Whole of community suicide prevention forums for Aboriginal Australians

It is well known that Aboriginal Australians are at increased risk of suicide. Contributors to suicide differ for Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations (Westerman, 2003; 2019). This study evaluated whole of community suicide prevention forums conducted across six locations. Attendees were youth (N = 136), service providers (N = 225), and community members (N = 158). The content of the forums was empirically based and, for service providers and community members, covered knowledge of suicide, and depression specific to Aboriginal people, skills relating to working with depressed and suicidal Aboriginal people, and intentions to help an Aboriginal person who is suicidal. Content for youth attendees focused on knowledge of suicide and depression, coping skills, intentions to help a friend, and beliefs about suicide. While the results demonstrated significant gains across most domains, there was a potentiating effect with some skills increases becoming more significant over each phase. This demonstrates that a whole of community approach to Indigenous suicide prevention is required, and that clinical and cultural skills require a longer-term approach for impact and sustainability.     

Emotional self-regulation in preschoolers: The interplay of child approach reactivity, parenting, and control capacities

This study examined whether child temperamental approach reactivity moderated the association between 2 factors, parenting and child control capacities and child emotional self-regulation. Participants (N = 113) were 3- and 4-year-olds (M = 48 months, SD = 5.78) and their mothers. Emotional self-regulation was measured as observed persistence and frustration and as maternal report of compliance. Parental approach, avoidance, control, and warmth were observed during play and a frustrating wait. Child approach reactivity and control capacities (inhibitory control and soothability) were assessed via maternal report. Results suggested that maternal approach during the wait was associated with persistence and frustration, whereas maternal warmth during the play was associated with compliance. These effects, and those of child control capacities, depended on the level of child approach. The implications of reactivity-control interactions and parent-child goodness-of-fit for emotional self-regulation are discussed.     

A comparison of interteaching and lecture in the college classroom

Interteaching is a new method of classroom instruction that is based on behavioral principles but offers more flexibility than other behaviorally based methods. We examined the effectiveness of interteaching relative to a traditional form of classroom instruction-the lecture. In Study 1, participants in a graduate course in special education took short quizzes after alternating conditions of interteaching and lecture. Quiz scores following interteaching were higher than quiz scores following lecture, although both methods improved performance relative to pretest measures. In Study 2, we also alternated interteaching and lecture but counterbalanced the conditions across two sections of an undergraduate research methods class. After each unit of information, participants from both sections took the same test. Again, test scores following interteaching were higher than test scores following lecture. In addition, students correctly answered more interteaching-based questions than lecture-based questions on a cumulative final test. In both studies, the majority of students reported a preference for interteaching relative to traditional lecture. In sum, the results suggest that interteaching may be an effective alternative to traditional lecture-based methods of instruction.     

Pain perception as a function of self-focused rumination

Pain sensitivity and tolerance were studied using the cold-pressor technique. A 3 independent groups design was employed using rumination as the independent variable. Group 1 was given a situation in which anger-related self-rumination was introduced. Group 2 was given a self-related rumination task in which anger was not induced. Group 3 received a rumination task not related to the self. In addition, the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory was given prior to the experiment to test the hypothesis that ratings on the Anger-In subtest would correlate with pain sensitivity. In each group were 6 men and 6 women. Each participant took the anger and another inventory not relevant to the present study before the experiment. An anger measure was taken before and after the experiment for each group to see if the anger induction in Group 1 actually increased anger. There were no differences among the 3 groups on the second anger measure, so differences between Groups 1 and 2 could not be attributed to anger. A 1-way analysis of variance for 3 groups showed a strong main effect on pain tolerance but not pain sensitivity. Groups 1 and 2 were significantly more tolerant of pain than Group 3. The correlation of ratings on the Anger-In (internalized anger) subtest fell short of statistical significance with pain sensitivity and also was not significant for pain tolerance. Results were discussed in terms of the possibility that self-rumination may increase pain tolerance by requiring a greater cognitive load than nonself rumination.     

