Counselling women with post natal depression: Implications from recent qualitative research

This paper explores the role of the counselling psychologist with women who experience post natal depression. Traditionally post natal depression has been identified as a clinical condition, and the woman referred for psychiatric assessment; or it is seen as the result of stressful childbirth and associated events, and the woman is offered treatment by her GP or referred to a post natal support group. A recent study suggests that some degree of depression following childbirth is ‘normal’, and that far from being a clinical condition, its origins appear to be located in the context of problematic relationships (in both domestic and obstetric settings) as well as in women's expectations and inadequate preparation for childbirth and early motherhood. These expectations seem to be embedded in female psychology and wider cultural values. Women appear to be prepared for the fact that they will bear and mother children, but not the experience of motherhood itself, and consequent changes in identity and relationships are rarely made explicit. This study suggests that childbirth and the early months of motherhood (even for second and third children) are likely to precipitate some degree of depression in most women, and that this depression appears to be reactive rather than determined by individual pathology. Further, the experience of becoming a mother (each time) equates with a model of loss and bereavement, suggesting a very specific role for the counselling psychologist.     

Pictorial enhancement of text memory: Limitations imposed by picture type and comprehension skill

We examined the kinds of information in a prose passage that is better remembered when depictive illustrations are embedded in the passage than when the passage contains no illustrations. Experiment 1 showed that (1) pictures depicting details effectively increased recall of those details and (2) pictures depicting relationships effectively increased recall of that relational information (relative to a no-picture control condition). In Experiment 2, comprehension skill was found to modulate the general effects obtained in Experiment 1. Detail pictures enhanced the recall of targeted details for all skill levels. Relational pictures enhanced recall of pictured relational information for highly skilled and moderately skilled comprehenders, but not for less skilled comprehenders. Because there were no recall differences across the different skill levels in the no-picture control condition, it is suggested that pictures may serve to enable processing in which readers would not necessarily engage under ordinary circumstances. Pictures, however, did not appear to compensate for limitations reflected in lower scores on a standardized test of reading comprehension.     

Distinctiveness effects in recall:

Unusual information is generally recalled better than common information (the distinctiveness effect). Differential processing accounts propose that the effect occurs because unusual material elicits encoding processes that are different from those elicited by common material, and strong versions of these accounts predict distinctiveness effects in between-list as well as within-list designs. Experiment 1 employed a between-list design and manipulated presentation rate. Contrary to differential processing predictions, no distinctiveness effect emerged, nor did recall patterns for atypical versus common sentences differ as a function of presentation rate. Experiment 2 further tested differential processing accounts as well as representation accounts via a within-list manipulation and conditions that included experimenter-provided elaborations. Distinctiveness effects emerged in all conditions and, contrary to differential processing predictions, the pattern of recall in the elaborated conditions did not differ from that in the unelaborated conditions. Taken together, the results of this study lend more support to a representation view that suggests mechanisms related to the representation and subsequent retrievability of elements in the memory record play a major role in the distinctiveness effect.     

Exercise Stage of Change and Self-Efficacy in Primary Care: Implications for Intervention

Multiple chronic diseases are caused or complicated by a sedentary lifestyle. Thus, an important and challenging application of psychology in clinical settings is changing the behavior of sedentary primary care patients. This study focused on exercise stage of change and self-efficacy in a sample of adult family practice patients recruited while waiting for their scheduled physician appointment. Regarding exercise stage of change, 15% of respondents were in the Precontemplation stage, 26% in the Contemplation stage, 50% in the Preparation stage, 7% in the Action stage, and 13% in the Maintenance stage. Mean self-efficacy scores for exercise were significantly higher among respondents in the Action and Maintenance stages of change. These cross-sectional data are consistent with the hypothesis that movement through the exercise stages of change could be encouraged by clinical interventions that increase exercise self-efficacy. The identification of multiple personal opportunities for increasing exercise self-efficacy may be clinically useful in this context. Recommendations for psychologists in primary care settings in their work with physicians are offered.     

