The Family Cycle: An Activity to Enhance Parents’ Mentalization in Children’s Mental Health Treatment

This article introduces the Family Cycle, a therapeutic activity informed by attachment theory, family systems theory, and current literature on reflective functioning. The Family Cycle helps clinicians and families create a narrative about a child’s psychopathology that considers complex trauma and/or adverse childhood experiences. It reframes observable dysfunctional phenomena as behavioral sequelae of more deeply rooted emotional loss. After the theoretical underpinnings of the Family Cycle are laid out, we describe the implementation of the Family Cycle within the context of an intensive home-based, family-focused intervention created at the Yale Child Study Center, the Intensive In-Home Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Service (IICAPS). The Family Cycle provides a teachable clinical framework to facilitate the treatment of families with complex, multigenerational trauma.     

Housing-Related Subjective Well-Being in Turin (Italy) and Havana (Cuba): Dimensions and Prediction

In the present study, we conceptualized housing-related subjective well-being (HRSWB) as a three-dimensional construct, defined by positive and negative emotions related to housing and housing satisfaction. Moreover, we predicted the construct via a mediated model, with the objective characteristics of the household as exogenous variables and its subjective evaluation as a mediator. A survey performed on 409 participants (285 residents in Torino, Italy, women = 52.3%, M_age = 42.81, SD = 12.73, and 124 residents in Havana, Cuba, women = 58.1%, M_age = 40.48, SD = 19.21) showed that fewer square meters per capita and living in an apartment had a negative association with perceived housing quality, which in turn had a positive association with HRSWB. Home ownership was not associated with HRSWB. The model was invariant across genders, age classes, and cities of residence. Possible developments and limitations of this research are discussed.

     

Mastery goal orientation and cognitive ability effects on performance in learner‐guided training

To conserve resources, organizations are increasingly turning to learner‐guided training methods in which workers are given control over when, how, and what they cover in the learning process. However, the impact of individual differences such as goal orientation and cognitive ability has not been adequately addressed in learner‐guided training. This study seeks to advance our knowledge of how these differences affect performance through previously unexplored pathways. Specifically, we examined the indirect effects of mastery goal orientation and cognitive ability on post‐training performance in a learner‐directed training context. Findings indicate that off‐task thoughts mediate the positive effect of mastery goal orientation on post‐training performance, while declarative knowledge mediates the positive effect of cognitive ability on post‐training performance.     

Rape Myth Acceptance in Sexually Assaulted Adolescents' School Contexts: Associations with Depressed Mood and Alcohol Use

High school students exposed to sexual assault (SA) are at risk for negative outcomes like depressed mood and high‐risk drinking. Although evidence suggests that both social contexts and internalized stigma can affect recovery from SA, no research to date has directly examined the presence of stigma in social contexts such as high schools as a correlate of adjustment after SA. In this study, the self‐reported rape myth acceptance (RMA) of 3080 students from 97 grade cohorts in 25 high schools was used to calculate grade‐mean and school‐mean RMA, which was entered into multilevel models predicting depressed mood and alcohol use among N = 263 SA survivors within those schools. Two forms of RMA were assessed (i.e., rape denial and traditional gender expectations). Results indicate that higher grade‐mean rape denial was associated with higher risk for depressed mood among high school boys and girls exposed to SA, and higher grade‐mean traditional gender expectations were associated with higher risk for alcohol use among girls exposed to SA. Survivors' own RMA and school‐level RMA were not significantly associated with their depressed mood or alcohol use. Although causality cannot be concluded, these findings suggest that interventions that reduce stigma in social contexts should be explored further as a strategy to improve well‐being among high‐school‐aged survivors of SA.     

