Exploring Gender Wage Disparity in MFT Academic Programs

This study tested whether there was a significant salary difference between women and men working as faculty in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) programs within public universities. Additionally, we evaluated whether there were significant differences in academic attributes and how these academic attributes related to gender differences in salary. Results from our Oaxaca decomposition of salary differentials showed academic attributes like the number of peer-reviewed publications and years in academia could be used to explain the $9000 gap found between women and men in our sample of MFT academics. Our results indicated no evidence of salary discrimination against women working as MFT faculty members but showed that women were shown to have significantly less time in academia and to publish significantly fewer peer-reviewed journal articles than men. Implications of the current study findings include developing effective mechanisms for helping women persist in and advance through pathways of MFT academic promotion as well as for helping increase their scholarly productivity.     

Fear of Hypoglycemia in Parents of Young Children with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

The current study examined fear of hypoglycemia in 81 mothers and 64 fathers of young children with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) using the Hypoglycemia Fear Survey-Parents of Young Children (HFS-P-YC possible range = 26–130). Mothers and fathers completed the HFS-P-YC at enrollment and mothers completed it 2 weeks later. Families recorded daily blood glucose on a standardized meter for 2 weeks. Mothers’ mean total HFS-P-YC score was 75.0 (SD = 17.2) and fathers’ mean score was 66.5 (SD = 18.0). Mothers reported greater HFS-P-YC total and behavior subscale scores than fathers. Mothers’ HFS-P-YC scores were comparable to published HFS scores for mothers of preadolescents with T1DM and higher than adult patients with T1DM. The HFS-P-YC had good internal consistency and test–retest reliability in this sample. These findings suggest parents of young children with T1DM report a high level of fear of hypoglycemia. Additionally, the HFS-P-YC appears to be a reliable measure in this population.     

The Benefits of Using Psychotherapy Skills Following Treatment for Depression: An Examination of “Afterwork” and a Test of the Skills Hypothesis in Older Adults

It has long been assumed that one of the reasons clients maintain improvement after psychotherapy is that they learn skills during the course of therapy and continue to apply them once therapy has ended. While research on homework completion and psychotherapy outcome provides support for this assumption, there has been no direct examination of “afterwork,” the use of skills learned in therapy after therapy has ended, or how those posttherapy skills differ across different theoretical approaches. The purpose of this study is to test a skills hypothesis of long-term psychotherapeutic benefit in a sample of 90 older adults who have completed psychotherapy for depression. Helpfulness of the techniques learned in therapy was negatively associated with depressive symptoms up to 2 years after treatment. The number of techniques used was positively correlated with depressive symptoms within 6 months of treatment once helpfulness was controlled, indicating that skills learned in therapy are used when symptoms return. There were also between-group differences in which skills were reported to be covered and used by patients after therapy ended. These findings support the expectation that the benefits of therapy are extended by continuing to use helpful skills learned in therapy.     

Affective ratings and startle modulation in people with nonclinical depression

This study tested predictions based on the emotion context insensitivity (ECI) hypothesis of Rottenberg, Gross, and Gotlib (2005) that a nonclinical sample of people with depressive symptoms would show reduced responses to both positive and negative stimuli relative to people without depression and would show an enhanced response to novelty. Seventy individuals completed diagnostic questionnaires, made ratings of 21 affectively valenced pictures, and then viewed the same 21 pictures and 21 novel pictures while startle blink responses were recorded from electromyographic activity of the orbicularis oculi. People with scores on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961) indicative of depression demonstrated a lack of affective startle modulation compared to the nondepression group. For all participants, the startle response was larger for novel pictures than for previously viewed pictures, but scores on the BDI were not related to response to novelty. Taken together, the results suggest that nonclinical depression is associated with a lack of affective modulation of startle, as has been shown for clinical depression.     

The efficacy of cognitive-behavioral interventions for reducing anxiety sensitivity: a meta-analytic review

The present study meta-analytically reviewed the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) vs. control conditions in the reduction of anxiety sensitivity. A computerized search was conducted to indentify CBT outcome studies that included the Anxiety Sensitivity Index as a dependent variable. Of the 989 studies that were identified, 24 randomized-controlled trials with a total of 1851 participants met inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. Data were extracted separately for treatment-seeking (16 studies) and at-risk (eight studies) samples. Results indicated large effect sizes for treatment-seeking samples, Hedges' g=1.40, SE=0.21, 95% CI: 1.00-1.81, p<0.001, and moderate to large effect sizes for at risk samples Hedges' g=0.74, SE=0.18, 95% CI: 0.39-1.08, p<0.001. Additionally, both the amount of therapist contact and control modality (waitlist vs. psychological control) moderated the effect sizes for treatment-seeking samples. Our review indicates that CBT is efficacious in reducing anxiety sensitivity. However, more research is needed to determine the mechanisms by which CBT exert its effects on anxiety sensitivity.     

Religious Identity,Expression, and Civility in Social Media: Results of Data Mining Latter‐Day Saint Twitter Accounts

This study explores religious self‐identification, religious expression, and civility among projected Latter‐Day Saint Twitter accounts (201,107 accounts and 1,542,229 tweets). Novel methods of data collection and analysis were utilized to test hypotheses related to religious identity and civility against social media data at a large scale. Results indicated that (1) projected LDS Twitter accounts tended to represent authentic (rather than anonymous or pseudonymous) identities; (2) local minority versus majority status did not influence users’ willingness to religiously self‐identify; (3) isolation stigma did not occur when users religiously self‐identified; (4) participants exhibited much lower degrees of incivility than was anticipated from previous studies; and (5) religious self‐identification was connected to improved civility. Results should be of interest to scholars of religion for better understanding participation patterns and religious identity among Latter‐Day Saints and for exploring how these results may transfer to other groups of religious people.     

Treatment of self-restraint associated with the application of protective equipment

The current investigation assessed the effectiveness of protective equipment, specifically arm splints, in reducing the occurrence of severe self-injurious behavior (SIB). Although the protective equipment reduced rates of SIB to near-zero levels, self-restraint subsequently emerged. In an attempt to reduce self-restraint while maintaining reductions in SIB, we provided noncontingent access to preferred stimuli. The presentation of preferred stimuli along with the use of protective equipment reduced both the rate of SIB and the duration of self-restraint.     

Why do High IQ Societies Differ in Intellectual Achievement? The Role of Schizophrenia and Left-Handedness in Per Capita Scientific Publications and Nobel Prizes

Previous research has attempted to understand why countries with relatively favorable conditions and high estimated average IQs (such as Finland and Japan) have a relatively low per capita number of scientific Nobel prizes. In the present study, we examine whether there is a relationship between national schizophrenia and left-handedness prevalence, on the one hand, and per capita scientific and literary achievement, on the other hand, in countries with IQ estimates of at least 90. We found that per capita science and literature Nobel prizes and scientific publications are strongly negatively associated with schizophrenia and strongly positively correlated with left-handedness. There also was a very pronounced negative correlation between schizophrenia rate and left-handedness rate. These results suggest that genius can be regarded as a combination of very high IQ, aspects of high-functioning autism (specifically low empathy) plus relatively low impulse control, consistent with observations of intellectually outstanding individuals, and the fact that schizophrenia appears to constitute the opposite pole of these aspects of autism spectrum. We posit differences in androgen levels as a possible underlying explanation for these findings.