Rumination, distraction, and mindful self-focus in depressed patients

Rumination has been proposed as a cognitive risk factor for the onset and maintenance of depression. In parallel, mindfulness interventions have shown to reduce the risk for recurrence of depressive episodes. This study aimed to investigate effects of short periods of induced rumination, distraction, and mindful self-focus on sad mood in depressed patients and to assess possible moderator effects of habitual variables on respective mood changes. Seventy-six depressed patients 3.5 years after discharge from inpatient treatment were subjected to negative mood induction and subsequently randomly assigned to a rumination, distraction, or mindful self-focus induction. Habitual aspects of rumination, distraction, and mindfulness were assessed by questionnaires. Compared to rumination, the induction of a mindful self-focus and of distraction showed clear beneficial effects on the course of negative mood. While habitual distraction predicted better mood outcomes across all conditions, patients high in habitual mindfulness tended to show stronger negative mood reduction specifically after the induction of a mindful self-focus. This study indicates that - similar to distraction - an experimentally induced mindful self-focus is able to reduce negative mood in depressed patients. Implications regarding possible subgroups of patients who might particularly benefit from mindfulness-based interventions are discussed.     

Traumatic stress and psychological adjustment in treatment-seeking women sexually abused in childhood: A follow-up

The objective of this study was to assess post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), psychological distress, and risk factors among women sexually abused in childhood (CSA) after six months in therapy. Thirty in-treatment CSA survivors reported their abuse history and filled out several questionnaires. Comparisons were made to a non-CSA in-treatment sample. Although, 50% of the CSA women still had PTSD, there was a remarkable decrease in PTSD symptoms (Cohen's d = 1.06). A considerable change in self-worth and in attachment styles was found. It was concluded that CSA survivors benefit much from 6 months of weekly treatment. However, it is recommended that treatment should continue for a still longer period.     

Delay and Inhibition as Early Predictors of ADHD Symptoms in Third Grade

We used data from a large, longitudinal study of children in the community, the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, to examine how well earlier measures of delay capacity, inhibitory control, planning, and attention predicted symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessed in third grade. Children with elevated symptoms of both inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity (n = 57) and with inattentive symptoms only (n = 80) were identified via mother and teacher reports using the “or” rule, as were children without significant symptoms (n = 790). Multinomial logistic regression analyses indicated that poorer performance on earlier measures of resistance to temptation, delay of gratification, response inhibition, attention, and planning obtained from 36 months to 1st grade predicted membership in the two symptom groups relative to the comparison group in 3rd grade, albeit with somewhat different patterns of predictors. Controls for 36 month school readiness and externalizing symptoms indicated that these results were generally robust and not an artifact of initial cognitive or behavioral differences. Implications for developmental models of ADHD are discussed.

The Peer Attitudes Toward Children who Stutter scale: Reliability, known groups validity, and negativity of elementary school-age children's attitudes

Psychometric properties of the Peer Attitudes Toward Children who Stutter (PATCS) scale (Langevin, M., & Hagler, P. (2004). Development of a scale to measure peer attitudes toward children who stutter. In A.K. Bothe (Ed.), Evidence-based treatment of stuttering: empirical bases and clinical applications (pp. 139–171). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.) and the extent to which peer attitudes are negative were re-examined. Results show that internal consistency was .97 and test–retest reliability was .85. In a known groups analysis participants who had contact with someone who stutters had statistically significant higher mean scores (more positive attitudes) than those who had not had contact. Nonsignificant findings for gender and grade call into question the usefulness of these variables as discriminators in future tests of known groups validity of peer attitudes toward children who stutter. Approximately one-fifth of participants had PATCS scores that were somewhat to very negative. These findings support calls for school-based education about stuttering.

Educational objectives

The reader will be able to: (1) summarize the social impacts of stuttering on school-age children who stutter, (2) describe the known groups method to test construct validity, (3) evaluate the psychometric properties of the Peer Attitudes Toward Children who Stutter scale, and (4) provide information about the proportion of students who appear to hold negative attitudes toward children who stutter.     

