Prospective Predictors of Suicidal Ideation during Depressive Episodes among Older Adolescents and Young Adults

Suicide is a leading cause of death among older adolescents and young adults; however, few studies have prospectively examined risk for suicidal ideation. The present study in older adolescents and young adults investigated whether two personality traits previously implicated in risk for suicidal ideation, neuroticism and extraversion, as well as certain aspects of interpersonal functioning, prospectively predicted endorsement of suicidal ideation during depressive episodes. Participants (n=117) are a subset of the Northwestern-UCLA Youth Emotion Project sample, which started with a group of high school juniors oversampled for high neuroticism. Baseline interpersonal functioning was measured using the Life Stress Interview. Baseline personality trait composite scores were created from multiple inventories. Depressive disorders and suicidal ideation were assessed at the baseline and three annual follow-up interviews using the SCID. Cox regression was employed to predict suicidal ideation during depressive episodes diagnosed at any follow-up interview. Results showed that baseline extraversion inversely predicts suicidal ideation in males only, and that baseline interpersonal problems in one's social circle, regardless of gender, predict suicidal ideation during depressive episodes.     

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis reactivity in the preschool-age offspring of depressed parents: moderation by early parenting

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of depression. In the study reported here, we tested the hypothesis that parenting behavior moderates the relation between parents' lifetime history of depression and their offspring's cortisol reactivity to a psychosocial stressor. We exposed 160 preschool-age children to stress-inducing laboratory tasks, during which we obtained four salivary cortisol samples. Parents completed clinical interviews and an observational parent-child interaction task. The results confirmed our hypothesis: The offspring who evidenced high and increasing cortisol levels were those whose parents had a history of depression and demonstrated hostility toward their child. This moderating effect was specific to offspring who were exposed to maternal depression during the first few years of life. As do findings in animals, results of this study underscore the importance of the early rearing environment in the intergenerational transmission of stress sensitivity.     

Intraclass correlation associated with therapists: estimates and applications in planning psychotherapy research

It is essential that outcome research permit clear conclusions to be drawn about the efficacy of interventions. The common practice of nesting therapists within conditions can pose important methodological challenges that affect interpretation, particularly if the study is not powered to account for the nested design. An obstacle to the optimal design of these studies is the lack of data about the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), which measures the statistical dependencies introduced by nesting. To begin the development of a public database of ICC estimates, the authors investigated ICCs for a variety outcomes reported in 20 psychotherapy outcome studies. The magnitude of the 495 ICC estimates varied widely across measures and studies. The authors provide recommendations regarding how to select and aggregate ICC estimates for power calculations and show how researchers can use ICC estimates to choose the number of patients and therapists that will optimize power. Attention to these recommendations will strengthen the validity of inferences drawn from psychotherapy studies that nest therapists within conditions.     

Some effort for some: further evidence that scalar implicatures are effortful

Under the assumption of the principle of cooperation (Grice, 1989), a statement such as "some eels are fish" is thought to be false since it contains less information than is considered sufficient. However, the statement is logically sound since the meaning of "some" is compatible with "all". Currently, the primary interpretation of such underinformative statements remains subject to debate. According to Levinson (2000), the pragmatic "some but not all" interpretation is the default interpretation, while others (e.g., Sperber & Wilson, 1995) argue that this pragmatic interpretation only comes to the fore when relevant within the context and is thus considered secondary to the logical "some and perhaps all" interpretation. In this study, three factors that may influence the answer pattern are studied: task load, working memory capacity, and repetition of the statements. In Experiment 1, we used a secondary task paradigm to manipulate the cognitive load under which a number of underinformative statements had to be judged. We observed that for participants with a rather limited working memory span it is harder to reach a pragmatic interpretation under cognitive load. In Experiment 2, we manipulated the repetition of the statements. We observed that with a higher number of filler statements, participants produced fewer consistent answer patterns. This study provides further evidence against the automaticity of the pragmatic interpretation: It shows that the pragmatic interpretation requires more cognitive effort than the logical interpretation and that increasing the number of filler statements inhibits the development of a response strategy.     

Effects of temporal trial-by-trial cuing on early and late stages of auditory processing: Evidence from event-related potentials

Temporal-cuing studies show faster responding to stimuli at an attended versus unattended time point. Whether the mechanisms involved in this temporal orienting of attention are located early or late in the processing stream has not been answered unequivocally. To address this question, we measured event-related potentials in two versions of an auditory temporal cuing task: Stimuli at the uncued time point either required a response (Experiment 1) or did not (Experiment 2). In both tasks, attention was oriented to the cued time point, but attention could be selectively focused on the cued time point only in Experiment 2. In both experiments, temporal orienting was associated with a late positivity in the timerange of the P3. An early enhancement in the timerange of the auditory N1 was observed only in Experiment 2. Thus, temporal attention improves auditory processing at early sensory levels only when it can be focused selectively.     

