Stress-Related Growth Experience: Listening to Korean Adolescents who have Visual Impairments

Research suggests that negative life events facilitate stress-related growth, such as the development of coping strategies and restoration skills. In this study, we aimed to capture the characteristics of stress-related growth among Korean adolescents who have visual impairments. Using a constructive grounded theory methodology, three themes were identified as characteristics of stress-related growth experiences: (a) developing meaningful relationships, (b) creating coping strategies, and (c) discovering personal strength. This study indicates that Korean adolescents who had visual impairments developed their own coping strategies to deal with various stressors and increased their awareness of their inner strengths and talents. It also suggests that challenging life circumstances may provide opportunities for Korean adolescents who have visual impairments to experience emotional wellbeing.     

Beta-Amyloid Deposition and the Aging Brain

A central issue in cognitive neuroscience of aging research is pinpointing precise neural mechanisms that determine cognitive outcome in late adulthood as well as identifying early markers of less successful cognitive aging. One promising biomarker is beta amyloid (Aβ) deposition. Several new radiotracers have been developed that bind to fibrillar Aβ providing sensitive estimates of amyloid deposition in various brain regions. Aβ imaging has been primarily used to study patients with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI); however, there is now building data on Aβ deposition in healthy controls that suggest at least 20% and perhaps as much as a third of healthy older adults show significant deposition. Considerable evidence suggests amyloid deposition precedes declines in cognition and may be the initiator in a cascade of events that indirectly leads to age-related cognitive decline. We review studies of Aβ deposition imaging in AD, MCI, and normal adults, its cognitive consequences, and the role of genetic risk and cognitive reserve.     

Revisiting the Social Sources of American Christianity 1972–1998

We examine the relationship between demographics and adherence to certain religious traditions within American Christianity. Starting with Niebuhr's Social Sources of Denominationalism , we interact with a long scholarly tradition that connects demographics and religious groups, particularly the abiding "class-sect" relationship. Included in this literature are works by Roof and McKinney (1987), and the particular profiles of evangelicals by Hunter (1983) and more recently by Smith et al. (1998). Findings indicate slow convergence on certain demographics highlighted by Niebuhr (social class, region, population size), and slow divergence on other demographics (age, percent female, percent married, number of children). Contrary to previous research, evangelical Protestantism is not very distinct demographically; however, black Protestantism is, and this reflects the continued demographic significance of race. Our findings lead us to question accepted theoretical links between demographics and religious groups. We end with some preliminary recommendations for future theorizing in this area.     

Cognitive,affective and conative responses to visual simulation: the effects of rotation in online product presentation

• Rotation, one type of visual simulation used to create three‐dimensional (3‐D) experiences, and currently being used for product presentation on some e‐tail websites, may create consumer responses. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the effects of rotation in product presentation on the cognitive, affective, and conative responses of consumers. This study employed a single‐factor between‐subjects design: product presentation (rotating vs. non‐rotating). Causal model analysis showed the influence of rotation in product presentation on perceived information quantity, mood, attitude, and purchase intention. Theoretical and managerial implications, as well as future research directions, are discussed.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Is aversion to incest psychologically privileged? When sex and sociosexuality do not predict sexual willingness

As human possess powerful incest-avoidance mechanisms (which likely evolved due to the high costs of inbreeding), reactions to incestuous sexual encounters may be psychologically distinct from reactions to non-incestuous (but still non-normative) sexual encounters. Accordingly, variables such as sex and sociosexuality that normally predict openness to sexual encounters in other situations (i.e., men and sociosexually unrestricted people tend to be more sexually willing) may not do so – or do so only weakly – in incestuous situations. In Study 1, sociosexuality predicted negative judgments of non-incestuous (but still normatively proscribed) sexual acts, but not judgments of incestuous sexual acts. In Study 2, sociosexuality predicted negative reactions to imagined sex with biologically unrelated (but still normatively unusual) partners, but not reactions to imagined sex with related partners (this effect was limited to women); also, men reacted less negatively than women to imagined sex with unrelated partners, but men and women reacted equally negatively to imagined sex with related partners (the latter effect was limited to sociosexually restricted men).     

Convergence among multiple methods of measuring positivity and negativity in the family environment: relation to depression in mothers and their children

The present study addressed the following questions: (a) To what extent do different methods of measuring the family environment converge onto a single latent construct? (b) How are the constructs of positive and of negative family environment related? (c) Do the associations among various methods of measuring the family environment differ as a function of children's gender or of risk? and (d) How are the latent constructs of family environment related to depression in mothers and their children? Participants were 240 children (mean age = 11.86 years, SD = 0.57) and their mothers, who varied with regard to their history of depression. Family environment was measured with self-report questionnaires completed separately by mothers and by children, observations of mother-child interactions, and a 5-min speech sample of each mother talking about her child. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that different methods for assessment of the family environment converged and that the constructs of positive and of negative family environments were significantly related to each other and to depression in both mothers and their children. These findings may help inform future intervention efforts by highlighting specific parenting dimensions that are strongly associated with maternal and with child depression.     

Creating Cultural Meaning in Products and Brands: A Psychological Perspective

R. Batra (2019) and S. Fournier and C. Alvarez (2019) provide many substantive perspectives related to the questions about creating cultural meaning in products and brands. This commentary organizes their views and thoughts under five broadly categorized questions and identifies additional relevant perspectives and questions for future research.     

A Propensity Score Analysis of Homework Adherence-Outcome Relations in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression

Little is known about whether or not a consistently high level of homework adherence over the course of therapy benefits patients. This question was examined in two samples of patients who were receiving individual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for depression (Ns = 128 [Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression: STAR-D] and 183 [Continuation Phase Cognitive Therapy Relapse Prevention: C-CT-RP]). Logistic and linear regression and propensity score models were used to identify whether or not clinician assessments of homework adherence differentiated symptom reduction and remission, as assessed by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17 (HDRS-17), the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology–Self-Reported Scale (QIDS-SR), and the QIDS–Clinician Scale (QIDS-C). CBT-related response and remission were equally likely between both high and low homework adherers in both studies and in all models. But in propensity adjusted models that adjusted for session attendance, for both the STAR-D and C-CT-RP samples, greater homework adherence was significantly associated with greater response and remission from depression in the first and last 8 sessions of CBT. Our results suggest that homework adherence can account for response and remission early and late in treatment, with adequate session attendence.