An Instrumental Variable Estimator for Mixed Indicators: Analytic Derivatives and Alternative Parameterizations

Psychometrika - Methodological development of the model-implied instrumental variable (MIIV) estimation framework has proved fruitful over the last three decades. Major milestones include...     

The role of rapport in satisfying one’s basic psychological needs

Psychological need satisfaction is essential for daily human functioning and one of its sources is high quality interactions. Rapport is essential to high quality interactions and may be one way that various relationships types can provide the nutriments of healthy functioning. We hypothesized that when people perceive interactions to be higher in rapport, they will experience greater satisfaction of their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. We also explored whether this would be a basic process that would be altered by the relationship between interactants, testing this with multiple operationalizations. We conducted an event-contingent diary study in which participants (n_participants?=?124) responded to items at baseline, each time they experienced an interaction (n_interaction?=?1293), and at two-week follow-up. Supporting hypotheses, rapport in interactions was positively associated with need satisfaction within-persons, between-persons, cross-sectionally, and when examining temporal change. Moreover, rapport tended to predict the satisfaction of one’s needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness independently. Finally, relationships between interactants did not moderate these associations.

     

What Fitness Can’t Be

Recently advocates of the propensity interpretation of fitness have turned critics. To accommodate examples from the population genetics literature they conclude that fitness is better defined broadly as a family of propensities rather than the propensity to contribute descendants to some future generation. We argue that the propensity theorists have misunderstood the deeper ramifications of the examples they cite. These examples demonstrate why there are factors outside of propensities that determine fitness. We go on to argue for the more general thesis that no account of fitness can satisfy the desiderata that have motivated the propensity account.     

The effects of sexual assault-related intrusion suppression in the laboratory and natural environment

Individuals with a history of sexual victimization often experience enduring intrusive thoughts associated with their assault history. Research suggests that the characteristic ways in which sexually assaulted individuals respond to aversive internal experiences (i.e., thoughts, emotions, etc.) can influence the psychological distress associated with these intrusions. This study investigated the effects of suppressing sexual assault-related intrusions in a sample of 61 female college students with a history of adolescent or adult sexual assault and recent assault-related intrusions. Participants were randomly assigned to suppress or monitor intrusions during a laboratory task and for 48 h outside the laboratory. In contrast to study hypotheses, findings indicated that intrusion monitoring was associated with higher subjective distress than suppression both in the laboratory and in the natural environment. No differences were found for the frequency of intrusions between groups in the laboratory. However, modest evidence for a rebound effect in intrusion frequency was found outside the laboratory.     

Recent Developments in the Treatment of Depression

The cognitive and behavioral interventions can be as efficacious as antidepressant medications and more enduring, but some patients will be more likely to respond to one than the other. Recent work has focused on developing sophisticated selection algorithms using machine-learning approaches that answer the question, “What works best for whom?” Moreover, the vast majority of people suffering from depression reside in low- and middle-income countries where access to either psychotherapy or medications is virtually nonexistent. Great strides have been made in training nonspecialist providers (known as task sharing) to overcome this gap. Finally, recent work growing out of evolutionary psychology suggests that antidepressant medications may suppress symptoms at the expense of prolonging the underlying episode so as to increase the risk of relapse whenever someone tries to stop. We address each of these developments and their cumulative implications.     

Happiness Enrichment and Sustainable Happiness

Applied Research in Quality of Life - Sustainable happiness research has recently received renewed attention. Studies present exercises intended to enhance happiness. A comprehensive process by...