CROSSING THE DIVIDE: LESSONS FROM DEVELOPING WIND ENERGY IN POST‐FACT AMERICA

The income and careers that come with building wind turbines have become a lifeline for many factory towns and farming communities. Generating electricity from the wind puts increasingly cheap power on the grid, saving consumers billions a year. And it is one of the biggest, fastest, cheapest ways to reduce carbon pollution, reducing the threat of climate change. Yet as wind farms have rapidly spread to forty‐one states, their developers must make their case anew with each community that hosts them. Facts matter, but so do empathy, honoring deep connections to neighbors and landscape, and developing mutual respect. Successful wind farm developers listen first for shared values and speak with inclusive language, to communicate with potential opponents across divides of misunderstanding and motivate local residents to adapt to and benefit from change.     

The Role of Maternal Acceptance in the Relation Between Community Violence Exposure and Child Functioning

Children in the United States are exposed to considerable community violence that has been linked to child functioning. However, not all those exposed, experience negative outcomes. Recent research has focused on factors that “buffer” or protect children from negative consequences of violence exposure. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the potential buffering or moderating role of maternal acceptance in the relationship between community violence exposure and internalizing and externalizing problems. Subjects were 268 urban African American first graders. Community violence exposure was significantly related to symptoms of post-traumatic stress, but did not correlate with either internalizing or externalizing problems for all children, after control for demographics, maternal mental health, and general life stress. However, children's perceptions of maternal acceptance moderated the relationship between violence exposure and internalizing and externalizing problems which included being withdrawn, anxious-depressed, and demonstrating delinquent behavior. Children with the lowest levels of self-reported maternal acceptance were most impacted by community violence. In this sample of urban first graders, low levels of maternal acceptance placed children at greater risk for adverse outcomes associated with community violence exposure compared to moderate and high levels of maternal acceptance.     

Self-Perceived Peer Acceptance in Preschoolers of Differing Economic and Cultural Backgrounds

Self-evaluation begins in early childhood and becomes more nuanced as children get older. However, little is known about the specific factors that predict self-perception and in particular peer acceptance, early in life. This is especially true for low-income children and children of different ethnicities. This study examined 4-year-old children's feelings of social acceptance relative to teachers' perceptions. It also explored whether temperament, language skills, traditional parenting, and teachers' perceptions of peer acceptance were related to children's self-perceptions. Using 94 preschoolers from different cultural and economic backgrounds as participants, results of a mixed model analysis of variance indicated that the relation between children's self-perceptions and teachers' ratings were not uniform across economic and cultural groups. In addition, results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses demonstrated that traditional parenting was one of the strongest predictors of children's social self-perceptions. Beyond parenting, children with relatively good verbal skills, who were not temperamentally shy, tended to perceive themselves as socially competent.     

Relations between acceptance of multiple sclerosis and positive and negative adjustments

This study examines relations between acceptance as defined in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and adjustment to multiple sclerosis (MS). A first step in this investigation was the development of a measure of acceptance of MS called the MS Acceptance Questionnaire (MSAQ). Consistent with prior findings and theoretical propositions, it was predicted that acceptance would be associated with better adjustment to MS (lower distress and higher positive affect, life satisfaction and marital adjustment and better health). A total of 128 persons with MS completed measures of demographics, illness and adjustment at Time 1 and measures of acceptance and adjustment 12 months later (Time 2). Factor analyses of the MSAQ revealed two factors, action and willingness. Associations between the MSAQ and other validated acceptance measures supported convergent validity. As predicted, after controlling for the effects of initial adjustment and relevant demographic and illness variables, greater acceptance was related to better adjustment, although the action factor emerged as the strongest predictor of better adjustment. This is the first study to examine the role of acceptance (as defined in ACT) in adjusting to MS over time and as such provides a first step for further investigation of acceptance in MS.     

