Depression as a predictor of perceived social support and demand: a componential approach using a prospective sample of older adults

This study examined the relationship of the cognitive, mood, and somatic components of depression on perceptions of social support and social demand among older adults (n = 851) over two years. Factor-analyses confirmed the factor structure of our multicomponential model of depression. Results supported our proposal that interpersonal specificity, as measured by depressive cognition about self and others, is important to predicting changes in perceived support and demand over time. Each component of depression was related to social support and social demand cross-sectionally, whereas only the cognitive component of depression predicted changes in support and demand prospectively. Future research should consider the pathways linking depressive cognition to perceived support and demand.     

Rehabilitation Counseling: Evolution and Current Status

This article provides a brief review of the evolution and current status of rehabilitation counseling. Rehabilitation counseling practice is described along with the required competencies of rehabilitation counselors in providing services to individuals with disabilities. The professional status of the discipline is reviewed in terms of programs for educational preparation, professional associations, accreditation, regulation of practice, ethical mandates, and research. Finally, continuing challenges for the discipline are identified.     

Identifying young people's guidance needs through telephone counseling.

This study examined the needs that young people in Guadalajara, in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, expressed in phone calls to a research unit of the Mexican Social Security Institute. Three hundred forty-five calls, from individuals 11 to 24 years old who phoned from June 1995 to November 1998, were analyzed. Two hundred ninety-four of the callers were female and 51 were male. Greater percentages of females than males called to ask about sexuality and family problems. Males more than females asked about reproductive health (particularly pregnancy) and mental health. There were significant differences by gender and age, differences that were not detected in health service statistics. The findings have implications for decision makers and health and education service providers. They point to the need for programs that will reinforce young people's good health practices and help them avoid risky behaviors.     

Adaptive choice between articulatory rehearsal and attentional refreshing in verbal working memory

Because both articulatory rehearsal and attentional refreshing aid in the maintenance of verbal information in the short term, the present study evaluated the adaptive use of these mechanisms, using a complex span paradigm. In Experiment 1, the phonological similarity of memory list words and the attentional demand of concurrent processing were manipulated. As was predicted, a phonological similarity effect (PSE) appeared only when the concurrent task was attention demanding, thus impairing the use of refreshing and encouraging rehearsal. To verify that PSE indicates the use of rehearsal, participants were instructed to use one of the two mechanisms in Experiments 2 and 3. In accordance wih Experiment 1, the PSE was observed only under rehearsal. Thus, adults could adaptively choose between the two mechanisms. When remembering phonologically confusable materials, they prefer refreshing in order to reduce the impact of phonological characteristics. When available attention is reduced, they favor a less attention-demanding mechanism, rehearsal.