Linguistic Analysis of Written Narratives of Caregivers of Children and Adolescents with Chronic Illness: Cognitive and Emotional Processes and Physical and Psychological Health Outcomes

Used linguistic analysis of written narratives of caregivers of hospitalized youth with chronic illness to identify emotional and cognitive processes related to physical and psychological health outcomes following writing. Measures were administered at baseline and 4 months. Experimental group (n = 29) wrote about traumas whereas the control group (n = 24) wrote about summer activities for 20 min on three different days. Compared groups on negative emotion- and cognition-related word use. Tested change in negative emotion- and cognition-related word use as predictors of outcomes in experimental group. Consistent with hypotheses, experimental group used more negative emotion words [F(1, 53) = 77.55, p < .001] and cognition-related words than control group [F(1, 53) = 19.09, p < .001] and an increase in cognition words predicted Physical Health Summary Score on SF-36 (standardized = .37, p < .05). A decrease in negative emotion words was related to Physical Health Summary Score on SF-36 only when entered into regression with change in cognition words (standardized = –.31, p < .05). A decrease in negative emotion together with an increase in cognitive processing facilitated by written emotional disclosure has beneficial effects on physical health-related quality of life.     

Swimming against the mainstream: the early years from chilly tributary to transformative mainstream

This article traces the transformative paradigm shift in the theory and practice of personal change. Within a decade, new conceptual models, analytic methodologies and modes of treatment were created. Treatments were altered in the content, locus, and agents of change. This enterprising period also witnessed a sweeping shift in the public acceptance of behaviorally oriented treatments. The present article also analyzes the evolving theorizing and applications of social cognitive theory rooted in modeling, self-regulatory, and self-efficacy mechanisms of psychosocial change. This model of change is implemented from an agentic perspective to promote personal, institutional, and society-wide changes that address some of the most urgent global problems.     

Attachment representations and characteristics of friendship relations during adolescence

Attachment theory proposes that experiences with the primary caregivers are an important basis for the development of close social relationships outside the parent-child relationship. This study examined the association between representations of attachment, as assessed with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), representations of friendship and peer relations, as assessed with an interview in a sample of 43 adolescents. Secure attachment representations were significantly related to interview-based assessments of close friendships, friendship concept, integration in a peer group, and emotion regulation within close friendships. Attachment experiences reported during the AAI, their integration, and their coherency were related to friendship quality and friendship concept. Results show the close associations between attachment representations and friendship relationships during adolescence. The associations between peer relations and attachment representations differed depending on whether an interview approach or a questionnaire approach was used.     

A rapid assessment of skills in young children with autism

Educational interventions based on the principles of behavior analysis are highly effective for establishing skills in young children with autism. As a first step in program development, the child's current skill level is determined by evaluating performance on tasks drawn from a preestablished curriculum. However, few specific guidelines have been delineated for conducting these skills assessments or interpreting the results. In this study, we evaluated an efficient methodology for conducting skills assessments. Six children who had been diagnosed with autism participated. The relative efficacy of two assessment packages--one containing several reinforcement procedures and one containing several potentially effective prompts--was evaluated across two to three skills for each child using multiple baseline and reversal designs. Results suggested that the methodology was useful for matching targeted skills to appropriate interventions.     

Emotional effects of startling background music during reading news reports: The moderating influence of dispositional BIS and BAS sensitivities

We examined the moderating influence of dispositional behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral activation system (BAS) sensitivities on the relationship of startling background music with emotion-related subjective and physiological responses elicited during reading news reports, and with memory performance among 26 adult men and women. Physiological parameters measured were respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), electrodermal activity (EDA), and facial electromyography (EMG). The results showed that, among high BAS individuals, news stories with startling background music were rated as more interesting and elicited higher zygomatic EMG activity and RSA than news stories with non-startling music. Among low BAS individuals, news stories with startling background music were rated as less pleasant and more arousing and prompted higher EDA. No BIS-related effects or effects on memory were found. Startling background music may have adverse (e.g., negative arousal) or beneficial effects (e.g., a positive emotional state and stronger positive engagement) depending on dispositional BAS sensitivity of an individual. Actual or potential applications of this research include the personalization of media presentations when using modern media and communications technologies.     

