Gender Differences in the Relationship of Anger and Depression in a Clinical Sample

This study examined the relationship of anger dimensions with depression in a clinical sample. Results suggest that the differences between women and men in nonclinical samples typically used in this research may not generalize completely to clinical samples. Further evidence is presented to support the contention that the relationship between anger and depression is important for both men and women.     

Psychosocial outcomes in later life: a multivariate model

A conceptual model was developed to identify developmental self-regulatory pathways to optimal psychosocial outcomes in adulthood. The model delineates influences among age, possible selves, developmental processes (i.e., coping, control), and well-being. Results showed age effects on all constructs except selective control. Three consistently common predictors of well-being (i.e., goal pursuit, goal adjustment, and optimization) emerged. The effects of age on well-being were differentially mediated by developmental processes. Specifically, negative age-related changes in offensive processes (i.e., goal attainment) were offset by positive influences of defensive processes (i.e., goal adjustment), which had the net effect of preserving well-being. The model demonstrates a more optimistic pattern of aging in which gains offset losses leading to positive outcomes and highlights the importance of examining both independent and combined influences of age, self, and developmental processes on psychosocial outcomes.     

The Pique Technique: Overcoming Mindlessness or Shifting Heuristics?

An unusual request can increase compliance in situations in which the typical response to the request is refusal. This procedure, called the pique technique, is said to be effective because the unusual request causes people to give mindful consideration to it. We tested this explanation in 2 studies. Passersby were asked for either a common amount of change or 37 cents. Participants who inquired about the unusual amount were given either a specific or an uninformative reason. The pique technique increased compliance, but only when participants stopped to ask about the request. These participants gave more money, regardless of the reason provided. The findings failed to support the notion that an unusual request leads to a mindful consideration of it.     

The relationship of social support to depressive symptoms during the transition to high school

The transition to high school is studied as a time when students may experience disruptions in their social support systems. Peer support, family support, and school belonging were hypothesized to be associated with adolescent adjustment, specifically depressive symptoms. Participants included 104 eighth graders and 101 ninth graders from a middle- to high-income, predominantly white community in southern Rhode Island. In year 2, 60 of the original 8th graders were surveyed as 9th graders. Three hypotheses were examined: Social support declines from 8th to 9th grade; depressive symptoms increase from 8th to 9th grade; and social support is significantly associated with depressive symptoms. The hypotheses were tested using cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Results indicated that 9th graders experienced more depressive symptoms and lower levels of school belonging as compared to the 8th graders. Changes in parent support and peer support were significantly associated with depressive symptoms in the transition to high school. Implications for increasing school belonging in the 9th grade are discussed.     

Mnemic neglect is not an artifact of expectancy: The moderating role of defensive pessimism

Research supporting the mnemic neglect model finds that people more easily recall positive than negative personality feedback, even when only asked to imagine that the feedback is real. The same bias is not found when people are asked to recall information about other people. Despite evidence that these findings reflect self‐enhancement motives, more research is needed to rule out the possibility that they instead simply reflect expectancies. Results supported the mnemic neglect model, and revealed that expectancies predicted recall only for a subgroup of participants who did not demonstrate the self–other recall bias characteristic of mnemic neglect: defensive pessimists, who are more likely than other people to process social information by comparing it to their expectancies. These findings suggest that mnemic neglect is not an artifact of expectancies, and is not driven by other self‐evaluation motives (such as self‐verification or self‐assessment). Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effectiveness of school-based prevention and intervention programs for children and adolescents with emotional disturbance: A meta-analysis

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of school-based prevention and intervention programs for children and adolescents at-risk for and with emotional disturbance. Published outcome studies (k = 29) from December, 1988, to March, 2006, including 1405 children and adolescents were reviewed. Each investigation was coded on several variables describing the child, parent, and teacher samples, as well as reported outcome results. The overall mean weighted effect size was 1.00 at post-test and 1.35 at follow-up. Mean weighted ESs were 0.42 for between-subjects design studies, 0.87 for within-subjects design studies, and 1.87 for single-subject design studies. Prevention programs yielded a mean weighted ES of 0.54 and intervention programs produced a mean weighted ES of 1.35. Findings for specific outcome foci are presented and implications are discussed.     

Response perseveration in psychopathic women.

Recent attempts to validate the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) as a measure of psychopathy in female offenders have been limited by a failure to examine laboratory correlates of the syndrome. We assessed 112 incarcerated women by using the PCL-R and examined their performance on a card perseveration task that has been used to demonstrate response perseveration in psychopathic men. Contrary to prediction, psychopathic women did not perseverate responding when the PCL-R was used either dimensionally or categorically. The authors discuss the implications of the results for the PCL-R and for female psychopathy more generally.     

The relative importance of gender role attitudes to male and female attitudes toward lesbians

Previous studies suggest that gender role attitudes, parental attitudes, authoritarianism, religiosity, contact with homosexuals, and exposure to educational influences are associated with attitudes toward homosexuals. Few studies have been conducted on attitudes toward lesbians specifically. This study investigated the pattern of predictors for male and female attitudes toward lesbians. The regression analysis on males revealed that gender role attitudes were the only significant predictor, while gender role attitudes, parental attitudes, authoritarianism, and educational and media influences made a contribution to female attitudes toward lesbians. Despite more liberal gender role attitudes expressed by female respondents, there was no difference between male and female attitudes toward lesbians. This finding and the additional contribution to female attitudes toward lesbians made by the other predictors besides gender role attitudes suggests that the female respondents' development of attitudes toward lesbians is a product of a wider array of variables, with gender role attitudes playing a more central role in the development of male attitudes toward lesbians. Nevertheless, the importance of gender role attitudes to both male and female attitudes toward lesbians suggests that stratification by sex might be an underlying variable for both gender role attitudes and attitudes toward lesbians.The author wishes to thank Esther Sales, Gary Koeske, Barbara Shore, and Randi Koeske for their guidance with the research study. Much thanks also to Katherine M. Bezak for assistance with editing this and earlier drafts of this article.