Social Influence in Personally Relevant Contexts: The Respect Attributed to the Source as a Factor Increasing Smokers’ Intention to Quit Smoking1

The study examined the effects of the status of the source in personally relevant persuasion contexts. Smokers (N= 117) with either weak or strong identity as smokers were exposed to an anti‐smoking message, targeting either the tobacco industry or smokers, and attributed either to a health institute or a neighborhood association. The main dependent variable was the change in intention to quit smoking. As expected, the neighborhood association was considered more respectful of the freedom of choice of the target than was the health institute. In high personal relevance conditions (i.e., participants with strong identities as smokers and message explicitly targeting smokers), smokers strengthened their intention to quit smoking when the source was the neighborhood association, but decreased it when the source was the health institute. Implications for health campaign implementation are discussed.     

Old and new controversies in the alternative treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

Use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has become widespread in both referral and primary care populations. We review the purported mechanism of action and available evidence for selected CAM therapies for ADHD. Enduring controversies, such as elimination of artificial food additives, colors, and/or preservatives; the effect of sugar on behavior in children; and the use of EEG biofeedback, have been well studied but lack support as effective sole treatments for ADHD. The initial evidence for some emerging CAM therapies, such as essential fatty acid supplementation, yoga, massage, homeopathy, and green outdoor spaces, suggests potential benefits as part of an overall ADHD treatment plan. More rigorously designed studies are needed to evaluate their effectiveness as single therapy for ADHD.     

Alcohol and Drug Use, and Depression Among Hispanic Men in Early Adulthood

Community research and clinical practice have shown that alcohol and drug use and depression are interrelated. Among Hispanics, acculturation may play a role in these relationships. To investigate these relationships as well as alcohol-related problems, we interviewed 288 Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Colombian men in early adulthood. No significant differences emerged in the proportions of abstainers across the three groups. Colombians drank significantly more frequently and had more alcohol-related problems than Dominicans. Dominicans were at least risk for and least likely to have alcohol-related problems. Puerto Ricans were much more likely to use drugs than the other Hispanic men. Drug use was associated with an increased likelihood of heavy drinking which, in turn, increased the risk of drug use and depression. Acculturation decreased the risk of drug use. Results are discussed in terms of implications for community psychology research and interventions.     

The relationship of clinical, cognitive and social measures in schizophrenia: a preliminary finding combining measures in probands and relatives

This study examines performance of schizophrenia patients, unaffected relatives and controls in social cognition, cognitive and psychiatric scales looking for possible markers of vulnerability in schizophrenia. Performance of schizophrenia patients from multiplex families, first-degree relatives, and matched controls was compared and, subsequently, discriminant analysis method was used for identifying the best predictors for group membership. By using Multigroup Discriminant Analyses on the three groups, the best predictors were PANSS, Premorbid Adjustment Scale, Faux Pas test, and a face/emotion categorizing task. This model obtained 82% correct global classification, suggesting that the combination of psychiatric scales and neuropsychological/social cognition tasks are the best approach for characterizing this disease. Although preliminary, our results suggest that social cognition tasks are robust markers of schizophrenia family impairments, and that combining clinical, social and neuropsychological measures is the best approach to asses patients and relatives vulnerability.     

The Life Satisfaction of Owner-Manager Entrepreneurs When the Business of Business is not only Business

This paper studies the anatomy of entrepreneurs’ satisfaction with life, which refers to the relationship between life satisfaction, satisfaction in domains of life, and affective, evaluative, and sensory experiences of being well. The paper focuses on owner-manager entrepreneurs, who, as managers, lead their firms and take major business decisions and, as owners, have room to deviate from the exclusive procurement of profits to pursue their happiness. The study of entrepreneurs’ anatomy of life satisfaction provides insight on how they lead their firms and how they weight the well-being repercussions of their business decisions. The paper distinguishes between family-firm and nonfamily-firm entrepreneurs, and it shows that there is heterogeneity in entrepreneurs’ anatomy of life satisfaction; with the life satisfaction of family-firm entrepreneurs being strongly driven by family satisfaction and by negative affect, while the life satisfaction of nonfamily-firm entrepreneurs is strongly driven by work satisfaction. These differences in the anatomy of entrepreneurs’ life satisfaction do correspond with observed differences in the organization and behavior of family and nonfamily firms, which suggests that the anatomy of life satisfaction provides insight on how entrepreneurs weight their business decisions and lead their firms. The empirical exercise is based on an original survey applied to Spanish entrepreneurs in 2019.

