Relations of Parenting and Negative Life Events to Cognitive Diatheses for Depression in Children

In a sample of 299 children (grades 2, 4, and 6), we examined parenting and negative life events as predictors of depressive cognitions, specifically low self-perceived competence, depressive cognitive schemas, and depressogenic attributional style. We also examined developmental trends in these relations. Children completed measures of parenting, negative life events, and depressive cognitions. Parents also completed measures of parenting and negative life events. Consistent with our hypotheses, negative parenting and negative life events corresponded with higher levels of depressive cognitions, whereas positive parenting corresponded with lower levels of depressive cognitions. The relations between negative parenting and negative automatic thoughts were stronger for older children. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

依赖于唤醒与效价的情绪记忆增强效应：自动与控制加工*

情绪记忆增强(Emotionally Enhanced Memory, EEM)效应受到刺激的唤醒度和效价的影响。Kensinger 等人提出依赖于唤醒的 EEM 效应与自动加工相联系,依赖于效价的 EEM 效应与控制加工相联系。然而现有研究并不能为这一假设提供充分的证据。本研究的三个实验采用学习--再认范式和 DA 范式(divided attention paradigm)相结合的方法,分别考察了在两种注意条件下依赖于唤醒和依赖于效价的EEM 效应在编码阶段的加工机制。结果发现,中性词、正性非唤醒词、负性非唤醒词在集中注意条件下的记忆再认成绩显著高于分散注意条件下的记忆再认成绩;正性唤醒词在集中注意条件下的记忆再认成绩也显著高于分散注意条件下的记忆再认成绩,但负性唤醒词的记忆再认成绩在两种注意条件下不存在显著差异。这表明依赖于效价的 EEM 效应与控制加工相联系,而依赖于唤醒的 EEM 效应并不总是与自动加工相联系,其加工还受到情绪效价的调节,对于负性刺激,依赖于唤醒的 EEM 效应与自动加工相联系;对于正性刺激,依赖于唤醒的EEM效应则与控制加工相联系。     

Changing dominance in mixed profession groups: putting theory into practice

An extended professional identity theory is proposed to enhance interprofessional collaboration. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether comparative feedback on interprofessional interaction can decrease the degree of profession-based dominance and general dominance in mixed profession groups. This observational study comprised a randomized double-blind pretest-posttest control group design with 19 mixed profession groups (10 intervention and nine control groups, each with three dental and three dental hygiene students). All groups received reflective feedback during two consecutive two hour team development meetings. Intervention groups also received comparative feedback. Profession-based dominance concerned the sum of three observation items (conversational turn-taking, dominance and contributing ideas) with a three-point scale: ?1 = dental dominance, 0 = no dominance, +1 = dental hygiene dominance. Polychoric correlations confirmed positive associations with the latent trait and an unidimensional underlying structure. Observation items were internally consistent (α > .70). General dominance concerned the sum of absolute values of observation items with a minimum value of zero (no dominance) and the maximum value of three (strong dominance). A two-way factorial ANOVA was performed. The results revealed a significant interaction effect with regard to general dominance, F(1,17) = 6.630, p = 0.020 and large effect size (partial eta squared = 0.28). Comparative feedback on interprofessional interaction decreases general dominance in mixed profession groups.     

Art Making and Identity Formation in Children and Adolescents with Differing Social Behaviors

Not everyone develops social behaviors and interaction skills in an expected manner. This study explored the relationship between art making and identity formation in children and adolescents who were identified as having differing social behaviors. In three small group settings, 17 participants created abstract self-portraits from modeling compound and responded to questions about their self, self-concept, and self-esteem. From this, a model was created to describe identity formation as it relates to the relationships between social environment, desired occupations and activities, and creativity. Practice guidelines are proposed for those who provide children and adolescents with opportunities to make art as part of sessions aimed to promote the development of a healthy self-concept.     

Investigating How Test-Takers Change Their Strategies to Handle Difficulty in Taking a Reading Comprehension Test: Implications for Score Validation

This article investigates how test-takers change their strategies to handle increased test difficulty. An adult sample reported their test-taking strategies immediately after completing the tasks in a reading test. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling specifying a measurement-invariant, ability-moderated, latent transition analysis in Mplus (Muthén & Asparouhov, 2011). It was found that almost half of the test-takers (47%) changed their strategies when encountering increased task-difficulty. The changes were characterized by augmenting comprehending-meaning strategies with score-maximizing and test-wiseness strategies. Moreover, test-takers' ability was the driving influence that facilitated and/or buffered the changes. The test outcomes, when reviewed in light of adjusted test-taking strategies, demonstrated a form of process-based validity evidence.     

Intersectional experiences of discrimination in a low‐resource urban community: An exploratory latent class analysis

There have been increasing calls for the application of an intersectionality framework to understand and address discrimination and health inequities among diverse communities. Yet there have been theoretical debates regarding to whom intersectionality applies and how intersectional experiences of discrimination are associated with health outcomes. The current study aimed to contribute to these theoretical debates and inform practical applications to reduce health inequities. Data were drawn from a community health survey in New Haven, CT (N = 1,293 adults) and analysed using latent class analysis. Results yielded 4 classes. Members of the 4 classes were similar sociodemographically. Three classes of participants reported experiencing discrimination, and members of these classes had greater stress, higher rates of smoking and sleep disruption, and worse overall health than members of the class reporting no discrimination. Members of 2 classes made multiple, or intersectional, attributions for discrimination, and members of these classes reported the most frequent discrimination. Findings suggest that community members who are sociodemographically similar may have diverse discrimination experiences. Multilevel interventions that address multiple forms of discrimination (e.g., racism and sexism) may hold promise for reducing discrimination and, ultimately, health inequities within low‐resource urban community settings.     

Natural Mentors,Social Class,and College Success

Natural mentors provide advice, moral support, and assistance to adolescents who aspire to obtain a postsecondary degree, but past studies of the benefits of having an informal adult mentor have yet to resolve several issues. Our analyses of a national sample of high school graduates test three hypotheses: (H1) natural mentoring increases the odds of college attendance and completion, (H2) guidance and career advice are more important for college success than encouragement or role modeling, and (H3) students from poor and working‐class families benefit more from mentoring than students from middle‐ and upper‐class families. Hypotheses 1 and 3 are clearly supported when examining the odds of attending college, while Hypothesis 2 was not supported—encouragement and role modeling boost attendance, not advice or practical help. None of the hypotheses is supported when predicting degree completion among those who matriculated. As natural mentors do not appreciably increase the odds of completing college, we conclude past studies have overstated the postsecondary educational benefits of natural mentors.     

Two-Stage maximum likelihood estimation in the misspecified restricted latent class model

The maximum likelihood classification rule is a standard method to classify examinee attribute profiles in cognitive diagnosis models (CDMs). Its asymptotic behaviour is well understood when the model is assumed to be correct, but has not been explored in the case of misspecified latent class models. This paper investigates the asymptotic behaviour of a two-stage maximum likelihood classifier under a misspecified CDM. The analysis is conducted in a general restricted latent class model framework addressing all types of CDMs. Sufficient conditions are proposed under which a consistent classification can be obtained by using a misspecified model. Discussions are also provided on the inconsistency of classification under certain model misspecification scenarios. Simulation studies and a real data application are conducted to illustrate these results. Our findings can provide some guidelines as to when a misspecified simple model or a general model can be used to provide a good classification result.