examining holland's person—environment fit,workplace aggression,interpersonal conflict,and job satisfaction

The researchers examined the impact of person–environment (P‐E) fit, as defined by Holland's (1997) theory, on interpersonal conflict at work (ICAW) and workplace aggression. In addition, previous relationships found in the job satisfaction literature were examined in the present sample of 244 United States employees. Internet‐based surveys were completed by 244 participants in the current research. Results of hierarchical multiple regression and correlational analyses demonstrated a negative relationship between P‐E fit and ICAW. Replication of previous relationships was found between job satisfaction, P‐E fit, and workplace aggression. Implications for P‐E fit and workplace aggression research are discussed.     

Parenting of 7‐month‐old infants at familial risk for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Patterns of interaction between parents and 7‐month‐old boys at familial risk for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and a comparison group were studied during a warm‐up and two play episodes. The sample included 78 (47 at‐risk, 31 comparison) mother–child and 45 (27 at‐risk, 18 comparison) father–child dyads. A coding system developed by G. Kochanska (1997, 1998) was used. Infants in the risk group did not differ from the comparison group in the rate of emission of infant‐related events. However, they received less adequate responsivity from both their fathers and their mothers to these events, and specifically to negative emotions or distress, than did the comparison group. Maternal psychopathology did not account for these findings. Mothers were more adequately responsive than were fathers, especially for physiological needs. The association between nonoptimal interaction in infancy and the development of ADHD is discussed.     

Sleep patterns of 7‐week‐old infants at familial risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Sleep patterns of 26 seven‐week‐old boys at familial risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 18 control infants were compared by objective (actigraph) and subjective (maternal sleep diary) measures, over five consecutive 24‐hr periods. Actigraph findings indicated that the groups differed on stability (SD) of quiet sleep only during the day. Reports in maternal sleep diaries indicated that they also differed on stability of waking and stability of sleep duration, again only during the day. No group differences were found in terms of average scores, whether calculated for the entire 24‐hr periods, for nights, or for days. Mothers in the risk group reported that fathers were less involved in infant care than did those in the control group. These findings suggest that as early as 7 weeks of age, infants at risk for ADHD differ from controls only on stability of their sleep patterns during the day, when environmental regulatory factors are more intensive.     

Inpatient tube weaning in children with long‐term feeding tube dependency: A retrospective analysis

This study investigates the outcome of an intervention program to establish oral feeding after prolonged tube feeding in children. The intervention is based on supervised reduction of enteral formula within a few days supported by a 3‐week program of speech therapy, occupational therapy, psychoanalytically based eating therapy, physical therapy, psychodynamic coaching, and nutritional counseling of the infant and his or her parents. Two hundred twenty‐one cases were included in this study. All patients had been severely ill or were handicapped and had been exclusively fed by tube for most of their lives. The major outcome variable was complete discontinuation of tube feeding with sufficient oral feeding after treatment, defined as the child's ability to sustain stable body weight by self‐motivated oral feeding. Two hundred three patients (92%) were completely fed orally after treatment. Tube feeding was discontinued completely within 8 days in mean, and mean in‐patient treatment time was 21.6 days. The current method can be used by a trained and experienced team to wean tube‐dependent children from prolonged tube feeding. Tube weaning should be addressed from the beginning of tube feeding in all children who are expected to restore oral feeding after the phase of nutritional stabilization. Since successful programs are rare, we were motivated to present our results of this elaborate program in this article.     

Is there a place for individual subjectivity within a social constructionist epistemology?

The epistemological turn towards social constructionism has become well established within the field of family systemic therapy. Social constructionism has provided therapists with a theoretical rationale for the concentration upon the social context within which individuals and families live their lives. This is a philosophical position that pushes to the margins the positivist premise that individuals have fixed and measurable personalities in favour of a discourse which proposes that the person is encountered differently within different social contexts. Prompted by the growing interest in systemic practice with individuals and by the rediscovery of the psychoanalytic canon within family therapy literature, the adequacy of this position is examined and an attempt is made to open up a space within social constructionist discourse for a theory of individual subjectivity. Findings from a research project are the starting point for this venture. These findings are understood through the lens of psychoanalytic theory, with particular reference to the work of Jacques Lacan.     

