Diazepam (Valium): Its Dependency Liability

Reports of the withdrawal syndrome following discontinuation of diazepam and drug dependence fears have contributed to diazepam's displacement as the most popular anxiolytic agent. Reports of the withdrawal syndrome, the factors involved in withdrawal, and the remedies proposed for diazepam withdrawal symptoms are reviewed.     

Defensive Reactance of Psychologists to a Metaphysical Foundation for Integrating Different Psychologies

Psychology is fragmented and encumbered by an inordinate influence from the outdated positivistic tradition. Whereas many psychologists obdurately embrace positivism, others react strongly against it, thus producing the polarities of thinking that Kimble (1984) called the two cultures of psychology. Researchers have frequently called for more flexible epistemology, but these have not resulted in the incorporation of modernity into our science, nor have they led to metaphysical integration. This resistance on the part of many psychologists to change is attributed to cognitive defense mechanisms. The defense mechanisms are placed against feelings of inferiority. Low tolerance for ambiguity (Frenkel-Brunswik, 1949) about a subject matter that encompasses unexplainable variance in behaviors is a particular mechanism, in perceived contrast to the physical sciences. Therefore, many psychologists tend to adopt extreme views on such metaphysical issues as free will and determinism, a tendency that results in sharp divisions in the profession.     

Phencyclidine (PCP): A Dangerous Drug,but Useful in Schizophrenia Research

Phencyclidine (PCP) is a dangerous drug, and the federal government has placed it on Schedule II of the Controlled Substance Act (see http://www.mninter.net/～publish/csa2.htm#Schedule%20III). Typically, users smoke PCP, and it is often mixed with parsley, marijuana, or cocaine. Most researchers have conducted experiments on animals rather than on people, and a few have been done on persons diagnosed with schizophrenia, so answers to questions about its addictive potential or development of tolerance are not clear. In healthy volunteers, PCP can induce symptoms that mimic those of schizophrenia, lasting from a few days to more than a week. The neurotransmitter glutamate and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) appear to play a role in the mechanism by which PCP induces positive and negative schizophrenic symptoms and cognitive defects (D. C. Javitt & S. R. Zukin, 1991; A. Lahti, B. Koffel, D. LaPorte, & C. A. Tarnminga, 1995; T. W. Robbins, 1990). Because PCP can induce symptoms that are almost indistinguishable from those associated with schizophrenia, further research may lead to new medications that could be helpful to people who do not respond to neuroleptics that are currently available.     

Social support: main and moderating effects on the relation between financial stress and adjustment among college students with disabilities

Students with disabilities are underrepresented in 4-year colleges and universities in the United States and those that do attend are at an increased risk of performing poorly in these settings. These difficulties for college students with disabilities may be compounded by additional stress related to financial concerns. The current study was designed to investigate the effects of social support on the adjustment of college students with disabilities generally, and among college students experiencing financial stress specifically. Results indicated that two types of social support (total support and satisfaction with support) had positive effects on the post-secondary adjustment of college students with disabilities. Moreover, both forms of support moderated the effects of financial stress on some, but not all, indicators of adjustment. The implications of these findings for future research and practice are discussed.     

Memory and comprehension for health information among older adults: Distinguishing the effects of domain-general and domain-specific knowledge

While there is evidence that knowledge influences understanding of health information, less is known about the processing mechanisms underlying this effect and its impact on memory. We used the moving window paradigm to examine how older adults varying in domain-general crystallised ability (verbal ability) and health knowledge allocate attention to understand health and domain-general texts. Participants (n = 107, age: 60–88 years) read and recalled single sentences about hypertension and about non-health topics. Mixed-effects modelling of word-by-word reading times suggested that domain-general crystallised ability increased conceptual integration regardless of text domain, while health knowledge selectively increased resource allocation to conceptual integration at clause boundaries in health texts. These patterns of attentional allocation were related to subsequent recall performance. Although older adults with lower levels of crystallised ability were less likely to engage in integrative processing, when they did, this strategy had a compensatory effect in improving recall. These findings suggest that semantic integration during reading is an important comprehension process that supports the construction of the memory representation and is engendered by knowledge. Implications of the findings for theories of text processing and memory as well as for designing patient education materials are discussed.     

