青年人和老年人加工情绪图片过程中的注意偏向:眼动研究

利用眼动追踪技术,考察了老年人与青年人加工情绪图片过程中的注意偏向及再认成绩。给被试同时呈现积极、中性及消极情绪图片,分为注意和记忆两部分任务。基于线性混合模型的分析发现,与青年人相比,老年人表现出对积极图片更大的注意偏向,且在随后的再认过程中对积极情绪图片的再认正确率更高。结果支持了社会情绪选择理论,说明中国老年人同样存在“积极效应”,情绪加工过程中能够通过选择偏爱的积极情绪信息来适应老化。     

The multidimensionality of suicide risk factors and criteria in a nonclinical population: Replication across two countries and two languages

Across two countries and two languages, this research examined the multidimensional associations between suicidality (e.g., past ideation/attempts, communication of intent) and empirically important psychological risk factors (e.g., mental pain, perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness). For samples of 228 Canadian and 331 Portuguese university undergraduates, four dimensions emerged in each sample with two of these, intrapersonal and interpersonal, demonstrating strong replicability across countries and languages. It was concluded that suicidality is a phenomenon that demonstrates some multidimensional similarities across cultures.     

Thinking “Outside the Box”: Unconstrained Creative Generation in Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Creative generation is structured around existing knowledge and task examples, yet overreliance on specific examples may limit imagination (Ward, T. B., Finke, R. A., & Smith, S. M., 1995). The constraining influence of knowledge during creative generation may be offset by conceptual expansion, a process of thinking outside traditional conceptual boundaries, which may be heightened by distractibility and mild executive dysfunction (Abraham, A., Windmann, S., Daum, I., & Güntürkün, O., 2005). The present study explored the constraining effects of knowledge in adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a disorder characterized by impaired attention and inhibitory control (Barkley, R. A., 1997). College students with and without ADHD were compared on two creative generation measures: an alien fruit invention task that required participants to imagine fruit that might exist on another planet (Ward, T.B., 1994), and a product label invention task wherein the goal was to invent product names without using elements of task examples (Kray, L.J., Galinski, A.D. & Wong, E.M., 2006). ADHD participants created alien fruit that diverged more from Earth fruit and labels that conformed less to examples, relative to non-ADHD peers. Results suggest that adults with ADHD may be less constrained by knowledge during creative generation. Findings are discussed in terms of theoretical import and practical implications for individuals with ADHD.     

Falls in young adults: Perceived causes and environmental factors assessed with a daily online survey

Falls are the third leading cause of unintentional injuries for ages 18–35 years (CDC), but the causes and circumstances of falls in this age group are understudied. The purpose of this study was to document the frequency and circumstances of falls in young adults with a daily online survey. Ninety-four undergraduate students (19.9 ± 0.9 years) received a daily email for 16 weeks regarding slips, trips and falls in the past 24 h (93% response rate). More than half of the participants (52%) fell in the 16-week interval. Injuries were reported in 16% of falls, and medical treatment was received in 4% of all falls. The majority of falls occurred while walking (58%), and the main cause of the fall was a slip (48%) or trip (25%). On average, participants fell once out of every 18 perceived slips and trips. Physical activity level did not distinguish fallers from non-fallers (p = 0.45), but for those who did fall, falls were more frequent as physical activity level increased (p = 0.007). The high fall and injury rate in a short interval reflects the inherent instability of bipedal locomotion and indicates that falls are not a trivial problem for young adults.     

Coping style and memory specificity in adolescents and adults with histories of child sexual abuse

Individuals with histories of childhood trauma may adopt a nonspecific memory retrieval strategy to avoid unpleasant and intrusive memories. In a sample of 93 adolescents and adults with or without histories of child sexual abuse (CSA), we tested the hypothesis that nonspecific memory retrieval is related to an individual's general tendency to use avoidant (i.e., distancing) coping as a personal problem-solving or coping strategy, especially in victims of CSA. We also examined age differences and other individual differences (e.g., trauma-related psychopathology) as predictors of nonspecific memories. Distancing coping was significantly associated with less specific autobiographical memory. Younger age, lower vocabulary scores, and non-CSA childhood maltreatment (i.e., physical and emotional abuse) also uniquely predicted less autobiographical memory specificity, whereas trauma-related psychopathology was associated with more specific memory. Implications for the development of autobiographical memory retrieval in the context of coping with childhood maltreatment are discussed.     

