Doing Social Identity Leadership: Exploring the Efficacy of an Identity Leadership Intervention on Perceived Leadership and Mobilization in Elite Disability Soccer

Based on social identity principles we explore the efficacy of a leadership intervention in elite disability sport. A 2-year longitudinal design involved an elite male disability soccer team that prepared for a World Championship in Year 1 and then reformed for Paralympic competition in Year 2. Athlete data indicated marginal to significant increases from baseline to intervention phases in social identification, identity leadership displayed by staff, and hours practice completed away from training camps, but no significant change in mobilization of effort (in Year 1 and 2). We discuss the applied implications, study limitations, and opportunities for future researchers.     

A Historical Survey of Police Suicide in Queensland,Australia, 1843–1992

Police suicide research has yielded inconsistent results. An opportunity presented to survey Queensland police suicides in a historical context and add to the existing literature; the study describes changes in police suicide over time, the associated characteristics, and opportunities for intervention. Suicides were examined from the origins of police in Queensland in 1843 up to 1992. Suicide rates were higher earlier, around 60 per 100,000, declining to around 20 per 100,000 recently. The recent rate is lower than most other police studies but the same as the general community (employed). Most suicides were associated with psychological and physical ill health, alcohol abuse, and domestic problems, in keeping with general community surveys. However, occupational problems were more evident than is generally the case. The proximity in time of disciplinary events and suicides was striking. Future studies should explore the interactions between these factors.     

New-born infants' perception of similarities and differences between two- and three-dimensional stimuli

The new-born baby' ability to detect similarities and differences between three-dimensional stimuli and their two-dimensional representations is investigated in three experiments, using both visual preference and habituation procedures. In Expt 1 new-borns strongly preferred (looked more at) complex objects to their photographs. This preference was found with monocular viewing, and suggests that motion parallax is a salient cue in the detection of the differences between the two- and three-dimensional stimuli. The results from Expt 2 support the view that, for the new-born, the differences between objects and their two-dimensional representations are more detectable or salient than their similarities. These conclusions were further supported by the results from the last experiment, using simpler stimuli, although the preference was for the two- rather than the three-dimensional stimuli. The results suggest that studies which use only two-dimensional stimuli may provide only limited information about the course of perceptual development, at least in the first few months from birth.     

Incorporation of a successful community-based mammography intervention: dissemination beyond a community trial.

Although a variety of interventions to increase breast cancer screening have been found to be effective in community-based trials, their ultimate contribution depends on the extent to which they are incorporated (i.e., adopted and adapted) by community organizations. From 1990 to 1995, the authors conducted a National Cancer Institute-funded community-based trial that increased screening mammography among women ages 40 and older living in Minneapolis public housing. This study describes the processes by which this intervention, called Friend to Friend, was successfully adopted by the American Cancer Society, Midwest Division, and adapted for use by women throughout the state. The authors offer insights from experience with this translational effort and make recommendations to facilitate collaboration between research and community organizations.     

Contrast and spatial frequency components in visual preferences of newborns

A preferential-looking procedure was used to investigate newborns' responses to square-wave gratings varying in spatial frequency and contrast. A preliminary study confirmed that the gratings used in the experiment were suprathreshold. In the experiment newborns' preference for a grating of 0.1 cycle deg-1 within the peak contrast sensitivity range was examined. Reduction in the contrast of this grating led to a transfer of the preference to a high-contrast grating of the same space-averaged luminance with a spatial frequency outside this range (0.42 cycle deg-1). The findings are discussed with reference to the role of the contrast sensitivity function in pattern preferences of newborns: it is suggested that contrast and spatial frequency interact in determining pattern preferences.     

Book reviews

Lipsitt, L. P. and Rove-Collier, C. K. (Eds.). Advances in infancy research. Volume 2. New York: Ablex Publishing Corporation. 1983. Pp. xxix + 314. ISBN 0-89391-113-5. £40.40.

Mollon, J. D. and Sharpe, J. T. (Eds.). Colour vision physiology and psychophysics. London: Academic Press. 1983.

Solan, L. pronominal reference: Child language and the theory of gram- mar. Dordreht: Reidel. 1983. Pp xii +237. ISBN 90-277-1495-9. £26.40.

Atkinson, Martin. Explanations in the study of child language development. Cambridge Studies in Linguistics: 35. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 289. ISBN 0-521-25593-3 (Paperback). £7.50. ISBN 0-521-24302-5 (Case).     

Predictors of Improvement in Pediatric Chronic Migraine: Results from the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Amitriptyline Trial

Explore predictors of improvement in headache days and migraine-related disability through a secondary analysis of the cognitive-behavioral therapy plus amitriptyline trial in children and adolescents (Clinical Trials Registration Number: NCT00389038). Participants were 135 youth aged 10–17 years old diagnosed with chronic migraine. Predictor variables included group assignment (treatment or control), baseline scores from depression and quality of life measures, and demographic variables. Criterion variables included headache days and migraine-related disability. Higher baseline depression scores were indicative of more days with headache post-treatment regardless of group assignment. Family income at the higher-end of the low-income range was significantly associated with less migraine-related disability regardless of group assignment (Household Income: HINC-01 in The United States Census Bureau. Bureau, U, 2020). Results from this secondary analysis identify depression symptoms and family income as predictors that can impact headache frequency and migraine-related disability. Self-reported symptoms of depression and family income are important factors to consider as part of the biopsychosocial model of care.