Emotion comprehension and attachment: A conversational intervention with school-aged children

IntroductionAs part of the flourishing line of enquiry into children's emotion understanding, we report the results of a conversation-based intervention study aimed at improving participants’ emotion comprehension, and exploring the intervention effect as a function of attachment security.MethodThe study was conducted at school with the participation of 98 second-grade children (mean age: 7 years, 7 months; SD: 3.4 months). Participants were assigned to experimental and control groups that were balanced with respect to attachment security and insecurity as evaluated using the Separation Anxiety Test (SAT). The experimental group was exposed to a conversational intervention, in which short story readings with emotional content were used to stimulate discussion on the nature, causes and regulation of emotion. The children in the control group listened to the same stories, but did not take part in the conversational activity. Children from both groups were individually pre- and post-tested on measures of emotional lexicon (ELT) and emotion comprehension (TEC).ResultsThe training was found to have a significant effect on the emotion comprehension of the children allocated to the experimental group. In addition, non-secure children displayed higher gains in emotion comprehension than secure participants. The implications of the findings for educational and school contexts are discussed.     

A THERAPEUTIC PLAYGROUP FOR DEPRESSED MOTHERS AND THEIR INFANTS: FEASIBILITY STUDY AND PILOT RANDOMIZED TRIAL OF COMMUNITY HUGS

Symptoms of depression negatively impact on mother?infant relationships and child outcomes. We evaluated a novel, 10‐session mother?infant therapeutic playgroup—Community HUGS (CHUGS)—which combines cognitive and experiential components through psychoeducation, play, music, and movement. Participants were mothers experiencing a range of postnatal mental health difficulties, including depression, with infants ≤12 months of age. However, the aim was not to treat maternal depression but to ameliorate associated problems in the mother?infant interaction. In the feasibility study, all participants received CHUGS. In the pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT), participants were randomized between intervention and a wait‐list. Outcomes were the Parenting Stress Index (PSI; R.R. Abidin, 1995), Parenting Sense of Competency Scale (Self‐Efficacy subscale; J. Gibaud‐Wallston & L.P. Wandersman, 1978), and the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scales (P.F. Lovibond & S.H. Lovibond, 1995). In the feasibility study (n = 74), PSI scores dropped on all subscales, all ps < .01. Depression, p < .001, anxiety, p = .01, stress, p = .01, and self‐efficacy, p < .001, all showed improvements, as did observer‐rated mother?infant interactions, p < .001. In the RCT, depression, p < .001, anxiety, p = .005, and stress, p < .001, symptoms were significantly reduced for intervention participants (n = 16), as compared to wait‐list participants (n = 15). The CHUGS program had high participant satisfaction and produced improvements in self‐efficacy, depression, anxiety, stress, and mother?infant interactions that supported the program's acceptability and the utility of further rollout.     

What makes for a good break? A diary study on recovery experiences during lunch break

This study investigated the role of four recovery experiences during lunch break for employees’ afternoon well‐being. We hypothesized that lunch‐break recovery experiences (psychological detachment, relaxation, control, and relatedness) reduce afternoon exhaustion and enhance afternoon work engagement via replenished personal resources (i.e., state of being recovered immediately after break and subsequent self‐efficacy regarding the upcoming tasks in the afternoon). One hundred and nine employees provided daily survey data three times a day (i.e., start of work, after lunch break, end of work) over a period of two workweeks. Multilevel path analysis showed that relaxation, control, and relatedness during lunch break negatively predicted afternoon exhaustion and positively predicted afternoon work engagement via state of being recovered. For relaxation and relatedness, we additionally found positive serial indirect effects on afternoon work engagement via state of being recovered and self‐efficacy. Psychological detachment was not related to personal resources and afternoon well‐being. This study demonstrates that experiencing control over lunch break and using the lunch break to relax and to relate to others are indirectly associated with improved afternoon well‐being via replenished personal resources.

Practitioner points

• Relaxation, control, and relatedness constitute lunch‐break recovery experiences that indirectly foster feeling confident, replenished, and engaged in the afternoon.
• Employees should strive to spend their lunch breaks in ways that help them feel relaxed, related, and in control.
• Organizations should provide their employees with sufficient break control and offer environments that facilitate relaxation and socializing during lunch break.

