Components of events and processes

Rips and Estin (1998) provided evidence that mental events such as dreaming are more homogeneous than physical events such as checking out a book; that is, their parts are more difficult to distinguish. In their experiment, participants listed more distinctive properties for the parts of physical events than for the parts of mental events. However, the physicality of stimuli was confounded with temporal aspects. Mental stimuli tended to be processes, and physical stimuli, events. This study tested homogeneity with new stimuli separating out the factors of physicality and aspect. Consistently, both physicality and aspect had significant effects on the perceived homogeneity of activities, as measured by the number of listed parts, the number of distinctive properties of each part, and homogeneity ratings. The study shows that homogeneity is strongly influenced by aspect but that physicality remains a robust factor for homogeneity, even after taking aspect into account.     

A comparison of MMPI--2 measures of psychopathic deviance in a forensic setting

We examined the convergent and discriminant validity of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory--2 (MMPI--2) measures of psychopathy, including the Clinical Scale 4, Restructured Clinical Scale 4 (RC4), Content Scale Antisocial Practices (ASP), and Personality Psychopathology Five Scale Disconstraint (DISC). Comparisons of the empirical correlates of these scales were conducted with 2 samples of participants evaluated at a criminal court clinic. The 2 samples included 59 men and 19 women and 913 men and 327 women, respectively. Two types of criteria (clinician ratings and archival record review) were utilized in the analyses. Relative to Clinical Scale 4, RC4 had significantly greater convergent validity in predicting psychopathy as measured by the Psychopathy Checklist--Screening Version (S. D. Hart, D. N. Cox, & R. D. Hare, 1995) and behavioral criteria associated with this construct. RC4 also showed substantially improved discriminant validity when compared with its Clinical Scale counterpart. Among all the MMPI-2 scales studied, RC4 was the best measure of the social deviance traits of psychopathy.     

The Emerging Role of Technology in Cognitive–Behavioral Therapy for Anxious Youth: A Review

Research documents the application of cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) with technology either as therapeutic adjuncts or stand-alone interventions. The literature evaluating the feasibility and efficacy of using technology with CBT for youth experiencing internalizing disorders is small though steadily emerging. Technological approaches offer cost-effective and efficient service to an increased number of anxious youth for whom a CBT treatment would be otherwise unavailable. The present article aims to review the use of two broad types of technology in CBT for anxious children and adolescents: computer- and internet-based CBT and mobile mental health applications (i.e., mobile phone, smartphone, and tablet technology). Within each section, we provide an overview of the advantages and general principles of each type of technology, and review evidence for the use of each type of technology along with examples of current applications. Finally, we discuss ethical issues, barriers, and future directions for the use of technology in facilitating dissemination of effective treatments.     

Does Time Fly When You are Having Fun? A Day Reconstruction Method Analysis

Duration-based measures of happiness from retrospectively constructed daily diaries are gaining in popularity in population-based studies of the hedonic experience. Yet experimental evidence suggests that perceptions of duration—how long an event lasts—are influenced by individuals’ emotional experiences during the event. An important remaining question is whether observational measures of duration outside the laboratory setting, where the events under study are engaged in voluntarily, may be similarly affected, and if so, for which emotions are duration biases a potential concern. This study assesses how duration and emotions co-vary using retrospective, 24-h diaries from a national sample of older couples. Data are from the Disability and Use of Time supplement to the nationally representative U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics. We find that experienced wellbeing (positive, negative emotion) and activity duration are inversely associated. Specific positive emotions (happy, calm) are not associated with duration, but all measures of negative wellbeing considered here (frustrated, worried, sad, tired, and pain) have positive correlations (ranging from 0.04 to 0.08; p < .05). However, only frustration remains correlated with duration after controlling for respondent, activity and day-related characteristics (0.06, p < .01). The correlation translates into a potentially upward biased estimate of duration of up to 10 min (20 %) for very frustrating activities. We conclude that estimates of time spent feeling happy yesterday generated from diary data are unlikely to be biased but more research is needed on the link between duration estimation and feelings of frustration.     

Impact of Caregiver Factors on Youth Service Utilization of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in a Community Setting

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is an increasingly available evidence-based therapy that targets the mental health symptoms of youth who have experienced trauma. Limited research has examined how to engage and retain families in TF-CBT services in community settings. Using a mixed-methods approach, the goal of this exploratory study was to identify caregiver factors that impact youth enrollment and completion of community-delivered TF-CBT. The study included 41 caretakers of youth referred to therapy at a local child advocacy center following a forensic assessment substantiating youth trauma exposure. Caregiver factors examined include caregiver demographics, trauma exposure, and mental health symptomology. Results from multivariate logistic regressions indicate that caregivers reporting more children residing in the household were significantly more likely to enroll youth in therapy (OR 2.27; 95 % CI 1.02, 5.03). Qualitative analyses further explicate that parents with personal trauma or therapy experiences expressed positive opinions regarding therapy services for youth, and were more likely to enroll in or complete services. Findings suggest that caregivers with personal traumatic experience and related symptomatology view therapy as important and are more committed to their child receiving therapy. Future research on service utilization is warranted and should explore offering parental psychoeducation or engagement strategies discussing therapy benefits to parents who have not experienced trauma and related mental health symptomatology.     

