The role of self-enhancing evaluations in a successful life transition

The objective of the study was to investigate how self-enhancing evaluations, obtained via positive social comparisons and reflected appraisals, were related to mental health in a later life transition. The sample consisted of 266 women who were interviewed once before and 3 times after the experience of community relocation. Results extended prior findings suggesting the dynamic impact of self-enhancing evaluative processes on psychological well-being and depressive symptoms. Additional analyses showed evidence for reverse causality, that is, that mental health also influenced self-evaluative processes. This study underscores the significance of holding a positive view of self vis-à-vis others in negotiating life challenges as well as the reciprocal influence of well-being on social self-evaluative processes.     

Recency effects as a window to generalization: separating decisional and perceptual sequential effects in category learning

Accounts of learning and generalization typically focus on factors related to lasting changes in representation (i.e., long-term memory). The authors present evidence that shorter term effects also play a critical role in determining performance and that these recency effects can be subdivided into perceptual and decisional components. Experimental results based on a probabilistic category structure show that the previous stimulus exerts a contrastive effect on the current percept (perceptual recency) and that responses are biased toward or away from the previous feedback, depending on the similarity between successive stimuli (decisional recency). A method for assessing these recency effects is presented that clarifies open questions regarding stimulus generalization and perceptual contrast effects in categorization and in other domains.     

Intensive OutPatient Therapy for Clergy Burnout: How Much Difference Can a Week Make?

A pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental matched pairs design was used to assess the effectiveness of a week-long multi-therapist intensive outpatient intervention process with clergy suffering from depression and burnout. Participants (n = 23) in the “Clergy in Kairos” program of the Pastoral Institute (Muse in J Pastor Care Couns 61(3):183–195, 2007) constituted the experimental variable. Clergy surveyed from United Methodist and Presbyterian denominations (n = 121) provided a control group from which 23 respondents were selected whose pre-test scores in depression and burnout were statistically equivalent to those in the experimental group. The treatment group consisted of clergy from three denominations who self-selected (or in some cases were referred by denominational officials) into the program. At the outset, clergy in both groups reported equivalent levels of conflict, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and depression. At the 6-months follow-up, clergy in the experimental group showed significant improvement of depression, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization scores. By contrast, there was no change in the burnout and depression scores in the control group at 6-months post-test. Findings suggest the usefulness of a week-long multi-therapist intensive outpatient intervention in reducing burnout and depression.     

Parallelism Effects and Verb Activation: The Sustained Reactivation Hypothesis

This study investigated the processes underlying parallelism by evaluating the activation of a parallel element (i.e., a verb) throughout and-coordinated sentences. Four points were tested: (1) approximately 1,600ms after the verb in the first conjunct (PP1), (2) immediately following the conjunction (PP2), (3) approximately 1,100ms after the conjunction (PP3), (4) at the end of the second conjunct (PP4). The results revealed no activation at PP1, suggesting activation related to the initial presentation had decayed by this point; however, activation was observed at PP2, PP3, and PP4, suggesting the conjunction elicits reactivation that is sustained throughout the second conjunct. These findings support a specific hypothesis about parallelism, the sustained reactivation hypothesis. This hypothesis claims that, in conjoined structures, a cue that is associated with parallelism elicits the reactivation of material from the first conjunct and that this activation is sustained until integration with the second conjunct can be completed.     

Correlates of Suicidal Ideation in Physically Injured Trauma Survivors

Epidemiologic studies have documented that injury survivors are at increased risk for suicide. We evaluated 206 trauma survivors to examine demographic, clinical, and injury characteristics associated with suicidal ideation during hospitalization and across 1 year. Results indicate that mental health functioning, depression symptoms, and history of mental health services were associated with suicidal ideation in the hospital; being a parent was a protective factor. Pre‐injury posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, assaultive injury mechanism, injury‐related legal proceedings, and physical pain were significantly associated with suicidal ideation across 1 year. Readily identifiable risk factors early after traumatic injury may inform hospital‐based screening and intervention procedures.