Adolescents' deliberate self-harm, interpersonal stress, and the moderating effects of self-regulation: a two-wave longitudinal analysis

The predictive effects of peer victimization and harsh parenting on deliberate self-harm were examined. As derived from the experiential avoidance model, the study also tested whether these links were moderated by individual self-regulation approaches. Data were collected at two points in time from 880 junior high school students (mean age = 13.72) in Sweden. Analyses using structural equation modeling revealed that Peer Victimization was predictive of self-harm. Although Harsh Parenting was not predictive of self-harm, this link was moderated by adolescents' gender. No moderating effect of self-regulation was revealed. The study concludes that the high prevalence of deliberate self-harm recently found in community samples of adolescents cannot be prevented without attending to environmental psychosocial factors.     

Promoting positive parenting practices in primary pare: outcomes and mechanisms of change in a randomized controlled risk reduction trial

The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether a short parent-training program (PT) reduces risk factors related to development of childhood socio-emotional and behavior problems in a non-clinical community sample. Data were obtained from parents in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) on PT for children aged 2 to 8 years (N=186) at pre-intervention, post-intervention and one-year-follow up. There were significant differences in the changes in the two groups, with reductions in harsh parenting and child behavior problems, an enhancement of positive parenting and of the parents' sense of competence in the intervention group. The effects on parenting and parents' satisfaction all lasted through one-year follow up. Our findings suggests that a shortened version of a well-structured parenting intervention, The Incredible Years program, implemented in primary care at community level, reduces harsh parenting and strengthens positive parenting and parents' sense of competence, as reported by the parents. Issues related to a public health approach to promote positive parenting are discussed.     

By any means necessary: the effects of regulatory focus and moral conviction on hostile and benevolent forms of collective action

In two studies, we investigate the effect of individuals' promotion and prevention focus on engagement in collective action. We show that responding to group-based disadvantage out of a sense of moral conviction motivates prevention-oriented- but not promotion-oriented- individuals to engage in collective action. Furthermore, holding such strong moral convictions about the fair treatment of their group causes the prevention-oriented to disregard societal rules against hostile forms of collective action (i.e., forms of action that are aimed at harming the interests of those held responsible for the group's disadvantage). Study 1 showed that prevention-oriented individuals, but not promotion-oriented individuals, with a strong moral conviction about the fair treatment of their group are willing to support both hostile and benevolent forms of collective action. Study 2 replicated this effect and showed that for prevention-oriented individuals but not for promotion-oriented individuals, holding a strong moral conviction about the fair treatment of the group overrides moral objections to hostile forms of collective action in the decision to support these forms of action.     

Do military decision makers behave as predicted by prospect theory?

Four experiments were conducted to explore the robustness of risky choice framing among military decision makers. In the first experiment the original version of the Asian disease problem was administered. In contrast to Tversky and Kahneman's ( 1981 ) original findings, military decision makers were not influenced by the gain and loss framing. They demonstrated risk‐seeking behavior in both domains. In the second experiment, we administered a military version of the Asian disease problem. We found a significant framing effect, but it was unidirectional: The decision makers were risk seeking in both domains, but significantly more risk seeking in the loss domain. To explore the strength of this risk‐seeking preference, we altered the problem in a third experiment, making the risky alternative 12.5% less attractive than the certain one. Again, we found risk‐seeking behavior in both domains. Finally, we explored reasons for these deviations from prospect theory by comparing the responses of business students and military officers. In this analysis, we observed significantly higher levels of self‐efficacy in the military sample, as compared to the civil sample, and that the self‐efficacy influenced risk seeking only in the military sample. In a post hoc analysis we also found that years of education reduced risk‐seeking preference. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Two-Year Findings from a National Effectiveness Trial: Effectiveness of Behavioral and Non-Behavioral Parenting Programs

Long-term follow-up studies of selective parent training (PT) programs are scarce, particularly in the case of effectiveness trials conducted within regular care settings. This study evaluated the 2-year effects of 4 programs: Comet, Incredible Years, Cope, and Connect and differences in the rate of change among programs were investigated using Latent Growth Modeling (LGM). Participants were parents who had sought help at 30 local service sector units (e.g., child psychiatric clinics and social services centers) for major problems in managing their children’s externalizing behavior. Parents of 749 children (63 % boys) with moderate levels of externalizing behavior, aged 3–12, were randomized to one of the 4 PT programs. Assessments included parent-reported measures of child externalizing, hyperactivity and inattention, as well as parenting practices, sense of competence, and parents’ stress and depressive symptoms. At 2-year follow-up, there were no differences in any of the child outcomes among the programs. All programs had reduced externalizing behaviors with large effect sizes (d = 1.21 to d = 1.32), and negative parenting practices with moderate to large effect sizes (d = 0.49 to d = 0.83). LGM analyses showed that the 2 behavioral programs, Comet and Incredible Years, produced more rapid reductions in externalizing behavior during the course of the intervention than the non-behavioral program, Connect. Connect, however, was the only program where children continued to improve after the intervention. Overall, the results indicate that the 4 programs were equally effective in a clinical setting, despite differences in their theoretical origin.     