Socio‐economic,socio‐political and socio‐emotional variables explaining school bullying: a country‐wide multilevel analysis

Why do some countries, regions and schools have more bullying than others? What socio‐economic, socio‐political and other larger contextual factors predict school bullying? These open questions inspired this study with 53.316 5th‐ and 9th‐grade students (5% of the national student population in these grades), from 1,000 schools in Colombia. Students completed a national test of citizenship competencies, which included questions about bullying and about families, neighborhoods and their own socio‐emotional competencies. We combined these data with community violence and socio‐economic conditions of all Colombian municipalities, which allowed us to conduct multilevel analyses to identify municipality‐ and school‐level variables predicting school bullying. Most variance was found at the school level. Higher levels of school bullying were related to more males in the schools, lower levels of empathy, more authoritarian and violent families, higher levels of community violence, better socio‐economic conditions, hostile attributional biases and more beliefs supporting aggression. These results might reflect student, classroom and school contributions because student‐level variables were aggregated at the school level. Although in small portions, violence from the decades‐old‐armed conflict among guerrillas, paramilitaries and governmental forces predicted school bullying at the municipal level for 5th graders. For 9th graders, inequality in land ownership predicted school bullying. Neither poverty, nor population density or homicide rates contributed to explaining bullying. These results may help us advance toward understanding how the larger context relates to school bullying, and what socio‐emotional competencies may help us prevent the negative effects of a violent and unequal environment. Aggr. Behav. 35:520–529, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The Distance from Psychological Research to Real Life

Considering our experiences in everyday life, the result of research based on sample assumed to be derived from a “population” cannot afford individual predictions. That is because the variabilities within individuals which play an important role in actual psychological processes are erased from the data in samples-based studies. In this article, we begin the discussion with how the intra-individual variance contributes to individual prediction. As case study works on the basis of variability within each individual, it explores the intrinsic mechanism of development and emphasize the connection between person and environment. The question of how to generalize from case studies requires that the researcher to selectively consider some of the variance and construction of a hypothetical model that shows how different features of oppositions (Yin and Yang) are integrated into an abstract whole that is applicable to all individual cases.

儿童2岁活跃性、自我控制与5年后学校适应——父母养育方式的调节作用

通过5年的追踪,考察儿童早期气质特征对后期社会适应的影响。选取200名2岁儿童,采用实验室观察法评价其气质上的活跃性和自我控制;在其7岁时追踪到125名儿童,请父母报告养育方式、班主任老师评价其社会能力和学业表现。结果表明：（1）儿童2岁时的活跃性对5年后学校适应的预测总体是消极的,并且受父母养育方式调节;父母的高限制和低压制能够抵消活跃性对学习问题和任务定向的消极影响;（2）儿童2岁时的自我控制对于5年后的所有积极学校适应指标（学业成绩、低学习问题、果敢社交、挫折耐受、任务定向）有直接预测作用。这一结果揭示了气质上的活跃性与自我控制在儿童发展过程中的不同作用,父母应根据孩子的气质特点实行差别化教育。     

中国近现代社会创造性人物早期的家庭环境与父母教养方式

从家庭环境量表(FES-CV)与父母养育方式评价量表(EMBU)的基本维度,对30位中国近现代社会创造性人物的早期家庭环境与父母教养方式的特点进行考察。结果表明,(1)这些家庭在控制性、组织性、亲密度、独立性、道德宗教观等维度上的平均得分较高,而在矛盾性上的平均得分较低;其家庭环境特点主要表现在家庭的价值观和人际关系、家庭秩序性与家庭活跃性三个方面。(2)上述家庭总体上表现出"严父慈母"的传统教养方式;其父母教养方式主要表现在严厉性与慈爱性两个方面。(3)聚类分析显示,家庭环境可分为低控传统型家庭与高控传统型家庭两类,父母教养方式可分为严厉型教养方式与温暖型教养方式两类。     

服刑人员重塑法治价值观过程的质性探索

采用扎根理论方法,通过深度访谈、查询检索,收集服刑人员谈话派生资料(n=13),通过三级编码分析、构建理论, 探索服刑人员从犯罪到守法的重塑法治价值观过程。结果显示,服刑人员心理变化分四阶段：1）接受期,认清身份,端正态度;2）积累期,学法习德,修正扭曲;3）转变期,反思总结,守法自新;4）拓展期,延伸法治,规划未来。通过管教民警引导,服刑人员联系亲情逐渐修正扭曲价值观,实现守法自新的转变。     

核心自我评价研究的反思与展望

核心自我评价是一种潜在的、宽泛的人格结构, 被定义为个体对自我能力和价值所持有的最基本的评价和估计。在过去十余年里, 核心自我评价的研究重点从早期关注结构的验证与测量、探讨核心自我评价在工作领域中的功能, 到近期开始转向探讨与心理健康、学业行为等变量的关系。另外, 核心自我评价的预测作用和调节作用可从动机、图式、能力、应对与获益和自我验证五种机制进行解释。核心自我评价的起源、过高核心自我评价是好是坏、核心自我评价还应包括或排除哪些因素、核心自我评价是否只有高低之分、“参照框架”对核心自我评价的预测力有何影响等涉及核心自我评价性质的问题目前仍没有得到解决。未来的研究可着眼于扩大研究领域、解决与核心自我评价性质有关的问题以及对核心自我评价进行本土化研究。