Exploring two approaches to an existential function of religiosity in mental health

Recent research demonstrates beneficial associations between religiosity and measures of mental health. In this study, we examined whether religiosity benefits mental health (a) by limiting the negative impact of existential concerns, and (b) by enhancing purpose in life. Three hundred fifty-three undergraduates completed the following measures: Scale for Existential Thinking, Purpose in Life Test, Religiousness Measure, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale – Revised, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, and the Drug, Alcohol, and Nicotine Scale. We hypothesised that religiosity scores moderate the relationship between existential thinking and mental health, and purpose in life scores mediate the relationship between religiosity and mental health. Religiosity did not moderate the relationships between existential thinking and these outcomes, however, purpose in life scores mediated the relationships of religiosity with depression and anxiety, but not with substance use. Our findings confirm the significance of existential concerns and purpose in life in the religiosity-mental health connection.     

Psychopathic traits and adolescents’ delinquency: A short-term longitudinal study

Delinquency may partly develop as a consequence of psychopathic personality. But, what is the mechanism behind this connection? 150 Cypriot students were asked to complete four questionnaires (Inventory of Parents and Peers Attachment, Bullying and Victimization Questionnaire-Revised, Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory and Delinquency Scale) in three time periods; (November 2015, February 2016, May 2016). We hypothesized that; (a) psychopathic traits will predict the increase in delinquent behaviour, (b) psychopathic traits at Time 1 will predict a poorer attachment with parents and peers, and an increase in bullying and victimization at Time 2, and this inter alias will predict an increase in delinquency at Time 3. A mediation effect is also hypothesized in this study. Results showed a direct relation between psychopathic traits and delinquency. Full mediation was found with bullying and victimization as mediators. Additionally, the quality of attachment and delinquency is not statistically significant related. The present findings suggest that bullying and victimization are part of the mechanism in the connection between psychopathy and delinquency. In conclusion, results provide important clues for understanding that psychopathic traits are not considered as a determining factor of delinquent behaviour since bullying could be controlled and modified with proper interventions.     

From equality and inclusion to cultural pluralism – Evolution and effects of cultural diversity perspectives in schools*

Schools are a major context for academic and socio-emotional development, but also an important acculturative context. This is notably the case in adolescence, which is a critical period for the development of a social and ethnic identity, as well as moral reasoning and intergroup attitudes. How schools approach cultural diversity issues is therefore likely to affect these developmental and acculturative processes and adaptation outcomes. In the present article, the manifestation and effects of the most prominent approaches to cultural diversity, namely those guided by a perspective of equality and inclusion, and those guided by a perspective of cultural pluralism, are reviewed and compared in the context of multi-ethnic schools. The aim is to explore when and how the potential of cultural diversity can best flourish, enhancing the academic and socio-emotional development of culturally diverse students.     

失独父母创伤后应激障碍的症状结构、特征及预测因素

为考察我国失独父母创伤后应激障碍(PTSD)的症状特征及预测因素, 采用失独父母自身和孩子有关的基本信息问卷, 创伤后应激检查量表平民版(PCL-C), 对中国的463名失独父母进行调查。结果表明: (1)采用验证性因素分析验证了包括闯入、回避性、麻木性、精神痛苦性唤起和焦虑性唤起等5个因子的PTSD精神痛苦性唤起模型在中国失独父母中的适用性。(2)根据DSM-IV的诊断标准进行筛查, 71.92%的失独父母为PTSD阳性, 其中PTSD的回避、闯入、精神痛苦性唤起、情感麻木、焦虑性唤起因子阳性率依次增高。(3)失独父母的年龄、孩子的离世时长与PTSD症状具有显著的相关性; 失独父母的PTSD症状得分在自身性别、家庭所在地及家庭收入状况上存在显著差异; 将所有因素纳入回归方程后发现: 最能预测失独父母PTSD症状的因素包括: 性别、家庭所在地、年龄。     

Cross‐cultural invariance of NPI‐13: Entitlement as culturally specific,leadership and grandiosity as culturally universal

The current study explores the problem with the lack of measurement invariance for the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) by addressing two issues: conceptual heterogeneity of narcissism and methodological issues related to the binary character of data. We examine the measurement invariance of the 13‐item version of the NPI in three populations in Japan, Poland and the UK. Analyses revealed that leadership/authority and grandiose exhibitionism dimensions of the NPI were cross‐culturally invariant, while entitlement/exploitativeness was culturally specific. Therefore, we proposed NPI‐9 as indicating scalar invariance, and we examined the pattern of correlations between NPI‐9 and other variables across three countries. The results suggest that NPI‐9 is valid brief scale measuring general levels of narcissism in cross‐cultural studies, while the NPI‐13 remains suitable for research within specific countries.     

The analyst as a citizen in the world

Beginning with a ‘big dream’ from almost fifty years ago, this paper tracks movement back and forth from an inner/individual adaptation to life to outer/collective adaptations through various stages of a life's journey. The rhythm between more inner orientation at one stage gives way to more outer adaptation at another stage and vice versa. This same movement can be paralleled by an exclusive emphasis on analysis at one stage and more of a mixture of analysis and activism at another stage. At the heart of this narrative is the realization that an inner big dream of decades before, symbolised both an inner path of developing a relationship with life‐promoting energies and an outer path represented by facilitating others’ discovery and participation in those energies. The dream therefore anticipated a more activist future of connecting inner and outer, individual and collective in various professional projects. This has resulted in occasional glimpses of the fact that the ‘spirit of the depths’ and ‘the spirit of the times’ can have a common meeting ground.     

Philosophical Expertise and Philosophical Methodology

In recent years a new discussion on the nature of philosophical expertise has emerged: whether philosophers possess a special kind of expertise, what such expertise would entail, how to measure it, and related concerns. The aim of the present article is to clarify certain related points across these debates in the hope of paving a clearer path forward, by addressing the following. (1) The expertise defense, which seems central to many discussions on methodology and expertise, has been misconstrued at times. (2) Questions of expertise and methodology could be separated more clearly. (3) The study of expertise may be important in its own right; however, there may be good reasons to give priority to methodological concerns. (4) Finally, when viewed in light of methodological concerns, a new project emerges when engaging with recent contributions to the expertise debate. The present article attempts a brief outline of this project.     

How Does the Relationship Facilitate Productive Client Thinking?

My thesis is: a) that the primary client activity that facilitates change is their productive thinking, b) that one key way the therapeutic relationship is helpful is that it facilitates this kind of activity, and c) that if we look at the therapist–client dyad as a group, then we can further understand how the therapy dialogue facilitates productive client thinking through recent ideas about socially shared cognition.