Jeri altneu sechzer (1926-2011)

Presents an obituary for Jeri Altneu Sechzer. Jeri studied at the University of Pennsylvania, where her mentor was the renowned physiological psychologist Elliot Stellar. She received her doctorate in 1962 with a specialty in physiological psychology. That same year she was elected to Sigma Xi, the scientific research society, and received the Creative Talent Award from the American Institute of Research for her doctoral dissertation. She completed a U.S. Public Health Service Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, after which she accepted a position at Baylor University College, followed by a position at the New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center. She completed her career as a visiting professor in the Psychology Department at Pace University. Jeri's husband of 56 years, Philip, died in 2004. As a result of her experience looking after him during the long illness that preceded his death, she became interested in the psychological impact of the stresses that caregivers face. She was planning to organize a conference on this subject when she suffered her final illness, leading to her death on October 29, 2011, just before her 85th birthday. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Special People? An Exploratory Study into Re-entering Missionaries’ Identity and Resilience

Home country re-entry from cross-cultural missionary work abroad may be associated with psychological distress. Re-entrants experience multiple losses including loss of identity which may be associated with personal/relational identity gaps and depersonalization/dehumanization. However, research suggests that some re-entrants are resilient with good mental health, while others are fragile with poor mental health. The aims of this paper are to explore the nature and frequency of re-entering missionaries’ identity gaps and their depersonalization/dehumanization in resilient and fragile re-entrants. Fifteen re-entering adult Australian cross-cultural missionary workers from four interdenominational Australian mission organizations completed semi-structured interviews. Results were analysed using modified Consensual Qualitative Research methods. Links were established between personal/relational identity gaps, depersonalization/dehumanization and resilience on re-entry. Implications for re-entrants’ care are discussed with suggestions for further research.     

Handwriting Difficulties and Their Assessment in Young Adults with DCD: Extension of the DASH for 17-to 25-Year-Olds

Handwriting difficulties are common in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and frequently continue into adulthood. In spite of increased computer use, handwriting remains an essential everyday life skill. The Detailed Assessment of Speed of Handwriting (DASH) provides an objective measure of handwriting performance for students aged 9–16 years. No equivalent test for adults exists. The aim of this study is to explore developmental trends beyond the age of 16 on the five tasks included in the DASH and to describe the employment of these data in an extension of the test for 17-to 25-year-olds (DASH 17+). A case study is included to illustrate its use in the assessment of young adults with DCD. Three hundred and ninety-three students between the ages of 17 and 25 completed the test. The sample was selected to represent the population of UK students in post-16 education. Statistically significant, but overall modest developmental trends in handwriting performance were found for all tasks. Depending on the task, the year-on-year average increase in performance followed a linear or non-linear trend. Gender effects were generally small. DASH 17+ will provide useful information on any individual whose handwriting is causing concern, including those with, or suspected of having DCD.     

Impact of Organizational Identification and Psychological Safety on Initial Perceptions of Coworker Trustworthiness

Purpose

Initial trustworthiness perceptions serve as anchored reference points for subsequent trust perceptions and associated behavioral choices in organizations. Examining the relationship between the employee and the organization is an underexplored influence on such perceptions. This study is an investigation of how perceived psychological safety (PS) in the work environment and level of organizational identification (OI) influence initial perceptions of others?? trustworthiness.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data were obtained through survey and scenario methods from a sample of high-potential managers (n?=?155) during participation in a leadership development training course.

Findings

Results demonstrate that both disposition to trust and PS have positive relationships with initial perceptions of others?? trustworthiness. There is also a significant negative moderating effect of OI on the relationship between psychology safety and perceived trustworthiness. PS has a strong positive significant relationship with initial perceptions of others?? trustworthiness when OI is low. This relationship is non-significant when OI is high.

Implications

This study provides evidence that the relationship between the employee and the organization can influence individual perceptions of initial trustworthiness in others.

Originality/Value

Aspects of the relationship between the trustor and the organization have not previously been considered as influences on initial trustworthiness perceptions. PS, often investigated as a direct influence on learning and performance, has not been previously examined as a socialized influence on trustworthiness perceptions.     

