Seven Vulnerabilities in the Pediatric Research Subject

Most recent thinking about thevulnerability of research subjects uses a``subpopulation' focus. So conceived, theproblem is to work out special standards forprisoners, pregnant women, the mentally ill,children, and similar groups. In contrast, an``analytical' approach would identifycharacteristics that are criteria forvulnerability. Using these criteria, one couldsupport a judgment that certain individuals arevulnerable and identify needed accommodationsif they are to serve as research subjects.Seven such characteristics can be evident inchildren: they commonly lack the capacity tomake mature decisions; they are subject to theauthority of others; they (and their parents)may be deferential in ways that can maskunderlying dissent; their rights and interestsmay be socially undervalued; they may haveacute medical conditions requiring immediatedecisions not consistent with informed consent;they may have serious medical conditions thatcannot be effectively treated; and they (andtheir parents) may lack important sociallydistributed goods. Each of thesevulnerabilities can call for special care inthe design and implementation of researchprotocols.     

The effect of perceived financial vulnerability on prosocial activity

Our research examines the effect of subjective financial vulnerability on prosocial activity. First, data from the European Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement (SHARE) revealed that higher assessment of one's financial vulnerability might be associated with prosocial motivation for social activities. Next, we manipulated participants' perception of their relative financial position compared to their peers and found that participants randomly assigned to the low financial position condition were more willing to volunteer than participants assigned to the high financial position condition. In Study 3, we manipulated participants' financial advantage. Participants who were disadvantaged in the experimental settings were more willing to volunteer and donate to charity compared to participants with financial advantage. In our final study, we examined willingness to donate to in‐group and out‐group help organizations and found that individuals of lower perceived financial standing may be motivated by the goal of increasing the strength of the social group, rather than by expectations of direct reciprocity. We also found that emotional distress mediates the relationship between perceived financial vulnerability and prosocial behavior. In line with earlier research illustrating that lower financial status promotes prosociality on an interpersonal level, we demonstrate that even momentary perception of relative financial disadvantage and vulnerability promotes prosociality in the broader social context.     

THE UNSUITABILITY OF EMERGENCE THEORY FOR PENTECOSTAL THEOLOGY: A RESPONSE TO BRADNICK AND MCCALL

In this response to David Bradnick's and Bradford McCall's defense of Amos Yong's usage of emergence theory, we defend our previous argument regarding the tension between Yong's Pentecostal commitments and the philosophical entailments of emergence theory. We clarify and extend our previous concerns in three ways. First, we explore the difficulties of construing divine action naturalistically (i.e. natural divine causation). Second, we clarify the problems of employing supervenience in theology. Third, we show why Bradnick's and McCall's advice to Yong to adopt weak emergence is theologically costly. In conclusion, it is suggested that theologians within the science and religion dialogue should not fear, but recover, the language of supernaturalism and dualism.     

AN EASTERN ORTHODOX CRITIQUE OF THE SCIENCE–THEOLOGY DIALOGUE

On the basis of both philosophical arguments and the theological perspectives of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, a critique of two beliefs that are common within the mainstream science–theology dialogue is outlined. These relate to critical realism in understanding language usage and to naturalistic perspectives in relation to divine action. While the naturalistic perspectives on the history of the cosmos that are predominant within the dialogue are seen as generally acceptable from an Orthodox perspective, it is argued that they require theological expansion. This expansion suggests an understanding other than the “causal joint” model commonly adopted in relation to “special” divine action. This alternative model renders the distinction between “special” and “general” divine action redundant, and is based on what has been called a “teleological‐Christological” understanding of the cosmos, rooted in the fourth gospel's notion of the divine Logos. The relevance of this critique to scholars outside of the Orthodox community is urged.     

Cognitive schemas as longitudinal predictors of self-reported adolescent depressive symptoms and resilience

Given that depression risk intensifies in adolescence, examining associates of depressive symptoms during the shift from childhood to adolescence is important for expanding knowledge about the etiology of depression symptoms and disorder. A longitudinal youth report was employed to examine the trajectory of both the content and structure of positive and negative schemas in adolescence and also whether these schemas could prospectively predict depressive symptoms and youth-reported resilience. One hundred and ninety-eight participants (aged 9 to 14) were recruited from four schools to complete measures of youth depressive symptoms, resilience, and schema content and structure. Those who consented to a follow-up study completed the same measures online (50 participants completed). Negative and positive schema content and structure were related over time. After controlling depressive symptoms/resilience at Time 1, negative schema content was the only significant predictor (trend level) of depressive symptoms and resilience at Time 2. Implications for cognitive theories and clinical practice are discussed.     

