the negative effects of depression on children. This study sought to understand the ways in which maternal postnatal depression affects men and their ways of fathering.

Design: Narrative interviews were conducted with 14 British fathers (mean age?=?33.9?years) whose (ex)partners had experienced at least one episode of postnatal depression. Interviews explored how their partner’s depression affected them, the partner relationship, their children and their ways of fathering. Data were analysed with interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Results and Conclusions: Men felt that their partner’s depression led to significant physical and/or psychological maternal absence as well as a fracturing of the family unit, which had been an important ideological foundation for men’s fathering. Unequal divisions of labour, unfulfilled expectations, a thwarting of preferred ways of fathering and preoccupation with their partner’s depression took some men away from fathering. Others reported adaptation by accepting the loss of shared parenting and investing in an exclusive father–child relationship. Fathering appears to be particularly affected by the loss of a close adult relationship.     

Self regard and concealment of homosexuality as predictors of CD4+ cell count over time among hiv seropositive gay men

Living with HIV can challenge core features of a person’s sense of identity and ultimately lead to a diminished sense of self regard. Self-regard has been defined as the extent to which a person experiences an integrated sense of identity. Gay men with HIV may also face struggles related to their identity in deciding whether to disclose or conceal their homosexuality. This study examined whether concealment of homosexuality and a person’s sense of self regard would be associated with CD4+ cell count over time among HIV seropositive gay men. 53 HIV seropositive gay men completed questionnaires at one time point. CD4+ cell counts were measured at the time of questionnaire completion and 24 months later. Greater self regard at baseline was associated with higher CD4+ counts at 24 months. The association between baseline self regard and CD4+ count at 24 months was strongest among persons with less concealment of homosexuality.     

Age-Related Differences in Memory Illusions: Revelation Effect

Older adults are often more susceptible to various illusions and distortions of memory than young adults. In the experiments reported here, we explored the question of whether normal aging was associated with a larger revelation effect, an illusion of memory in which items that are revealed gradually during a recognition test are more likely to be called old than unrevealed items that are shown in their entirety. Contrary to expectations, older adults were not susceptible to this memory illusion. A revelation effect occurred for young but not older adults, even when older adults were similar to young adults on measures of recognition and repetition priming. When data across experiments were combined, there was evidence for a negative revelation effect in older adults in which revealed items were less likely called old than unrevealed items. These results place boundary conditions on the claim that older adults are more susceptible than young adults to memory illusions, and imply that one or more mechanisms underlying the revelation effect are age sensitive.     

Modern Advances in Genetic Testing: Ethical Challenges and Training Implications for Current and Future Psychologists

The ethical implications for psychological practice of genetic testing are largely unexplored. Predictive testing can have a significant impact on health and well-being, and increasing numbers of individuals with knowledge of their risk for various disorders are likely to present for psychotherapy. In addition, more people will struggle with the decision of whether to obtain information regarding their genetic material. Psychologists will need to have the appropriate knowledge and clinical skills to effectively counsel this population. This article highlights the relevant ethical issues surrounding psychological treatment of individuals pursuing or considering undergoing genetic testing. These issues are extended to psychologists working in research, education, and policy domains. Recommendations for graduate training programs to facilitate current and future practitioner competence are also discussed.     

Perceptual Robustness of the Nonrelationship Between Psychopathology and Popular Responses on the Hand Test and the Rorschach

A Hand Test Popular response is developed using 106 normal subjects and Rorschach's traditional "one-in-three" criterion. Six popular responses were derived. Neither the newly established Hand Test Popular response nor the Korschach Popular discriminated psychosis from nonpsychosis. but as expected, Rorschach X+% and Rorschach WSum6 were significant, and the Hand Test Bizarre (BIZ) score approached significance. Both the Rorschach Popular and the newly developed Hand Test Popular await further elucidation.