Processes in acceptance and commitment therapy and the rehabilitation of chronic fatigue

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has never been tested for patients with chronic fatigue. We aimed to test if a 3.5‐week ACT rehabilitation program for patients with chronic fatigue improved quality of life (QoL), fatigue, and psychological flexibility. Further, to test if improvements in QoL and fatigue were associated with improvement in psychological flexibility, and if psychological flexibility explained variance above and beyond maladaptive cognitions typically targeted in CBT for fatigue. Patients (n = 140) who had been on sick leave > 8 weeks due to chronic fatigue received a 3.5‐week non‐controlled inpatient rehabilitation program based on ACT. A physician and a psychologist examined the patients, assessing medication use and SCID‐I diagnoses. Patients completed questionnaires about somatic complaints, psychological complaints, and maladaptive cognitions before and after treatment. At post‐treatment, patients reported improved QoL (p < 0.001; g = 1.07) and less fatigue (p < 0.001; g = 1.08), but not increased psychological flexibility (p = 0.6). Changes in psychological flexibility was associated with improved QoL, but not fatigue, in hierarchical regression analyses. When adjusting for other cognitions, changes in fear‐avoidance cognitions and all‐or‐nothing thoughts, but not psychological flexibility, were associated with improved QoL and fatigue. The ACT‐based treatment improved QoL and reduced fatigue for patients with chronic fatigue with large effect sizes. Improvement was associated with a reduction in fear‐avoidance cognitions and all‐or‐nothing thoughts, but not psychological flexibility.     

Dual support in contract workers' triangular employment relationships

This study investigated the interplay between perceived investment in contract worker development by the client organization and contract workers' perceived organizational support from their temporary employment agency. A study among 2021 contract workers from three temporary employment agencies in Norway showed that the relationships between perceived investment in contract worker development and task and contextual performance were moderated by contract workers' perceived organizational support from the agency. The form of the moderations revealed no positive relationships between perceived investment in contract worker development and performance unless the perceived investment by the client organization was accompanied by higher levels of perceived support from the temporary employment agency. These findings suggest that client organizations, which hire from temporary employment agencies that provide support to their contract workers, will get the most out of their investments in these contract workers' development.     

Associations of Youth and Adulthood Body-Mass Index and Waist-Hip Ratio with Attachment Styles and Dimensions

The current cross-sectional study examined whether body-mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio are associated with adult attachment. Participants were 1,570 men and women participating in Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study. BMI was measured in youth and in adulthood and waist-hip ratio in adulthood. A single measure of attachment style was conducted when participants were aged 24–39 years. In age and sex adjusted models, youth BMI (Beta = .066, p = .008), adulthood BMI (Beta = .069, p = .007) and waist-hip ratio (Beta = .082, p = .016) were associated with fearful attachment. The associations remained significant when education and relationship status were adjusted for. Age adjusted association between adulthood waist-hip ratio and preoccupied attachment was found in men (Beta = .132, p = .002). The association was not essentially changed by additionally adjusting for education and relationship status, and including fearful attachment in the model. Furthermore, associations for attachment dimensions were also found. These results suggest that in addition to previously reported negative effects of higher BMI on physical health, higher BMI might have negative associations with psychological functioning as well. Furthermore, our results imply that physical appearance might be associated with attachment style in adulthood.     

Analyzing conditions for recognizing pictures of family members in a patient with Alzheimer's disease

In the present study, an 89‐year‐old woman with the neurocognitive disorder Alzheimer's disease participated. The purpose was to study recognition of the participant's relatives' faces with the use of sorting tests and matching‐to‐sample (MTS) trainings and tests for emergent relations. The stimuli used were pictures of her relatives, their written names, and their family relationship. The study also focused on how responding to pictures of relatives changed over time. Therefore, the participant was presented with experimental conditions over three time periods. Time Period 1 included only sorting tests. In Time Period 2, which began 9 months after Time Period 1, the participant was presented with both sorting tests and conditional discrimination training and testing. In Time Period 3, which began 1 year after Time Period 2, both sorting tests and conditional discrimination training and testing were again presented. The results from Time Periods 2 and 3 showed that the percentage of stimuli sorted correctly was maintained over time. Additionally, the results from the MTS training and tests were maintained at the second follow‐up periods.     

Enactive individuation: technics,temporality and affect in digital design and fabrication

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences - The nature of creative engagement with computers and software presents a number of challenges to 4E cognition and requires the development of analytical...