The analyst's Rorschach: gateway to opening the dialectical field

The author offers an account of his evolving relationship with the Rorschach test which for over 20 years as a private practice psychologist, he used in his clinical practice with the intent of mining patients’ psyches for useful information about personality organization and functioning . Coinciding with having found himself on the homestretch of analytic training and during a time when he desired clarity on how Rorschach assessment and Jungian analysis could fruitfully merge, there was an unexpected shift in emphasis wherein the Rorschach suddenly became a method for looking at himself as well. This challenge to identify and integrate aspects of self hitherto neglected was found to enrich his clinical practice. An historical perspective on this experience is offered which highlights the enigmatic relationship that existed between Carl Jung and Hermann Rorschach. The proverbial question of ‘What might this be?’ has been asked when administering the Rorschach for nearly a century. From an analytic perspective, the question is more fully and meaningfully asked when the person doing the asking has also been willing to step in, look around, and take notice of what happens.     

SPACE AND TIME FROM A NEO‐WHITEHEADIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russell Stannard distinguishes between objective time as measured in theoretical physics and subjective time, or time as experienced by human beings in normal consciousness. Because objective time, or four‐dimensional space‐time for the physicist, does not change but exists all at once, Stannard argues that this is presumably how God views time from eternity which is beyond time. We human beings are limited to experiencing the moments of time successively and thus cannot know the future as already existing in the same way that God does. I argue that Stannard is basically correct in his theological assumptions about God's understanding of time but that his explanation would be more persuasive within the context of a neo‐Whiteheadian metaphysics. The key points in that metaphysics are (1) that creation is contained within the structured field of activity proper to the three divine persons of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and (2) that the spontaneous decisions of creatures are continually ordered and reordered into an ever‐expanding totality already known in its fullness by the divine persons.     

Skin conductance responses as predictor of emotional responses to stressful life events

Preferential preattentive processing towards threat has been proposed to play a casual role in the development of anxiety, mainly because it reliably predicts emotional responding to stressful events. However, in the investigation of the predictive value of preferential preattentive processing towards threat, the emotional Stroop task has exclusively being used. This study was designed to prospectively investigate the predictive value of skin conductance reactivity in response to masked (i.e., preattentively perceived) threatening pictures on emotional responding following stressful life events. To collect skin conductance data, the picture perception task was administered to 136 police recruits due to enroll into active duty within 2-4 months. To assess psychological distress following emotionally stressful life events, the impact of event scale were administered approximately 24 months later. Controlling for trait anxiety, analyses indicated that enhanced skin conductance reactivity in response to masked threatening pictures (relative to neutrals) was a strong predictor of emotional responding to stressful life events. This finding support preferential preattentive processing towards threat as a relatively independent factor predictive of emotional responding.     

Explicit and implicit cognition: a preliminary test of a dual-process theory of cognitive vulnerability to depression

Two studies were conducted to test a dual-process theory of cognitive vulnerability to depression. According to this theory, implicit and explicit cognitive processes have differential effects on depressive reactions to stressful life events. Implicit processes are hypothesized to be critical in determining an individual's immediate affective reaction to stress whereas explicit cognitions are thought to be more involved in long-term depressive reactions. Consistent with hypotheses, the results of study 1 (cross-sectional; N=237) showed that implicit, but not explicit, cognitions predicted immediate affective reactions to a lab stressor. Study 2 (longitudinal; N=251) also supported the dual-process model of cognitive vulnerability to depression. Results showed that both the implicit and explicit measures interacted with life stress to predict prospective changes in depressive symptoms, respectively. However, when both implicit and explicit predictors were entered into a regression equation simultaneously, only the explicit measure interacted with stress to remain a unique predictor of depressive symptoms over the five-week prospective interval.