The linkages of cognitive processes, stress propensity, affect, and strain: experimental test of a cognitive model of the stress response

This research examined a model of the stress response that includes cognitive-affective stress propensity, cognitive-affective processes, experienced affective reactions, subjective stress, and strain constructs. Using partial least squares analysis, this model was found to provide a good fit with the data. Moderated multiple regression analyses found support for the hypothesized moderating effects of individual stress propensity on the relationships of stressors with cognitive-affective processes. The research and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Affiliation to Youth Gangs During Adolescence: The Interaction Between Childhood Psychopathic Tendencies and Neighborhood Disadvantage

Because youth gangs tend to cluster in disadvantaged neighborhoods, adolescents living in such neighborhoods are more likely to encounter opportunities to join youth gangs. However, in the face of these opportunities, not all adolescents respond in the same manner. Those with preexisting psychopathic tendencies might be especially likely to join. In this study, we tested whether a combination of individual propensity and facilitating neighborhood conditions amplifies the probabilities of youth gang affiliation. A subset of 3,522 adolescents was selected from a nationally representative, prospective sample of Canadian youth. Psychopathic tendencies (i.e., a combination of high hyperactivity, low anxiety, and low prosociality as compared to national norms) were assessed through parent reports, while neighborhood characteristics (i.e., concentrated economic disadvantage and residential instability) were derived from the 2001 Census of Canada. Our results indicated that neighborhood residential instability, but not neighborhood concentrated economic disadvantage, interacted with individual propensity to predict youth gang membership. Adolescents with preexisting psychopathic tendencies appeared especially vulnerable mainly if they were raised in residentially unstable neighborhoods.     

信任倾向与主观参照对网上购物意向的影响

该研究对225名大学生、在职人员进行问卷调查,通过分层回归分析探讨了信任倾向与主观参照对网上购物意向的影响。结果表明:男性在职人员的信任倾向要显著大于男大学生的信任倾向,而对于女性,这种差异不显著。工作与否、性别、学历在信任倾向、主观参照以及网上购物意向上差异不显著。主观参照对网上购物意向的影响受到信任倾向的缓冲,相对于高信任倾向的人,低信任倾向人的网上购物意向更容易受到主观参照的影响。信任倾向和主观参照对网上购物意向都有显著影响,但主观参照的回归效应更大。     

Maternal Childhood Sexual Trauma and Early Parenting: Prenatal and Postnatal Associations

Existing research suggests that approximately 19% of females experience childhood sexual trauma (CST). Little is known, however, about the parenting behaviour of mothers who have experienced CST. Using propensity‐matched controls, the present study examines prenatal psychosocial distress, postnatal depressive symptomatology, and caregiving behaviours of women reporting CST at or before the age of 14. Data for these analyses were obtained from mother reports and from observational protocols from a longitudinal study of low‐income, rural families. Propensity score methodology was used to create a contrast group matched on family of origin variables in an effort to isolate and examine the long‐term associations of CST beyond the effects of other childhood adversities such as poverty. Study findings provide evidence that women with CST histories report greater prenatal psychosocial distress compared to women without trauma histories. Findings further provide evidence for a spillover process from prenatal distress to the broader caregiving system including less sensitive parenting through postnatal depressive symptoms for women with CST histories. These results highlight the importance of screening for CST and psychosocial distress and depression prenatally. Interventions for women with CST histories and directions for future study are proposed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cultural differences in perceived social norms and social anxiety

Cultural considerations in social anxiety are a rarely investigated topic although it seems likely that differences between countries in social norms may relate to the extent of social anxiety. The present study investigated individuals' personal and perceived cultural norms and their relation to social anxiety and fear of blushing. A total of 909 participants from eight countries completed vignettes describing social situations and evaluated the social acceptability of the behavior of the main actor both from their own, personal perspective as well as from a cultural viewpoint. Personal and cultural norms showed somewhat different patterns in comparison between types of countries (individualistic/collectivistic). According to reported cultural norms, collectivistic countries were more accepting toward socially reticent and withdrawn behaviors than was the case in individualistic countries. In contrast, there was no difference between individualistic and collectivistic countries on individuals' personal perspectives regarding socially withdrawn behavior. Collectivistic countries also reported greater levels of social anxiety and more fear of blushing than individualistic countries. Significant positive relations occurred between the extent to which attention-avoiding behaviors are accepted in a culture and the level of social anxiety or fear of blushing symptoms. These results provide initial evidence that social anxiety may be related to different cultural norms across countries.     

Antecedents Of Trust: Establishing A Boundary Condition For The Relation Between Propensity To Trust And Intention To Trust

Two studies were conducted to examine the antecedents of intention to trust proposed by Mayer, Davis, and Schoorman [1995, Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 709–734]. In their model, intention to trust is influenced by the perceived characteristics of the trustee and the predisposition of the trustor. We found that perceived ability, benevolence, and integrity of the trustee predicted an individuals intention to trust. Propensity to trust, that is, an individuals disposition to trust, correlated with intention to trust when information about trustworthiness was ambiguous, but did not correlate with intention to trust when information about trustworthiness was clear. The notion of strong and weak situations is used to argue that situational strength is a boundary condition of the relation between propensity to trust and intention to trust.     

A Propensity Score Analysis of Homework Adherence-Outcome Relations in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression

Little is known about whether or not a consistently high level of homework adherence over the course of therapy benefits patients. This question was examined in two samples of patients who were receiving individual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for depression (Ns = 128 [Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression: STAR-D] and 183 [Continuation Phase Cognitive Therapy Relapse Prevention: C-CT-RP]). Logistic and linear regression and propensity score models were used to identify whether or not clinician assessments of homework adherence differentiated symptom reduction and remission, as assessed by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17 (HDRS-17), the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology–Self-Reported Scale (QIDS-SR), and the QIDS–Clinician Scale (QIDS-C). CBT-related response and remission were equally likely between both high and low homework adherers in both studies and in all models. But in propensity adjusted models that adjusted for session attendance, for both the STAR-D and C-CT-RP samples, greater homework adherence was significantly associated with greater response and remission from depression in the first and last 8 sessions of CBT. Our results suggest that homework adherence can account for response and remission early and late in treatment, with adequate session attendence.     

Using Response Times for Joint Modeling of Response and Omission Behavior

Abstract

For adequate modeling of missing responses, a thorough understanding of the nonresponse mechanisms is vital. As a large number of major testing programs are in the process or already have been moving to computer-based assessment, a rich body of additional data on examinee behavior becomes easily accessible. These additional data may contain valuable information on the processes associated with nonresponse. Bringing together research on item omissions with approaches for modeling response time data, we propose a framework for simultaneously modeling response behavior and omission behavior utilizing timing information for both. As such, the proposed model allows (a) to gain a deeper understanding of response and nonresponse behavior in general and, in particular, of the processes underlying item omissions in LSAs, (b) to model the processes determining the time examinees require to generate a response or to omit an item, and (c) to account for nonignorable item omissions. Parameter recovery of the proposed model is studied within a simulation study. An illustration of the model by means of an application to real data is provided.