Subjective Well-Being in Mexican and Mexican American Women: The Role of Acculturation,Ethnic Identity,Gender Roles,and Perceived Social Support

Latinas experience multiple oppressions and poorer mental health due to their often triple minority status as poor, female, women of color. The present study examined whether identifying with both Mexican culture and the dominant culture (bicultural), having high ethnic identity, identifying with both feminine and masculine behavior (androgynous gender role), and perceiving greater family social support predicted life satisfaction and positive affect in low socioeconomic status, Mexican and Mexican American women (n = 194). Results indicated that greater ethnic identity and greater perceived family social support significantly predicted Mexican and Mexican American women’s life satisfaction. Greater ethnic identity, greater feminine gender identity, greater androgynous gender identity, and greater perceived family social support were significant predictors of positive affect. Furthermore, as expected, social support from family was the most significant predictor for both life satisfaction and positive affect. Implications of the results and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

The older American Jewish population: Findings from the Pew study

ABSTRACT

The 2013 Pew Research Center survey of American Jews provided an opportunity to examine trends in identity and identification among older American Jews. By comparing findings from this survey to findings from similar surveys in 1990 and 2000/2001 we were able to examine patterns of continuing integration into the American religious mainstream and away from more traditional religious and ethnic ways of expressing their Jewish identity.     

Social cues for creativity: The impact of behavioral mimicry on convergent and divergent thinking

We present behavioral mimicry as a social cue for creative thinking. Specifically, we argue that being mimicked by an interaction partner cues convergent thinking by signalling a social opportunity for collaboration, while not being mimicked cues divergent thinking by signalling a social demand for improvisation and innovation. To test this theory, we experimentally manipulated whether individuals were subtly mimicked or not by an experimenter during a 5 min social interaction, and subsequently measured participants’ capacity for convergent thinking (Experiment 1) and divergent thinking (Experiment 2). The results point to the importance of understanding how social relationships influence the creative processes and contributes to the growing understanding of the social function of behavioral mimicry.     

Use of 3-dimensional body scans for body-image research

This preliminary study explored the use of highly realistic 3-dimensional body-scan images as a potential tool, taking advantage of a much more specific and expanded representation of the entire body. Traditionally, body-image research makes use of various contour drawing scales whose 2-dimensional figures increase proportionately and do not match the shape of many women. The study tested whether body-scanned images (N = 85) could be consistently "matched" to individual figures on a contour drawing scale. Internal consistency and interrater reliability were calculated and high coefficients were observed (alpha = .97, kappa = .80). The potential of utilizing 3-dimensional images either as more realistic somatotypes in contour-rating scales or as a measurement of body-image satisfaction using computer manipulation of a digital image is discussed.     

Child Psychosocial Adjustment and Parenting in Families Affected by Maternal HIV/AIDS

Child adjustment and parenting were examined in twenty-three 9–16-year-old youth from families affected by maternal HIV infection and 20 same-age peers whose mothers were not infected. Children whose mothers were seropositive reported significantly more externalizing problems. Infected mothers reported less age-appropriate supervision/monitoring relative to non-infected mothers. Better mother-child relationship quality and less impairment in parental supervision/monitoring of age-appropriate youth behaviors were associated with fewer externalizing difficulties among the HIV-positive group only. Similarly, only among HIV-infected mothers was refraining from engaging in inconsistent disciplinary tactics associated with lower reports of internalizing and externalizing problems. These data highlight the promise of programs targeting parenting skills to prevent or ameliorate child difficulties.     

Defining Treatment Outcomes in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Using a Self-Report Scale

This study examined benchmarks of treatment response and clinical remission on the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory–Child Version (OCI-CV) for youth with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Participants were 91 youth who enrolled in a randomized controlled trial that examined the benefit of augmenting cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) with either d-cycloserine or placebo. Youth completed the OCI-CV at baseline, Week 4 (prior to initiating exposure therapy), and posttreatment. Receiver operator curve (ROC) analyses examined optimal benchmarks for treatment response and clinical remission as identified by independent evaluators at the posttreatment assessment using the Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scales of Improvement (CGI-Improvement), Severity (CGI-Severity), and Children’s Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS). Optimal benchmarks for treatment response were a 20%–25% reduction in the OCI-CV total score. Meanwhile, optimal benchmarks for remission were a 55%–65% reduction in the OCI-CV total score and a posttreatment total score ≤ 6-8. OCI-CV benchmarks exhibited moderate agreement with the CY-BOCS for treatment response and clinical remission. Meanwhile, fair agreement was observed for response and remission with CGI scales. A lower pretreatment OCI-CV total score was associated with less agreement between classification approaches. Findings provide benchmarks for classifying treatment response and clinical remission in an efficient manner. Given the moderate agreement between the CY-BOCS and OCI-CV benchmarks, the OCI-CV may serve as a useful alternative when clinician-rated scales cannot be administered due to limited resources (e.g., time, training). Thus, evidence-based measurement can be incorporated to monitor therapeutic response and remission in clinical practice.     

Parentification and Maternal HIV Infection: Beneficial Role or Pathological Burden?

Parentification, along with parenting and child adjustment, were examined in 23 9-through 16-year-old youth from families affected by maternal HIV infection and 20 same-age peers whose mothers were not infected. Children whose mothers were HIV-positive reported to more often engage in parental role behaviors, relative to children of HIV-negative mothers. This difference remained even after controlling for the effects of current drug use, number of adults per child in the household, and marital status. Findings revealed a beneficial relationship between parentification and both child adjustment and parenting, particularly among families affected by maternal HIV infection. When relationships were examined separately by HIV status, the pattern of results suggested that parentification, which involves increased emotional closeness, rather than role-related tasks, which may involve increased responsibility of household maintenance, seems to foster an association with concurrent positive parenting and child adjustment among families coping with HIV/AIDS. Directions for future research, including the need for methodological advances in the field are discussed.