Getting started with multimedia

This paper provides an overview of the symposium “Multimedia in Instruction” by addressing four basic issues: What does multimedia mean? Does it have advantages beyond traditional means of presentations in a classroom? What equipment does one need? What software are available for psychology instruction? Although multimedia represents a revolutionary technology, its application to instruction is an extension of computer-assisted instruction.     

Cognitive-affective stress propensity: A confirmatory factor analysis of stress propensity measures

A cognitive-affective stress propensity (CASP) construct is used to integrate previous findings regarding individual differences in experienced stress and resultant strain. A confirmatory factor analysis determined the structure of the CASP construct using a one factor model. This model and alternative models of factor structure contain two additional new constructs, psychological magnification and cognitive-affective connectivity. These two variables, and five trait variables previously identified as moderators in stress propensity research, were used in the analysis. Results show the one factor model to fit the data better than alternative models, thus supporting the notion of a latent construct (CASP).     

Maternal employment,anxiety, and sex differences in college students' self-descriptions

This study sought to determine if a relationship exists between maternal employment during childhood, anxiety, and gender in college students. A questionnaire incorporating the Adjective Generation Technique (AGT) was administered to undergraduate psychology students from intact, two-parent families. Subjects were grouped into four categories: males whose mothers worked during their childhood (n=33), males whose mothers remained home (n=49), females whose mothers worked (n=54), and females whose mothers remained home (n=49). Data were analyzed using a 2×2 analysis of variance. Results indicated no differences in anxiety for subjects of either sex in relationship to the employment status of the mothers. A pronounced sex difference was found, with females scoring significantly higher in anxiety than males.     

Intensity effects of the auditory evoked brain response to stimulus onset and cessation

Average evoked brain responses (EBR) to the onset (ON) and cessation (OFF) of 1-kHz pure-tone stimuli were computed from human scalp recordings. Stimuli of 2,000 msec duration were presented binaurally at 10 intensity levels. The waveform of the OFF EBR is similar to the ON EBR. The ON response is in general larger than the OFF response. Comparable ON and OFF amplitude response measures are both sensitive to changes in stimulus intensity which may be fit by a linear function. Significant differences in slope between ON and OFF amplitude intensity functions were demonstrated, which suggests different physiological systems for these responses.     

Televised Models of Female Achievement

Two studies examined the models of female achievement available to television viewers. The studies surveyed television's portrayal of both achievement behavior and its social consequences for the female achiever. Study I compared female models at four levels of achievement. Only those models at the lowest level of achievement were depicted as having successful social relations with males. Study II compared the marital status of male and female job holders. Compared with male job holders, females were depicted as less likely to be married, less likely to be successfully married, and more likely to be unsuccessfully married. Data on married females showed that those who held jobs were depicted as having 10 times as many unsuccessful marriages (proportionately) as housewives. It is suggested that female achievers portrayed on television are depicted in a way that does not encourage female viewers to imitate their behavior and in fact serves to inhibit achievement-oriented behavior in female viewers.     

Parents' reactions to finding out that their children have average or above average IQ scores

The parents of 41 children who had been given an individually-administered intelligence test were contacted approximately 19 months after testing. The sample included 20 parents who had learned their child had an Average IQ (children'smeanIQ = 100.8) and 21 parents who had learned their child had an Above Average IQ (children'smeanIQ = 130.0). Parents of Average IQ children were less accurate in their memory of test results, and they and their children experienced fewer positive consequences from IQ testing than Above Average children and their parents. Children with Above Average IQ experienced extremely low frequencies of sibling rivalry, conceit or pressure, and they and their parents experienced increased pride and/or self-confidence as a result of the IQ testing. The results as a whole suggest that parents of Average IQ children may need more psychological support during the parent informing process than parents of Above Average IQ children.