Fostering good citizenship through ethical leadership: exploring the moderating role of gender and organizational politics

Considering the implications of social exchange theory as a context for social role behavior, we tested relations between ethical leadership and both person- and task-focused organizational citizenship behavior and examined the roles played by employee gender and politics perceptions. Although social exchange theory predicts that ethical leadership is positively associated with citizenship, social role theory predicts that the nature of this relationship may vary on the basis of gender and politics perceptions. Results from data collected from 288 supervisor-subordinate dyads indicate that the pattern of male versus female employees' citizenship associated with ethical leadership depends significantly on their perceptions of politics. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Identification of cognitive profiles among women considering BRCA1/2 testing through the utilisation of cluster analytic techniques

Based on the cognitive-social health information processing model, we identified cognitive profiles of women at risk for breast and ovarian cancer. Prior to genetic counselling, participants (N = 171) completed a study questionnaire concerning their cognitive and affective responses to being at genetic risk. Using cluster analysis, four cognitive profiles were generated: (a) high perceived risk/low coping; (b) low value of screening/high expectancy of cancer; (c) moderate perceived risk/moderate efficacy of prevention/low informativeness of test result; and (d) high efficacy of prevention/high coping. The majority of women in Clusters One, Two and Three had no personal history of cancer, whereas Cluster Four consisted almost entirely of women affected with cancer. Women in Cluster One had the highest number of affected relatives and experienced higher levels of distress than women in the other three clusters. These results highlight the need to consider the psychological profile of women undergoing genetic testing when designing counselling interventions and messages.     

A qualitative examination of the work–family interface: Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder

Within the work–family literature little is known about the work–family challenges and opportunities faced by families that have one or more children with autism spectrum disorder. However, it has been consistently demonstrated that parents of children with autism spectrum disorder are at a higher risk of experiencing a host of negative outcomes. Using a qualitative design, within grounded theory, the present study sheds light on the needs, experiences, and challenges that parents of children with autism spectrum disorder face and also offers insight into ways to expand the scope of work–family research in this area. The present research provides evidence of how the family domain can greatly impact experiences and decisions made in the work domain for families with special needs. The present research adds to the small but growing literature examining the interplay between home and work life for families with special needs and demonstrates that this is an important research domain in need of additional conceptual and empirical consideration.     

Applying motivational interviewing principles in a modified interpersonal group for comorbid addiction

The application of motivational interviewing (MI) principles in modified interpersonal group therapy (MIGT) addresses two gaps in the literature. First, it explicitly extends MIGT to non-abstinent, addicted patients who are in the precontemplative and contemplative stages of change in contrast to most MIGT models where abstinence is usually required. Second, it provides a novel, process-oriented group intervention for MI, in contrast to current applications of group-based MI which are more structured in their format. The main modification in technique was to prioritize the horizontal exploration of substance use disclosures with a focus on the here-and-now experience of disclosure and the interpersonal impact on the group, in order to: (1) encourage members to openly discuss their ambivalence and shifting motivational states, (2) harness the evocative impact of substance use disclosures between members to elicit change talk (self-motivational statements), and (3) selectively reinforce change talk when it emerges from these exchanges. The authors illustrate these concepts with a case report of an open-ended MIGT group with comorbid mental illness and addiction.     

The power of "we": effects of psychological collectivism on team performance over time

We examined the influences of different facets of psychological collectivism (Preference, Reliance, Concern, Norm Acceptance, and Goal Priority) on team functioning at 3 different performance depictions: initial team performance, end-state team performance, and team performance change over time. We also tested the extent to which team-member exchange moderated the relationships between facets of psychological collectivism and performance change over time. Results from multilevel growth modeling of 66 teams (N = 264) engaged in a business simulation revealed differential effects across facets of psychological collectivism and across different performance measurements. Whereas facets concerned with affiliation (Preference and Concern) were positively related to initial team performance, reliance was negatively related to initial team performance. Goal Priority was a strong predictor of end-state performance. Team-member exchange moderated the relationship between performance change and 3 of the 5 facets of psychological collectivism (Preference, Reliance, Norm Acceptance). Implications for team composition and team training are discussed.