Types of responses in 4-5-year-old children in conservation, classification, and theory of mind tasks

This study analyzes the type of responses that children between 4 and 5 years of age give to different tasks: conservation, classification and tasks of the theory of mind (ToM). Types of responses were observed with the Observation of Cognitive and Meta-cognitive Skills Inventory, which identifies: attention, receptive and expressive language, planning processes, and meta-cognitive processes. Significant differences were found according to the variable age in: (a) the use of attentional strategies in performance of ToM tasks, (b) the use of receptive and expressive language in the performance of all tasks, (c) the use of planning processes in the performance of conservation tasks; and (d) the use of meta-cognitive processes to solve ToM tasks.     

“Our Sister,Mother Earth”: Solidarity and Familial Ecology in Laudato Si’

Laudato si’, with its articulation of a familial ecology reflecting Francis’s Latin American context, expands the subject of solidarity in Catholic social teaching and thought. Yet, this ecological vision of family fails to attend to the problem of gender subordination latent in Catholic social teaching, including in its approaches to ecology. A vision of solidarity that eradicates gender and ecological subordination must elaborate a familial ecology characterized by both mercy and equality.     

Volcanic Risk Exposure,Feelings of Insecurity,Stress, and Coping Strategies in México1

The present study investigates stress levels, feelings of insecurity, and coping strategies used by people living near an active volcano in México (Popocatépetl). The sample was composed of 198 adults, who were divided into 4 groups according to the risk zones in which they live. They answered a questionnaire addressing feelings of insecurity regarding volcanic risk, a coping strategies scale, and a stress scale. A significant interaction between active and passive coping strategies and risk zone was found. Higher levels of insecurity feelings regarding volcanic risk were associated with the highest stress levels evoked by facing a volcanic risk. A possible application of this study is at the community‐service level concerning risk prevention.     

Clinical Praxis and the Place of the Analyst: A Chilean Perspective<Superscript>*</Superscript>

Since its inception, psychoanalytic theory has considered that, conceptually, it is impossible to maintain the division between the individual and society and that the constitution of one necessarily involves the other. Despite this clear legacy of Freudian thought, followed by most of the first and second generations of psychoanalysts, analytic clinical practice started to change almost exclusively into private practice by later generations of psychoanalysts. As a result, a space for information, data gathering, and theoretical production has been gradually configured that is structured in a slanted way. An analytic working environment has thus developed in Chile that tends to eschew contributions from other disciplines that could both enrich and challenge psychoanalytic theoretical–technical developments.     

The Effects of Counterstereotypic Gender Strategies on Candidate Evaluations

Voters do not associate female candidates with feminine stereotypes, but voters also do not associate female candidates with the qualities most valued in political leaders such as experience and knowledge. Current research offers conflicting conclusions on whether female candidates benefit from breaking with feminine norms or face a backlash for being too aggressive and not likable enough. Using a series of experiments, I show how counterstereotypic gender strategies, including women emphasizing masculine trait competencies, improve evaluations of female candidates along both masculine and feminine leadership dimensions. These results offer novel insights into how female candidates can overcome perceptual deficits among voters that they lack critical masculine leadership qualities. I also show that female candidates can overcome these biases without losing on traditional feminine strengths such as warmth and likability. However, counterstereotypic female candidates can face a “likability” backlash from out‐partisan voters. These findings suggest counterstereotypes may be more beneficial for female candidates in a primary election context when voters are copartisans rather than general elections where candidates often need cross‐partisan support.     

Factors Associated with Interest in Gene-Panel Testing and Risk Communication Preferences in Women from <Emphasis Type="Italic">BRCA1/2</Emphasis> Negative Families

Scientific advances have allowed the development of multiplex gene-panels to assess many genes simultaneously in women who have tested negative for BRCA1/2. We examined correlates of interest in testing for genes that confer modest and moderate breast cancer risk and risk communication preferences for women from BRCA negative families. Female first-degree relatives of breast cancer patients who tested negative for BRCA1/2 mutations (N = 149) completed a survey assessing multiplex genetic testing interest and risk communication preferences. Interest in testing was high (70 %) and even higher if results could guide risk-reducing behavior changes such as taking medications (79 %). Participants preferred to receive genomic risk communications from a variety of sources including: primary care physicians (83 %), genetic counselors (78 %), printed materials (71 %) and the web (60 %). Factors that were independently associated with testing interest were: perceived lifetime risk of developing cancer (odds ratio (OR) = 1.67: 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.06–2.65) and high cancer worry (OR = 3.12: CI 1.28–7.60). Findings suggest that women from BRCA1/2 negative families are a unique population and may be primed for behavior change. Findings also provide guidance for clinicians who can help develop genomic risk communications, promote informed decision making and customize behavioral interventions.     

Mentors' Influence on Mexican American Students' Career and Educational Development

Effects of mentoring on Mexican American high school students' career aspirations were examined. Results indicated most students had a mentor, and mentors were most helpful through role modeling, verbal encouragement, personal support, and providing career guidance. Gender differences were found on several outcome variables but were not detected based on sex or ethnic match, or the presence of a mentor. Los efectos de mentoring en estudiantes mexicanos de la high school en aspiraciones de carrera se examinaron. Los resultados indicaron la mayoría de los estudiantes tuvieron un mentor, y mentores eran muy útiles por el papel que modela, el ánimo verbal, apoyo personal, y proporcionar la guía vocacional. Las diferencias del género se encontraron en varias variables del resultado pero no fueron discernidas basado en la presencia de y del sexo o el igual étnico con un mentor.     

Feelings of mental pollution subsequent to sexual assault

This paper describes an investigation of the phenomenon of mental pollution in a sample of 50 female victims of sexual assault. Feelings of mental pollution were assessed using an interview and a questionnaire. An experimental procedure was employed to determine if feelings of dirtiness and the urge to wash could be provoked by deliberate attention to the assault memory. Thirty (60%) of the 50 participants reported some feelings of mental pollution subsequent to the assault, and feelings of mental pollution were related to post-assault washing behaviour. Deliberate recall of the assault resulted in stronger feelings of dirtiness and the urge to wash than did deliberate attention to a pleasant memory or scene. Nine women reported washing their hands in response to deliberate recall of the assault. These findings suggest that feelings of mental pollution may be prominent in victims of sexual assault.     

The Impact of Stigma and Social Support on Development of Post-traumatic Growth Among Persons Living with HIV

Given high rates of trauma in people living with HIV (PLH) and the health benefits of posttraumatic growth (PTG), understanding how to foster PTG in PLH exposed to trauma could be of interest to clinical psychologists working with this population. The current study examined factors theoretically related to development of PTG in PLH, namely HIV-related stigma, disclosure of HIV status, and emotional support. A sample of 334 HIV-positive adults answered a battery of self-report questionnaires. HIV-related stigma, disclosure to sexual partners, and emotional support were significant predictors of PTG: stigma was associated with lower PTG, whereas disclosure and emotional support were associated with higher PTG. Disclosure and emotional support remained significantly associated with PTG in the model including demographic factors and stigma. These findings highlight the need for development of interventions that can aid PLH in disclosing their HIV status to sexual partners and increasing available social support.