Acculturation strategies, coping process and acculturative stress

Using structural equation modeling, this study examines the influences of motivational factors (Need for Cognitive Closure--NCC--and Decisiveness), coping strategies and acculturation strategies on levels of acculturative stress. Two groups of immigrants in Rome (Croatians n= 156 and Poles n= 179) completed a questionnaire that included scales for the various factors. Although our initial hypothesized model was not confirmed, a modified model showed that the motivational factors of NCC and Decisiveness indirectly influence acculturative stress. The modified model with good fit indices indicated that the relationship between NCC and Decisiveness are mediated by coping strategies and acculturation strategies. Specifically, NCC is associated positively with avoidance coping, which in turn is negatively associated with the host group relationships and positively with the original culture maintenance. The last two dimensions predicted lower levels of acculturative stress. Decisiveness was positively associated with the problem-oriented coping and, negatively, with emotional and avoidance coping.     

评发生认识论的"反省抽象"范畴

论文分析了皮亚杰发生认识论中“反省抽象”范畴的发展脉络、主要内涵及其与某些相关概念(如概括化、平衡化、矛盾与否定的构造、意识化与觉知等)的联系。作者认为：反省抽象不仅体现皮亚杰的独创性．而且也是发生认识沦中最为核心和最为重要的概念。它合理地解释了知识创新的源泉,使发生认识论的逻辑一数学范畴研究及认知发展一般规律的研究奠基于科学认识论之上。作者主张应准确继承皮亚杰的学术遗产,深化对认知发展机制的探索。     

A contribution towards an analytic theory of violence

Abstract This paper considers some of the clinical and theoretical problems contingent upon the imprecision and lack of clarity with which the word and concept 'violence' is used. A definition of violence is proposed, which separates the concept of violence from the related concept of aggression and sees the former as a particular form of the latter. This definition also proposes that violence must always have a psychological component aspect. It is contended that clarity is important clinically so that analysts can distinguish psychologically destructive from psychologically creative elements in their patients, in their own psychological functioning and in the countertransference. The phenomenon of violence is considered in the light of Fordham's model of development, in particular that violence may be viewed as a consequence of a failure to integrate normal, aggressive aspects of the personality. Violence is seen as uncontained, split-off aggression, subjected to psychological projection. It is proposed that a particular quality of the experience that is being projected is an uncontained sense of violation. The notion of 'mindless violence' is considered.     

What response times tell of children's behavior on the balance scale task

Analysis of accuracy of responses to balance scale problems gives a global idea of the cognitive processes that underlie problem-solving behavior on this task. We show that response times (RTs) provide additional detailed information about the kind and duration of these processes. We derive predictions about the RTs from Siegler's (1981) model for the balance scale task, including the counterintuitive prediction that young adults are slower than children in solving particular balance scale problems. The predictions were tested in a study in which 191 6- to 22-year-old participants were presented with a computerized balance scale task. RTs were analyzed with regression models. In addition to qualitative differences between items, we also modeled quantitative differences between items in the regression models. Analyses supported the predictions and provided additional knowledge on the rules. Rule II was reformulated as a rule that always involves the encoding, but not always the correct application of the distance cue. RTs provided evidence for the use of a buggy-rule and not an addition-rule. Finally, a relation between rule inconsistency and increased RT was found.     

Emotional competence and aggressive behavior in school-age children

Examined emotional competence in 87 children, aged 7–10 years, who varied with respect to reports of aggressive behavior to determine whether individual differences in emotional competence characterize children with higher levels of aggressive behavior. Emotional competence was assessed during a 1-hr lab visit that included (a) an observational period consisting of a modified disappointment paradigm, (b) assessment of cognitive and language abilities, and (c) 2 structured emotion interviews. Children with higher levels of aggressive behavior exhibited more intense and frequent expressions of anger, both as reported by mothers and as observed during the disappointment paradigm. Less sophisticated ability to identify the causes of emotion also characterized children with higher levels of aggressive behavior. Gender moderated the relation between aggressive behavior and type of emotion identified such that reports of happiness (in response to receiving a disappointing prize) were associated with lower levels of reported aggressive behavior for boys. The value of assessing children's emotional competence in the context of an emotionally arousing situation is suggested by these findings.