A Cluster Analysis of Peer Support Training Needs for Foster Parents

Peer volunteers provide valuable support to foster parents. However, there has been limited research on what they consider to be valuable preparation for the role. In the present study, they were asked: “What is essential training for peer support volunteers to receive before starting?”. Fifteen participants grouped 41 different responses that were analyzed using multidimensional scaling and cluster analyses. The resulting concepts included: (a) self-care, (b) effective use of self, (c) policies and procedures, (d) finding information and (e) how to address common challenges.

     

Improved Parent–Child Interactions Predict Reduced Internalizing Symptoms Among the Offspring of Parents with Bipolar Disorder Undergoing a Prevention Program: A Proof-of-Concept Study

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - The offspring of parents with bipolar disorder (OBD) exhibit elevated rates of psychopathology. However, preventative interventions are lacking....     

Correction to: Improved Parent–Child Interactions Predict Reduced Internalizing Symptoms Among the Offspring of Parents with Bipolar Disorder Undergoing a Prevention Program: A Proof‑of‑Concept Study

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Correction to: Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology     

The role of appraisal in dysphoric affect reactivity to positive laboratory films and daily life events in depression

Hedonic deficits are linked to protracted dysphoric affect (DA) in depression, a disorder characterised by emotion context insensitivity (ECI). Recent findings from daily life studies contradict the ECI view. This study longitudinally investigated DA across laboratory and daily life contexts and the conditions associated with discrepancies in DA reactivity. Thirty-three healthy controls and 41 adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) provided responses to neutral and positive (a) films viewed in the laboratory and (b) daily events recorded over the course of three days using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methodology. The current study reports on participants’ appraisals of films and events and their subsequent DA, both rated individually after each task and daily event. Despite large group similarities in appraisals of the positive film and life events, MDDs appraised the neutral film and neutral life events as less important (film: d?=?.58; event: η²?=?.07) and less pleasant (film: d?=?.56; event: η²?=?.18) relative to controls. While MDDs reported higher DA both in the laboratory and in daily life, they experienced larger decreases in DA during positive life events (B?=??.77, SE?=?.28, t(73)?=??2.70, p?=?.009), but not in response to the positive film relative to controls. Results indicate that higher pleasantness appraisals in daily life predicted larger decreases in DA among MDDs than controls (B?=??.24, SE?=?.06, t(73)?=??4.10, p?B?=?1.28, SE?=?.46, t(73)?=?2.77, p?=?.006). The implications of valence and relevance of context for DA reactivity and mood repair are discussed.     

Between Avoidance and Problem Solving: Resilience,Self‐Efficacy,and Social Support Seeking

The authors explored resilience, self‐efficacy, and social support seeking as (a) mediators between stress and problem solving and (b) moderators buffering the effect of stress on avoidance. Participants were 220 college students. Structural equation modeling showed that resilience and self‐efficacy positively influenced problem solving but could not buffer stress's effect on avoidance. Social support seeking played a more important role than resilience and self‐efficacy in reducing avoidance when individuals intentionally used social support seeking as a source for problem solving instead of avoidance.     

Medical Technologies Past and Present: How History Helps to Understand the Digital Era

Journal of Medical Humanities - This article explores the relationship between medicine’s history and its digital present through the lens of the physician-patient relationship. Today the...     

The influence of subjective life expectancy on retirement transition and planning: A longitudinal study

This study examines the construct of subjective life expectancy (SLE), or the estimation of one's probable age of death. Drawing on the tenets of socioemotional selectivity theory (Carstensen, Isaacowitz, & Charles, 1999), we propose that SLE provides individuals with their own unique mental model of remaining time that is likely to affect their retirement planning and decision making. Longitudinal data from 1908 participants showed that SLE measured at Time 1 predicted mature-aged workers' intended retirement age and the extent that they were engaged in retirement preparation 12 months later at Time 2. Furthermore, a shorter SLE at Time 1 increased the odds of actual retirement by Time 2 after controlling for a set of known predictors of retirement. In contrast, a longer SLE at Time 1 increased the odds that a Time 1 retiree had returned to paid work by Time 2. The discussion highlights ways in which SLE can inform financial and vocational counselling for late career decision-makers.     

Sex differences in reaction time mean and intraindividual variability across the life span

Men are often found to have faster and less variable reaction times (RTs) than do women. However, it has not been established whether these differences occur in children. One suggestion is that sex differences in RT variability may be due to the effect of sex hormones on the brain and, by implication, may be expected in adults but not in children. The present study investigates sex differences in RT mean and intraindividual variability in a sample that includes both children and adults (age range = 4-75 years). Mean and intraindividual variability of simple RT (SRT) and 4-choice RT (CRT) were measured in 1,994 visitors to science festivals held in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2008 and 2009 and in Cheltenham and Cambridge, England, in 2008. The commonly reported pattern of decreasing RT mean and variability in childhood and adolescence, followed by an increase in mean and variability through adulthood and into old age, was confirmed. Greater intraindividual variability for females in SRT and CRT was observed in adults but not in children. Males had significantly faster mean SRT than did females across the life span, but there were no sex differences in mean CRT. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).