A Multisurface Interpersonal Circumplex Assessment of Rejection Sensitivity

Individuals high in rejection sensitivity (RS) are at risk for experiencing high levels of interpersonal distress, yet little is known about the interpersonal profiles associated with RS. This investigation examined the interpersonal problems, sensitivities, and values associated with RS in 2 samples: 763 multicultural undergraduate students (Study 1) and 365 community adults (Study 2). In Study 1, high anxious RS was associated with socially avoidant interpersonal problems, whereas low anxious RS was associated with vindictive interpersonal problems. In Study 2, we assessed both anxious and angry expectations of rejection. Circumplex profile analyses showed that the high anxious RS group reported socially avoidant interpersonal problems, sensitivities to remoteness in others, and valuing connections with others, whereas the high angry RS group reported vindictive interpersonal problems, sensitivities to submissiveness in others, and valuing detached interpersonal behavior. Low anxious RS was related to domineering interpersonal problems, sensitivity to attention-seeking behavior, and valuing detached interpersonal behavior, whereas low angry RS was related to submissive interpersonal problems, sensitivity to attention-seeking behavior, and valuing receiving approval from others. Overall, results suggest that there are distinct interpersonal profiles associated with varying levels and types of RS.     

Self-Esteem in Adult Prison Population: The Development and Validation of the Self-Esteem Measure for Prisoners (SEM-P)

The main aim of the current study was to develop and validate the Self-Esteem Measure for Prisoners (SEM-P), composed of personal and prison self-esteem, among a systematically selected sample of prisoners (N = 1,794). Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the SEM-P was best captured with the bifactor conceptualization reflecting two grouping factors (personal and prison self-esteem) and one general factor. Although factor loadings were stronger for the general factor, the two grouping factors evidenced good differential predictive validity. The SEM-P is a reliable and valid measure of self-esteem among inmates because it considers the importance of prison culture for self-evaluations.     

Meta‐analytic Investigations of the Relation Between Intuition and Analysis

Over 50 years of research on cognitive style has converged on the importance of individual differences in use of intuition and analysis. This program of research is characterized, however, by two incompatible perspectives about the relation between intuition and analysis. The distinction concerns whether intuition and analysis are opposite poles of a single dimension or whether they are orthogonal constructs. Two studies report meta‐analytic investigations of the relation between intuition and analysis. A meta‐analysis of the existing research base (k = 80; n = 27 501) showed that intuition and analysis are uncorrelated. A second meta‐analysis of combinations of subscales from different cognitive style measures (n = 511) supported the results of the first meta‐analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis also supported the existence of two uncorrelated constructs. Overall, the findings support the view that intuition and analysis are independent constructs, rather than opposite ends of a bipolar continuum. In addition, the findings suggest measures of analysis or rationality are not interchangeable. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parent and Teacher Agreement of Behavior Problems in Youth Diagnosed With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorders

The prevalence and severity of behavioral problems in youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may be context dependent leading to discrepant informants’ reports and complicating case conceptualizations and treatment goals. This study examines the inter-rater agreement of parents and teachers on behavioral problems of 58 youth with ASD and 42 youth without an ASD diagnosis. Parents and teachers of 26 youth with ASD (M?=?4.08, SD?=?1.02) and 21 youth with non-ASD diagnoses (M?=?4.38, SD?=?0.80), ages 2–5 years, and 32 youth with ASD (M?=?7.47, SD?=?1.44), and 21 youth with non-ASD diagnoses (M?=?7.71, SD?=?1.23), ages 6–10, completed the Child Behavior Checklist and Teacher Report Form. Compared to youth with a non-ASD diagnosis (ages 2–5 years), youth with ASD also had poor to moderate agreement across subscales with the exception of comparable substantial agreement on Externalizing Behavior (ICC?=?0.73 and ICC?=?0.63, respectively) and Aggressive Behavior subscales (ICC?=?0.72 and ICC?=?0.69, respectively). Compared to youth with a non-ASD diagnosis (ages 6–10 years), youth with ASD similarly had poor agreement across subscales with the exception of moderate agreement on Anxious/Depressed subscale (ICC?=?0.41 and ICC?=?0.06, respectively). These results suggest that the severity and prevalence of behavior problems in youth may depend on the context and reporter of the symptoms.     

Associations between childhood adversity and daily suppression and avoidance in response to stress in adulthood: can neurobiological sensitivity help explain this relationship?

Background and objectives: Although it has been postulated that psychological responses to stress in adulthood are grounded in childhood experiences in the family environment, evidence has been inconsistent. This study tested whether two putative measures of neurobiological sensitivity (vagal flexibility and attentional capacity) moderated the relation between women’s reported exposure to a risky childhood environment and current engagement in suppressive or avoidant coping in response to daily stress.

