The relationship between seriously considering, planning, and attempting suicide in the youth risk behavior survey

The assumed ordinal relationship between seriously considering, planning, and attempting suicide in the 1999 Youth Risk Behavior Survey was examined by constructing a trajectory that identified all possible response patterns among the four questions measuring suicidal activity. Statistical analysis tested for differences in frequency of risk behaviors across levels of the trajectory. Overall, the trajectory provided insight to the progression of adolescent suicidal activity and demonstrated usefulness as a measure of suicidal intent. Significant differences between means of dependent variables at each level of the normative trajectory supported the hypothesis that frequency of risk behaviors increases monotonically with successive suicidal thought and behavior.     

The effects of aging and dorsal hippocampal lesions: performance on spatial and nonspatial comparable versions of the water maze

Aged intact and young hippocampal-lesioned rats show similar deficits on the spatial water maze. However, this does not necessitate that the source of these deficits in the aged animals is due to hippocampal damage. These water maze deficits may arise from other aging factors such as changes in thermoregulation, muscle fatigue, swim ability, and response to stress. Consequently, it is imperative to examine the performance of aged rats on a comparable nonhippocampal version of this task. Past attempts to develop a hippocampus-independent version of the water maze were confounded because these tasks were easier (i.e., the rats spent much less time swimming in the water) than the spatial versions of the task. The current study examined performance on a hippocampus-independent task comparable in difficulty to the spatial water one. Middle-aged (16-m) and old (25-m) male F344 rats were given sham or dorsal hippocampus lesions and tested on both a spatial and a nonspatial water maze. The middle-aged rats with hippocampal lesions were impaired on the spatial task but not on the nonspatial task. Conversely, aged animals showed a similar impairment on both types of water maze tasks. Additionally, hippocampal lesions exacerbated the age-related impairment on both tasks. These findings indicate that caution must be used when interpreting the results of water maze tasks for aged animals.     

Do Conditional Hypotheses Target Rare Events?

When testing hypotheses, rare or unexpected observations are normatively more informative than common observations, and recent studies have shown that participants' behavior reflects this principle. Research has also shown that, when asked to test conditional hypotheses (“If X, then Y”) that are abstract or unfamiliar, participants overwhelmingly consider a supporting observation mentioned in the hypothesis (X&Y) to be more informative than a supporting observation not mentioned (XY). These two empirical findings would mesh well if conditional hypotheses tend to be phrased in terms of rare, rather than common, events. Six experiments are reported indicating that people do have a tendency—often a very strong one—to phrase conditional hypotheses in terms of rare events. Thus, observations mentioned in conditional hypotheses might generally be considered highly informative because they usually are highly informative.     

sluts and wiggers: a study of the effects of derogatory labeling

This research investigated how poor teenage girls from the marginal teenage subculture react to persistent derogatory labeling from higher status teenagers and adult authorities. The research found that a supportive emotional bond with a mother or grandmother insulates a girl from the harmful effects of derogatory stereotyping. Girls, who had an adult to trust for emotional support, did not engage in promiscuous, unprotected sex and less frequently used alcohol and other drugs. A second finding was that the experience of derogatory labeling did not cause most of the girls to develop persistent low self-esteem.     

Walking the thin line between efficiency and accuracy: Validity and structural properties of the Dirty Dozen

In this study (N = 210), participants were sampled through the Mechanical Turk system to assess the validity and structural properties of the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism). First, the correlations of the Dirty Dozen and long-form Dark Triad measures with sociosexual behaviors, attitudes, and desires, were generally consistent. Second, the scales of the Dirty Dozen measure modestly correlated with other measures of the same constructs as would be expected given the reduction in content-breadth. Third, the scales tap different dimensions (e.g., primary psychopathy, entitlement) of the older measures despite the loss of content. Fourth, a series of factor analyses revealed that the three dimensional structure replicates, but the data were best explained by a bifactor model. Despite traditional objections to short measures, if the short measure is up to the task of measuring its constructs and has good structural properties, it is a useful tool. Whereas the Dirty Dozen appears to provide conservative estimates of correlations it does appear to be a valid and psychometrically sound measure of the Dark Triad.     

Enrichment and written messages with couples

Abstract

The field of paradoxical therapy has mushroomed in a variety of conceptual and methodological ways. One of the latest methods is the use of paradoxically worded letters that will be given to couples and families, usually at the outset of therapy. To check on the validity of this approach, 56 couples were evaluated before and after a course of six sessions of marital enrichment. One group received no enrichment. A second group received enrichment. A third group received linearly worded messages at the end of the fourth session of enrichment, while a fourth group received paradoxically worded messages. The effect of these messages on the outcome is analyzed and discussed.     

The rescuing therapist: A duplication of the pathogenic family system

Abstract

Rescuing is a saving behavior occuring in pathogenic families which is often duplicated by family therapists. Rescuing, if not confronted and explored, leads to frustration and burn—out in families and therapists. This paper explores the dynamics of rescuing behavior in families, how it is replicated by a therapist's attempts to rescue, and how the impetus for these attempts are derived from the therapist's own family of origin. The value of exploring the need to rescue is demonstrated by use of a case example. Countertransference issues and their resolution through the conscious differentiation between rescuing and real help are also explicated.     

Marital intimacy,family support,and secondary traumatization: A study of wives of veterans with combat stress reaction

Abstract

The main aim of the study was to assess the role of family variables in the process of secondary traumatization among wives of post-traumatic veterans. We compared a sample of 49 wives of Israeli veterans with combat stress reaction (CSR) from the 1982 Lebanon War with a sample of 31 wives of Israeli veterans who fought in the war without developing CSR. We assessed their psychological reactions to the war, their health status six years later, and their reported levels of marital intimacy and family support after the war. When compared with controls, wives of veterans with CSR reported more negative emotions and lower perceived intimacy after the war, and greater severity of psychiatric and somatic symptoms six years later. Results also indicate that the greater the perceived marital intimacy, the less the negative emotions wives of veterans with CSR felt after the war and the better their health status six years later. In addition, wives of veterans with CSR who reported having received more support from their families after the war reported more anxiety and hostility than wives who received less support. The roles of marital intimacy and family support in the process of secondary traumatization were discussed.