Attachment and the experience and expression of emotions in romantic relationships: a developmental perspective

In this longitudinal study, the authors tested a developmental hypothesis derived from attachment theory and recent empirical findings. Target participants were 78 individuals who have been studied intensively from infancy into their mid-20s. When targets were 20-23 years old, the authors tested the way in which interpersonal experiences at 3 pivotal points in each target's earlier social development--infancy/early childhood, early elementary school, and adolescence--predicted the pattern of positive versus negative emotions experienced with his or her romantic partner. A double-mediation model revealed that targets classified as securely attached at 12 months old were rated as more socially competent during early elementary school by their teachers. Targets' social competence, in turn, forecasted their having more secure relationships with close friends at age 16, which in turn predicted more positive daily emotional experiences in their adult romantic relationships (both self- and partner-reported) and less negative affect in conflict resolution and collaborative tasks with their romantic partners (rated by observers). These results are discussed in terms of attachment theory and how antecedent life experiences may indirectly shape events in current relationships.     

Associations Among Asian Americans' Enculturation,Emotional Experiences,and Depressive Symptoms

Using a computer‐based text analysis of 218 Asian Americans' writing samples, the authors found that enculturation as well as use of negative emotion and positive emotion words were associated with depressive symptoms. Enculturation was also found to moderate the relation between use of negative emotion words and cognitive‐affective depressive symptoms. Utilizando un análisis de texto computerizado de muestras escritas por 218 individuos Asiático‐americanos, los autores hallaron que la asimilación cultural y el uso de palabras de emoción positivas y negativas están asociadas con síntomas depresivos. También se halló que la asimilación cultural modera la relación entre el uso de palabras de emoción negativas y los síntomas depresivos cognitivo‐afectivos.     

Simultaneous behavioral and neural (cochlear nucleus) measurement during signal detection in the rabbit

Classical conditioning of the rabbit nictitating membrane (NM) response was adapted as a model system for simultaneous measurement of behavioral and neural responses in auditory signal detection. Animals were trained to a 36-dB spectral-level white-noise CS paired with a corneal airpuff US. The CS intensity was then reduced to threshold, using a modified staircase procedure, and responses on detect and nondetect trials were compared for the same stimulus intensities. At threshold, the behavioral NM response was dichotomous, being present on detect trials and completely absent on nondetect trials. In marked contrast, evoked neural unit activity to the CS recorded from the anteroventral cochlear nucleus was clearly present and identical on both detect and nondetect trials, suggesting that the detection “decision” is made more centrally than the cochlear nucleus.     

Representation and Reasoning about Evolutions of the World in the Context of Reasoning about Actions

The first step in reasoning about actions and change involves reasoning about how the world would evolve if a certain action is executed in a certain state. Most research on this assumes the evolution to be only a single step and focus on formulating the transition function that defines changes between states due to actions. In this paper we consider cases where the evolution is more than just a single change between one state and another. This is manifested when the execution of an action may trigger execution of other actions, or when multiple agents act on the environment following certain strategies.     

Adult attachment,the transition to parenthood,and depressive symptoms

Testing a model suggested by J. Bowlby (1988), this study investigated how a personal vulnerability (attachment ambivalence) interacts with perceptions of deficient spousal support before and during a major life stressor (the transition to parenthood) to predict pre-to-postnatal increases in depressive symptoms. Highly ambivalent women who entered parenthood perceiving either less support or greater anger from their husbands experienced pre-to-postnatal increases in depressive symptoms at 6 months postpartum. The associations between these 2 prenatal interaction terms and pre-to-postnatal increases in depressive symptoms were mediated by perceptions of declining spousal support across the transition period. Moreover, for highly ambivalent women, the association between prenatal and postnatal depression scores was mediated by perceptions of the amount of support available from their husbands.     

Self-compassion reduces parental burnout: Mediation roles of parental psychological control and support

This study investigated the mediating role of parental psychological control (PPC) and support in the relationship between self-compassion and parental burnout syndrome. The study participants included 1185 Vietnamese parents who completed questionnaires regarding demographic information, parental burnout, self-compassion, parental support of the child, and PPC. We used data analyses, including structural equation modeling, to test the mediation roles of PPC and parental support of the child. Our main findings include: (1) self-compassion had a significant negative effect on parental burnout; (2) the mediation roles of PPC and parental support of the child were also significant. These results suggest that parents with high self-compassion tend to provide more support for children in daily parenting, which helps reduce parental burnout. In contrast, parents with low self-compassion were more likely to use PPC, which exacerbated their burnout. The results from this study provide suggestions for creating effective interventions in the family context to reduce parental burnout and improve parenting effectiveness.     

A shared-transportation mobile app continuance model: The moderating effects of brand awareness

In light of the increasing development of technological innovation and information and communication technologies, features of mobile apps functions are also increasingly developed to meet people's needs and wants. Amongst the variety, shared transportation apps (STA) have emerged to optimize people's daily transportation needs. This study modified the expectation-confirmation theory and the post-acceptance model of information system continuance to examine the effects of customers' perceived STA performance (service performance, content provision, and system performance) and benefits (function, money worthiness, pleasure, and social interaction) on customer satisfaction with the usage of STA, which is expected to have a positive effect on customer retention on STA in a new theoretical framework, called the performance-benefit of the STA continuance model (PBCM). Moreover, brand awareness was expected to be an essential moderator on the effect of perceived performance and perceived benefits on customer satisfaction. 397 respondents were recruited online through a convenient sampling technique in the Vietnam market. Results show that service performance, money worthiness, pleasure, and social interaction are four important determinants of customer satisfaction with STA. Moreover, brand awareness significantly moderates the effects of service performance, system performance, money worthiness, and social interaction on customer satisfaction. Findings also contribute rational strategies for e-commerce managers in general and STA managers in particular.     

Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms that Predict Cognitive Decline or Impairment in Cognitively Normal Middle-Aged or Older Adults: a Meta-Analysis

Neuropsychology Review - Epidemiological studies have revealed that behavioral and psychological (or non-cognitive) symptoms are risk factors for cognitive decline in older adults. This study aimed...     

Parents,friends and immigrant youths' academic engagement: A mediation analysis

Parents and friends can help facilitate the academic engagement of newcomer immigrant youth during the early post-migration years. Using an accelerated longitudinal design and the integrative risk and resilience framework, we examined how parent home involvement and friendships were directly and indirectly associated with the development of newcomer immigrant youths' academic engagement. We used data from three waves (Years 3–5) of the Longitudinal Immigrant Student Adaptation study where a culturally diverse group of immigrant youth (N = 354, ages 10–17, M_timeinUS = 3.98 years, SD = 1.39) in the United States reported on their perceptions of parent home involvement (educational values and communication) and friendship (educational values and academic support) in Year 3 and on their academic engagement (behavioural and emotional) across 3 years. Findings showed high-stable behavioural and emotional engagement and direct positive associations between perceptions of parent home involvement and initial levels of behavioural and emotional engagement and between perceptions of friend educational values and initial levels of emotional engagement. Additionally, perceptions of parents' educational values indirectly contributed to initial levels of emotional engagement through positive associations with perceptions of friends' educational values. These findings can inform family–school partnerships and school-interventions targeting newcomer immigrant youths' engagement.