Development and psychometric properties of the Student Worry Questionnaire-30

Described are the development and initial psychometric properties (Ns = 50 and 188) of a self-report measure, the Student Worry Questionnaire-30, for use with college undergraduates. Exploratory principal components analyses (Ns = 388, 350, and 396) with oblimin rotation indicated six domains of worrisome thinking, financial-related concerns, significant others' well-being, social adequacy concerns, academic concerns, and general anxiety symptoms. The total score and scale scores showed internal consistency of .80 to .94. Also, test-retest reliability analyses (.75 to .80) support consistency of responses over 4 wk. Strong evidence for convergent validity) was indicated. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the fit of the 6-factor oblique model. Limitations of the present studies, and directions for research are discussed.     

The use of multitreatment modalities in early intervention: A quantitative case study

A quantitative single case study is presented to illustrate how an early intervention program used two therapeutic modalities to treat a depressed mother and her 2-month-old son. Drawing upon an ecological, transactional model of development, the case study utilized a multimethod, longitudinal approach to assess the infant's developmental competence and attachment status, the mother's history and current psychosocial functioning, patterns of mother-infant interaction, and components of the family's social ecology. Measures were administered during a baseline period to assess pre-intervention functioning and were systematically repeated throughout the 2-year period of intervention. The treatment modalities included psychodynamically oriented individual therapy and Parent-Infant Relationship Treatment (PIRT) in which the dyad was also seen by a second therapist to foster more adaptive mother-infant transactional patterns. The findings indicated increased infant developmental competence and a shift from an insecure to a secure attachment classification, improved maternal psychosocial functioning, and a decline in the dyadic interactional pattern of maternal intrusiveness and infant withdrawal. The advantages of using two treatment modalities and a single case approach to evaluation are discussed.     

Pathways to resilience: maternal nurturance as a buffer against the effects of childhood poverty on metabolic syndrome at midlife

Children raised in families with low socioeconomic status (SES) go on to have high rates of chronic illness in adulthood. However, a sizable minority of low-SES children remain healthy across the life course, which raises questions about the factors associated with, and potentially responsible for, such resilience. Using a sample of 1,205 middle-aged Americans, we explored whether two characteristics--upward socioeconomic mobility and early parental nurturance--were associated with resilience to the health effects of childhood disadvantage. The primary outcome in our analyses was the presence of metabolic syndrome in adulthood. Results revealed that low childhood SES was associated with higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome at midlife, independently of traditional risk factors. Despite this pattern, half the participants raised in low-SES households were free of metabolic syndrome at midlife. Upward social mobility was not associated with resilience to metabolic syndrome. However, results were consistent with a buffering scenario, in which high levels of maternal nurturance offset the metabolic consequences of childhood disadvantage.     

Prospective Examination of Leisure-Time Exercise Behavior During Pregnancy

The negative and positive content of self-talk, the relationship of self-talk to performance, and persistence following positive and negative feedback were investigated across different cultural backgrounds (European Americans n = 54, East Asians n = 26). East Asians had a significantly larger proportion of negative to positive self-talk than European Americans, d = .62. The greater proportion of negative self-talk related to poorer performance for European Americans, but better performance for East Asians, r ² = .13. European Americans’ practice persistence increased after receiving positive versus negative feedback, d = .59. No differences occurred in persistence for East Asians, d = .06. Results suggest sport psychology consultants and coaches should consider an athlete's cultural background when employing cognitive interventions and providing feedback.     

Current issues and new directions in psychology and health: Culture and health psychology. Why health psychologists should care about culture

This paper presents five studies with 2,420 total participants on the development and validation of the Exercise Dependence Scale (EDS), which is conceptualized based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV (APA, 1994) criteria for substance dependence, and differentiates among at-risk, nondependent-symptomatic, and nondependent-asymptomatic exercisers. Results of the studies revealed evidence for the a priori hypothesized components, acceptable test-retest and internal consistency reliability, and content and concurrent validity of the EDS. Individuals at-risk for exercise dependence reported more strenuous exercise, perfectionism, and self-efficacy compared to the nondependent groups. The findings provide initial support for the EDS and indicate the need for a multifaceted approach to its conceptualization and measurement.     

Emergent Readers' Recognition of Irony in Good Dog,Carl

Jedediah Purdy's (2000) For common things laments the ironic mode of thought that characterizes our culture's mindset. He calls for a return to devotion, homage, and allegiance rather than what he sees as a jaundiced detachment that has overcome us. Purdy may be on to something, but Alexandra Day (1985) does not seem to adopt his call to a simpler way of seeing things. She encourages the ironic stance, even in young children. Her Good Dog, Carl may not be a thoroughly modern book; it is not a deconstructed child's text like David Weisner's (2001) The Three Pigs where the story falls apart, where we see reality and other texts invade the story world in amazing ways. But Day's Good Dog, Carl is a clever book that is filled with a basic irony that even 2- to 3-year-old children are beginning to understand and 5- to 6-year-olds are clearly recognizing. They catch the naughtiness of it, the rebellion that is always about to get underway.     

Place matters: consensual features and regional variation in American well-being and self

Consensual and regionally distinct features of well-being and self were examined in a nationally representative survey of midlife Americans (ages 25-75). Consistent with key American ideology, Study 1 found that a majority of Americans believe they have high levels of mastery, purpose, life satisfaction, overall health, family and work obligation, and partner and family support. Study 2 found distinct regional well-being profiles (e.g., New England reflected concern with not being constrained by others; Mountain showed concern with environmental mastery; West South Central with personal growth and feeling cheerful and happy; West North Central with feeling calm, peaceful, and satisfied; and East South Central with contributing to others' well-being). Study 3 found regional self profiles consistent with the well-being profiles.     

An fMRI study of imagined self-rotation

In the present study, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine the neural mechanisms involved in the imagined spatial transformation of one’s body. The task required subjects to update the position of one of four external objects from memory after they had performed an imagined self-rotation to a new position. Activation in the rotation condition was compared with that in a control condition in which subjects located the positions of objects without imagining a change in selfposition. The results indicated similar networks of activation to other egocentric transformation tasks involving decisions about body parts. The most significant area of activation was in the left posterior parietal cortex. Other regions of activation common among several of the subjects were secondary visual, premotor, and frontal lobe regions. These results are discussed relative to motor and visual imagery processes as well as to the distinctions between the present task and other imagined egocentric transformation tasks.     

Sex typing: Construct and measurement issues

This study examined the relationships among commonly used measures of sex typing. A sample of 101 children, three to five years of age, were each seen on three occasions and administered six different measures of sex typing. The results showed that relations among the various measures of sex typing were quite modest for girls and only moderate for boys. Gender constancy scores did not mediate the relationships among measures for either girls or boys. The results are interpreted as supporting a multidimensional view of children's sex typing and as urging caution in generalizing results based on single measures of sex typing.