Matching therapeutic interventions to drug and alcohol abusers’ stage of motivation: The clients’ perspective

The present study aims to explore the issue of matching the appropriate therapeutic intervention according to the stage of readiness for change in addictive clients, following the model proposed by Prochaska and DiClemente in the 1980s. The study focuses solely on the perspectives of people with drug and alcohol problems, in contrast to previous ones which have been concerned with the researchers’ understandings and postulations of the issue under exploration. One of the most important findings of this study is that participants in the “early” stages of their readiness to change their addictive behaviour, irrespective of their gender or whether they had seen a therapist significantly prefer non-action-oriented therapeutic interventions than action-oriented interventions. Similarly, participants in the “later” stages, showed a significant preference to action-oriented than non-action interventions, irrespective of their gender or previous experience of counselling. It is suggested then that careful assessment of the stage of motivation and individual-tailored intervention should be an essential element of any treatment program for drug and alcohol addicted clients.     

小学儿童的尊重观念及其发展

以开放式尊重观念问卷对小学三到六年级儿童进行集体施测研究儿童的尊重观念,结果发现：(1)小学儿童认为尊重就是有礼貌,尊重对象的特征和尊重原因都是要求对方品质好或学习好。尊重的对象既有长辈又有同辈,提到尊重同辈的显著多于只尊重长辈的。不同的人际背景下,儿童的尊重观念不一致。(2)小学儿童的尊重观念具有显著的发展特征,表现出从单向尊重到双向尊重的发展趋势。不同人际关系下的尊重观念的发展特征不同,对父母和老师的尊重主要为单向尊重,对朋友的尊重主要为双向尊重。(3)小学儿童的尊重观念具有显著的性别差异。     

RACE DIFFERENCES IN TERMINATION AT WORK: THE ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL INEQUALITY

Prior research has demonstrated that race, at least to some extent, is related to employment decisions such as selection and performance appraisals. However, little prior research has addressed the impact of race on employment termination. The current study investigates whether race is related to employment termination and highlights the importance of education, an important component of human capital, in understanding racial differences in termination. Results based on 548 employees from a large hotel chain indicate that race is related to termination; however, race is not predictive of termination when education is included in the regression analysis as a predictor. These findings support the notion that a societal level variable (i.e., education) is an important factor in reducing racial inequality in employment practices.     

宽恕的心理学研究现状及其不足

宽恕逐渐成为心理学研究的热门课题。当前对宽恕的理论研究集中在人际宽恕的理论构建和相关研究,主要是对宽恕的神经心理基础、发展模式以及人格与宽恕的关系的研究;多数应用研究注重于其临床价值,已经有很成熟的临床干预模式出现。但是宽恕的研究还存在一些问题,对宽恕的定义存在争议,导致对宽恕的研究片面;对于测量宽恕的研究远远不够成熟和完善。宽恕的研究有待于细化和拓展。     

Cognitive rigidity in patients with depression and fibromyalgia

Background/ObjectiveThe comorbidity of depression and fibromyalgia chronic syndrome has been well documented in the literature; however, the cognitive structure of these patients has not been assessed. Previous results reported variability in cognitive rigidity in depressive patients, the key for this might be the presence of chronic physical pain such as fibromyalgia. The present study explores and compares the cognitive rigidity and differentiation, between patients with depression with and without fibromyalgia syndrome.MethodThirty one patients with depression and fibromyalgia were matched, considering age, sex and number of depressive episodes, with 31 patients with depression but without fibromyalgia diagnosis. Cognitive rigidity and differentiation were measured with the repertory grid technique.ResultsThe results indicated that depressed patients with fibromyalgia presented higher levels of depressive symptoms, greater cognitive rigidity and lower cognitive differentiation than those without fibromyalgia.ConclusionsThe results might inform future treatments to address the cognitive structure of these patients.     

