Psychometric Properties of the Dutch BIS/BAS Scales

This study examined the reliability, factor structure, and convergent validity of the Dutch version of C. S. Carver and T. L. Whites (1994) Behavioral Approach System and Behavioral Inhibition System Scales (BIS/BAS Scales). For this purpose, the BIS/BAS Scales, a shortened version of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), and the Dickman Impulsivity Inventory (DII) were administered to 246 undergraduate students in The Netherlands. The internal consistency of the BIS/BAS Scales was sufficient. Further, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis showed that the Dutch BIS/BAS Scales have a factor structure similar to the English version. Finally, BIS/BAS Scales were found to correlate in a theoretically meaningful way with extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism, and impulsivity.     

Marital Conflict Among Parents: Implications for Family Therapy with Adolescent Conduct Disorder

Conduct disorder is associated with several causative and maintaining factors, with family functioning being an important one. This is especially true in the Indian context, where a lot of the problem behaviors manifested by adolescents with conduct disorders are in the family context. Marital relationship of the parents is a key aspect of family functioning, affecting a number of other dimensions of family functioning, including adolescent adjustment. The paper highlights the role of parents’ marital conflict in the emergence and maintenance of adolescent conduct problems. The importance of family therapy in managing adolescent conduct disorder is discussed through case examples from India. Shalini Anant, MPhil, PhD Scholar, Department of Clinical Psychology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore 560029, India. Ahalya Raguram, PhD, Additional Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, NIMHANS, Bangalore 560029, India. Address correspondence to Shalini Anant (shalinianant@gmail.com).     

Stress, Rewards, and Change in the Centrality of Women’s Family and Work Roles: Mastery as a Mediator

Although research suggests that stress and rewards experienced in a social role are associated with changes in the centrality (or personal importance) of that role over time, little attention has been given to the mechanisms that account for this relationship. This study was conducted to examine change in role mastery as a mediator in the relationship between changes in role experiences (stress and rewards) and changes in centrality among 195 women who simultaneously occupied the roles of parent care provider, mother, wife, and employee. Regression analyses indicated that increases in parent care, mother, and employee stress eroded mastery in those roles. In addition, increases in rewards were associated with a bolstered sense of mastery in each of the four roles. Mastery was found to be a mediating mechanism in the relationship between stress/rewards and centrality in one of the four roles examined, the employee role. However, changes in womens perceptions of mastery were unrelated to the extent to which women changed the importance of their three family roles. These findings extend prior research by demonstrating that mastery is a mechanism through which stress and rewards are associated with centrality in the employee role.     

Giving Science a Bad Name: Politically and Commercially Motivated Fallacies in BSE Inquiry

It is a feature of scientific inquiry that it proceeds alongside a multitude of non-scientific interests. This statement is as true of the scientific inquiries of previous centuries, many of which brought scientists into conflict with institutionalised religious thinking, as it is true of the scientific inquiries of today, which are conducted increasingly within commercial and political contexts. However, while the fact of the coexistence of scientific and non-scientific interests has changed little over time, what has changed with time is the effect of this coexistence on scientific inquiry itself. While scientists may no longer construct their theories with various religious dictates in mind, growing commercial and political interests in science have served to distort the interpretation of science. Using the U.K.’s recent crisis with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) as my context, I examine two ways in which this distortion has occurred – the interpretation of the science of BSE by politicians and by commercial parties for the purposes of justifying policy decisions and informing the public of risk, respectively. Fallacious reasoning, I contend, is the manifestation of this distortion in these contexts. In demonstration of this claim, I examine how politicians and commercial parties alike have employed two fallacies in their assessments of the science of BSE. These fallacies extend in novel ways the set of so-called traditional informal fallacies. The interpretation of science, I conclude, is a rich context in which to conduct a study of fallacious reasoning; moreover, such a study can contribute in significant ways, I argue, to the public understanding of science.     

Assessing Parental Satisfaction with Children’s Mental Health Services with the Youth Services Survey for Families

We assessed parent satisfaction with childrens mental health services with a new instrument: The Youth Services Survey for Families (YSSF). The Dillman method was used to administer the survey to a random sample of 1,500 parents of Medicaid youth from Kentuckys 14 community mental health centers (CMHCs). The response rate was 37% (n = 534 parents). A factor analysis of YSSF identified five parent-perceived factors: (a) Appropriateness, (b) Outcome, (c) Participation in Treatment, (d) Access, and (e) Cultural Sensitivity. About 70% of parents reported a high level of endorsement with the Appropriateness factor, but only 47% reported high levels of endorsement with the Outcome factor. Results were interpreted as providing support for the reliability of the YSSF in evaluating childrens mental health services in CMHCs.     

青少年早期网络欺凌/受欺凌对睡眠质量的影响：社交焦虑和抑郁情绪的链式中介作用

基于压力认知失眠模型,采用网络欺凌/受欺凌问卷、青少年社交焦虑问卷、流调中心抑郁问卷和匹兹堡睡眠质量指数问卷,对582名中小学生进行三次追踪测查,每次间隔半年,并运用结构方程模型考察社交焦虑和抑郁情绪在网络欺凌/受欺凌对睡眠质量的影响的中介作用及其性别差异。结果表明：(1)社交焦虑和抑郁情绪在网络欺凌/受欺凌影响睡眠质量的路径中均起到链式中介作用;(2)网络欺凌/受欺凌影响睡眠质量的链式中介模型存在性别差异。这启示要改善网络欺凌者与受欺凌者的睡眠质量,应关注网络欺凌给他们带来的情绪困扰,只有从根本上解决其情绪问题,才能最终有效促进其睡眠质量。     

Changes in childhood caregiving impressions among middle-aged and older adults

Childhood experiences and impressions are important for individuals' health and well-being—they often set the stage for how people approach relationships across the lifespan and how they make sense of their relational worlds. However, impressions of these experiences are likely not static and can change over time, even years after these experiences happened. The current study examined how impressions of parental relationships in childhood changed over time, and predictors of these changes, among middle-aged and older adults followed over a 4-year period (N = 2692; M_age = 66.67, SD = 9.15; 64.1% women). Childhood impressions of parental care were mostly stable over time, with 53.5%–65.0% of participants reporting consistent impressions. Becoming divorced/separated as an adult was associated with more negative impressions about relationships with fathers in the past. Having a mother pass away was associated with more positive impressions of mothers' caregiving when participants were children. Higher depressive symptoms at follow-up were associated with darker perceptions of the past—more negative impressions of mothers and fathers as caregivers. The current study is one of the most comprehensive studies of late-life changes in childhood impressions to date, suggesting future directions for studying the organization of relational experiences and recollection over time.     

Projection in the Face of Centrism: Voter Inferences About Candidates' Party Affiliation in Low-Information Contexts

When are voters more likely to project their own political position onto a candidate for office? We investigate this question by examining the assumed partisanship of a (self-declared) centrist politician, using data from a survey experiment fielded in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In doing so, we build on the social categorization model as well as recent U.S.-focused political science research on projection and ingroup/outgroup racial divides—extending our analysis to incorporate racial and class similarities/differences across three countries where these divides likely vary in salience. We thus seek: (1) to contribute to research on the inferences citizens draw in nonpartisan elections and low-information contexts generally and (2) to highlight some potential methodological complications of using partisanship-less candidates in vignette experiments. Results suggest that even in the face of a self-declared centrist, voters from across the political spectrum tended to assume shared partisanship in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Examining projection by ingroup/outgroup divisions indicated that class appears to shape projection across all three countries, but that the racial divide only mattered in the United States. Finally, we also find evidence of counterprojection toward outgroup members—but once again only in the American context.