Capturing Dynamic Processes of Change in GROW Mutual Help Groups for Mental Health

The need for a model that can portray dynamic processes of change in mutual help groups for mental health (MHGMHs) is emphasized. A dynamic process model has the potential to capture a more comprehensive understanding of how MHGMHs may assist their members. An investigation into GROW, a mutual help organization for mental health, employed ethnographic, phenomenological and collaborative research methods. The study examined how GROW impacts on psychological well being. Study outcomes aligned with the social ecological paradigm (Maton in Understanding the self-help organization: frameworks and findings. Sage, Thousand Oaks 1994) indicating multifactorial processes of change at and across three levels of analysis: group level, GROW program/community level and individual level. Outcome themes related to life skills acquisition and a change in self-perception in terms of belonging within community and an increased sense of personal value. The GROW findings are used to assist development of a dynamic multi-dimensional process model to explain how MHGMHs may promote positive change.     

Parents' child‐rearing values and beliefs in the United States and Russia: the impact of culture and social class

Parents' values for their children and their beliefs about appropriate child‐rearing practices contribute to the ways in which they try to shape their children's development. This paper examines the values and beliefs of 71 parents (37 mothers and 34 fathers) from two cities in the United States and Russia. Half of the families were middle class (determined by education and occupation criteria) and half were working class. The results revealed no cross‐societal differences in value for self‐direction in the children; perhaps reflecting the recent economic and ideological changes in Russia. In contrast, significant social class differences, for both mothers and fathers, were found in child‐rearing values and beliefs. Middle class parents in both societies were more likely to value self‐direction and believe that children should have freedom in and around the home, whereas working class parents were more likely to believe that children should be expected to conform to rules. The results of this study underscore the role of within‐society heterogeneity, as a function of social class, in parents' values and beliefs about child‐rearing.     

Childhood maltreatment and college students' current suicidal ideation: a test of the hopelessness theory.

Few studies have examined the relation between childhood maltreatment and adult suicidality within the context of a coherent theoretical model. The current study evaluates the ability of the hopelessness theory of depression's (Abramson, Metalsky, & Alloy, 1989) etiological chain to account for this relation in a sample of 297 undergraduates. Supporting the model, emotional, but not physical or sexual, maltreatment was uniquely related to average levels of suicidal ideation across a 2.5-year follow-up. Further, students' cognitive styles and average levels of hopelessness partially mediated this relation. Although these results cannot speak to causality, they support the developmental model evaluated.     

The Relationship Between Racial Identity Cluster Profiles and Psychological Distress Among African American College Students

One hundred eighty‐two African American college students completed the Racial Identity Attitudes Scale. Results from the multivariate categorization scheme revealed 5 types of empirically derived racial identity attitude profiles: “dissonance internalization” (34%), “committed internalization” (30%), “cngaged internalization” (21%), “undifferentiated racial identity” (8%), and “dormant racial identity” (7%). The profiles significantly differed on Brief Symptom Inventory subscale scores.     

Development of aptitude at altitude

Millions of people currently live at altitudes in excess of 2500 metres, where oxygen supply is limited, but very little is known about the development of brain and behavioural function under such hypoxic conditions. We describe the physiological, cognitive and behavioural profile of a large cohort of infants (6–12 months), children (6–10 years) and adolescents (13–16 years) who were born and are living at three altitude locations in Bolivia (～500 m, ～2500 m and ～3700 m). Level of haemoglobin oxygen saturation and end‐tidal carbon dioxide were significantly lower in all age groups living above 2500 metres, confirming the presence of hypoxia and hypocapnia, but without any detectable detriment to health. Infant measures of neurodevelopment and behaviour yielded comparable results across altitude groups. Neuropsychological assessment in children and adolescent groups indicated a minor reduction in psychomotor speed with increasing altitude, with no effect of age. This may result from slowing of underlying brain activity in parallel with reduced cerebral metabolism and blood flow, evidenced here by reduced cerebral blood flow velocity, particularly in the basilar artery, in children and adolescents. The proportion of European, Native American and African genetic admixture was comparable across altitude groups, suggesting that adaptation to high altitude in these children occurred in response to chronic hypoxic exposure irrespective of ethnic origin. Thus, psychomotor slowing is proposed to be an adaptive rather than a deficient trait, perhaps enabling accuracy of mental activity in hypoxic conditions.     

Beliefs in being unlucky and deficits in executive functioning

The current paper proposes the Dysexecutive Luck hypothesis; that beliefs in being unlucky are associated with deficits in executive functioning. Four studies suggest initial support for the Dysexecutive Luck hypothesis via four aspects of executive functioning. Study 1 established that self-reports of dysexecutive symptoms predicted unique variance in beliefs in being unlucky after controlling for a number of other variables previously reported to be related to beliefs around luck. Studies 2 to 4 demonstrated support for the Dysexecutive Luck hypothesis via assessment of executive functioning via: (1) two fundamental executive functions (shifting and inhibition), (2) emotional processes related to executive functioning as described by the Somatic Marker hypothesis, and (3) higher executive functions as accessed via divergent thinking. The findings suggest that individuals’ beliefs in being unlucky are accompanied by a range of deficits in executive functioning.