Predicting Suicidal Tendencies Among High Risk Youth With the General Theory of Crime

This study examines whether suicidal tendencies among a group of juveniles who have come to the attention of Child Protective Services can be predicted by self-control theory. Using data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, we find that self-control predicts suicidal tendencies. In addition, the effect of self-control remains significant even when controlling for the juveniles’ depression and previously reported suicidal thoughts and behaviors. This study lends further support to the claim that self-control serves as a general explanation for a wide range of problematic outcomes. In addition, these findings provide caseworkers with another tool for assessing the risk of suicide among high risk youth.     

When Being “Essential” Illuminates Disparities: Counseling Clients Affected by COVID‐19

The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID‐19) has highlighted social disparities in the United States. This article examines how preexisting racial and ethnic disparities, exacerbated by COVID‐19, have negatively affected communities of color that tend to be overrepresented in lower socioeconomic groups, have limited access to health care and education, have an undocumented status, and work in jobs considered “essential.” Counselors are encouraged to use creative strategies to design and facilitate telecounseling and reduced‐ or no‐cost workshops in which attendees can participate safely. Specific cultural considerations, aspects of crisis management, and creative interventions that can be used with clients of color at an appropriate social distance are discussed. Counselors can also instill hope in their clients by promoting sociopolitical development. As the impact of COVID‐19 will be felt for years, it is crucial that counselors be prepared to address the needs of those disproportionately affected.     

Academic adjustment across middle school: the role of public regard and parenting

In the current longitudinal study, we examined associations between Black and Latino youths' perceptions of the public's opinion of their racial/ethnic group (i.e., public regard) and changes in academic adjustment outcomes across middle school. We also tested combinations of racial/ethnic socialization and parent involvement in academic activities as moderators of this association. We used a 2nd-order latent trajectory model to test changes in academic adjustment outcomes in a sample of 345 Black and Latino urban youth across 6th, 7th, and 8th grades (51% female). Results revealed a significant average linear decline in academic adjustment from 6th to 8th grade, as well as significant variation around this decline. We found that parenting moderated the association between public regard and the latent trajectory of academic adjustment. Specifically, for youth who reported high racial/ethnic socialization and low parent academic involvement, lower public regard predicted lower academic adjustment in 6th grade. For youth who reported both low racial/ethnic socialization and low parent academic involvement, lower public regard predicted a steeper decline in academic adjustment over time. Finally, among youth who reported high racial/ethnic socialization and high parent academic involvement, public regard was not associated with either the intercept or the slope of academic adjustment. Thus, the combination of high racial/ethnic socialization and parent academic involvement may protect youths' academic motivation and performance from the negative effects of believing the public has low opinions of one's racial/ethnic group. Implications for protecting Black and Latino youths' academic outcomes from decline during middle school are discussed.     

Validation of the Suicide Resilience Inventory-25 (SRI-25) in adolescent psychiatric inpatient samples

Resilience has been associated with a markedly decreased chance for risky behaviors following a trauma or other negative life event. This study examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of a self-report measure of resilience, the Suicide Resilience Inventory-25 (SRI-25; Osman et al., 2004 ), among psychiatric inpatient adolescents. In Study 1, we conducted confirmatory factor analysis to provide additional empirical support for the structure and invariance of the 3-factor model of the SRI-25 in youth samples, ages 14 to 17 years (N = 152 boys, 220 girls). Scale reliability analyses provided good evidence for internal consistency reliability of scores on the SRI-25 total and scales. In Study 2 (N = 30 boys, 40 girls), we presented data in support for the concurrent validity (i.e., known groups) of scores on the SRI-25. Additionally, we identified potential correlates for the SRI-25 total scale scores.     

Group fixed-role therapy: A clinical application

Fixed-role therapy has primarily been seen as a form of individual therapy. However, Kelly 0955) suggested that it would provide an interesting and useful way of approaching group psychotherapy. This article illustrates the feasibility of Kelly's suggestion in a clinical setting. The group had 5 participants, all of whom had been referred for help with social anxiety or social phobia. Self-report measures were administered before and after group therapy, and the outcome was positive.     

A community psychology of object meanings: Identity negotiation during disaster recovery

What do material goods intended for personal consumption mean to community? We use the extreme example of natural disaster recovery in a community to explore this question. Our work describes how members make sense of material objects that transition from private to public possessions (damaged goods) and public to private possessions (donated goods). By blending consumer and community psychology perspectives with our narratives, we employ a three-dimensional framework for analyzing object meanings: (1) material objects as agents of communitas (a shared sense of “we”), (2) material objects as agents of individualism (a focus on “me”), and (3) material objects as agents of opposition (the “we” that speaks for “me” and “us” versus “them”). This theoretical frame allows us to show how different conceptions of identity lead to conflicting meanings of objects within community, and to explain how and why object meanings shift as objects move across time and space from private to public and from scarcity to abundance. We also provide implications for coping with disasters that consider collective and individual identities as well as oppositional stances in between.     

Daily Interactions and Affect in Older Adulthood: Family,Friends, and Perceived Support

Research suggests that family and friend support differentially impact well-being, although relatively few studies investigate how these relationships function day-to-day. The first goal of the study was to explore how interactions with family and with friends related to individuals’ daily experience of positive and negative emotion. The second goal of the study was to determine whether the perception that others were available to provide a particular type of support moderated the relationship between friend and family support and well-being each day. Multilevel Random Coefficient Modeling illuminated these linkages in data from 96 participants from Successful Aging in Context: The Macroenvironment and Daily Lived Experience (M _Age = 67 years, SD _Age = 4.9 years; range 58–86 years). Results revealed significant relationships between affect balance and satisfaction with the amount of support provided by family and by friends; in general, older adults reported a higher ratio of positive to negative affect on days they were more satisfied with the amount of support received from each source. Results of Level-2 analyses suggested that the perception that others were available to provide tangible assistance strengthened the relationship between satisfaction with family support and daily well-being; likewise, the availability of emotional support and advice strengthened the daily friend support–affect balance association. Overall, results suggest that global perceptions that network members are available to provide different types of support differentially augment the relationships between the social support older adults receive from friends and family each day and well-being; in so doing, these results suggest ways in which older adults can benefit most from existing support.