Ethnic Identity in Emerging Adults in Sub‐Saharan Africa and the USA,and Its Associations with Psychological Well‐Being

Ethnic identity as a social dimension of identity is argued to be developmentally important for psychological well‐being. However, the relationships between these constructs are mainly examined in Western contexts, amongst dominant–non‐dominant groups. We investigate ethnic identity across the mainstream group of a prototypical Western society (the USA) and several multi‐ethnic sub‐Saharan African countries (Cameroon, Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia), as well as how it relates to psychological well‐being. A total of 1255 university students (61.8% females, M_age = 20.94 years, SD = 2.97) completed a questionnaire with ethnic identity and psychological well‐being measures. Results indicated that ethnic identity was most salient in two different South African ethnocultural samples and least salient in a mainstream US sample. These results suggest that groups that are more exposed to ethnic strain in multicultural societies tend to have more salient ethnic identities. Furthermore, the underlying structure in the ethnic identity psychological well‐being relationship was similar across groups. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Young emerging adults’ graduateness and career adaptability: Exploring the moderating role of self-esteem

This study investigated the moderating role of self-esteem on young emerging adults’ in their school-to-work transition phase of graduateness skills and career adaptability. A non-probability convenience sample (n=332) of undergraduate black (98.5%) and female (62%) young emerging adults (18–29 years) at a Further Education and Training (FET) college in South Africa participated in the study. Participants completed the Culture Free Self-esteem Inventory for Adults (CFSEI 2-AD, Battle, 1992 Battle, J. (1992). Culture-free self-esteem inventories for children and adults. Texas: Pro-Ed. [Google Scholar]), the Graduateness Skills and Attributes Scale (GSAS, Coetzee, 2010 Coetzee, M. (2010). Exploratory Factor Analyses of the Graduateness Scale and the Employability Attributes Scale. Pretoria: Unpublished research report. University of South Africa. [Google Scholar]) and the Career Adapt-abilities Scale (CAAS, Savickas &; Porfeli, 2012 Savickas, M. L., &; Porfeli, E. J. (2012). Career Adapt-Abilities Scale: Construction, reliability and measurement equivalence across 13 countries. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80(3), 674–679. doi: 10.1016/j.jvb.2012.01.011[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Hierarchical moderated regression analysis indicated significant interaction effects between self-esteem and overall graduateness, lifelong learning and global/moral citizenship skills and attributes in moderating overall career adaptability. The relationship between the participants’ graduateness skills and attributes (overall graduateness, global/moral citizenship, and lifelong learning) and their career adaptability was significantly stronger when their self-esteem was high than when their self-esteem was low. The finding suggests self-esteem to influence self-perceived graduateness skills and career adaptability in emerging adults.     

“More Life,Not Less”: Using Narrative Therapy With Older Adults With Bipolar Disorder

Counselors who work with older adults with bipolar disorder are in a unique position to help them navigate their challenges. Older adults with bipolar disorder have lived decades with mental illness and also face the regular aging process. Narrative therapy provides counselors with a framework to deal with these issues.     

Suicide Bereavement and Complicated Grief: Experiential Avoidance as a Mediating Mechanism

In the wake of increased interest in the specific features of suicide bereavement, the current study examines (a) the association between suicide bereavement and complicated grief and (b) the mediating effect of experiential avoidance on the association between suicide bereavement and complicated grief. The tests revealed a significant indirect effect of suicide bereavement on complicated grief through experiential avoidance. This finding suggests that traumatic characteristics of suicide bereavement may inhibit the grieving process by increasing experiential avoidance and emphasizing a cognitive approach for complicated grief of people who have lost their loved one to death by suicide.