Emotional facial expressions differentially influence predictions and performance for face recognition

The relative contribution of child and parent trait anxiety on paternal and maternal controlling behaviour was examined. Thirty-seven children, aged 8–11 years, completed two difficult Tangram puzzles, one with their father and one with their mother. Videotapes of the parent–child interactions were rated on parental control and child dependent and withdrawn behaviour. Results indicated that, opposite to expectations, higher mother and father trait anxiety was associated with lower levels of parental control, and that the relation between parent trait anxiety and parental control was curvilinear. Furthermore, a significant stronger effect between child trait anxiety and parental control was found for boys than for girls. Moreover, more child withdrawal during the parent–child interaction was related to more parental control. The findings offer new insights, which may guide future theories on child and parent anxiety and parental control. Specifically, the role of parent and child gender need further conceptualisation and research.     

Feminist Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Negative Body Image

Negative body image in women is evidence of internalized cultural messages about obtaining an unrealistic and changing body image ideal. Feminist therapy for negative body image balances an emphasis on socio-cultural and intrapsychic issues, while cognitive-behavioral therapy addresses specific thought patterns and dysfunctional behaviors. This paper reviews the literature on these approaches and gives specific suggestions for developing an integrated model. Ideas for setting the stage for therapy and using psychoeducational material are presented. Discussion also includes feminist cognitive restructuring, including normalizing and relabelling beliefs and developing counterarguments and adaptive restatements. Behavioral interventions include confronting avoidance behaviors and body image distortion, and including kinesthetic experiences and nurturing behaviors.     

Parental relationships and coping with life stress

Abstract

The primary goal of this investigation was to explore how the quality of parent-student relationships relates to coping style by examining multiple aspects of this relationship–including support and conflict–and by examining the contribution that both parents' and students' perceptions of their relationship make to students' coping reports. We found that perceptions of conflict and depth in the parent-child relationship were each associated with different styles of coping. Moreover, parents' and students' perceptions each accounted for unique variance in students' coping reports. Greater perceived depth (both parent and student reports) predicted higher problem-focused scores, while students' perceptions of conflict predicted higher emotion-focused coping scores. Specific support provisions reported by students and parents also related differentially to the specific coping styles. Finally, the extent to which parents and students reported coping in a similar fashion was predicted by the quality of their relationship.     

Parental Alienation Syndrome and the Transsexual Parent

ABSTRACT

Transsexual persons are frequently married and are parents prior to the decision for gender transition. Divorce and issues of child custody or child access follow. This typically volatile area is made the more incendiary when one parent is transgendered. Parental Alienation Syndrome is an unique alliance between one parent and child of denigration and hostility to the other parent. When the transgendered parent is the target, Courts may collaborate in destruction of the transsexual parent-child relationship.     

Integrating childhood in the family context: Commentary on Bjorklund,Periss and Causey

Bjorklund, Periss and Causey use an evolutionary developmental perspective to highlight several reasons as to why children should be allowed to be children. Childhood is not just a training ground for adulthood, but there is a unique integrity to this phase of life. Bjorklund and colleagues suggest that several of the immature behaviours observed in children are adaptive in their own right providing children with immediate benefits for their particular age and do not necessarily (only) serve the function of providing benefits for the child later in development. The concept of ontogenetic adaptations is useful in providing a new lens on which to view infants, children, adolescents and even adults. In this commentary I focus on three issues related to their work: (1) the possibility that the overestimation tasks reviewed in their paper do not empirically verify that overestimation is related to perseverance in learning; (2) whether ontogenetic adaptations are gender specific; and (3) the costs of this extensive immaturity and how inappropriate overinvestment of parents may reflect a maladaptive response to low fertility in a resource-rich environment.     

Parent–child resemblance and kin investment: Physical resemblance or personality similarity?

Resemblance between parents and children has been suggested as an indicator of kinship. Because men, unlike women, cannot be certain about parenthood, resemblance may influence men more than women when making investment decisions. In the present paper we examine the relation of physical resemblance and personality similarity with parental investment for 90 Dutch parents and their school-age children. For mothers investment was linked to personality similarity, whereas for fathers investment was linked to physical resemblance, suggesting that fathers are influenced by physical cues when making investment decisions, whereas mothers are influenced by psychological cues.     

Does parental support moderate the effect of children's motivation and self-efficacy on physical activity and sedentary behaviour?

Objectives1) To test whether parental support moderates the direct effects of children's motivation and self-efficacy on objectively measured moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary time. 2) To explore differences in the relationships between boys and girls.DesignCross-sectional observational study.MethodData were collected from 430 9–11 year old UK children and their parents; parents self-reported on the support they provided to their children to be active (through providing transport, encouragement, watching, or taking part with their child), and children self-reported their motivation and self-efficacy towards exercise. MVPA and sedentary time were measured using accelerometers.ResultsBoth parent- and child-level factors were largely positively associated with children's MVPA and negatively related to sedentary time. There was no evidence of a moderation effect of parental support on MVPA or sedentary time in boys. Parental provision of transport moderated the effect of girls' motivation on week-day MVPA; more motivated girls were less active when transport was provided. Transport and exercising with one's child moderated the effect of motivation and self-efficacy on girls' sedentary time at weekends; more motivated girls, and those with higher self-efficacy were less sedentary when parents provided more frequent transportation or took part in physical activity with them.ConclusionsThe results largely supported a model of the independent effects of parent and child determinants for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, but there was evidence that some types of parent support can moderate sedentary time in girls. Further research is needed to explore the causal pathways between the observed cross-sectional results.     

Managing the death of close others: Evidence of higher valuing of ingroup identity in young adults who have experienced the death of a close other

The death of a close other (DOCO) is perhaps the most difficult experience that people endure. According to terror management theory (TMT), people manage the potentially terrorizing awareness of their mortality by immersing in cultural worldviews that allow them to feel like valuable members of a meaningful universe who may have some existence or trace after death. Although TMT has potential implications for understanding how people cope with DOCO, few studies have examined this possibility. We report results from four studies showing that, in line with TMT, students who experienced DOCO reported stronger valuing of their identification with their in-groups, which in turn was associated with higher levels of self-esteem. These findings shed new light on the social-psychological dynamics of DOCO.     

Recalcitrant Fears of Death

According to what I will refer to as judgmentalist approaches to the fear of death (JFD), the fear of death conforms to the structure implied by judgmentalist theories of emotion. JFD holds that fears of death are constituted in part by evaluative judgments or beliefs about one’s own death. Although many philosophers endorse JFD (explicitly or implicitly), there is good reason to believe that it may be problematic. For, there is a troubling (and, for the purposes of this discussion, rather interesting) objection to judgmentalist theories of emotion; if judgmentalism is false, then so too is JFD. In brief, the worry with judgmentalist theories is this: it is sometimes the case that one has an emotion, but holds a belief (or beliefs) that is in tension with the emotion. For example, I sometimes fear flying despite the fact that I believe flying is not dangerous. Emotions of this sort are often referred to as recalcitrant emotions, and they are widely thought to pose a serious challenge to judgmentalist theories. In this paper, I consider an objection to JFD based on the existence of recalcitrant bouts of the fear of death. I include in this discussion an Epicurean-inspired solution to the problem of emotional recalcitrance. Although I argue this solution may be ultimately unsuccessful, I believe it is still worth considering. For, in most discussions of the problem of emotional recalcitrance, philosophers abandon judgmentalism in favour of some other theory of emotion. The Epicurean-inspired solution I discuss in this paper, however, may allow one to retain one’s commitment to judgmentalism.