The Development of Physical Aggression from Toddlerhood to Pre-Adolescence: A Nation Wide Longitudinal Study of Canadian Children

The objectives of the study were to model the developmental trajectories of physical aggression (PA) from toddlerhood to pre-adolescence and to identify risk factors that distinguish typical (normative) from atypical developmental patterns. Ten cohorts of approximately 1,000 children (n = 10,658) drawn form a nationally representative (Canadian) sample were followed over 6 years. Using a group based trajectory approach, we identified three groups of children with distinct developmental trajectories between 2 and 11 years of age. One third of the children (31.1%) followed a low desisting trajectory, reflected in infrequent use of PA in toddlerhood and virtually no PA by pre-adolescence. The majority of children (52.2%) followed a moderate desisting trajectory, reflected in occasional use of PA in toddlerhood and infrequent use by pre-adolescence. One sixth of the children (16.6%) followed a high stable trajectory of PA. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that children in the high PA trajectory group were more likely to be boys (OR: 1.67; CI: 1.5–1.87), from low income families (OR: 1.4; CI; 1.27–1.67), from families where the mother had not completed high school (OR: 1.20; CI: 1.05–1.38) and who reported using hostile/ineffective parenting strategies (OR: 1.16; CI: 1.14–1.18). In sum, the results indicate that the typical developmental pattern of PA was one of occasional and declining use over time. However, about one sixth of children, mostly boys from disadvantaged families, exhibited an atypical developmental pattern reflected in more frequent and stable use of PA. The results suggest that most children learned relatively well to inhibit PA by the end of childhood and that a minority failed to do so. Family risks traditionally found to be associated with antisocial behaviors during adolescence appear to interfere with the socialization of PA during early and middle childhood.     

Selective pressures on the once and future contents of ethnic stereotypes: effects of the communicability of traits

It is hypothesized that traits that are most likely to be the subject of social discourse (i.e., most communicable) are most likely to persist in ethnic stereotypes over time and that this effect is moderated by the extent to which an ethnic group is the subject of social discourse. Study 1 yielded communicability ratings of 76 traits. Study 2 tested the relation between a trait's communicability and its presence in stereotypes of 4 Canadian ethnic groups. Study 3 tested the relation between a trait's communicability and its persistence over time in stereotypes of 8 American ethnic groups. Results supported the hypotheses. A communication-based analysis of stereotypes appears helpful in predicting persistence and change in the contents of stereotypes of real groups in the real world.     

Post-choice information processing by pigeons

In a conditional discrimination (matching-to-sample), a sample is followed by two comparison stimuli, one of which is correct, depending on the sample. Evidence from previous research suggests that if the stimulus display is maintained following an incorrect response (the so-called penalty-time procedure), acquisition by pigeons is facilitated. The present research tested the hypothesis that the penalty-time procedure allows the pigeons to review and learn from the maintained stimulus display following an incorrect choice. It did so by including a penalty-time group for which, following an incorrect choice, the sample changed to match the incorrect comparison, thus providing the pigeons with post-choice misinformation. This misinformation group acquired the matching task significantly slower than the standard penalty-time group (that had no change in the sample following an error). Furthermore, acquisition of matching by a control group that received no penalty time fell midway between the other two groups, suggesting that the pigeons did not merely take more care in making choices because of the aversiveness of penalty-time. Thus, it appears that in the acquisition of matching-to-sample, when the stimulus display is maintained following an incorrect choice, the pigeons can review or acquire information from the display. This is the first time that such an effect has been reported for a nonhuman species.     

Through the looking glass: women and ministry supervision

Issues pertaining to women and clinical pastoral supervision are identified and examined in this essay. An in-depth literature review regarding the relationship between gender and supervised pastoral training provides the basis for the identification of the following themes: the relative lack of female supervisors; how and why we ought to talk about gender and ministry supervision; the contextual relevance of systemic marginalization to ministry supervision; the relationship between pastoral care and the "feminine"; the relevance of a panentheistic God to gender and ministry supervision; and, lastly, the relevance of gender to the supervisory relationship. Although the focus is on the ways in which gender dynamics can affect the female supervisee's experience, the author also takes a brief look at how female supervisors might experience the relevance of their gender to the art of supervision.     

Treating Childhood Shyness and Related Behavior: Empirically Evaluated Approaches to Promote Positive Social Interactions

Behavioral and cognitive–behavioral strategies, including exposure, social skills training, and peer-mediated approaches, used to treat childhood shyness and related impairments are described. In addition, relevant outcome studies published within the past 20 years are evaluated, and limitations regarding the generalization, maintenance, and social validity of the reported treatment gains are addressed. Although the interventions reviewed have demonstrated short-term merit in ameliorating social and emotional impairments, such as problematic peer relations and internalizing difficulties, there currently is a lack of evidence to support the social validity and long-term generalization and maintenance of such behavioral gains. Thus, recommendations for future research are made, including the need to (a) assess the social validity of treatment outcomes, (b) utilize important socialization agents (e.g., parents, teachers, peers), and (c) conduct prevention research and longitudinal outcome studies.