IS REFLECTIVE SUPERVISION ENOUGH? AN EXPLORATION OF WORKFORCE PERSPECTIVES

Infant mental health practice requires the performance of intense emotional labor. Professionals comprising the infant mental health (IMH) field are largely women at seminal points in adult life‐span development. The purpose of this article is to explore the day‐to‐day challenges faced by clinical infant mental health professionals and their perspectives on the supports available for effective job performance. We review reflective supervision as a long‐cherished professional support in the IMH field designed to hold the practitioner's fears, worries, and ambivalence, so that she may return to the work fortified to remain in therapeutic alliance with families despite unsolvable problems and an unknowable future (Weatherston, D., 2009). Yet, we propose that reflective supervision alone may not be an adequate protective measure for a workforce performing intensive emotional labor for extended periods and therefore at potentially increased risk for burnout and high turnover (Hochschild, A.R. 1983 ; C. Maslach, 1982 , C.M. Brotheridge & A.A. Grandey, 2009; A.S. Wharton, 2009 ). We suggest that structural factors concerning organizational culture, flexibility in scheduling, and professional growth and versatility bear deeper examination for their merits in supporting the IMH workforce. Finally, we contend that the overrepresentation of women in practitioner positions in IMH leaves an empirical gap where little is known about the experience of male IMH practitioners and the ramifications of their performance of emotional labor.     

Parental Problem Drinking and Emerging Adult Problem Behavior: The Moderating Role of Parental Support

This study examined the relationship between parental problem drinking (maternal and paternal) and emerging adult problem behaviors (alcohol use, drug use, and antisocial behavior). In addition, the moderating role of parental support (maternal and paternal) was explored. Data were drawn from a nationally representative sample of emerging adults (N?=?600; Mage?=?20.00, SD?=?1.42; 50% women; 62% White). Results from regression analyses of survey data indicated that both maternal problem drinking and maternal support moderated the relationship between paternal problem drinking and emerging adult alcohol use. For drug use, there was a three-way interaction between paternal problem drinking, maternal problem drinking, and maternal support. The relationship between paternal problem drinking and drug use only was significant for those who reported high maternal problem drinking and low maternal support. For antisocial behavior, there were positive relationships between paternal problem drinking and antisocial behavior and between maternal problem drinking and antisocial behavior in contexts of varying levels of parental support. Findings highlight the potential for parental support to both buffer and enhance the adverse influence of parental problem drinking across varied contexts.     

Statistical learning in typically developing children: the role of age and speed of stimulus presentation

It is possible that statistical learning (SL) plays a role in almost every mental activity. Indeed, research on SL has grown rapidly over recent decades in an effort to better understand perception and cognition. Yet, there remain gaps in our understanding of how SL operates, in particular with regard to its (im)mutability. Here, we investigated whether participant-related variables (such as age) and task-related variables (such as speed of stimulus presentation) affect visual statistical learning (VSL) in typically developing children. We tested 183 participants ranging in age from 5 to 12 years and compared three speeds of presentation (using stimulus durations of 800, 400 and 200 msecs). A multiple regression analysis revealed significant effects of both age and speed of presentation - after attention during familiarization and gender had been taken into consideration. VSL followed a developmental trajectory whereby learning increased with age. The amount of learning increased with longer presentation times (as shown by Turk-Browne, Jungé & Scholl, 2005, in their study of adults). There was no significant interaction between the two variables. These findings assist in elucidating the nature of statistical learning itself. While statistical learning can be observed in very young children and at remarkably fast presentation times, participant- and task-related variables do impact upon this type of learning. The findings reported here may serve to enhance our understanding of individual differences in the cognitive and perceptual processes that are thought to rely, at least in part, on SL (e.g. language processing and object recognition).     

Happiness and International Migration

In this paper, we consider the extent to which the aggregate happiness of a country affects the flow of people across its borders. We merge data from the World Values Survey, which produces happiness indices for 84 countries between 1981 and 2004, with three different migration datasets: emigration rates from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, immigration rates from the U.S. Census, and net migration rates from the United Nations. We find that happiness has a U-shaped relationship with emigration rates: emigration rates fall in happiness for relatively unhappy countries, but rise for relatively happy countries. The U-shaped relationship also holds for migrant flows into the U.S. When analyzing net migration rates, we find that the reverse relationship exists. Net migration is associated with an increase in happiness for relatively unhappy countries, but after a threshold level of happiness, net migration is associated with a decrease in happiness. Our findings are robust to various empirical specifications and datasets.     

