Brain activation while forming memories of fearful and neutral faces in women and men

Event-related functional MRI (fMRI) was used to assess brain activity during encoding of fearful and neutral faces in 12 women and 12 men. In a subsequent memory analysis, the authors separated successful from unsuccessful encoding of both types of faces, based on whether they were remembered or forgotten in a later recognition memory test. Overall, women and men recruited overlapping neural circuitries. Both sexes activated right-sided medial-temporal regions during successful encoding of fearful faces. Successful encoding of neutral faces was associated with left-sided lateral prefrontal and right-sided superior frontal activation in both sexes. In women, relatively greater encoding related activity for neutral faces was seen in the superior parietal and parahippocampal cortices. By contrast, men activated the left and right superior/middle frontal cortex more than women during successful encoding of the same neutral faces. These findings suggest that women and men use similar neural networks to encode facial information, with only subtle sex differences observed for neutral faces.     

Coding counsellor behaviour in motivational interviewing sessions: inter-rater reliability for the Swedish Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity Code (MITI)

The aim of this study was to evaluate inter-rater reliability when using the Swedish version of the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Code (MITI) as an adjunct to MI training, clinical practice and research. Coders were trained to use the MITI for scoring taped sessions. The 4-month basic training had a duration of 39 hours. Following training, 60 audio-taped live interviews were randomly assigned for MITI coding. Mean intra-class correlation (ICC) coefficients were calculated for 7 coders across all pairs of coders. Cronbach's alpha was calculated to estimate the covariance between each pair across their common interviews. Six months later, a second inter-rater reliability test was performed, when 5 coders coded the same 15 randomly selected tapes. At the second reliability testing the mean ICC was 0.81 and the mean Cronbach's alpha was 0.96. However, the ICC varied for different sub-variables of the MITI, ranging from 0.42 empathy to 0.79 for number of Closed questions. In conclusion, MITI shows promising potential to be a reliable tool to confirm and enhance MI training as well as practice in clinical settings and in evaluating MI integrity in clinical MI research. However, coder assessment of empathy and MI-spirit, "global" variables, requires further refinement.     

Rumination: Bridging a gap between forgivingness, vengefulness, and psychological health

It was argued in the present investigation that dispositional forgiveness and vengeance would be differentially related to components of rumination, and thus the mediating role of rumination in their relations with psychological health would also vary. Male and female undergraduates (N = 183) completed questionnaires assessing predispositions toward forgiveness, vengefulness, rumination, depressive affect, and life satisfaction. Regression analyses revealed that higher forgiveness and lower vengefulness were associated with greater psychological health (lower depressive affect; higher life satisfaction). Moreover, the relations between forgiveness (but not vengefulness) and psychological health were partially mediated by the decreased propensity of high forgivers to endorse ruminative brooding. These findings suggest that, although forgiveness and vengeance may be related, their impacts on psychological health reflect distinct ruminative tendencies.     

Immigrant children's peer acceptance and victimization in kindergarten: The role of local language competence

The study investigates peer acceptance and victimization of immigrant and Swiss children in kindergarten classes. Our first aim is to compare peer acceptance and victimization of Swiss and immigrant children. Secondly, we explore the role of their local language competences (LLCs). The sample was drawn from kindergartens in communities in the German‐speaking part of Switzerland. A representative sample of 568 boys and 522 girls (mean age 5.8 years) took part in the research. Teachers completed questionnaires on children's victimization, bullying, and LLC. The nationality background of parents was indicated by teachers and parents. To assess peer acceptance, a peer nomination method was used. Immigrant children showed less acceptance by peers and were more often victimized than their Swiss peers. There was a significant interaction effect for LLC and national background of mothers, showing that LLC was positively associated with peer acceptance for children of an immigrant background but not for Swiss children. Furthermore, peer acceptance mediated the effect of national background of mothers on victimization. Results are discussed in terms of the need to improve immigrant children's LLC.     

We can work it out: Group decision‐making builds social identity and enhances the cognitive performance of care residents

Group‐based interventions have been argued to slow the cognitive decline of older people residing in care by building social identification and thereby increasing motivation and engagement. The present study explored the identity–cognition association further by investigating the impact of a group decision‐making intervention on cognition. Thirty‐six care home residents were assigned to one of three conditions: an Intervention in which they made decisions about lounge refurbishment as a group, a Comparison condition in which staff made these decisions, or a no‐treatment Control. Cognitive function, social identification, home satisfaction, and lounge use were measured before and after the intervention. Participants in the Intervention condition showed significant increases on all measures, and greater improvement than participants in both Comparison and Control conditions. Consistent with social identity theorizing, these findings point to the role of group activity and social identification in promoting cognitive integrity and well‐being among care residents.     

Ministry as Womb and Tomb: Baptism as a Paradigm for Ministry

This article rethinks a paradigm for ministry in a world in which a culture of choice is radically challenging sacramental, baptismal theology. Drawing on the two fundamental biblical metaphors for baptism—baptism as a womb (John 3) and a tomb (Rom 6)—the article tries to reimagine ministry emerging from these two metaphors. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of developing ministry by the use of this dialectic—ministry as both womb and tomb.     

Illness perception in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Illness perception (IP) concerns how patients evaluate living with a disease. To get a broader understanding of IP in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), we investigated whether breathlessness is an important precursor of IP and whether IP in its turn is related to mental health, physical health and global quality of life (QOL). One hundred and fifty‐four patients with COPD participated in a cross‐sectional survey. Participants underwent pulmonary function testing, provided socio‐demographic and clinical information, and completed the following standardized instruments: Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, Respiratory Quality of Life Questionnaire, Short‐Form 12 Health Survey and the Quality of Life Scale. Multiple regression analyses were performed. A high IP score indicates that a patient believes that his/her illness represents a threat. Participants with a high score on the IP dimensions consequences, identity, concern and emotional representation, experienced more breathlessness. High scores on the IP dimensions consequences, identity and concern were associated with impaired physical health and high scores on the IP dimensions consequences, identity and emotional representation were associated with impaired mental health. Impaired global QOL was associated with high scores on the IP dimensions consequences, identity, concern, coherence and emotional representation. The strength of the associations between breathlessness and physical/mental health and global QOL decreased when certain dimensions of IP were included as predictors, indicating that IP to some extent acts as a mediating factor. These findings may have practical implications of patient counselling by helping COPD patients to cope with their disease by restructuring their personal models of illness.     

Impassibility and revelation

What is the relation between divine unchangeability and the reality of change as implied in ideas of creation and redemption? Western Trinitarian theology in the 20^th century tended toward emphasizing the significance of change above divine unchangeability, giving it a modalist and Hegelian flavour that questioned the continuity with the church fathers. For this reason, it has been criticized by Orthodox theologians like Vladimir Lossky and David Bentley Hart. Newer scholarship has shown the significance of Luther's appropriation of the doctrine of divine unknowability and his insistence on the difference between revelation and divine essence for his understanding of the Trinity, which thus may appear to be much closer to the position of the Orthodox critics than to the Lutheran theologians criticized by them. There thus seems to be an unused potential in Luther's doctrine of the Trinity that should be of interest both for systematic and ecumenical theology.