Examining the Latent Structure of Posttraumatic Growth Between Male and Female Survivors in the Immediate Aftermath of a Flash Flood Disaster

The study examined and compared the latent structure of posttraumatic growth (PTG) based on three proposed models: 1-factor, 3-factor and 5-factor models in order to (1) find out the factor structure that has the best fit for the Filipino sample; (2) find out the factor structure that best represents PTG in the immediate aftermath of a flash flood disaster; and (3) examine the generalizability of the best-fitted model across gender. A sample of 895 survivor-respondents answered the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) within a month after a deadly flash flood. Based on the best-fitted model, a multi-group comparison between male and female was conducted to determine gender generalizability. Results showed that the 3-factor model comprising of Changes in Self/Positive Life Attitudes, Philosophy of Life, and Relating to Others fitted best in contrast to the other two models. The data also demonstrated the generalizability of the 3-factor model across gender, with invariance in factor loadings, item intercepts, factor variance and covariance, and factor means.     

Spanish Adaptation of the Working Alliance Inventory-Short (WAI-S)

The goal of our research was to adapt the short forms of the Working Alliance Inventory into the Spanish language for patients and therapists (WAI-S-P and WAI-S-T). The psychometric properties of scores from these measurement instruments were evaluated in Spanish outpatients with depressive disorders and their therapists. The scores of both measures exhibited excellent reliability in terms of internal consistency and excellent convergent validity. Their discriminant validity exhibited some limitations, particularly when the scores of both short measures correlated with those of two empathy measures. Regarding predictive validity, the scores of the overall WAI-S-P and WAI-S-T significantly correlated with residual gain scores of patients in the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) after the tenth psychotherapy session. Additionally, the overall WAI-S-T scores explained a moderate percentage of the variance in patient BDI score changes. These results are satisfactory and similar to those found in the studies that have utilized the respective original versions of WAI-S in English.     

Multisensory Stimulation to Improve Low- and Higher-Level Sensory Deficits after Stroke: A Systematic Review

The aim of this systematic review was to integrate and assess evidence for the effectiveness of multisensory stimulation (i.e., stimulating at least two of the following sensory systems: visual, auditory, and somatosensory) as a possible rehabilitation method after stroke. Evidence was considered with a focus on low-level, perceptual (visual, auditory and somatosensory deficits), as well as higher-level, cognitive, sensory deficits. We referred to the electronic databases Scopus and PubMed to search for articles that were published before May 2015. Studies were included which evaluated the effects of multisensory stimulation on patients with low- or higher-level sensory deficits caused by stroke. Twenty-one studies were included in this review and the quality of these studies was assessed (based on eight elements: randomization, inclusion of control patient group, blinding of participants, blinding of researchers, follow-up, group size, reporting effect sizes, and reporting time post-stroke). Twenty of the twenty-one included studies demonstrate beneficial effects on low- and/or higher-level sensory deficits after stroke. Notwithstanding these beneficial effects, the quality of the studies is insufficient for valid conclusion that multisensory stimulation can be successfully applied as an effective intervention. A valuable and necessary next step would be to set up well-designed randomized controlled trials to examine the effectiveness of multisensory stimulation as an intervention for low- and/or higher-level sensory deficits after stroke. Finally, we consider the potential mechanisms of multisensory stimulation for rehabilitation to guide this future research.     

Parenting Dimensions and Internalizing Difficulties in Italian and U.S. Emerging Adults: The Intervening Role of Autonomy and Relatedness

The present study examined the associations between emerging adults’ perceived parental psychological control and autonomy support, and their autonomy, relatedness and internalizing difficulties in Italy and the U.S. The participants included 494 Italian and 414 U.S. college students, between 18 and 28 years of age (Mean = 21.58, SD = 2.18). Our findings showed that dependency-oriented psychological control had no significant direct associations with autonomy, relatedness or internalizing difficulties. Moreover, the association between parental autonomy support and internalizing problems was fully intervened by autonomy and relatedness, whereas the association between achievement-oriented psychological control and anxiety and depressive symptoms was partially intervened by autonomy and relatedness. Finally, although parental psychological control and autonomy support had similar effects on maladjustment across the two countries, relatedness appeared to play a more central role as an intervening variable for anxiety in the Italian group than in the U.S. group. Overall, our findings highlighted the importance of examining parents’ contributions to emerging adults’ internalizing problems via autonomy support and psychological control across cultures.     

Clarity of Personal Values and Committed Action: Development of a Shorter Engaged Living Scale

The Engaged Living Scale (ELS) is a measure of the process of engaged living, defined by Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as the evaluation and performance of valued life activities. This 16-item measure was recently created and has been validated in middle-aged and chronic pain samples. The aim of the present study was to validate the ELS-16 in a young-adult sample and additionally to develop a shorter ELS. This study was conducted using different samples of Portuguese young-adult college students. The dimensionality of the ELS-16 (which was translated to Portuguese from the original Dutch) was tested through a CFA. The adequacy of the shorter ELS (ELS-9) was also tested through a CFA. The scales’ internal reliability and other psychometric qualities were additionally analysed. Results from the CFA suggested that the model benefits from the establishment of correlations between pairs of error terms of items with similar contents. These results led to the decision to shorten the measure by excluding the item of each pair with the lowest communalities. The ELS-9 was then created and its CFA results revealed good to excellent adjustment values and goodness-of-fit indices. Results also showed that the ELS-16 and the ELS-9 present adequate to good psychometric properties. The present study thus shows that these instruments seem to be reliable measures of engaged living and to perform adequately in young-adult college students, with the ELS-9 being a new contribution to health research and allowing faster administrations.     

Linguistic and prosodic aspects of child-directed speech: The role of maternal child-rearing experiences

This study explored if the quality of mothers’ reported child-rearing experiences influences the prosodic and linguistic features of maternal child-directed speech. Lexical, syntactic, functional and prosodic aspects of maternal speech directed towards their 24-month-old children were examined. Results showed that mothers with different child-rearing histories differed in the ways they talked to their children. Mothers who recalled the caregiving they received during childhood as characterized by high levels of care and low levels of control, used a lexically and syntactically more complex speech and expressed more positive emotions. This kind of input seems to be more attuned with the typical growing skills of two-year-old children. Implications for the study of mother–infant relationship as well as for the study of child language development are addressed.     

Reactive temperament traits and behavioural problems in children: the mediating role of effortful control across sex and age

This study examines the mediating role of effortful control between reactive temperament traits (negative affectivity and extraversion) and children’s internalizing and externalizing behavioural problems. The sample was composed of 424 non-clinical children from 3 to 6 years of age (60% male). Use of a structural equation model revealed effortful control-mediated relations between reactive temperament traits and behavioural problems. Nevertheless, uniquely and directly, negative affect predicted externalizing problems and extraversion predicted internalizing problems. Assessment of invariance by children’s sex showed that the mediating role of effortful control tends to be stronger for externalizing problems in boys than in girls. Results showed no significant age differences. According to these results, effortful control as a method of self-regulation seems to be an essential process through which reactive temperament traits affect a child’s psychological adjustment.