Disrupted Transition to Parenthood: Gender Moderates the Association Between Miscarriage and Uncertainty About Conception

Miscarriage is a devastating yet common experience shared by women and their partners. Doctors often recommend that couples attempt to conceive again after the experience of a miscarriage, yet little is known about the emotional toll of conception following miscarriage. In the current study, we addressed two primary research questions: (a) How does experiencing a miscarriage relate to recalled emotional experiences of uncertainty surrounding efforts to conceive again? and (b) does gender moderate the association between miscarriage and retrospective accounts of emotions surrounding efforts to conceive? An online sample of parents from across the U.S. (N?=?429; 84.4 % married or cohabiting) reported their number of prior miscarriages and completed online questionnaires assessing recalled psychological adjustment (anxiety, rumination, positive and negative emotions) during their efforts to conceive their youngest child. In addition, they provided written responses regarding their experiences during this time. Participants’ responses were quantitatively analyzed for word use using LIWC, a text-analysis software program, to obtain an observational indicator of emotions. For women but not men, miscarriage was associated with recalled anxiety, rumination, and negative emotions surrounding efforts to conceive a child, as well as the use of more negative emotion, sadness, and anxiety words when describing efforts to conceive. Thus, miscarriage seemed to taint the emotional experience of trying to conceive again, and this consequence seemed particularly poignant for women.     

Effects of Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy on Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Youth

Equine-assisted therapy has become an increasingly popular complementary mental health treatment approach, but there is limited empirical research assessing the effectiveness of this practice. In particular, equine-facilitated psychotherapy has many potential benefits for the treatment of trauma in youth. The purpose of the proposed study was to investigate changes in levels of post-traumatic stress symptomatology and levels of the human-animal bond in children and adolescents ages 10–18 over the course of a 10-week equine-facilitated psychotherapy (EFP) intervention. Youth in the treatment group (n?=?36) participated in 10 weekly two hour EFP sessions, and were compared on changes in post-traumatic stress symptoms with a control group of participants (n?=?32) who continued to receive the already existing traditional therapeutic services provided by their treatment facility or outpatient therapist. Findings suggested a significant decrease in post-traumatic stress symptoms across the intervention for both the treatment and control group, but the treatment group did not decrease significantly more than the control group. These findings suggest that EFP may be an effective additional treatment modality for post-traumatic stress symptoms, but there was no evidence from this initial study that EFP was significantly more effective than traditional office-based therapy. Further research and discussion of the relative benefits of EFP compared to traditional treatment modalities is warranted.     

The relation between perceived parent-created sport climate and competitive male youth hockey players' good and poor sport behaviors

The authors examined achievement goal orientation (J. L. Duda & J. G. Nicholls, 1992), parental influence (M. L. Babkes & M. R. Weiss, 1999), and the parent-initiated motivational climate (S. A. White, 1996, 1998) in combination to broaden understanding of competitive male youth hockey players' (N = 259) perceptions of the parent-created sport climate and its relation to their self-reported good and poor sport behaviors (GPSB). Exploratory factor analysis revealed a multidimensional measure of GPSB. Multiple regression analyses indicated that athletes' GPSB were significantly predicted by different forms of parental influence. Canonical correlations revealed a complex picture of the contributions of goal orientation and the parent-created sport climate on boys' GPSB in youth hockey. Results expand knowledge of the influence that parents have in youth sport and emphasize the importance of understanding how children's interpretations of parental beliefs and behaviors affect their choices to engage in good and poor sport behaviors.     

Individual Differences in Gender Development: Associations with Parental Sexual Orientation, Attitudes, and Division of Labor

Research on children of lesbian parents has suggested that such children are developing well, but questions have been raised about their gender development. In this study, we explored associations among parental sexual orientation, parental gender-related attitudes, parental division of labor, and children’s gender development. Participants were 66 preschool children and their 132 parents from the East Coast of the United States. Thirty-three families were headed by lesbian and 33 by heterosexual couples. Parents who divided paid and unpaid labor more unequally had children whose occupational aspirations were also more traditional. Measures of children’s gender development were generally unrelated to parental sexual orientation. Parents’ attitudes and behaviors were more strongly associated with children’s gender development than was parental sexual orientation.     

Factors Associated with Suicide Ideation in Severely Obese Bariatric Surgery‐Seeking Individuals

There are high rates of suicide ideation and/or behavior in severely obese individuals. The potential contributors to suicide ideation in a sample of 334 severely obese bariatric surgery candidates was explored. Lack of college education, a history of suicide ideation and/or behavior, psychological distress, hopelessness, loneliness, history of physical and/or sexual abuse, and lifetime major depression were associated with current suicide ideation. Some of the correlates of suicide ideation in severely obese bariatric surgery‐seeking samples are similar to those found in the general community and this knowledge may serve to improve the psychological assessment and care for this group.     

Parent support is less effective in buffering cortisol stress reactivity for adolescents compared to children

The goal of the present study was to investigate developmental differences in the effectiveness of parent support to alleviate hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) axis stress responses of children (ages 9–10, N = 40) and adolescents (ages 15–16, N = 41). We experimentally manipulated the provision of parent support during the speech preparation period before a modified Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and examined its effect on levels of salivary cortisol secreted in response to this laboratory stressor. Analyses revealed a significant interaction of condition and age group such that social support from the parent (versus a stranger) significantly eliminated the cortisol stress response in children, but had no effect on the response among adolescents.     

Marriage and Family Therapy Students’ Change in Multicultural Counseling Competencies after a Diversity Course

Attention to diversity is required in Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education-accredited programs, yet not much research exists regarding the effectiveness of graduate training on therapists’ multicultural counseling competencies. In this study, 12 students enrolled in a masters-level diversity class were given pre- and post-tests of their multicultural counseling competencies. Results showed that students significantly increased their multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills after completing the diversity class. The discussion includes implications for educators who seek to improve students’ multicultural counseling competencies.     

Differential Daily Writing Contingencies and Performance on Major Multiple-Choice Exams

On 4 of 7 days in each unit of an undergraduate human development course, students responded in writing to specific questions related to instructor notes previously made available to them. The study compared the effects of three writing contingencies on the quality of student writing and performance on major multiple-choice exams in the course. The three contingencies were (1) receiving credit for all writing products each unit, (2) receiving credit for one randomly selected writing product each unit, and (3) receiving no credit for any writing product each unit. On all dimensions of exam performance, writing for daily credit produced higher scores than did writing for random credit and writing for no credit. The daily-writing contingency also produced the highest writing ratings across all units; the writing for random credit produced the next highest writing scores; and the writing for no credit yielded the lowest writing scores. Across all three contingencies, writing scores were highly correlated with performance on multiple-choice exams.     

More Than Attendance: The Importance of After-School Program Quality

A central theme of the articles featured in this issue is the need to improve the quality of after-school programs. In this commentary, we discuss why student engagement, program characteristics and implementation, staff training, and citywide policy are key considerations in the effort to define and achieve high quality programs for youth.