The impact of music on learning and consolidation of novel words

Music can be a powerful mnemonic device, as shown by a body of literature demonstrating that listening to text sung to a familiar melody results in better memory for the words compared to conditions where they are spoken. Furthermore, patients with a range of memory impairments appear to be able to form new declarative memories when they are encoded in the form of lyrics in a song, while unable to remember similar materials after hearing them in the spoken modality. Whether music facilitates the acquisition of completely new information, such as new vocabulary, remains unknown. Here we report three experiments in which adult participants learned novel words in the spoken or sung modality. While we found no benefit of musical presentation on free recall or recognition memory of novel words, novel words learned in the sung modality were more strongly integrated in the mental lexicon compared to words learned in the spoken modality. This advantage for the sung words was only present when the training melody was familiar. The impact of musical presentation on learning therefore appears to extend beyond episodic memory and can be reflected in the emergence and properties of new lexical representations.     

Using the Gamma Generalized Linear Model for Modeling Continuous,Skewed and Heteroscedastic Outcomes in Psychology

Some researchers in psychology have ordinarily relied on traditional linear models when assessing the relationship between predictor(s) and a continuous outcome, even when the assumptions of the traditional model (e.g., normality, homoscedasticity) are not satisfied. Of those who abandon the traditional linear model, some opt for robust versions of the ANOVA and regression statistics that usually focus on relationships for the typical or average case instead of trying to model relationships for the full range of relevant cases. Generalized linear models, on the other hand, model the relationships among variables using all available and relevant data and can be appropriate under certain conditions of non-normality and heteroscedasticity. In this paper, we summarize the advantages and limitations of using generalized linear models with continuous outcomes and provide two simplified examples that highlight the methodology involved in selecting, comparing, and interpreting models for positively skewed outcomes and certain heteroscedastic relationships.     

Development of a Streamlined Work Flow for Handling Patients’ Genetic Testing Insurance Authorizations

Obtaining genetic testing insurance authorizations for patients is a complex, time-involved process often requiring genetic counselor (GC) and physician involvement. In an effort to mitigate this complexity and meet the increasing number of genetic testing insurance authorization requests, GCs formed a novel partnership with an industrial engineer (IE) and a patient services associate (PSA) to develop a streamlined work flow. Eight genetics clinics and five specialty clinics at the University of Michigan were surveyed to obtain benchmarking data. Tasks needed for genetic testing insurance authorization were outlined and time-saving work flow changes were introduced including 1) creation of an Excel password-protected shared database between GCs and PSAs, used for initiating insurance authorization requests, tracking and follow-up 2) instituting the PSAs sending GCs a pre-clinic email noting each patients’ genetic testing insurance coverage 3) inclusion of test medical necessity documentation in the clinic visit summary note instead of writing a separate insurance letter and 4) PSAs development of a manual with insurance providers and genetic testing laboratories information. These work flow changes made it more efficient to request and track genetic testing insurance authorizations for patients, enhanced GCs and PSAs communication, and reduced tasks done by clinicians.     

Procuring Sexual Services: Evidencing Masculinity Diversity and Difference Through Sex Work Research

Masculinities theorising has promoted a traditional view of maleness, conceptualising it as being dominant, successful and non-emotional; that is hegemonic masculinity. Contemporary work on men and their behaviour, recognising need and emotions, has been classified as subordinate to hegemonic masculinity. We examine the procurement of sexual services by a cohort of heterosexual men in New South Wales, Australia arguing that our findings support contemporary masculinity writings. Our analysis suggests that men seek and obtain intimacy and emotional experiences through procurement of sex, while at the same time reflecting some hegemonic masculine characteristics. We conclude by arguing that research with men who procure sexual services provides new insights into masculinities theorising recognising difference and diversity in what it is to be a man in the twenty-first century.     

Flanders and Helmand: chaplaincy,faith and religious change in the British Army, 1914–2014

Abstract

The year 2014 marked the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War and the end of eight years of major British combat operations in Afghanistan. Against the background of profound religious changes in British society over the course of the intervening century, this article examines the continuities and discontinuities between British army chaplaincy on the Western Front from 1914 to 1918 and in southern Afghanistan from 2006 to 2014, and explores the religious beliefs and practices of British soldiers caught up in the deadly and protracted struggles on the Western Front and in Helmand Province. While acknowledging major differences in the operational contexts involved and seismic shifts in British religious life over the course of the twentieth century, besides important divergences this article identifies striking degrees of continuity between the ministry of army chaplains and the religious attitude and behaviour of soldiers themselves.