Approach/avoidance motivation, message framing, and health behavior: understanding the congruency effect

Health messages framed to be congruent with individuals’ approach/avoidance motivations have been found to be more effective in promoting health behaviors than health messages incongruent with approach/avoidance motivations. This study examines the processes underlying this congruency effect. Participants (undergraduate students, N=67) completed a measure of approach/avoidance orientation (the BIS/BAS scales) and read either a gain- or loss-framed message promoting dental flossing. Results demonstrated a congruency effect: Participants who read a congruently framed message had greater flossing efficacy, intended to floss more, and used more dental flosses than did the participants who read an incongruent message. Moreover, intention to perform the behavior predicted the congruency effect and self-efficacy mediated participants’ intentions to perform the health behavior. Discussion centers on the role of personality factors and situational factors in models of behavior change.

不同阶层心理健康观念及需求状况的调查研究

运用开放式和封闭式问卷调查法 ,对不同阶层共 483人的心理健康观念及心理健康需求状况进行了调查研究。结果表明 :( 1 )不同阶层、不同年龄段的人关于心理健康标准的观念具有显著差异。 ( 2 )人们认为 ,心理健康的人应具有的最典型特征是“处世乐观、热情、诚恳”和“心平气和、与世无争、乐于助人”。 ( 3 )心理不健康的人或心理变态的人所表现的最典型特征是“性格孤僻、与人不合群”和“对生活失去信心、悲观”。 ( 4)虽然不少人认为心理健康与咨询工作者当前最急需开展的工作是“宣传心理健康知识、开展心理卫生服务” ,但只有极少的人能够正视自己的心理健康需求 ,提出自己需要心理健康服务或咨询。     

Behavioral momentum in computer-presented discriminations in individuals with severe mental retardation

Behavioral momentum was examined in 2 individuals with severe mental retardation via within-subject manipulations of obtained reinforcer rates. Subjects performed self-paced discrimination problems presented on a touch screen computer monitor. Two different problems, Tasks A and B, alternated in blocks of 15 trials on a multiple schedule. Reinforcers were snack foods. The reinforcement schedule for Task A was continuous (fixed-ratio 1) and the schedule for Task B was continuous in some conditions and variable ratio in other conditions. Behavioral momentum was assessed in test sessions by prefeeding, presenting response-independent food, and making available alternatives to the tasks. When the obtained reinforcer rate for Task A was at least twice that for Task B, resistance to change was greater for Task A. When both reinforcer rates and response rates were a pproximately equal for the two tasks, resistance to change was approximately equal. These results are consistent with behavioral momentum effects. They extend previous findings with humans by examining momentum in self-initiated discrete-trial discrimination tasks with ratio schedules, and by isolating relative reinforcer rates as a controlling variable via within-subject manipulations.     

Segmentation and Selection of Appropriate Chinese Characters in Writing Place Names in Japanese

This paper explores the relation between an unknown place name written in hiragana (a Japanese syllabary) and its corresponding written representation in kanji (Chinese characters). We propose three principles as those operating in the selection of the appropriate Chinese characters in writing unknown place names. The three principles are concerned with the combination of on and kun readings (zyuubako-yomi), the number of segmentations, and the bimoraicity characteristics of kanji chosen. We performed two experiments to test the principles; the results supported our hypotheses. These results have some implications for the structure of the Japanese mental lexicon, for the processing load in the use of Chinese characters, and for Japanese prosody and morphology.     

Work attitudes, employment barriers, and mental health symptoms in a sample of rural welfare recipients

Most of the extant research on welfare reform has neglected to consider the experiences of families in rural settings. Fifty women receiving welfare for their dependent children in a rural community were interviewed about their work experiences and aspirations, barriers to employment and service use, as well as mental health and social support. The findings indicate that the majority of participants were connected to the labor force and expressed positive attitudes about work. Barriers to employment (lack of available jobs, child care) and service use (transportation, inconvenient office hours) were endorsed. Perceived social support was negatively related to depression symptoms and positively related to self-efficacy and self-esteem. The importance of understanding the life experiences of welfare recipients in different contexts is discussed.     