Assessing the accuracy of the WISC-IV seven-subtest short form and the child and adolescent intellectual disability screening questionnaire in identifying intellectual disability in children

Little research has been conducted into the accuracy of abbreviated assessments in identifying children and young people with an intellectual disability (ID). The present study compared two such methods in a clinical population of individuals with (n = 106) and without (n = 170) ID: a 7-subtest short form of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales for Children—fourth edition (WISC-IV) proposed by Crawford and colleagues and the Child and Adolescent Intellectual Disability Screening Questionnaire (CAIDS-Q). Both the CAIDS-Q and the WISC-IV short form had high and comparable levels of predicting group classification (88% and 91% correct classification, respectively). Both methods would appear to offer clinicians and researchers an efficient and accurate means of identifying those who are likely to have ID. The WISC-IV short form was slightly more accurate, but the CAIDS-Q may offer the advantages of being shorter to administer and having no requirement for the user to have a particular qualification or training.     

Five-Factor Model of personality and Performance in Jobs Involving Interpersonal Interactions

In this article, the results of a meta-analysis that investigates the degree to which dimensions of the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality are related to performance in jobs involving interpersonal interactions are reported. The article also investigates whether the nature of the interactions with others moderates the personality-performance relations. The meta-analysis was based on 11 studies (total N = 1,586). each of which assessed the FFM at the construct level using the Personal Characteristics Inventory. Results support the hypothesis that Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Emotional Stability are positively related to performance in jobs involving interpersonal interactions. Results also support the hypothesis that Emotional Stability and Agreeableness are more strongly related to performance in jobs that involve team- work (where employees interact interdependently with coworkers), than in those that involve dyadic interactions with others (where employees provide a direct service to customers and clients). Implications for developing theories of work performance and for selecting employees are discussed.     

Stress Management and the Motives of Restorative Events at the United States Coast Guard Academy

The United States Coast Guard Academy seeks to develop leaders of character to become officers and manage its numerous missions. During training, cadets receive multiple stressors from their academic, military, and athletic responsibilities, not to mention the social stressors of friends and family. To become leaders of character, cadets need to effectively manage these stressors. This study reviewed cadets' motives leading to effective and noneffective stress management techniques they employed. During the winter of 2008, cadets described their stressors and stress reduction techniques (restorative events) and evaluated their efficacy based on the factors of attention restoration theory (ART). Discriminant analysis identified several motives associated with restorative events; however, many of the common events employed by cadets did not include components of ART, indicating that these events may not be effectively mitigating stress. A follow-up logistic regression indicated that stress reduction was based on restorative events performed to escape routine and role overloads, provide achievement, teach or share skills, and enjoy nature. Events affording low restoration involved motives of physical rest, learning, and physical fitness. Recommendations to improve cadets' stress management are discussed.     

Relations between Unsociability and Peer Problems in Chinese Children: Moderating Effect of Behavioural Control

Unsociable children are likely to develop adjustment difficulties in Chinese society. The primary goal of the present study was to examine the moderating effect of behavioural control on the relation between unsociability and peer problems in Chinese children. Participants were fourth to eighth grade students in urban China (N = 787). Assessments of unsociability, shyness, peer problems and behavioural control were obtained from peer nominations and teacher ratings. Results indicated that unsociability was positively related to peer problems in Chinese children after controlling for shyness. Also, the relation between unsociability and peer problems was attenuated among children with higher behavioural control. Thus, behavioural control may be a buffering factor that serves to protect unsociable children from developing peer problems. Gender and age also moderated these associations. Results are discussed in terms of the meaning and implications of unsociability and behavioural control in Chinese culture. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.