Continuity,Spiritual Growth,and Coping in Later Adulthood

SUMMARY

Continuity of values, lifestyles, and relationships combines with spiritual growth in later life to provide most people a sense of direction and adequate resources for coping with changes that occur with aging. Being able to recognize threads of continuity and to perceive benefit from one's inner life are significant predictors of being able to maintain life satisfaction in the face of negative aspects of aging. Data from a 20-year longitudinal study are used to provide details.     

Coping with the Uncontrollable: The Use of General and Religious Coping by Caregivers to Spouses with Dementia

SUMMARY

Using a transactional model of stress and coping, we examined the general (i.e., Problem-Focused, Emotion-Focused) and religious (i.e., Self-Directing, Collaborative, Deferring) coping strategies used by 64 caregivers to spouses with dementia to cope with their most significant, albeit uncontrollable, caregiving hassle over a two-month period. With respect to general coping, we hypothesized that caregivers who used Emotion-Focused coping would demonstrate fewer Depressive Symptoms at Month 2 after controlling for Depressive Symptoms at Month 1. With respect to religious coping, we hypothesized that care-givers who used Deferring Coping would also demonstrate fewer Depressive Symptoms. Results revealed interesting patterns between caregivers' use of general and religious coping strategies. Contrary to our hypotheses, caregivers who used Emotion-Focused and Collaborative coping reported greater Depressive Symptoms. Implications for the empirical study of stress and coping and directions for future research are discussed.     

Impact of Experimentally Induced Positive and Anxious Mood on Alcohol Expectancy Strength in Internally Motivated Drinkers

The effects of musically‐induced positive and anxious mood on explicit alcohol‐related cognitions (alcohol expectancy strength) in 47 undergraduate students who consume alcohol either to enhance positive mood states (for enhancement motives) or to cope with anxiety (for anxiety‐related coping motives) were investigated. Pre‐ and post‐mood induction, participants completed the emotional reward and emotional relief subscales of the Alcohol Craving Questionnaire – Now. The hypothesis that anxiety‐related coping motivated drinkers in the anxious mood condition (but not those in the positive mood condition) would exhibit increases in strength of explicit emotional relief alcohol expectancies after the mood induction was supported. An additional, unanticipated finding was that enhancement‐motivated drinkers in the anxious condition also showed significant increases in strength of explicit emotional relief (but not emotional reward) alcohol expectancies. The hypothesis that enhancement‐motivated (but not anxiety‐related coping motivated) participants would exhibit increases in explicit emotional reward expectancies following exposure to the positive mood induction procedure was not supported. Taken together with past research findings, the current results highlight the importance of distinguishing between subtypes of negative affect (i.e., anxious and depressed affect) in exploring the affective antecedents of explicit alcohol outcome expectancies.     

心理健康素质测评系统·中国成年人应对风格量表的编制

编制适用于我国成年人使用的应对风格量表。通过对应对风格研究的文献分析,将应对风格量表确定为注重问题的应对策略和注重情绪的应对策略两个维度,编写项目43个,通过对410和379人的大学生样本的两次预测分析,形成由33个项目的正式量表。通过对467人的成年人样本和来自大学生的三组样本的实测,考察量表的各项心理测量学指标。结果表明,应对风格量表具有较好的内部一致性信度和重测信度,也具有较好的结构效度、内容效度、聚合效度和效标效度。中国成年人应对风格量表具有可靠的心理测量学特征,可以被用于中国成年人应对风格的评估     

Prediction of treatment outcomes and longitudinal analysis in children with autism undergoing intensive behavioral intervention

Outcome prediction is an important component of treatment planning and prognosis. However, reliable predictors of intensive behavioral intervention (IBI) have not been clearly established. IBI is an evidence-based approach to the systematic teaching of academic, social, verbal, and daily living skills to individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Incorporating longitudinal analysis to IBI outcome studies may help to identify outcome predictors of clinical value. Twenty-four children with autism underwent on average two years of IBI and completed language, daily living skills, cognitive, and motor assessments (Early Learning Accomplishment Profile and the Learning Accomplishment Profile-Diagnostic, 3rd edition) every six months. We used multilevel analysis to identify potential longitudinal predictors including gender, age, intervention intensity, intervention duration, total intervention time, and pre-intervention functioning. Results indicated that total intervention time, pre-intervention functioning, and age caused the greatest increase in goodness-of-fit of the longitudinal multilevel models. Longitudinal analysis is a promising analytical strategy to identify reliable predictors of the clinical outcome of IBI.     

