Relations of parental status with alcohol use patterns and attitudes about underage drinking

In a sample of 143 adults from a population of households in Idaho, significant differences in patterns of alcohol use and attitudes about underage drinking were related to parental status. Nonparents reported drinking alcohol more frequently than parents. Parents were significantly more likely than nonparents to report that it is never acceptable for minors to drink alcohol, that minors should not be allowed to drink alcohol at parties with no parents present, and that "sting" operations by police are warranted. Surprisingly, nonparents were significantly more likely than parents to report stores and bars are not careful enough about selling alcohol to minors.     

Mourning Religion? Celebrating Transformation! From Loss to Gain,from Depression to Melancholia

The article raises some questions about issues in the recently published volume Mourning religion, edited by Parsons et al. (2008).     

Assessing Specific Effects of Inpatient Group Psychotherapy

Abstract

This article will examine how the psychoanalytic idea of containing can be used in group therapy to form a conceptual bridge such that the group dynamics are not simplistically reduced to individual dynamics, nor that the individual is lost in the “group–as–a–whole” concept. I take the concept of “containing” as versatile in the sense that Bion (1970) meant it to be—that is, the psychological phenomenon of containment is manifest at various system levels: intrapsychic, interpersonal, group, and societal. This article will explore how far this “bridging concept” can be pursued to understand groups theoretically. The article will review various forms of containing, following Bion’s ideas, and in particular a therapeutic, or flexible, form in contrast to rigid and fragile forms.     

Studies in the Peripheral Retina: I. The Purkinje After-Image

Maslow, A. H., Ed. New Knowledge in Human Values. New York: Harper, 1959. Pp. 268. Reviewed by Henry Winthrop.     

When death thoughts lead to death fears: Mortality salience increases death anxiety for individuals who lack meaning in life

Research derived from terror management theory demonstrates that subtle reminders of mortality increase strivings for meaning. It is argued that such strivings reflect efforts to prevent the anxiety that death reminders may otherwise cause. However, no research has directly tested the assertions that subtle mortality primes increase death anxiety and perceptions of meaning in life moderate this effect. The current study examined these predictions. Meaning in life was measured, death cognition primed, and death anxiety assessed. A mortality prime increased death anxiety, but only for individuals who lack perceptions of meaning in life. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.