Maternal beliefs concerning young children's private speech

The goal of this study was to understand maternal reports, beliefs, and attitudes about their young children's use of private speech. Mothers of 48 children between the ages of 3 and 5 participated in a semi‐structured interview in which they reported on the frequency and context of their child's use of private speech, maternal responses toward such speech use in children, and beliefs about the utility of such speech for children. Interviews were transcribed and responses coded. Mothers also completed surveys on children's self control and parenting style. Results indicated that practically all parents reported that their child engaged in private speech and that such speech was more likely to appear during fantasy play than during problem‐solving activities. Parents varied in their personal responses to children's self talk and, as a group, do not appear to actively discourage or encourage its use. Ignoring/allowing child private speech use was common and this response was positively associated with authoritative parenting. Parental reports of the frequency with which their child talks to himself were negatively associated with parental reports of children's self‐control. Crib speech, or bedtime monologue, was reported to be very common and was negatively associated with children's self‐control and positively associated with children's private speech use. Parents were uniformly positive in their belief that private speech serves important functions and that it helps young children during task activities. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Daoist way of being: clarity and stillness as embodied practice*

Daoism, especially classical Daoism, is often constructed as a ‘philosophy,’ ‘set of ideas,’ or ‘system of thought.’ This is particularly the case in studies of Chinese philosophy and comparative philosophy. The present article draws attention to the central importance of clarity and stillness (qingjing 清靜) as a Daoist form of meditative practice, contemplative experience, and way of being. Examining historical precedents in classical Daoism, the article gives particular attention to the Tang dynasty (618–907) ‘Clarity-and-Stillness Literature,’ specifically the eighth-century Qingjing jing 清靜經 (Scripture on Clarity and Stillness; DZ 620). In the process, one finds that qingjing is one of the major connective strands throughout the Daoist tradition, a connective strand that reveals the central importance of embodied, experiential, and applied dimensions of human being from a Daoist perspective.     

An Intensive Outpatient Program for Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury

Post-9/11 service members may return from military service with a complicated set of symptoms and conditions, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, substance misuse, and traumatic brain injury (TBI), that interfere with reintegration and impair functioning. Although evidence-based treatments that facilitate recovery exist, their successful delivery at a sufficient dose is limited. Barriers to accessing treatment combined with challenges compiling a comprehensive treatment team further delay delivery of effective evidence-based care for PTSD, TBI, and co-occurring mental health conditions. This paper describes the development of a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, 2-week intensive day program for post-9/11 veterans with complex mental health concerns. The treatment program combines skill building groups, family education, and integrative health approaches with evidence-based individual PTSD or TBI care. Initial results from the first 132 participants were notable for a 97% completion rate, as well as statistically significant and clinically meaningful reductions in PTSD, neurobehavioral, and depression symptom severity for the 107 veterans who completed the PTSD track and the 21 who completed the TBI track. These data suggest the intensive program approach is an effective, well-tolerated model of treatment for post-9/11 veterans with PTSD and/or TBI. Future controlled studies should examine the effectiveness of this intensive model compared to standard evidence-based therapy delivery, as well as longitudinal outcomes.     

Helping Those Who Help Themselves: Does Counseling Enhance Retention?

This study examined how academic distress changed over the course of counseling and predicted retention. The sample comprised students receiving services at the campus counseling center (n = 404), students from a psychology department subject pool (n = 311), and students from the general campus population (n = 75,748). The analyses performed included t test, analysis of covariance, chi‐square test, and logistical regression. The results suggested that students whose academic distress did not decrease had lower retention rates than both clients whose academic distress improved and the general student body.     

Introduction to the Special Issue on Mental Health Self-Help

Since the 1950s, people with mental illness and their families have been organizing a wide range of self-directed, mutual support oriented initiatives, including self-help groups, nonprofit organizations, and businesses. These initiatives have become increasingly widespread over the years and today mental health self-help initiatives outnumber traditional mental health organizations in the United States (Goldstrom et al., Admin Policy Mental Health Mental Health Serv Res 33:92-103, 2006). Mental health self-help embodies much of what community psychologists promote, including the self-directed organization of people to create social change and facilitate personal transformation. This special issue provides new insight into several prominent areas of inquiry surrounding these low-cost interventions including: (1) their evidence base; (2) the processes by which people benefit; (3) how they interface with the mental health system; and (4) the value dilemmas they face.     

Age-related declines in general cognitive abilities of Balb/C mice are associated with disparities in working memory, body weight, and general activity

A defining characteristic of age-related cognitive decline is a deficit in general cognitive performance. Here we use a testing and analysis regimen that allows us to characterize the general learning abilities of young (3-5 mo old) and aged (19-21 mo old) male and female Balb/C mice. Animals' performance was assessed on a battery of seven diverse learning tasks. Aged animals exhibited deficits in five of the seven tasks and ranked significantly lower than their young counterparts in general learning abilities (aggregate performance across the battery of tasks). Aging added variability to common core performance (i.e., general learning ability), which translated into increased variability on the individual cognitive tasks. Relatedly, general learning abilities did not differ between the two ages among the best quartile of learners (i.e., cognitive abilities were spared in a subsample of the aged animals). Additionally, working memory capacity (resistance to interference) and duration (resistance to decay) accounted for significantly more of the variability in general learning abilities in aged relative to young animals. Tests of 15 noncognitive performance variables indicated that an increase in body weight (and an associated decrease in general activity) was characteristic of those aged animals which exhibited deficient general learning abilities. These results suggest the possibility that general cognitive deficits in aged animals reflect a failure of specific components of the working memory system, and may be related to variations in body weight and an associated decrease in activity.