Fifty years of memory of college grades: accuracy and distortions

One to 54 years after graduating, 276 alumni correctly recalled 3,025 of 3,967 college grades. Omission errors increased with the retention interval, and better students made fewer errors. Accuracy of recall increased with confidence in recall. Eighty-one percent of commission errors inflated the actual grade. Distortions occur soon after graduation, remain constant during the retention interval, and are greater for better students and for courses students enjoyed most. Confidence in recall is unrelated to distortion. Courses that were not freely recalled, but had to be cued, were recalled less accurately and with less distortion. The data support a supplementary theory of memory distortion. The theory assumes that forgetting and distorting memory content are relatively independent processes, that relevant generic memories are used to fill in gaps after episodic memory fails, that systematic distortions affect autobiographical content that is emotionally and motivationally valenced, and that most individuals supplement with content that is emotionally more gratifying than the veridical content. The data conflict with dynamic displacement theories according to which screen memories actively block access to unpleasant veridical content.     

Work potential of road accident survivors with post-traumatic stress disorder

Work potential in adult survivors of road accidents with and without post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was examined at a mean of 8.6 months (SD = 3.77) post-accident. All participants were working prior to their accident. Results showed that survivors with PTSD had significantly less work potential post-accident than survivors without PTSD. Specific barriers to employability for survivors with PTSD identified by this study included high levels of depression, reduced time-management ability, and an over-concern or anxiety with physical injuries. Respondents with PTSD, however, reported significantly greater extrinsic motivation to work than those without PTSD. Early intervention and referral to occupational rehabilitation programs that: (1) help address these barriers to employability and stimulate the existing motivation to return to work, and (2) work alongside clinical treatment programs, may assist in the reduction of poor work outcomes that people with PTSD following road accidents often experience.     

Posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology among partners of men in treatment for relationship abuse

This longitudinal study examined posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among current and former female partners (N = 96) of men participating in a group treatment program for partner abuse perpetrators. Female partner probable PTSD rates, obtained during time points corresponding with pretreatment, posttreatment, and 6-month follow-up for the male clients, were 52%, 34%, and 29%, respectively. Psychological abuse exposure was more strongly and uniquely associated with PTSD symptoms than was physical abuse exposure. Among psychological abuse ratings, denigration, restrictive engulfment, and dominance/intimidation behaviors evidenced the strongest associations with PTSD symptoms. Findings from this study suggest the association between psychological abuse and PTSD is complex and multidetermined.     

A Review of Research-Based Interventions on Marriage Preparation

This review concentrates on three widely used marriage preparation inventories and a group of smaller, well-researched couple questionnaires used by an extensively researched marriage preparation program. The three inventories included are Facilitating Open Couples Communication Understanding and Study, Premarital Preparation and Relationship Enhancement, and Relationship Evaluation Questionnaire. The review describes the context in which the tools were developed, their similarities and differences and psychometric properties, and research regarding their relation to relationship outcomes. Further research is needed to determine the effect of using a pre-marriage inventory, alone or in conjunction with facilitated discussion and/or other marriage preparation activities, on long-term marital stability and satisfaction.     

Television exposure predicts body size ideals in rural Nicaragua

Internalization of a thin ideal has been posited as a key risk factor in the development of pathological eating attitudes. Cross‐culturally, studies have found a preference for heavier bodies in populations with reduced access to visual media compared to Western populations. As yet, however, there has been little attempt to control for confounding variables in order to isolate the effects of media exposure from other cultural and ecological factors. Here, we examined preferences for female body size in relation to television consumption in Nicaraguan men and women, while controlling for the potential confounding effects of other aspects of Westernization and hunger. We included an urban sample, a sample from a village with established television access, and a sample from a nearby village with very limited television access. The highest BMI preferences were found in the village with least media access, while the lowest BMI preferences were found in the urban sample. Data from the rural sample with established television access were intermediate between the two. Amongst rural women in particular, greater television consumption was a stronger predictor of body weight preferences than acculturation, education, hunger, or income. We also found some evidence for television consumption increasing the likelihood of women seeking to lose weight, possibly via body shape preferences. Overall, these results strongly implicate television access in establishing risk factors for body image disturbances in populations newly gaining access to Western media.     

Impact of Stress Reduction Interventions on Hostility and Ambulatory Systolic Blood Pressure in African American Adolescents

This study examined the impact of breathing awareness meditation (BAM), life skills (LS) training, and health education (HE) interventions on self-reported hostility and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) in 121 African American (AA) ninth graders at increased risk for development of essential hypertension. They were randomly assigned to BAM, LS, or HE and engaged in intervention sessions during health class for 3 months. Before, after, and 3 months following intervention cessation, self-reported hostility and 24-hour ABP were measured. Results indicated that between pre- and postintervention, BAM participants displayed significant reductions in self-reported hostility and 24-hour systolic ABP. Reductions in hostility were significantly related to reductions in 24-hour systolic ABP. Between postintervention and follow-up, participants receiving LS showed a significant reduction in hostility but not in 24-hour ABP. Significant changes were not found for the HE group in 24-hour ABP or self-reported hostility, but these change scores were significantly correlated. The implications of the findings are discussed with regard to behavioral stress reduction programs for the physical and emotional health of AAs.