An empirical investigation of acculturative stress and ethnic identity as moderators for depression and suicidal ideation in college students

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships of acculturative stress and ethnic identity to depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation in college students. The SAFE Acculturative Stress Scale, Multi-Group Ethnic Identity Measure, Beck Depression Inventory, and Beck Suicide Scale were administered to 452 college students. The authors found that acculturative stress and ethnic identity moderated the depression-suicide ideation relationship for African American but not European American college students. Given that vulnerability toward suicidal thoughts is increased for African American college students who report symptoms of depression accompanied by either high-acculturative stress or poor group identity, these culturally relevant factors should be included in protocol for suicide risk assessment.     

Feedback and driver situation awareness (SA): A comparison of SA measures and contexts

The dominant technological trajectory in vehicle design brings with it similarly dominant driver performance issues in regard to vehicle feedback and driver situational awareness (SA). Three experiments are reported in this paper that describe not only the effects on driver SA of manipulations of vehicle feedback but also illuminate issues concerned with SA measurement methods and contexts. The findings suggest that current trends in vehicle design may contribute little towards a driver’s SA and, in fact, may actually show a generalized trend towards decreasing it. The efficacy of verbal protocol and probe recall SA measurement techniques is noted in terms of observing this effect. On the other hand, a concerning dissociation occurred with findings from a self-report measure of SA. Drivers appear to show a concerning lack of self-awareness of their SA and, indeed, any shortfall in it.     

Consistency of magnitude estimations with conceptual data dimensions used for sonification

In two experiments listeners assessed how sounds represented data, as might be used in sonification. In Experiment 1, 209 undergraduates used magnitude estimation to define the relationship between three sound attributes (frequency, tempo, modulation index) and 10 data dimensions (size, temperature, pressure, velocity, number of dollars, urgency, proximity, attractiveness, danger, mass). Polarities and slopes (i.e. power function exponents) are reported and compared to predictions from the literature. In Experiment 2, 226 new participants demonstrated polarities and slopes are stable across a direct replication. Results show that listener expectations depend on both sound and data dimensions in use. While there are some unanimous expectations across listeners, there are also differences due to different mental models formed by participants, which may relate to listening experience. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Movement abnormalities predict conversion to Axis I psychosis among prodromal adolescents

Evidence suggests that movement abnormalities are a precursor of psychosis. The link between movement abnormalities and psychotic disorders is presumed to reflect common neural mechanisms that influence both motor functions and vulnerability to psychosis. The authors coded movement abnormalities from videotapes of 40 adolescents at risk for psychosis (designated prodromal on the Structured Interview for Prodromal Symptoms; T. J. Miller et al., 2002). Following initial assessment, participants were evaluated for diagnostic status at 4 times annually. Ten participants converted to an Axis I psychosis (e.g., schizophrenia) over the 4-year period. Comparisons of converted and nonconverted participants at baseline indicated that the groups did not differ on demographic characteristics or levels of prodromal symptomatology, but those who converted exhibited significantly more movement abnormalities. Movement abnormalities and prodromal symptoms were strongly associated and logistic regression analyses indicated that abnormalities in the face and upper body regions were most predictive of conversion. Findings suggest that individuals with elevated movement abnormalities may represent a subgroup of prodromal adolescents who are at the highest risk for conversion. The implications for neural mechanisms and for identifying candidates for preventive intervention are discussed.     

Emotion and rationality: The characterisation and evaluation of opposition to renewable energy projects

Opposition to wind farm developments has been seen as a significant threat to climate change mitigation policies in the UK. This paper considers the complex of different factors that may lie behind such oppositional activism and the role of emotion within these. Drawing on a programme of interviews it then explores in detail the ways in which industry and policy actors construct the role of emotion in wind farm opposition and in decisions on planning permission, often as an unwelcome intrusion into a supposedly rational process. The consequences of such understandings of opposition for the shaping of public engagement practices and for the nature and quality of public debate are examined.     

Body checking behaviors in men

Males have been facing increasing pressure from the media to attain a lean, muscular physique, and are at risk for body dissatisfaction, disturbed eating and exercise behaviors, and abuse of appearance- and performance-enhancing drugs (APEDs). The aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between body checking and mood, symptoms of muscle dysmorphia, importance of shape and weight, and APED use in undergraduate males. Body checking in males was correlated with weight and shape concern, symptoms of muscle dysmorphia, depression, negative affect, and APED use. Body checking predicted APED use and uniquely accounted for the largest amount of variance in Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder Inventory (MDDI) scores (16%). Findings support the view that body checking is an important construct in male body image, muscle dysmorphia, and body change strategies and suggest a need for further research.     

A Bayesian Nonparametric Approach to Test Equating

A Bayesian nonparametric model is introduced for score equating. It is applicable to all major equating designs, and has advantages over previous equating models. Unlike the previous models, the Bayesian model accounts for positive dependence between distributions of scores from two tests. The Bayesian model and the previous equating models are compared through the analysis of data sets famous in the equating literature. Also, the classical percentile-rank, linear, and mean equating models are each proven to be a special case of a Bayesian model under a highly-informative choice of prior distribution.     

Conscious thought and the sustained attention to response task

We investigated the properties of the sustained attention to response task (SART). In the SART, participants respond to frequent (high probability of occurrence) neutral signals and are required to withhold response to rare (low probability of occurrence) critical signals. We examined whether SART performance shows characteristics of speed–accuracy tradeoffs and in addition, we examined whether SART performance is influenced by prior exposure to emotional picture stimuli. Thirty-six participants in this study performed SARTs after being exposed to neutral and negative picture stimuli. Performance in the SART changed rapidly over time and there was a high correlation between participants errors of commission rate and their reaction time to the neutral targets (r = −.61). Regardless of exposure self-reported thoughts significantly correlated with both errors of commission and reaction times. Overall, the results support the view that the SART is a better measure of impulsive responding than sustained attention.     

Transfer of lexical information in adults with reading disorders.

This study was designed to test whether adults with reading disorders differ from adults with normal reading abilities in their interhemispheric transfer rates during a lexical decision task. Correlations of performance were completed between lexical decision vocal reaction times (msec.), interhemispheric reaction rates (RVF vocal reaction times-LVF vocal reaction times) and measures of decoding skills, including sight word decoding and phonological decoding for 20 adults with reading disorders and 20 with normal reading abilities. Following a series of Pearson product-moment correlations, the correlation between interhemispheric transfer time and sightword recognition was significant and negative for the adults with reading disorders. This value indicates a significant association between the direction of the interhemispheric transfer time times and sight-word recognition for reading-disordered adults. When correlations were negative (LVF) reaction times < RVF reaction times), stronger sight-word recognition scores were found. The correlation between interhemispheric transfer time and sight-word recognition was not significant for the normal reading adults. For both groups, the correlations between interhemispheric transfer time and phonological decoding were not significant so an association between phonological decoding and interhemispheric transfer time was not evident, The current findings suggest a strong relationship between reading proficiency and reaction times in completing the lexical decision task for the reading-disordered adults.