Not just standing there: the use of postural coordination to aid visual tasks

Postural control is an integral part of all physical behavior. Recent research has indicated that postural control functions in a manner that facilitates other higher order (suprapostural) tasks. These studies, while showing that postural sway is modulated in a task specific manner, have not examined the form of postural coordination that allows for the achievement of these higher behavioral goals. The current study examined the relation between visual task constraints (viewing distance), environmental constraints (changes in the surface of support), and the postural coordination employed to complete the task. Thirty-one participants were asked to perform a reading task while standing on various surfaces. Postural motion was recorded from the head, cervico-thoracic spine, sacrum (hip), and ankle. It was found that body segment coordination changed as a function of surface characteristics and task constraints. Additionally, the overall pattern of postural sway (head motion) replicated that which was found by Stoffregen et al. [J. Exp. Psychol. Human Percep. Perform. 25 (6) (1999) 1641]. These findings suggest that postural adaptation involves more than basic reduction or increase of motion; it involves the functional coordination of body segments to achieve a particular goal. The data further suggest that there is a need to examine postural control in the absence of external perturbations.     

Covering up what can't be seen: concealable stigma and mental control.

In these studies the authors examined the effects of concealing a stigma in a social interaction relevant to the stigma. An interview paradigm called for undergraduate female participants who either did or did not have eating disordered characteristics to play the role of someone who did or did not have an eating disorder (ED) while answering stigma-relevant questions. The data suggest that the participants who concealed their stigmas become preoccupied with the control of stigma-relevant thoughts. In Study 1, participants with an ED who role-played not having an ED exhibited more secrecy, suppression, and intrusive thoughts of their ED and more projection of ED-related thoughts onto the interviewer than did those with an ED who role-played someone with an ED or those without an ED who role-played someone without an ED. This finding was replicated in Study 2, and the authors found both increasing accessibility of ED-related words among those participants with concealed stigmas during the interview and high levels of accessibility following the interview.     

Psychoanalytic and behavioral considerations in antagonist and methadone programs

Whatever view we hold it must be shown Why every lover has a wish to make Some other kind of otherness his own: Perhaps, in fact, we never are alone. (2)     

Rationality,self-regard and the “healthiness” of personality disorders

Although irrationality has been consistently correlated with the intensity of acute clinical syndromes that are characterized by emotional or thought disorders, relationships between irrationality and personality disorders have not been investigated carefully. When they enter treatment, clients at the Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy (IRET) had personality trait scale scores that accounted for substantial variance in rationality scale scores on several well-validated instruments. The eleven scales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) associated with the DSM-III axis II personality disorders had a pattern of relationships with rationality and irrationality that parallels their somewhat surprising relationships with measures of acute emotional distress. Scales 4, 5, 6, and 7 were almost always associated with hyperrationality on most scales and with enhanced self-esteem, as well as with relatively low distress; scales 1, 2, 3, 8, S, and C were associated with irrationality and low self-esteem, as well as with severe distress. The P scale had inconsistent and weak correlations with rationality and self-esteem, as it had with measures of intake distress.Russell C. Leaf is Associate Professor of Psychology at Rutgers. He also directs a research project at the Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy, in collaboration with the four other authors of this article, on the relationships between intake personality and mental health. He is an Institute Fellow and Supervisor, and previously served as a staff therapist and as the Institute's Director of Clinical Evaluation.Albert Ellis is President of the Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy.Roslyn Mass is Professor of Psychology at Middlesex County College. She is in charge of data processing and analysis for the collaborative research of this authorial team, and is a Fellow of and previously served as Administrative Director of the Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy.Raymond DiGiuseppe is Associate Professor of Psychology at St. Johns and Director of Research and Director of Training at the Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy.Diane Alington is Assistant Director and a core member of the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research at Rutgers, where she conducts a research program on sex differences in adult development.     

Cross-Validation of the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-2 Youth Version: An Exploration of Strength-Based Latent Traits

High-quality measurement is a necessary requirement to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of programs that use strength-based principles and strategies. Using independent cross-validation samples, we report two studies that explored the construct validity of the BERS-2 Youth Report, a popular measure designed to assess youth strengths, whose conceptual structure has not yet been examined. In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis found a four-factor solution with conceptual support, which included both internal assets associated with (a) the management of emotions and positive social interaction skills and (b) engagement in the important social contexts of family and school. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analyses found reasonable model fit for the BERS-2 five-factor structure and superior model fit for the more parsimonious four-factor solution found in Study 1. In future studies, parallel reporting of the four-factor model may provide additional insight to the nature and structure of the BERS-2 Youth Version’s clinical validity and utility when compared with the five-factor model, thus potentially contributing to a broader objective to develop a better understanding of important strength-based latent traits.     

Home Versus School Environments and their Influences on the Affective and Behavioral States of African American,Hispanic, and Caucasian Juvenile Offenders

We examined and compared the influence of home and school environments to the affective (anxiety and depression) and behavioral (impulsivity and compliance) states of 626 African American, Caucasian, and Hispanic adjudicated juvenile offenders. African Americans showed the strongest relationship between their home environment and compliance. Caucasian and Hispanic males exhibited increased home and school environment problems associated with affective states. Among females, African American and Caucasian females exhibited the strongest relationships between their home environment and behavioral states, whereas Caucasian and Hispanic males revealed increased school environment problems related to affective states with Hispanic males showing the strongest relationships. In addition, the school environment was more predictive of the affective and behavioral states of the adolescents, particularly females.     

Parenting and Prematurity: Understanding Parent Experience and Preferences for Support

Infants born very preterm are at risk of developmental and behavioural problems and their parents are at risk of psychological distress and compromised parenting. This study has two key aims: (1) to identify, from the parents’ own perspective, the unique aspects of parenting an infant born very preterm and (2) to assess parent preferences for support including opinions of a new, tailored parenting intervention, Prem Baby Positive Parenting Program (Triple P). A qualitative approach was taken with focus groups of 18 parents of infants born preterm and a thematic analysis conducted. Parents identified several unique aspects of parenting an infant born preterm including: difficulty coping with the stress of hospitalisation; institutionalisation to the hospital environment; a lack of preparation for the transition to parenthood; grief; isolation; getting into “bad parenting habits” of overnurturance and a lack of certainty about developmental expectations. Parents preferred parenting support that is tailored to parents of infants born preterm, has flexible delivery, enhances coping skills and the spousal relationship and is sensitive to the emotional context of parenting an infant born preterm. Understanding the experiences and the preferences of parents of infants born preterm is an important step in tailoring parenting interventions to fit their needs.