Why do we move our eyes while trying to remember? The relationship between non-visual gaze patterns and memory

Non-visual gaze patterns (NVGPs) involve saccades and fixations that spontaneously occur in cognitive activities that are not ostensibly visual. While reasons for their appearance remain obscure, convergent empirical evidence suggests that NVGPs change according to processing requirements of tasks. We examined NVPGs in tasks with long-term memory (LTM) and working memory (WM) requirements. Experiment 1 yielded significantly higher eye movement rate (EMR) in tasks requiring LTM search than in a WM task requiring maintenance of information. Experiment 2 manipulated accessibility of items in study-test episodic tasks using the levels of processing paradigm. EMR was high in episodic recall irrespective of item accessibility. Experiment 3 examined functional significance of saccades in LTM tasks. Voluntary saccadic suppression produced no evidence that saccades contribute to task performance. We discuss the apparent epiphenomenal nature of spontaneous saccades from an evolutionary perspective and outline a neuroanatomical model of the link between the saccadic and memory system.     

Risk communication of terrorist acts, natural disasters, and criminal violence: comparing the processes of understanding and responding

Risk communication is an important vehicle for the scientific understanding of the perception of and response to various kinds of threats. The present study provides apparently the first empirical attempt to compare perceptions, decision‐making, and anticipated action in response to threats of three kinds: natural disaster, violent crime, and terrorism. A total of 258 college undergraduates were surveyed using a vignette‐based, 2 × 2 × 3 between‐subjects design that systematically manipulated threat imminence (high vs. low), risk level (high vs. low), and nature of the threat (natural disaster vs. crime vs. terrorism). There were substantial differences in participants' perceptions and reported actions in response to natural disaster, relative to the other domains of risk, under conditions of high risk. The risk of natural disaster was more likely to lead participants to report that they would change their daily activities and to relocate. It was also more likely than terrorism to lead to action securing the home. It appears that the mechanisms for perception, decision‐making, and action in response to threats cannot be generalized in a straightforward way across these domains of threat. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Altered Sexuality and Body Image after Gynecological Cancer Treatment: How Can Psychologists Help?

Once medical treatment for gynecological cancer is completed, what happens to patients' sexuality and body image? Due to the delicate nature of the cancer site, treating this cancer typically affects sexual functioning and body image adversely, making it critical to identify the concerns of these patients and do so in a manner less restrictive than paper-and-pencil assessment. To gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenological experiences in question, we interviewed nine gynecological cancer patients and seven cancer-free women. After implementing a relaxation protocol, we asked each woman to describe her feelings and thoughts on her sexuality and body image in one-on-one interviews. A variety of themes emerged on patients' attitudes and perspectives concerning sexuality and body image following diagnosis and treatment of the cancer. The themes that were considerably different from those of the cancer-free women included decreased sexual functioning and body image, abrupt shifts in self-identity due to loss of physical integrity, and distancing in intimate relationships. Several implications of these findings for clinical practice are discussed, as well as the need to train medical professionals to properly assess these patients' alterations in sexuality.     

The influence of heightened body‐awareness on walking through apertures

The reported study measured the ratio between aperture‐width and hip‐width that marked the critical transition from frontal walking to body rotation for male and female participants. Half of the participants of each sex wore form‐fitting lycra clothes and half loose‐fitting jogging suits. Participants wearing the form‐fitting clothing reported heightened body awareness relative to those wearing the loose‐fitting clothing. For male participants this difference was reflected in a smaller aperture‐to‐hip ratio in the form‐fitting than loose‐fitting clothing condition. That is, males walked frontally through smaller apertures when wearing form‐fitting than when wearing loose‐fitting clothing. For females there was no difference in walking action as a function of clothing style. Results are discussed in terms of the perception of action opportunities in the environment, the influence of body awareness on such perception and sex differences. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new measure for dispositional optimism and pessimism in young children

We describe here a new test for dispositional optimism and pessimism in young children, the Parent‐rated Life Orientation Test of children (the PLOT) and assess its psychometric properties. Two hundred and twenty one mother–father pairs rated their children's (mean age = 8.1, SD = 0.3 years) dispositional optimism and pessimism using a new scale, the PLOT, including four optimism and four pessimism items. We associated the PLOT with parent‐rated self‐esteem (Behavioral Rating Scale of Presented Self‐Esteem in Young Children), social competence (Social Competence and Behaviour Evaluation Scale, the SCBE‐30), psychiatric symptoms (Child Behaviour Checklist, the CBCL) and temperament (Children's Behaviour Questionnaire, the CBQ) of the child. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the mother‐ and father‐rated PLOT revealed a significantly better fit for a two‐ over a one‐factor solution (p < 0.001). The optimism and pessimism subscales displayed good reliabilities, inter‐parental agreement and modest to moderate associations, in the expected direction, with the measures of self‐esteem, social competence, temperament and behaviour problems. To conclude, the PLOT shows good construct and convergent validity and reliability. The findings encourage its use to assess early emerging generalized expectancies of positive and negative outcomes in young children. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.