Design and methods: Adult women (N?=?158) recruited for a study of stress, coping, and aging reported on early adversity (EA) in their childhood family environment and completed a week-long daily diary in which they described their most stressful event of the day and indicated the degree to which they used suppression or avoidance in response to that event. In addition, women completed a visual tracking task during which heart rate variability and attentional capacity were assessed.

Results: Multilevel mixed modeling analyses revealed that greater EA predicted greater suppression and avoidance only among women with higher attentional capacity. Similarly, greater EA predicted greater use of suppression, but only among women with greater vagal flexibility.

Conclusion: Childhood adversity may predispose individuals with high neurobiological sensitivity to a lifetime of maladaptive coping.     

Baby FaceTime: can toddlers learn from online video chat?

There is abundant evidence for the ‘video deficit’: children under 2 years old learn better in person than from video. We evaluated whether these findings applied to video chat by testing whether children aged 12–25 months could form relationships with and learn from on‐screen partners. We manipulated social contingency: children experienced either real‐time FaceTime conversations or pre‐recorded Videos as the partner taught novel words, actions and patterns. Children were attentive and responsive in both conditions, but only children in the FaceTime group responded to the partner in a temporally synced manner. After one week, children in the FaceTime condition (but not the Video condition) preferred and recognized their Partner, learned more novel patterns, and the oldest children learned more novel words. Results extend previous studies to demonstrate that children under 2 years show social and cognitive learning from video chat because it retains social contingency. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/rTXaAYd5adA     

Supporting Counselors After a Client Suicide: Creative Supervision Techniques

Many professional counselors will experience the loss of a client to suicide. The effects of this loss are explored in this article. The supervisor’s role in supporting a supervisee after a client’s suicide is presented. Additionally, creative interventions that can be used by supervisors to support supervisees after the loss of a client are provided. These creative techniques are theoretically grounded within the cognitive behavioral, solution-focused, and narrative paradigms.     

Understanding the impact of prior depression on stress generation: Examining the roles of current depressive symptoms and interpersonal behaviours

Stress generation is a process in which individuals contribute to stressful life events. While research has supported an association between current depression and stress generation, it has been noted that individuals with prior depression tend to contribute to stressors even when they are no longer experiencing a depressive episode. The aim of the study is to elucidate the pathways through which prior major depression predicts interpersonal stress generation in women. Specifically, we examined current subsyndromal depressive symptoms and problematic interpersonal behaviours as potential mediators. Fifty‐one college women were followed prospectively for 6 weeks. Participants were interviewed to assess current and past depression as well as stressful life events they experienced over the 6‐week period. The findings suggest that prior major depression continues to have an impact even after the episode has ended, as the disorder continues to contribute to stress generation through residual depressive symptoms.     

The relation between perceived parent-created sport climate and competitive male youth hockey players' good and poor sport behaviors

The authors examined achievement goal orientation (J. L. Duda & J. G. Nicholls, 1992), parental influence (M. L. Babkes & M. R. Weiss, 1999), and the parent-initiated motivational climate (S. A. White, 1996, 1998) in combination to broaden understanding of competitive male youth hockey players' (N = 259) perceptions of the parent-created sport climate and its relation to their self-reported good and poor sport behaviors (GPSB). Exploratory factor analysis revealed a multidimensional measure of GPSB. Multiple regression analyses indicated that athletes' GPSB were significantly predicted by different forms of parental influence. Canonical correlations revealed a complex picture of the contributions of goal orientation and the parent-created sport climate on boys' GPSB in youth hockey. Results expand knowledge of the influence that parents have in youth sport and emphasize the importance of understanding how children's interpretations of parental beliefs and behaviors affect their choices to engage in good and poor sport behaviors.     

Measuring individual research productivity: A review and development of the integrated research productivity index

The purpose of the present study was to investigate methods of measuring individual research productivity for counseling psychologists. Using the 60 members of the Journal of Counseling Psychology editorial board, the authors computed a comparison of 6 popular indices of productivity, revealing considerable levels of positive skewness, kurtosis, and overlap with each other. Combining the strengths of the 6 indices, the authors developed a new productivity index entitled the Integrated Research Productivity Index (IRPI). The IRPI measures individual productivity by statistically combining an individual's author-weighted publications, average times cited by other publications, and years since first publication into a comprehensive score. Productivity values and IRPI scores for 3 groups of counseling psychologists (Tyler Award recipients, Kuder Award recipients, and Division 17 Presidents) were computed to provide evidence of discriminant validity among the indices. In contrast to the other measures examined, the IRPI accounts for productivity per year and years in the field and assesses mean citation count per article as opposed to total citation count, thus yielding similar scores for Tyler (lifetime) and Kuder (early career) research award recipients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).