Predictors of Engagement in Family Mediation and Outcomes for Families that Fail to Engage

An important limitation to the effectiveness of family mediation in assisting separated parents is parents failing to engage in the mediation process. In 524 parents who presented to a telephone‐based mediation service, 113 (22%) initiating parents withdrew from mediation before the other parent was invited to participate, 241 (46%) initiating parents had respondent parents who declined to participate in mediation, and 170 cases (33%) completed mediation. We tested whether socio‐demographic variables, psychological distress, coparental acrimony, parenting problems, or children's behavioral difficulties predicted mediation engagement. High interparental acrimony predicted failure to engage in mediation, but none of the other variables predicted mediation engagement. We followed a sample of 131 families that did not mediate and found they showed elevated psychological distress, acrimony, parenting problems and child adjustment difficulties, which remained unchanged 6 months later. Further research is needed to explore strategies to enhance respondent parent engagement with mediation, and to address the negative outcomes for those separated families not proceeding with mediation.     

Therapist Utilization of Online Social Support for Parents of Premature Infants

Using a qualitative framework to capture the voices and stories of parents of premature infants, this study explored the role of online social support through the use of the March of Dimes, Share Your Story site. Given the growing trend of computer mediated communication usage in the lives of individuals and family members experiencing medical challenges, this study adds to the broad array of research on online social support, while specifically contributing to the limited literature on the parental experience of premature birth and online social support. The research also connects marriage and family therapists and other family practitioners to the role of online social support opportunities for families.     

Social Effects of Facial Blushing: Influence of Context and Actor Versus Observer Perspective

Blushing is restricted to the facial area that is uncovered and in the center of social attention. Together with the observation that blushing typically occurs in interpersonal situations, it has been proposed that the blush might have acquired signaling properties with relevant social implications. Following such a functional perspective, this article evaluates the signal value and social effects of the blush. First, it is argued that the blush fulfils all criteria for being a reliable social signal. It seems impossible to fake or to suppress, and it seems to co‐occur with a specific mental state: The acute awareness that one’s goal of esteem before others is at stake. Second, it is illustrated that the social effects of the blush may greatly vary as a function of context. In contexts that clearly imply some kind of misbehavior, the blush has face‐saving properties. Yet, in many other contexts, such as merely being the center of attention or situations that are ambiguous with regard to the blushing actors’ antecedent behaviors, the blush may have undesirable effects. Third, it is illustrated that the signal value of the blush not only affects the observers but also the blushing actors. It is shown that the anticipated influence of one’s blushing on other people’s judgments may help explain why actors often consider blushing as a highly undesirable response, and why some people may even develop a phobic fear of blushing.     

Adult age differences in goal activation and goal maintenance

According to the goal-neglect hypothesis of age-related decrements in cognitive control advocated in this paper, such decrements can be usefully and parsimoniously attributed to a reduced capacity for goal selection and goal maintenance in working memory. A selective review of research findings on age-related differences in exogenous and endogenous control of visual attention and eye movements and on performance in the task-switching paradigm serves to illustrate and clarify this hypothesis. The relative merits and scope of the hypothesis are examined within a broader theoretical perspective on the organisation of the domain of executive functions.     

MMPI–2 Profiles of Women With Eating Disorders in a Dutch Day Treatment Sample

This study tested two hypotheses concerning productivity and emotional tone as a function of chromatic TAT cards. Two groups of 13 males and 13 females were presented with achromatic and chromatic slides of cards 2, 3BM, 4, 6BM, and 7BM, in counterbalanced order. The main effects of sex membership, order of presentation of stimuli, and color were evaluated. Color did not have a measurable effect. However, a conceptual and aesthetic effect may occur. Males and females differed with respect to emotional tone and response productivity.     

I don't believe but I pray: spirituality,instrumentality, or paranormal belief?

These three studies are among the first to systematically compare five Chinese religious groups on intrinsic (spiritual) and extrinsic (instrumental and paranormal) orientation. In Study 1, a Chinese version of the Index of Core Spiritual Experiences was developed. In Studies 2 and 3, spirituality and religious involvement was found to be greatest among Christians, followed in order by Buddhists, Taoists, traditional nones, and other nones. An instrumental purpose for religious activities and paranormal belief was found to be highest among Taoists, followed in order by Buddhists, traditional nones, other nones, and Christians. The results are consistent with the conclusion that Christianity offers the least support for an extrinsic religious orientation and the most support for an intrinsic religious orientation.     

Using Generalizability Theory to Disattenuate Correlation Coefficients for Multiple Sources of Measurement Error

Over the years, research in the social sciences has been dominated by reporting of reliability coefficients that fail to account for key sources of measurement error. Use of these coefficients, in turn, to correct for measurement error can hinder scientific progress by misrepresenting true relationships among the underlying constructs being investigated. In the research reported here, we addressed these issues using generalizability theory (G-theory) in both traditional and new ways to account for the three key sources of measurement error (random-response, specific-factor, and transient) that affect scores from objectively scored measures. Results from 20 widely used measures of personality, self-concept, and socially desirable responding showed that conventional indices consistently misrepresented reliability and relationships among psychological constructs by failing to account for key sources of measurement error and correlated transient errors within occasions. The results further revealed that G-theory served as an effective framework for remedying these problems. We discuss possible extensions in future research and provide code from the computer package R in an online supplement to enable readers to apply the procedures we demonstrate to their own research.