Internet-Delivered Acceptance and Values-Based Exposure Treatment for Fibromyalgia: A Pilot Study

Background: Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a promising treatment option for fibromyalgia (FM). Studies have shown that many cognitive behavioral protocols can be transferred to the Internet with sustained efficacy. However, no study has investigated the effect on an Internet-delivered ACT-based protocol for FM. This study evaluated the efficacy, acceptability, and the health economic effects of an Internet-delivered acceptance and values-based exposure treatment for FM. Methods: This open pilot trial included 41 self-referred women with a FM diagnosis. The 10-week Internet-delivered treatment included acceptance, mindfulness, work with life-values, and systematic exposure to FM symptoms and FM-related situations. Participants also had regular contact with an assigned online therapist. Assessments were made at pretreatment, post-treatment, and 6-month follow-up. Results: The treatment was completed by 70% of the participants. Attrition rates were low, with 98% completing the post-treatment assessment and 90% completing the 6-month follow-up assessment. Multiple imputations were used to replace missing values. Pre- to post-treatment within-group effect sizes were in the moderate to large range (Cohen's d = 0.62–1.56) on measures of FM symptoms and impact, disability, quality of life, depression, anxiety, fatigue, and psychological flexibility. All improvements were maintained at follow-up. Economical analyses revealed significant societal cost reductions that offset the treatment costs within 2 months of treatment completion. Conclusions: An Internet-delivered psychological treatment based on acceptance and exposure principles seems to be an efficacious, acceptable, and cost-effective treatment for FM. Randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm these results.     

Contentment and tranquility: Exploring their similarities and differences

ABSTRACT

Two studies explored the similarities and differences between contentment and tranquility. In Study 1, in a sample of college students (N = 154), we examined the degree to which contentment and tranquility were associated with different types of pleasurable activities. Whereas contentment was positively associated with mastery activities, tranquility was negatively associated with mastery activities. Tranquility was strongly positively associated with spiritual activities. In Study 2, in a sample of college students (N = 176), using both trait and daily diary assessments, we examined the degree to which contentment and tranquility were associated with the degree to which participants focused on the process–versus the outcome–of activities, as well as their level of acceptance. Both contentment and tranquility were positively associated with acceptance. Tranquility was also positively associated with a focus on process. Based on the results of the present research, we update our theories about contentment and tranquility.     

Intensive mindfulness training-related changes in cognitive and emotional experience

This study examined the role of intensive mindfulness training on changes in day-to-day experiential processing, psychological symptoms, resilience, and well-being in two groups of community adults (N = 69). Using both quasi-experimental and longitudinal methods, the study found that intensive training, operationalized as 10–12 hours of formal mindfulness practice per day for 1 month, was significantly related to increases in training-specific experiential processing capacities, namely trait mindfulness and decentering (reperceiving), in comparison to pre–post-training wait-list controls. In both training groups combined, mindfulness, decentering, and acceptance increased over the pre-training to 1-month follow-up period. Intensive mindfulness training was also related to declines in anxiety and enhanced both subjective well-being and self-compassion from pre-training to follow-up in the two training groups. Finally, increases in trait mindfulness and acceptance were related to improvements in psychological symptoms, well-being, and resilience. Future directions for this novel area of mindfulness research are discussed.     

Correspondence

Response to Chess Denman's review of Green, André and Stern, Daniel's Clinical and Observational Psychoanalytical Research: Roots of a Controversy. ( JAP , 46, 3)     

Humor and Its Contributions to Mental Health

Self control assistance includes steady doses of humorous comment and reflection. Getting past the perfect person syndrome en route to an emotionally healthier existence can be done by the appreciation of use of humor. Distinguishing between commercialized and rational humor allows for more permanent long range happiness and survival. To be able to laugh and learn at the same time are two bull's-eyes that promote more optimal emotional well-being. Humor ignites thirty-seven listed provisions in the service of emotional health. Fifteen precise dimensions of mental health that humor can pave the way toward are reviewed. Twenty-nine irrational beliefs about humor are fleshed out followed by nine types of rational humor. Stories and stormy anecdotes from the wiles of the author's practice of psychotherapy and parenting misdemeanors further document the topic under consideration.     

The relationship between children's self-reported recess problems, and peer acceptance and friendships

This study used three samples to investigate the nature of children's self-reported recess problems and the degree to which these were correlated with children's peer acceptance and mutual friendships. Results suggest that seven student complaints about recess can be grouped into problems with peer conflict and problems with social inclusion. Modest relations were reported between inclusion recess problems and children's mutual friendships and peer acceptance. Relations of conflict recess problems with mutual friendships and peer acceptance were less frequent. Results suggest that self-reported recess problems are a distinct construct from traditional research measures of peer acceptance and friendships.