Strategic value-directed learning and memory in Alzheimer's disease and behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia

In healthy adults, the ability to prioritize learning of highly valued information is supported by executive functions and enhances subsequent memory retrieval for this information. In Alzheimer's disease (AD) and behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), marked deficits are evident in learning and memory, presenting in the context of executive dysfunction. It is unclear whether these patients show a typical memory bias for higher valued stimuli. We administered a value-directed word-list learning task to AD (n = 10) and bvFTD (n = 21) patients and age-matched healthy controls (n = 22). Each word was assigned a low, medium or high point value, and participants were instructed to maximize the number of points earned across three learning trials. Participants’ memory for the words was assessed on a delayed recall trial, followed by a recognition test for the words and corresponding point values. Relative to controls, both patient groups showed poorer overall learning, delayed recall and recognition. Despite these impairments, patients with AD preferentially recalled high-value words on learning trials and showed significant value-directed enhancement of recognition memory for the words and points. Conversely, bvFTD patients did not prioritize recall of high-value words during learning trials, and this reduced selectivity was related to inhibitory dysfunction. Nonetheless, bvFTD patients showed value-directed enhancement of recognition memory for the point values, suggesting a mismatch between memory of high-value information and the ability to apply this in a motivationally salient context. Our findings demonstrate that value-directed enhancement of memory may persist to some degree in patients with dementia, despite pronounced deficits in learning and memory.     

Sexual well-being and perceived stress in couples transitioning to parenthood: A dyadic analysis

Background/ObjectiveThe transition to parenthood encompasses several psychological and relational changes that might contribute to couples’ high levels of stress postpartum. Although common across the postpartum, couples’ sexual changes are frequently overlooked.MethodWe surveyed 255 mixed-sex new parent couples to examine the associations between sexual well-being—sexual satisfaction, desire, and postpartum sexual concerns—and perceived stress postpartum. Couples completed self-report questionnaires assessing perceived stress and sexual well-being.ResultsFor both mothers and fathers, greater sexual satisfaction was associated with their partners’ lower perceived stress and, for fathers, this was also associated with their own lower perceived stress. For mothers, greater partner-focused sexual desire was associated with their own lower perceived stress whereas, for fathers, greater partner-focused sexual desire was associated with their partners’ higher perceived stress. In addition, greater solitary sexual desire and postpartum sexual concerns were associated with both parents’ own higher perceived stress.ConclusionsThis study highlights the association between sexual well-being and couples’ postpartum stress, suggesting that more positive sexual experiences are linked to lower perceptions of stress across this vulnerable period. Couples’ sexual well-being may be an important target for interventions aimed at helping postpartum couples cope with stress.     

大学生宿舍人际关系与抑郁的关系:宿舍冲突应对方式的中介作用和性别的调节作用

本研究使用宿舍人际关系问卷、抑郁自评量表和宿舍冲突应对方式问卷,采取整群随机抽样的方法,从武汉市三所大学抽取了876名大一至大四的本科生进行调查,旨在考察宿舍冲突应对方式在大学生宿舍人际关系与抑郁之间的中介作用以及性别的调节作用。结果表明：（1）宿舍人际关系与抑郁显著负相关;宿舍冲突应对方式中的竞争、回避与抑郁显著正相关,合作与抑郁显著负相关;（2）竞争与合作在大学生宿舍人际关系与抑郁之间中介效应显著;（3）性别调节了宿舍人际关系通过竞争影响抑郁的中介过程的前半段路径。本研究以宿舍人际关系和宿舍冲突应对方式为切入点考察它们对抑郁的影响机制,这为预防和干预大学生抑郁提供了新的视角。     

Ireland’s economic crisis and austerity: the response of the Irish Catholic Bishops

The Irish Roman Catholic Church has been a dominant institution in Irish society for generations but this dominance has declined in recent decades due to modernisation and secularisation. Since the mid-1990s, the Church has been rocked by scandals of clerical and religious sex abuse of children, which has had a negative impact on its moral standing in Irish society. As a result of the economic crash in 2008, a programme of severe austerity was introduced by the Irish government. In this article, the response of the Irish Catholic Bishops to the recession and austerity measures is assessed through the analysis of their public statements which are available through the news archive of the Irish Bishops’ Conference. The findings show that the Bishops did criticise the socio-economic policies of the Irish government but this was limited due to a range of institutional barriers.