State resident volunteering and health are unrelated when neuroticism is controlled: Nomothetic evidence using the 50 states of the USA as analytical units

ABSTRACT

This research challenges the claim that engaging in formal volunteering improves health. Using data for the 50 American states pertaining to 2015–2016, multiple regression equations with differing control and entry order demonstrated the capacity of state resident neuroticism to eliminate relations between state volunteering rates and state health outcomes. In Study 1, with state SES, White population percent, urban population percent, and health environment considered and controlled, volunteering accounted for 11.5% of state health variance. However, with neuroticism entered between the demographic controls and volunteering, neuroticism accounted for 18.0% but additional variance accounted for by volunteering was reduced to 0.7%. Similarly, in Study 2, with data for those 65 and older, the results were replicated. It is speculated that higher neuroticism produces social anxiety that discourages volunteering and fosters poorer health at both the individual and the state level for the general population and for those 65 and over.     

Family Therapy for Substance Use among Sexual Minority Youth: A Review of Treatment Options

Abstract

Substance use disorders are nearly twice as common among sexual minority youth (SMY) as among their heterosexual peers. Most applied literature about this population suggests interventions on either the individual or community level, and the benefits of family therapy for this population are often overlooked. The present literature review (a) outlines clinical knowledge related to sexual minority youth and substance use (e.g., prevalence rates, contributing factors), (b) discusses the importance of clinical self-awareness around these topics, and (c) outlines clinical behaviors and interventions from literature that may be employed when working with substance-using SMY and their families.     

Review Section

No abstract available for this article.     

2~4岁普通话儿童前注意阶段的声调感知机制

以MMN、p-MMR作为汉语词汇声调感知的神经关联物,探究2~4岁汉语普通话儿童前注意阶段对声调刺激的失匹配响应,关注范畴信息和偏差大小两个因素对儿童感知水平的影响。结果显示:在范畴间大偏差条件下(T1/T3),诱发明显的MMN;在范畴内或小偏差条件下(T3a/T3、T3b/T3、T2/T3),都未诱发显著的MMR。表明:2~4岁普通话儿童正处于声调感知能力的发展过程中,音位信息和声学信息共同影响其声调感知。     

汉字部件与英文字母相容性的数学模型──一种群体模板相容性的数学表达

该文运用相容性研究中的维度重叠模型以及Ｆｏｒｋ－Ｊｏｉｎ网络模型，得出群体模板的相容性定义与Ｓ－Ｒ相容性的元素匹配之间的关系式，详细讨论了汉字编码输入法研究中的学习遍数、反应时与汉字部件－英文字母相容性的关系，理论模拟与实验结果所显示的趋势符合。     

Copts,the State and the 1949–1950 al-Majlis al-Millī Electoral Crisis: Articulating Community in a Time of Anxiety

ABSTRACT

In October 1949, the Coptic Communal Council, al-Majlis al-Millī, failed to run elections as scheduled in the midst of conflict with the clergy. The following April, the Egyptian government intervened by dissolving the Council in favour of an appointed body and by amending its bylaws to allow for the Coptic patriarch and the state to intervene in the case that future elections were delayed. This prompted controversy in the community, as supporters of the Council criticized the intervention for depriving the body of its democratic nature. However, opponents of the Council used the legislation to criticize the body for its aggressive posturing and to assert the authority of the clergy over the laity in communal affairs. This article explores the 1949–1950 intervention alongside the anxieties of late-liberal-era Egypt. By investigating the conversations that occurred in the government and the communal press, I argue that the election crisis served as a flashpoint for parties to lay claim to their particular visions of community by focusing on themes of communal representation, spheres of sovereignty and the maintenance of order.     

Spanish-speaking caregivers’ use of referential labels with toddlers is a better predictor of later vocabulary than their use of referential gestures

Variation in how frequently caregivers engage with their children is associated with variation in children's later language outcomes. One explanation for this link is that caregivers use both verbal behaviors, such as labels, and non-verbal behaviors, such as gestures, to help children establish reference to objects or events in the world. However, few studies have directly explored whether language outcomes are more strongly associated with referential behaviors that are expressed verbally, such as labels, or non-verbally, such as gestures, or whether both are equally predictive. Here, we observed caregivers from 42 Spanish-speaking families in the US engage with their 18-month-old children during 5-min lab-based, play sessions. Children's language processing speed and vocabulary size were assessed when children were 25 months. Bayesian model comparisons assessed the extent to which the frequencies of caregivers’ referential labels, referential gestures, or labels and gestures together, were more strongly associated with children's language outcomes than a model with caregiver total words, or overall talkativeness. The best-fitting models showed that children who heard more referential labels at 18 months were faster in language processing and had larger vocabularies at 25 months. Models including gestures, or labels and gestures together, showed weaker fits to the data. Caregivers’ total words predicted children's language processing speed, but predicted vocabulary size less well. These results suggest that the frequency with which caregivers of 18-month-old children use referential labels, more so than referential gestures, is a critical feature of caregiver verbal engagement that contributes to language processing development and vocabulary growth.

Research Highlights

• We examined the frequency of referential communicative behaviors, via labels and/or gestures, produced by caregivers during a 5-min play interaction with their 18-month-old children.
• We assessed predictive relations between labels, gestures, their combination, as well as total words spoken, and children's processing speed and vocabulary growth at 25 months.
• Bayesian model comparisons showed that caregivers’ referential labels at 18 months best predicted both 25-month vocabulary measures, although total words also predicted later processing speed.
• Frequent use of referential labels by caregivers, more so than referential gestures, is a critical feature of communicative behavior that supports children's later vocabulary learning.