Neighborhood Physical Environments,Recreational Wellbeing,and Psychological Health

The physical environment in which individuals live has important implications for their access to resources and services. The current study examined the role of several features of neighborhoods, such as perceived walkability and neighborhood appearance, in promoting recreational wellbeing, and resulting in impacts on physical wellbeing, happiness, and life satisfaction of residents. Survey responses (N = 1392) were collected in two distinct geographical areas and, using structural equation modeling, relationships between neighborhood physical environments and resident outcomes were explored. Results indicated perceived walkability (access to services) and neighborhood appearance (upkeep and attractiveness) played a significant role in increasing recreational wellbeing. Also, recreational wellbeing was positively related to individuals’ physical wellbeing. Lastly, physical wellbeing was positively associated with happiness and life satisfaction. Together, these findings suggest community planners could use several practical neighborhood improvements to improve the overall health, happiness, and life satisfaction of their residents.

     

White Middle‐Class Privilege: Social Class Bias and Implications for Training and Practice

Social class, classism, and privilege and their relationship to counseling have been given insufficient attention. This article defines and explores White middle‐class privilege; it proffers support for its integration in a multicultural competency, as well as its intersection with race and other dimensions of multiculturalism and privilege. Implications for counseling practice plus a clinical case study illustrate the issues. La clase social, el clasismo y el privilegio, así como su relación con la consejería, no han sido tratados con suficiente atención. Este artículo define y explora el privilegio de la clase media Blanca; sugiere apoyar su integración en una competencia multicultural, además de su intersección con la raza y otras dimensiones del multiculturalismo y el privilegio. Las implicaciones para la práctica de la consejería más el estudio de un caso clínico ilustran estan cuestiones.     

Participation in Church or Religious Groups and its Association with Health: A National Study of Young Canadians

The purpose of this study was to determine how participation of young Canadians in a church or religious group correlated with holistic health indicators. Health was viewed in terms of risk and protective behaviors, outward looking prosocial behaviors, and measures of internal feelings, with the composite picture of health connecting to the Hebrew concept of shalom. A separate analysis of sports-involved children was used as a comparator. Children involved in religious groups reported lower participation in risk behaviors, higher prosocial behaviors, but poorer levels of the more holistic measures of health. Sports-connected youth reported more positive holistic measures of health and some increases in overt risk-taking. Our findings raise theological and practical issues regarding how the church understands itself and lives out its mission. They suggest an emphasis on teaching about behaviors and morality rather than an understanding of shalom that is grounded in the Incarnation and in the deeply integrative nature of the Christian life.     

The Relationship of Offense-Specific Forgiveness to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in College Students

The relationship between offense-specific forgiveness and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms was examined in a cross-sectional survey of 178 college students reporting interpersonal trauma exposure, that is, a trauma exposure in which they identified a specific perpetrator. Higher levels of offense-specific forgiveness were significantly related to lower levels of PTSD symptoms. In path analyses, however, when gender and offense severity were allowed to directly predict both forgiveness and PTSD symptoms, the relationship was reduced to marginal significance. Exploratory analyses revealed that within the five most-commonly endorsed trauma subtypes, the relationship between forgiveness and PTSD symptoms may differ in strength and direction as a function of trauma type. Implications for research and treatment are discussed.     

Sex and sycophancy: Communication strategies for ascendance in same-sex and mixed-sex superior-subordinate dyads

The purpose of this study was to examine communication strategies for ascendance in same-sex and mixed-sex superior-subordinate dyads. The strategies, operationalized in terms of task and social facilitation, were derived from Bales' Interaction Process Analysis categories. Corollary data were collected relative to the subordinate's expected job satisfaction under male versus female supervision. Results indicated that (1) the perceived importance of task versus social facilitative strategies varied both within and across the four types of dyads, and (2) female subordinates expected to be more satisfied working under female supervision than did male subordinates.The authors would like to thank Ralph Kilmann and John Grant, Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, for their assistance in providing subjects for this study.     

Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL): an identical twin case study illustration of white matter dysfunction and nonverbal learning disability (NLD).

This paper discusses the implications of Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL) lesions for the development of Nonverbal Learning Disabilities (NLD) as illustrated through an identical twin case study. PVL lesions were identified in an 8-year-old child, but were not detected in his identical twin brother who served as a matched comparison. While the nonclinical twin displayed a largely unremarkable neuropsychological profile, the clinical twin evidenced a distinct pattern of social, intellectual, academic, and neuropsychological test results often identified among children with PVL and those with the NLD syndrome. The clinical and theoretical implications for this case study are discussed.     

Ethnic differences in endorsement of the Protestant work ethic: the role of ethnic identity and perceptions of social class

The authors examined ethnic differences in endorsement of the Protestant work ethic (PWE; M. Weber, 1905) among Black (n = 96) and White (n = 149) college students and tested whether differences in ethnic identity and perceptions of social class mediated the relationship between ethnicity and the endorsement of PWE values. Blacks were higher in levels of ethnic identity, more likely to see themselves as working or middle class, and less likely to endorse the PWE. Only perceptions of social class partially mediated the relationship between ethnicity and PWE values. The authors concluded that perception of social class is an important construct that might influence the cultural psychology of different ethnic groups. The authors recommended further research involving PWE and other cultural variables.     

A New Framework to Understand Social Class in Counseling: The Social Class Worldview Model and Modern Classism Theory

Because social class and classism remain elusive constructs in psychology, this 2‐part article first lays the foundation for the Social Class Worldview Model and then the Modern Classism Theory. A case example is used for illustration. The authors also provide counseling applications and recommendations for future research. Debido a que la clase social y el clasismo continuan siendo unos conceptos evasivos en la psicología, este artículo de 2 partes establece una fundación para el Modelo de Cosmovisión de Clase Social y la Teoría Moderna del Clasismo. Se utiliza un caso de ejemplo para su ilustración. Los autores también proporcionan aplicaciones para la consejería y recomendaciones para investigaciónes futuras.     

Acute stress persistently enhances estrogen levels in the female rat

Here we tested whether exposure to either tailshock or swim stress alters ovarian hormone levels, estrogen and progesterone, in females and whether the effects are persistent. Adrenal hormone levels were also measured in males and females. Estradiol levels were elevated in unstressed females during proestrus relative to females in other stages of estrous, and exposure to the stressors enhanced estradiol beyond basal levels. For females stressed during diestrus 2, estradiol levels were elevated immediately after stressor cessation and up to 24 hrs. Exposure to tailshock, but not swim-stress, transiently enhanced progesterone in females stressed during the stage of proestrus and estrus. Glucocorticoid levels were elevated in response to both stressors and were supraelevated in females under both basal and stress conditions relative to males, particularly in blood from females exposed to acute swim stress. These results indicate that exposure to a relatively acute stressful event immediately and persistently enhances serum estradiol and are discussed in the context of reports that exposure to the same stressors immediately and persistently impairs associative learning in the female rat.