Suicide Ideation and Attempts among Inhalant Users: Results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions

Few studies have examined associations of inhalant use and inhalant use disorders (IUDs) to suicide ideation and attempts. We investigated these relationships in the largest comorbidity survey conducted in the United States. Suicidal ideation was significantly more prevalent among inhalant users than nonusers and severity of inhalant use problems was positively related to suicidal ideation. Among persons with IUDs, 67.4% had thought about committing suicide and 20.2% had attempted suicide. Multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated that respondents with IUDs reported significantly higher levels of suicide ideation than inhalant nonusers. Inhalant use is associated with significantly increased risk for suicide ideation, especially among women and persons with DSM‐IV IUDs.     

Memory lapses during a pandemic: Differential associations between COVID-stress and daily memory lapses?

The policies related to COVID-19 pandemic such as stay at home orders and social distancing increased daily stress and associated impairments in mental health. This study examines the association between COVID-related stress and cognitive functioning by examining two different types of daily memory lapses, those related to prospective memory (i.e., memory for future plans) and retrospective memory (i.e., memory for past information) as well as the perceived emotional and functional consequences of daily memory problems. As part of a larger study, 58 adults (18 men; 22 ± 3 years) completed a web-based version of the daily inventory of stressful events including stress related to COVID-19 and positive/negative affect for eight consecutive days between 8 September 2020 and 11 November 2020. Findings showed that prospective lapses were positively correlated with COVID-19 stressors (r = 0.41, p = 0.002). At the within-person level, daily COVID-19 stressors were significantly associated with the number of prospective lapses (b = 0.088, SE = 0.040). COVID-19-related stressors were not significantly related to retrospective lapses (all ps > 0.05). Our findings suggested that more daily COVID-19 stressors were related to greater numbers of prospective lapses in daily life even among healthy younger adults. Thus, future research should address long term relations of COVID-19 stress and cognitive functioning in addition to the specific cognitive impairments related to COVID-19 infection.     

Effects of Control on the Stress Reactions of Commuters1

The effects of morning, rush hour commuting were examined in a quasi-experimental field study involving government-employed commuters (single and carpool drivers). Commuting stress was measured as a response to variations in how difficult it was for commuters to move from home to work. The mediation of these effects by two sources of control in the commuting situation also were assessed. Control was operationalized as control over the internal environment of the car (single versus carpool driver) and choice over routes taken to get to work. Among commuters with a high impedance route, driving to work was associated with significant increases in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and decreases in behavioral performance. The stress of commuting under high impedance conditions was reduced for single drivers relative to carpoolers. Under similar conditions of high impedance, however, having the option to select more than one route to get to work seemed to be more stressful than having only one route. The practical implications of these results are discussed.     

The perception of poverty and wealth among teenage university students

This study is concerned with the perception of poverty and wealth among teenage university students. Two hundred twenty students completed a questionnaire which probed their perceptions of the attributions and consequences of poverty and wealth, requested them to estimate the job prospects of a school leaver with and without a certificate qualification, and also requested that they estimate the income for both a specified "poor" and "rich" man. The students also provided information about their economic preferences, religious position, and family financial position. Results indicate that the sample emphasized the significance of the family and placed little weight on luck when dealing with poverty and wealth. The sample emphasized the economic consequences of poverty and wealth, and did not rate their psychological consequences as being of much importance. Certain groups within the sample showed some deviations in their perceptions. The most substantial group differences were between the capitalist-religious and socialist-religious groups.     

TEMPORAL RELATIONSHIPS IN LANGUAGE1

Bref exposé d'une approche piagétienne à L'étude de L'acquisition du langage. Certains principes de base de la psychologie génétique qui s'appliquent également à ce domaine sont rappelés. La méthode d'interrogation qui en découle est présentée ainsi que les raisons qui ont amené les auteurs à envisager L'étude de L'acquisition de certaines structurations linguistiques à travers des épreuves de compréhension, de production et de répétition. La technique a pour but de saisir les changements qualitatifs dans les réponses des enfants (de 4 à 9 ans), dont on connaît le niveau de développement cognitif, déterminé par des épreuves propres à la psychologie génétique. A titre d'exemple une recherche récente est brièvement discutée. Elle porte sur la compréhension, la production et la répétition de phrases qui expriment une relation d'ordre temporel entre deux événements. L'accent est mis sur les résultats obtenus dans les épreuves de production qui sont les plus révélateurs du mode d'élaboration de cette structuration. Quelques particularités des réponses sont relevées, qui indiquent L'importance prêtée par les sujets aux valeurs aspectuelles des formes verbales. Une interprétation qui tient compte des données de la psychologie génétique est proposée.     

Judgment of angle size: An experimental appraisal

Previous work on the estimation of angle size suggested that three factors play a significant part in the forming of an accurate estimation: the size of the angle, its orientation, and the mode in which the response is made. An examination of the judgment by 60 Ss of 12 angles under varied conditions of orientation, response mode, and cue was carried out with the result that the importance of size and orientation was confirmed. Despite an overall significant difference in estimation between response modes, there was no indication of a consistent effect across angles for the different modes. Predictions on the influence of orientation made by Fisher and Beery were tested, and while the former investigator was adequately supported, the latter was held to have reported results on a limited sample of angles which do not generalize to the wider range of angles used in the present study.     

Distress Tolerance and Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy: A New Role for Behavioral Analogue Tasks

Rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT) is a widely utilized treatment approach for many mental disorders, but it has been “relatively neglected in the professional scientific literature” (Ellis 2003b). This neglect has been attributed in part to a lack of solid REBT outcome studies, which in turn stems from the difficulty of measuring constructs of interest in REBT, such as irrational beliefs, via self-report measures. In light of these concerns, the current paper aims to identify the potential utility of behavioral analogue laboratory tasks for advancing the understanding of mechanisms in REBT, as well as treatment outcome using this therapeutic approach. Specifically, we focus on the utilization of behavioral measures of distress tolerance and their application to the key REBT construct of frustration intolerance. In identifying the parallels across distress tolerance and frustration intolerance, we consider how the incorporation of distress tolerance tasks into REBT research can be useful in evaluating the role of frustration intolerance in the initiation, maintenance, and treatment of disordered behavior across a broad range of clinical disorders.

Under Reporting of Suicide Ideation in US Army Population Screening: An Ongoing Challenge

Previous research in US Army Soldiers shows rates of mental health concerns as two to four times higher on anonymous surveys than on postdeployment health assessments. In this study, Soldiers presenting for health reassessment completed two questionnaires on suicide risk factors: one linked to the health assessment and one anonymous. About 5.1% of respondents reported suicide ideation on the anonymous questionnaire, 3.0% on the linked questionnaire, and 0.9% on the health reassessment. About 56.4% who reported suicide ideation anonymously told nobody of their thoughts. Current screening procedures identify only one in seven Soldiers experiencing suicide ideation and highlight the need for alternative risk‐detection strategies.     

Reactions to a black professional: motivated inhibition and activation of conflicting stereotypes

The motivation to form a particular impression of an individual can prompt the inhibition of applicable stereotypes that contradict one's desired impression and the activation and application of stereotypes that support it. Participants, especially those high in prejudice, inhibited the Black stereotype when motivated to esteem a Black individual (because he had praised them). Participants motivated to esteem a Black doctor also activated the doctor stereotype. In contrast, participants motivated to disparage a Black doctor (because he had criticized them) inhibited the doctor stereotype. Participants motivated to disparage a Black individual also applied the Black stereotype to him, rating him as relatively incompetent. All these effects were driven by the self-protective motives of recipients of feedback from Black evaluators; detached observers showed no such effects.