     

To switch or not to switch: Inviting bilingual clients to switch languages in psychotherapy

In the present study, we used an audio-analog design to test whether exposing bilingual participants to a therapist who invited a bilingual client to switch languages in a psychotherapy session would have a positive effect on participants’ perceptions of the therapist. We also explored whether participants’ sense of belonging to their ethnic group and to the larger US culture would enhance or attenuate this effect. Sixty-three bilingual Latino/a university students listened to one of two recordings of a simulated psychotherapy session with a bilingual Latina therapist and client. In one recording, the therapist invited the client to switch from English to Spanish when the client had trouble expressing complicated feelings; in the other, the therapist did not invite the client to switch. When listening, participants were asked to imagine themselves in the role of client and to rate the credibility and multicultural competence of the therapist, and the emotional bond they would anticipate with her. Contrary to expectation, only participants who expressed a greater sense of belonging to US culture rated the therapist who invited the client to switch as being more multiculturally competent. We discuss how these findings contribute to the literature on language switching and bilingualism in psychotherapy.     

US Retirement Migration to Mexico: Understanding Issues of Adaptation,Networking, and Social Integration

This paper describes the cultural adaptation of American retirees living in two traditional retirement destinations in Mexico (Lake Chapala, state of Jalisco and San Miguel de Allende, state of Guanajuato). Based on 375 surveys and follow-up interviews, the authors discuss issues of adaptation, identity, and networking with the American and local community. Findings present a complex picture of adaptation and integration to the Mexican community as well as networking with other US residents. The comparative case study allows researcher to see the different social and economic dynamics taking place in the two destinations. This study contributes to understand a largely ignored migration flow that is directly related to the aging of the baby boomers generation.     

Neuronal effects of auditory distraction on visual attention

Selective attention in the presence of distraction is a key aspect of healthy cognition. The underlying neurobiological processes, have not, however, been functionally well characterized. In the present study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to determine how ecologically relevant distracting noise affects cortical activity in 27 healthy adults during two versions of the visual Sustained Attention To Response Task (SART) that differ in difficulty (and thus attentional load). A significant condition (noise or silence) by task (easy or difficult) interaction was observed in several areas, including dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), fusiform gyrus (FG), posterior cingulate (PCC), and pre-supplementary motor area (PreSMA). Post hoc analyses of interaction effects revealed deactivation of DLPFC, PCC, and PreSMA during distracting noise under conditions of low attentional load, and activation of FG and PCC during distracting noise under conditions of high attentional load. These results suggest that distracting noise may help alert subjects to task goals and reduce demands on cortical resources during tasks of low difficulty and attentional load. Under conditions of higher load, however, additional cognitive resources may be required in the presence of noise.     

Animal model of posterior cingulate cortex hypometabolism implicated in amnestic MCI and AD

The posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) is the brain region displaying the earliest sign of energy hypometabolism in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who develop Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In particular, the activity of the mitochondrial respiratory enzyme cytochrome oxidase (C.O.) is selectively inhibited within the PCC in AD. The present study is the first experimental analysis designed to model in animals the localized cortical C.O. inhibition found as the earliest metabolic sign of early-stage AD in human neuroimaging studies. Rats were used to model local inhibition of C.O. by direct injection of the C.O. inhibitor sodium azide into the PCC. Learning and memory were examined in a spatial holeboard task and brains were analyzed using quantitative histochemical, morphological and biochemical techniques. Behavioral results showed that sodium azide-treated rats were impaired in their memory of the baited pattern in probe trials as compared to their training scores before treatment, without non-specific behavioral differences. Brain analyses showed that C.O. inhibition was specific to the PCC, and sodium azide increased lipid peroxidation, gliosis and neuron loss, and lead to a network functional disconnection between the PCC and interconnected hippocampal regions. It was concluded that impaired memory by local C.O. inhibition in the PCC may serve to model in animals a metabolic lesion similar to that found in patients with amnestic MCI and early-stage AD. This model may be useful as an in vivo testing platform to investigate neuroprotective strategies to prevent or reduce the amnestic effects produced by posterior cingulate energy hypometabolism.