The Ecology of Adolescent Substance Abuse Service Utilization

This paper presents an ecological-community model toward the explanation of variation in patterns of substance abuse (SA) service utilization among adolescents who are enrolled in Tennessee's Medicaid program (TennCare). Guided by a theoretical framework that draws from the social ecology work of Bronfenbrenner and health services utilization models promoted by Aday and Andersen, we apply a social indicators approach toward explaining the impact of community ecology on identification of SA and treatment engagement. Both county-level rates and individual-level treatment utilization are examined and hierarchical linear modeling is incorporated to examine the individual-in-community phenomenon. This study is an expansion of previous service utilization research and suggests that explanations of youth's service utilization must necessarily include not only individual, familial, and service system characteristics, but community factors, as well.     

The Relation Between Anger Coping Strategies,Anger Mood and Somatic Complaints in Children and Adolescents

Attempts to explain the experience of somatic complaints among children and adolescents suggest that they may in part result from the influence of particular strategies for coping with anger on the longevity of negative emotions. To explore these relationships British (n = 393) and Dutch (n = 299) children completed a modified version of the Behavioral Anger Response Questionnaire (BARQ), and two additional questionnaires assessing anger mood and somatic complaints. A hierarchical regression analysis showed that for both the UK and Dutch samples two coping styles, Social support-seeking and Rumination, made a significant contribution to somatic complaints, over and above the variance explained by anger mood. A tendency to repeatedly think or talk about an angering event as a way of coping seems to underlie the observed negative health effects. In addition, tentative support is given for a broader range of strategies to cope with anger than just the traditionally studied anger-out and anger-in styles.     

The Relations of Effortful Control and Impulsivity to Children's Sympathy: A Longitudinal Study

The relations of children's (n = 214 at Time 1; M age = 6 years at Time 1) dispositional sympathy to adult-reported and behavioral measures of effortful control (EC) and impulsivity were examined in a longitudinal study including five assessments, each two years apart. Especially for boys, relatively high levels of EC and growth in EC were related to high sympathy. Teacher-reported impulsivity was generally modestly negatively related to measures of teacher-reported sympathy for boys, and a decline in impulsivity was linked to boys’ sympathy. Some findings suggested a positive association between impulsivity and children's self-reported sympathy. EC, especially when reported by teachers, was more often a unique predictor of sympathy than was impulsivity. Results generally support the argument that sympathetic individuals, especially boys, are high in EC and that EC is a more consistent predictor of sympathy than impulsivity.     

Effects of repeated retrieval of central and peripheral details in complex emotional slides

Research has demonstrated that repeated retrieval enhances memory for practised verbal information, but undermines correct recall of unpractised related verbal information, a phenomenon known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). This paper addresses the question of what happens with memory for unrehearsed aspects of an emotional picture when retrieval of other aspects of that picture is practised. In two experiments we investigated whether repeated retrieval of certain details of negative emotional slides undermines recall of unrehearsed details of such slides. In Experiment 1 retrieval of peripheral details was practised. The results demonstrated that recall for peripheral details was enhanced. However, correct recall of unpractised central details remained unaffected. Furthermore, retrieval practice did not alter the number of commission errors. Experiment 2 revealed that repeated retrieval of central details enhanced memory for these details. Although more commission errors were produced, again correct recall was not impaired for the unrehearsed central and peripheral details. This failure to find retrieval-induced forgetting effects for complex visual material is at odds with the RIF literature, and potential reasons for this are discussed. The data also extend previous studies in demonstrating that extensive retrieval can increase the number of commission errors.     

Intrusive memories and rumination in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder: a phenomenological comparison

The aim of the study was to investigate the phenomenological differences between intrusive memories and rumination in PTSD. The study population consisted of 31 patients with PTSD referred for cognitive behavioural therapy to specialist services. A semi-structured interview was used to examine the characteristics of the most prominent intrusive memory and rumination. Intrusive memories were predominantly sensory experiences of short duration, whereas rumination was predominantly a thought process of longer duration. Shame was associated more with rumination than with intrusive memories. Anxiety, helplessness, numbness, and threat were greater at the time of the trauma than when experiencing the intrusive memory. In contrast, feelings like anger and sadness were greater when experiencing intrusive memories than at the time of the event. The distinction between intrusive memories and rumination is of clinical importance as intrusive memories usually decrease with imaginal reliving of the trauma, whereas rumination may require different therapeutic strategies, such as rumination-focused or mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.     

她住在主耶稣的生命里——忆述母亲在中国度过的童年及如何走上事奉上帝之路

母亲的模样我记不太清楚了,但我可以肯定,那时的她充满了喜乐.母亲的喜乐并非来自完美或理想的外部环境而是源自她内心对主耶稣深厚、持久的挚爱.