Male Mental Health Problems, Psychopathy, and Personality Traits: Key Findings from the First 14 Years of the Pittsburgh Youth Study

This paper reviews key findings on juvenile mental health problems in boys, psychopathy, and personality traits, obtained in the first 14 years of studies using data from the Pittsburgh Youth Study. This is a study of 3 samples, each of about 500 boys initially randomly drawn from boys in the 1st, 4th, and 7th grades of public schools in Pittsburgh. The boys have been followed regularly, initially each half year, and later at yearly intervals. Currently, the oldest boys are about 25 years old, whereas the youngest boys are about 19. Findings are presented on the prevalence and interrelation of disruptive behaviors, ADHD, and depressed mood. Results concerning risk factors for these outcomes are reviewed. Psychological factors such as psychopathy, impulsivity, and personality are described. The paper closes with findings on service delivery of boys with mental health problems.     

转型期初中生心理健康与父母养育方式的研究

本研究采用《心理健康诊断量表》和《父母养育方式问卷》对196名初中生进行测量,探讨初中生心理健康与父母养育方式的影响因素及其相互之间的关系。结果表明,初中生的心理健康问题的检出率依次是自责倾向、恐怖倾向、冲动倾向和对人焦虑;性别因素只在心理健康的学习焦虑、养育方式上的父亲的惩罚、严厉、母亲的过干涉、过保护、父母的拒绝、否认等因素上表现出了显著差异;独生子女与非独生子女子女比较,在恐怖倾向以及惩罚、严厉的养育方式上存在显著差异;父母的文化程度、职业状况、离异、下岗等因素,只有母亲的职业状况因素对心理健康构成了影响;父母消极的教养方式将使学生的焦虑增加,母亲积极的教养方式将使学生的焦虑减少。     

Treating aerophagia with contingent physical guidance

Contingent physical guidance was used to treat chronic aerophagia. This consisted of guiding the participant's hand over her mouth following each attempt to engage in aerophagia. A wristwatch was then correlated with the contingent physical guidance procedure. Responding remained low in the presence of the wristwatch, even after contingent physical guidance was withdrawn.     

The Relationship of Functional Variables and Psychopathology to Aggressive Behavior in Persons With Severe and Profound Mental Retardation

A number of hypotheses have emerged regarding the etiology of physical aggression in persons with mental retardation. Although a multicomponent model is appropriate, results of functional analysis-based studies have yielded promising results in identifying instigating and maintaining factors of aggression. However, the relationship between functional variables and conditions such as psychiatric diagnosis to aggressive behavior has yet to be investigated in persons with mental retardation. We conducted a study examining the prevalence of environmental or physical factors in aggressive behavior in mentally retarded persons with and without psychiatric disturbance. One hundred and thirty-five individuals with mental retardation who exhibited physical aggression were assessed with the Questions About Behavior Function Scale (QABF) to identify environmental or physical contribution to aggressive behavior. One or more behavioral functions were identified for 75% of the participants. Additionally, of 66 of the participants scoring above the clinical cutoff on an assessment for dual diagnosis, 75% met criteria for an environmental or physical function for aggression. No significant differences in number of participants with an identifiable function of aggression were found between the no dual diagnosis and dual diagnosis groups. Our findings underscore the importance of identifying functions underlying aggressive behavior in persons with mental retardation, and the need to consider functional variables regardless of psychiatric condition in treatment planning efforts for such individuals.     

Ignorance May Be Bliss, But Thought Suppression Promotes Superficial Cognitive Processing

This study examined the impact of thought suppression on the quality of cognitive processing and self-reported mood. While completing a stream-of-consciousness task about two topics sequentially, participants were either instructed to suppress negative thoughts or were given no suppression instructions. Computer-based content analyses indicated that thought suppression led to significantly less causal reasoning and discrepancy seeking. However, the suppression of negative thoughts also resulted in a more positive mood. Results suggest that thought suppression can improve mood but it comes with the cognitive cost of superficial processing.