     

睡眠问题在创伤后应激障碍各症状间的独特作用：基于交叉滞后网络分析模型

借助交叉滞后网络的分析方法, 探讨睡眠问题在创伤后应激障碍(PTSD)的症状系统中与其他症状的格兰杰因果关系。以经历舟曲泥石流的1460名儿童青少年为研究对象, 在灾后3, 15和27个月对其PTSD症状进行测量。交叉滞后网络分析结果显示：3到15个月时的睡眠问题的发出预期影响最高; 而15到27个月时与他人疏离和线索引发生理反应的发出预期影响最高。结果表明了睡眠问题对PTSD症状影响的时间特异性, 并为儿童青少年的PTSD干预方案和诊断模式提供了启示。     

Turning students into scholars: using digital methods to teach the critical study of religion

Incorporating digital tools into Religious Studies courses provides experiences and conditions that transform students into scholars. In this essay we discuss two courses we taught in conjunction with the Religious Soundmap Project of the Global Midwest, a collaborative digital humanities project that we co-directed from 2014 to 2016. Engaging students as contributors to a collaborative digital research project helped them to appreciate some of the key practical, theoretical, and ethical challenges that we face as scholars of religion. In particular, our work together brought to the fore critical questions about definition, classification, and representation. Even more, because they knew their work would be accessible to broader audiences outside the classroom, potentially including the very communities whom they were studying, students were able to perceive the stakes of these questions in ways we had not previously experienced. Incorporating digital tools enabled our students to see themselves as scholars of religion.     

群组发展模型——干预研究的新方法

群组发展模型(group-based trajectory model,GBTM)是一种用于研究群体异质性的新方法,旨在识别群体内遵循不同发展轨迹的亚组,并描绘亚组成员特征。这一模型为干预研究提供了新的研究视角,群组发展模型不仅可以探讨干预是否引起分组比例变化,也关注干预对个体的发展轨迹的影响,并评估干预对不同轨迹组的效果差异。     

Terminal decline of episodic memory and perceptual speed in a biracial population

We compared trajectories of terminal cognitive decline in older Black (n = 3372) and White (n = 1756) persons from a defined population who completed tests of episodic memory and perceptual speed at 3-year intervals for up to 18 years. During a mean of 9.9 years of observation, 1608 Black persons and 902 White persons died. Preterminal decline of episodic memory did not differ by race. Terminal episodic memory decline began earlier in Black persons (mean of 4.3 years before death) than in White persons (mean = 3.9 years) and progressed more slowly. By contrast, terminal decline of perceptual speed began earlier in White persons (mean = 5.0 years) than in Black persons (mean = 4.5 years). Rate of perceptual speed decline was more rapid in White persons than in Black persons in both the preterminal and terminal periods. The results indicate that terminal cognitive decline occurs in Black persons but suggest that the rate of cognitive decline during the terminal period is less rapid in Black persons than in White persons.     

Neuro-feedback intervention efficacy for treating children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study explored practitioners perceptions of a neuro-feedback intervention in treating children with Autism Spectrum Disorder’s (ASD). Informants were a convenience sample of ten South African neuro-feedback practitioners registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). The data on their views on neuro-feedback treatment efficacy, with children with ASD, were collected by means of semi-structured in-depth interviews. Thematic analysis of the data suggest practitioners to perceive neuro-feedback treatment to enhance the social, mood, behaviour, academic life, and family functioning of children with ASD. Additionally, the practitioners perceived neuro-feedback treatment to assist in reducing anxiety among children with ASD.     

Validity evidence of the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale-Short Form among depressed smokers

Background/Objective

A measure of Behavioral Activation (BA) is highly recommended when evaluating BA treatment effects for smokers with depression. Recently, a short version of the Behavioral Activation for Depression scale (BADS-SF) has been developed as a means of assessing changes in activation and avoidance patterns. To date there is no validated version of this questionnaire in Spanish. This study sought to adapt the BADS-SF to a Spanish population of depressed smokers. Method A sample of 169 smokers (72.2% female) with elevated depressive symptomatology completed the BADS-SF. Results A bi-factorial structure was obtained: Activation and Avoidance. Results indicated an acceptable internal consistency for both the Activation (ω = .85) and the Avoidance subscales (ω =.70). Overall, convergent validity was obtained with Activation and Avoidance subscales being related to other depression-related measures such as depressive symptomatology (Activation r = ?.29; Avoidance r = .35), environmental reward (Activation r = .40; Avoidance r = ?.41) and, nicotine dependence (Avoidance r = .23). This latter variable was the only one not showing a statistically significant association with the Activation factor (r = ?.12). Conclusions The Spanish BADS-SF can be considered as a reliable and valid instrument when assessing behavioral activation among clinically depressed smokers.