The relationship between different components of national identities and psychosocial adjustment among high-school adolescent immigrants from Russia and Ukraine in Israel

This study investigated the relationship between different components of national identities of immigrants (related to both the country of origin and host country), and psychosocial adjustment in pre-migration and post-migration periods. Adolescents who immigrated from Russia and Ukraine to Israel (N = 151) completed questionnaires at four time points: about six months prior to, and in the first, second, and third years after, immigration. At each point, adolescents were assessed on degree of identification they felt with the citizens of their country of origin and Israel and on their attitudes towards the two countries. Five indexes of psychosocial adjustment were measured: emotional and behavioural problems, self-esteem, social competence, school competence and loneliness. Adolescents' positive attitudes towards the host country were associated with higher psychosocial adjustment, both before and after immigration. Positive attitudes towards the country of origin were associated with higher psychosocial adjustment in the post-migration period. Degree of identification with either nation was not related to psychosocial adjustment. Findings suggest that it may not be identity per se that is the critical factor for adjustment for adolescent immigrants, but rather the extent to which they feel affirmation, pride and positive regard towards the two countries. For adolescent immigrants, idealization of origin and host countries may fulfil an important developmental role allowing them to de-idealize parental figures and create new objects of idealization.     

Are there multiple channels through which we connect with beauty and excellence?

This research answers the question whether there are multiple channels through which we connect with beauty and excellence, and thus contributes to the understanding of the structure of appreciation. Two models were examined: the appreciation of beauty and excellence (ABE) model [Haidt, J., & Keltner, D. (2004). Appreciation of beauty and excellence [awe, wonder, elevation]. In C. Peterson & M.E.P. Seligman (Eds.). Character strengths and virtues (pp. 537–551). New York, NY: Oxford University Press], and the engagement with beauty model [Diessner, R., Solom, R., Frost, N.K., Parsons, L., & Davidson, J. (2008). Engagement with beauty: Appreciating natural, artistic, and moral beauty. The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, 142, 303–329]. Study 1 describes the development and initial validation of the ABE Test (ABET), which assesses the types of appreciation included in Haidt and Keltner's (2004) model. In study 2, the ABE subscale of the Values In Action Inventory of Strengths [VIA-IS; Peterson, C., Park, N., & Seligman, M.E.P. (2005). Assessment of character strengths. In G.P. Koocher, J.C. Norcross, & S.S. Hill III (Eds.), Psychologists’ desk reference (Vol. 3, pp. 93–98). New York, NY: Oxford University Press], the Engagement with Beauty Scale (Diessner et al., 2008), and the ABET were included in a structural equation modeling analysis. Results suggested a new model encompassing the two previous ones, and distinguishing between natural beauty, artistic beauty, and non-aesthetic goodness.     

Friends and family: A cross-cultural investigation of social support and subjective well-being among college students

Despite the growing number of cross-cultural studies focusing on well-being, little is known about social support outside of western civilization, particularly among people in Middle Eastern cultures. The current study examined the relationships between perceived social support and components of subjective well-being (i.e. positive and negative affect, satisfaction with life) among college students in Iran, Jordan, and the United States. Perceived support from family significantly predicted each aspect of well-being within each country. However, perceived support from friends did not predict any component of well-being in Iran; yet, in Jordan and the US, friend support predicted higher levels of positive mood. These results will be examined in terms of roles and relationship norms in these countries.     

A feasibility study of psychological strengths and well-being assessment in individuals living with recurrent depression

Current conceptualizations of mental illness focus on assessing psychopathology. A balanced approach would assess strengths that individuals bring to coping with illness. This study measures psychological strengths in individuals with recurrent depression, their coping strategies, and their perceptions of the usefulness of strengths assessment as a component of psychological assessment. Individuals (N?=?112) with recurrent depression completed an online questionnaire measuring several psychological strengths, including gratitude, forgiveness, spirituality, and hope. Participants also described their use of coping strategies and their reaction to the utility of the two-continua model of mental health. A subset (n?=?10) completed a follow-up telephone interview. Higher levels of gratitude, self-forgiveness, hope, and spirituality and lower levels of optimism were indicative of higher life satisfaction. Self-forgiveness, spirituality, and gratitude were predictors of happiness. Higher levels of hope and self-forgiveness predicted positive affect whereas lower levels of self-forgiveness predicted negative affect. Participants reported using a range of coping resources and indicated that they valued strengths assessment, perceiving the two-continua model of mental health as empowering. The researcher discusses implications for clinical practice.     

创伤后成长的促进因素、模型及干预

创伤后成长(Post-traumatic Growth, PTG)是指人们在经历了严重的压力性生活事件或创伤性事件后, 由于对抗压力所引起心理的积极变化。本研究对国外创伤后成长进行归纳概括, 论述了促进创伤后成长的影响因素, 如人格特质、社会支持、益处寻求和意义建构。此外, 归纳了基于不同视角的PTG模型, 提出了促进PTG的干预策略, 针对PTG实证研究中某些相关变量的测量问题提出改进意见。未来应着重于开展具备多个评估点的纵向研究, 建构适用于不同人群的PTG理论模型。