A longitudinal assessment of the home literacy environment and early language

This longitudinal assessment concentrated on the relation between the home literacy environment (HLE) and early language acquisition during infancy and toddlerhood. In study 1, after controlling for socio‐economic status, a broadly defined HLE predicted language comprehension in 50 infants. In study 2, 27 children returned for further analyses. Findings revealed that the HLE measured in infancy predicted language production in toddlerhood and maternal redirecting behaviours measured in toddlerhood were negatively associated with expressive language. Results across both studies indicate the importance of a broadly defined HLE (including joint attention and parent–child conversation) for language development. Taken together, these findings highlight the importance of the HLE in supporting both receptive and expressive vocabulary growth in the second and third years of life. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ideals, perceptions, and evaluations in early relationship development

This research examined partner and relationship perceptions and ideal standards in 100 individuals over time, from the 1st to the 12th month of their dating relationships. As expected, the results revealed that (a) individuals evaluated their relationships on both distinct evaluative components and global evaluative dimensions, (b) higher ideal-perception consistency was associated with higher perceived quality of relationships and partners, (c) more positive perceptions of partners and relationships at earlier points in time were associated with more importance being placed on relevant ideals over time but not vice versa, and (d) higher levels of ideal-perception consistency predicted lower rates of relationship dissolution but were mediated through perceptions of relationship quality. These results support the ideal standards model (Fletcher & Simpson, in press).     

The abilities of children with mental retardation to remember personal experiences: implications for testimony

Investigated the abilities of children with mental retardation to remember the details of a personally experienced event. A simulated health check was administered to 20 children with mental retardation and 40 normally developing children, half matched on mental age (MA) and half matched on chronological age (CA) with the children with mental retardation. The children's memory was assessed immediately after the health check and 6 weeks later. Overall, the children with mental retardation accurately recalled the health check features, provided detail, and resisted misleading questions about features that did not occur. The group with mental retardation performed similarly to the MA matches on virtually all of the memory variables. The children with mental retardation performed worse than the CA matches on most of the memory variables, although they were able to recall a similar number of features. The findings are discussed in terms of the ability of children with mental retardation to provide accurate testimony.     

Behavioral versus Behavioral and Pharmacological Treatment in ADHD Children Attending a Summer Treatment Program

As part of the behavioral treatment in the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (MTA), children participated in an intensive summer treatment program (STP). This study examined the differences between 57 children in the combined treatment (Comb) group, who were medicated, and 60 children in the behavioral treatment (Beh) group, who were unmedicated throughout the STP. Comb children were significantly better than Beh on 5 measures: rule following, good sportsmanship, peer negative nominations, and STP teacher posttreatment ratings of inattention/overactivity. Groups did not differ on any of the other 30 measures, and responded similarly to the STP over time. Comparisons to normative data revealed that Comb children were more likely to fall within the normative range on 6 measures. The differences between these results and the main MTA results, in which Comb was always superior to Beh, are discussed in terms of the relative intensity of combined treatments. The implications for future studies of pharmacological and behavioral treatment for ADHD are discussed.     

Development and validation of a Client Problem Profile and Index for drug treatment

The development of the Client Problem Profile and Index are described, and initial concurrent and predictive validity data are presented for a sample of 547 patients in outpatient methadone treatment. Derived from the TCU Brief Intake for drug treatment admissions, the profile covers 14 problem areas related to drug use (particularly cocaine, heroin/opiate, marijuana, other illegal drugs, and multiple drug use), HIV risks, psychosocial-functioning, health, employment, and criminality. Analyses of predictive validity show the profile and its index (number of problem areas) were significantly related to therapeutic engagement, during-treatment performance, and posttreatment follow-up outcomes. Low moderate to high moderate effect sizes were observed in analyses of the index's discrimination.