Creating Trauma-informed Sports Programming for Traumatized Youth: Core Principles for an Adjunctive Therapeutic Approach

ABSTRACT

Youth who have experienced trauma may find opportunities for recovery in community settings, such as team sports. Sports and other community settings may provide an important structure, a venue for persevering toward goals, and a place to connect with mentors and friends. However, the symptoms with which such youth present, such as hyperarousal and aggression, may serve as a barrier to the potentially supportive environment that sports may provide. The typical means of coaching in such environments may be adapted to increase accessibility to youth. In this article, we describe principles of trauma-informed sports programming, including adaptations to play structures, that draw from gold-standard trauma-informed psychotherapy approaches. These techniques may help youth workers adapt their settings to meet a broader range of needs and aspire to provide clinicians with tools for collateral work with trauma-exposed clients.     

Impact of End-of-Life Circumstances on the Adjustment of Bereaved Siblings of Children Who Died from Cancer

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of end-of-life (EoL) circumstances on grief and internalizing symptoms among bereaved siblings. Bereaved families (N?=?88) were recruited from three sites 3–12 months (M?=?11.57, SD?=?3.48) after their child’s death from cancer. One sibling per family aged 8–17 years (M?=?12.41, SD?=?2.64) was randomly selected to participate. Families completed measures of siblings’ grief and internalizing symptoms, as well as a structured interview about circumstances surrounding the death. Mother and sibling reports of EoL circumstances were generally concordant, except there was a discrepancy between mothers and children about whether or not children expected their sibling’s death (t(75)?=?1.52, p?=?.018). Mother reports of sibling internalizing symptoms were above the normative mean (t(83)?=?4.44, p?≤?.001 (M?=?56.01?±?12.48), with 39% (n?=?33) in the borderline/clinical range. Sibling opportunity to say goodbye was associated with greater grief-related growth (t(79)?=?? 1.95, p?=?.05). Presence at the death and wishing they had done something differently were both associated with greater grief (t(80)?=?? 2.08, p?=?.04 and t(80)?=?? 2.24, p?=?.028, respectively) and grief-related growth (t(80)?=?? 2.01, p?=?.048 and t(80)?=?? 2.31, p?=?.024, respectively). However, findings were primarily unique to sibling report, with few mother-reported effects. The adjustment of bereaved siblings may be affected by certain modifiable circumstances surrounding the death of their brother or sister. A proportion of bereaved siblings had elevated internalizing symptoms irrespective of circumstances at EoL. Further work is needed to understand predictors of adjustment among bereaved siblings to provide better support and optimize their outcomes.

     

Is the map in our head oriented north?

We examined how a highly familiar environmental space--one's city of residence--is represented in memory. Twenty-six participants faced a photo-realistic virtual model of their hometown and completed a task in which they pointed to familiar target locations from various orientations. Each participant's performance was most accurate when he or she was facing north, and errors increased as participants' deviation from a north-facing orientation increased. Pointing errors and latencies were not related to the distance between participants' initial locations and the target locations. Our results are inconsistent with accounts of orientation-free memory and with theories assuming that the storage of spatial knowledge depends on local reference frames. Although participants recognized familiar local views in their initial locations, their strategy for pointing relied on a single, north-oriented reference frame that was likely acquired from maps rather than experience from daily exploration. Even though participants had spent significantly more time navigating the city than looking at maps, their pointing behavior seemed to rely on a north-oriented mental map.     

Assessing the Incidence and Perceptions of Sexual Harassment Behaviors Among American Undergraduates

A nine-item scale of sexual harassment behaviors was developed and tested in a two-study sequence. In the first study, male and female college students with job experience rated the frequency with which they experienced these behaviors from both supervisors and co-workers. Revisions were made on the basis of these results, and the revised scale was administered to a different yet similar sample to measure the perceptions of each behavior as sexual harassment. Results of both studies showed a significant difference for the ratings of supervisor and co-worker behaviors.     

Mathematical Models of Central Pattern Generators in Locomotion

Possible neural connective patterns and functions with respect to interlimb coordination are studied theoretically with a mathematical model of the central pattern generating system for cat locomotion. Activities in populations of neurons controlling limb joint flexors and extensors in all four limbs are represented by a system of nonlinear differential equations. Solutions of the system for various parameter values simulate various gaits of the cat. The model is shown to be capable of generating all gaits of the cat and accounting for corresponding phase changes in interlimb coordination. The model also exhibits smooth changes of gait, and smooth initiation and termination of stepping. Further, within each limb, muscle sequencing, step cycle phases, and flexor-extensor interactions can be studied. The model suggests that one of the simplest mechanisms for a central command system to change the gait is via inhibition of specific interlimb propriospinal pathways. In a final section, properties of both proposed single limb and interlimb models are reviewed with specific reference to planning future experimental and theoretical studies.