"Like an uncle but more, but less than a father"-Irish children's relationships with nonresident fathers

Although previous research has highlighted the importance of the quality of nonresident father-child relationships for children's well-being, little is known about children's perspectives on what underpins feelings of closeness to their nonresident fathers. This qualitative study explored the processes that facilitate or constrain children's feelings of closeness to their nonresident fathers. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 27 children (ages 8 to 17) who had grown up in a single-mother household, where fathers were nonresident from early in the child's life. Findings revealed the fragility of children's ties with their nonresident fathers and the risk that nonresidence from the outset placed upon these relationships. Children's experiences of closeness to fathers were related to perceptions of their fathers' commitment to their relationship and his obligation to his parenting role, and to a sense of connection to and familiarity with their fathers. It was a challenge for children to feel connected to their fathers when contact arrangements were detached from caregiving activities and precluded immersion in each other's daily lives. Lack of effort on the part of fathers to maintain contact or failure to keep arrangements constrained children's feelings of closeness and gave rise to feelings of disappointment and anger. Children demonstrated their capacity to act as agents within their families as they made sense of these relationships for themselves and accepted or rejected their father as a person who could play a meaningful role in their lives. The implications of the findings for promoting positive relationships with nonresident fathers are discussed.     

Operant reinforcement with structural family therapy in treating anorexia nervosa

Abstract

This paper integrates clinical data gathered through psychotherapy with dual-career couples and research findings from social psychology and sociology. The paper's main focus is the clinical understanding and therapeutic interventions most appropriate for these couples' marital and individual difficulties. The paper briefly describes characteristics of the dual-career lifestyle and personalities. The analysis provides case examples illustrating external and internal sources of stress generated by a lack of time or the need for an effective system for handling housework and childcare.     

A Data-Driven Perspective: Response to Commentaries by Maguen and Burkman (2013) and Steenkamp et al. (2013)

We respond to commentary from Maguen and Burkman (2013-this issue) and Steenkamp et al. (2013-this issue) on our presentation of how to use PE to treat PTSD resulting from perceived perpetration (Smith et al., 2013-this issue). We focus our response on the distinction between moral injury, which can result in many potential mental health outcomes, with various treatment plans coming out of the patient's presentation, and treatment of PTSD resulting from trauma that may or may not include moral injury. We then focus on the strong evidence base that supports the use of PE for PTSD across trauma types and across many complicated patient presentations, including evidence within veteran populations. We respond to common misunderstandings of PE and Emotional Processing Theory that underlie this treatment model. Specifically, we discuss the flexibility that is inherent in the PE model, reassert that PE focuses on whatever emotion/s are present and provoked by direct confrontation of traumatic material (e.g., reminders, memories), and discuss that habituation is not the only process at work in PE. As such, shame and guilt related to moral injury can be effectively addressed, as noted in Smith et al. Finally, rather than developing a new and unproven model of treatment as the commentaries propose, we assert that given the strong evidence base for efficacy and effectiveness of PE for PTSD and the significant and ongoing investment in dissemination of PE, continued support for providers on how to effectively use PE with difficult patients is warranted.     

The relationship of social support to physical and psychological aspects of AIDS

Abstract

This study explored the social support networks of 50 homosexual males with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Data gathered by self report questionnaires and medical records included diagnosis, number of medical symptoms, sociodemographics, extensive information about social support networks, mood state and physical health status. Variables associated with good psychological and physical adaptation included satisfaction with support, instrumental support and emotional support. Results of this study conflict with previous studies in that worse physical condition was not positively associated with satisfaction with support, was related to less instrumental support and was not associated with increased quantitative support. The measures of satisfaction with support, instrumental support and emotional support were all quite high, even though network size was small.     

The Royal Road and the Common Artery

This is the story of two of my dreams and how working with them guided me to discovery and treatment of a life-threatening brain aneurysm. Subsequent study revealed clues to the condition contained in my various creative interests in the year prior to the dreams. These, though they remained unconscious, proved to be probable diagnostic indicators. I had no conscious physical symptoms.     

Gender Stereotypes in the Family Context: Mothers, Fathers, and Siblings

Gender stereotypes of children and their parents were examined. Participants included 355 three-year-old children, their one-year-old siblings, and their mothers and fathers. Families were selected from the Western region of the Netherlands. Implicit gender stereotypes were assessed with computerized versions of the Action Inference Paradigm (AIP; both child and parents) and the Implicit Association Test (parent only). Parental explicit gender stereotypes were measured with the Child Rearing Sex-Role Attitude Scale. Findings revealed that mothers had stronger implicit gender stereotypes than fathers, whereas fathers had stronger explicit stereotypes than mothers. Fathers with same-gender children had stronger implicit gender stereotypes about adults than parents with mixed-gender children. For the children, girls’ implicit gender stereotypes were significantly predicted by their mother’s implicit gender stereotypes about children. This association could only be observed when the AIP was used to assess the stereotypes of both parent and child. A family systems model is applicable to the study of gender stereotypes.