Randomized controlled trial of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on posttraumatic growth of Chinese breast cancer survivors

Breast cancer (BC) patients in China suffered from a variety of psychology stress such as perceived stress and anxiety, posttraumatic growth (PTG) as a positive factor could promote their psychology health and quality of life. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on promoting PTG, decreasing perceived stress and anxiety of Chinese BC patients. A randomized controlled trial of 60 BC patients (Stages I–III) was conducted. They were randomly divided to the 8-week MBSR group or usual care (UC) group. PTG inventory, Perceived Stress Scale of Chinese version (CPSS) and State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) evaluated the PTG level, perceived stress and anxiety at three times(before intervention-T1, after intervention-T2 and follow up at 3 months-T3). A repeated-measures analysis of variance model was used to compare each outcome measure of two groups at the three times. There was one patient discontinued the intervention and one lose to follow up in MBSR group, finally 58 BC patients completed the research. There was no difference between two groups before the intervention. The results showed significant improvements in MBSR group comparing with the UC group that PTG level was much higher after the 8-week intervention and the follow up (F = 34.73, p < .00). At the same time, CPSS (F = 14.41, p < .00) and STAI (F = 15.24, p < .00) scores were significant decreased at T2 and T3. The results showed that MBSR promoted the level of PTG and decreased perceived stress and anxiety state of Chinese BC patients, and the results persisted at three months after intervention. The research preliminary proved that MBSR was suitable to Chinese BC patients. MBSR should be recommending to BC survivors in China.     

Some differences between Kant’s and Husserl’s conceptions of transcendental philosophy

This article compares the differences between Kant’s and Husserl’s conceptions of the “transcendental.” It argues that, for Kant, the term “transcendental” stands for what is otherwise called “metaphysical,” i.e. non-empirical knowledge. As opposed to his predecessors, who had believed that such non-empirical knowledge was possible for meta-physical, i.e. transcendent objects, Kant’s contribution was to show how there can be non-empirical (a priori) knowledge not about transcendent objects, but about the necessary conditions for the experience of natural, non-transcendent objects. Hence the transcendental for Kant ends up connoting a philosophy that claims to show how subjective forms of intuition and thinking have objective validity for all objects as appearances. By contrast, Husserl’s phenomenological philosophy takes a different set of problems for its starting point. His quest is to avoid the uncertainty of empirical knowledge about all kinds of objects that present themselves to us as something other than, something transcendent to, consciousness. Transcendental or reliable knowledge is made possible through the phenomenological reduction that focuses strictly on consciousness as immediately self-given to itself—reflection upon “pure” consciousness. The contents of such consciousness are not the same for everyone and at every time, so they are not necessary and invariant in the way that Kant’s pure forms of subjectivity are. Since Husserl however also claims that the all objects, as intentional objects, are constituted in and for consciousness, an investigation into the structures of pure subjectivity can also be called “transcendental” in a further sense of showing the genesis of our knowledge of objects that are transcendent to consciousness. Moreover, since Husserl’s philosophical interest is precisely upon the structures of that consciousness, he also concentrates on necessary conditions for the constitution of these objects in his philosophical work. Hence, there ends up being a great deal of overlap between his own transcendental project and Kant’s in spite of the differences in what each of them means by the term “transcendental.”

Beyond Existence and Non-Existence

Abstract

When Husserl speaks of the so-called ‘transcendental reduction’ or ‘phenomenological epochē’ many believe that he is eschewing the question of truth or existence. Two reasons are given for this: First, Husserl explicitly states that when we perform the reduction, we should no longer naively ‘accept [the world] as it presents itself to me as factually existing’ (Id I §30, p. 53) and should suspend our judgement with regard to ‘the positing of its actual being’ (Id I §88, p. 182). Second, Husserl seems to have no problem in referring to an ‘object’ of thought even when we refer to non-existent, hallucinatory or indeed impossible objects. This seems to suggest that he is not interested in the question whether or not there is a corresponding ‘ordinary’ object. The paper seeks to question this and will show that his inquiry never loses sight of the questions of truth and existence but rather brings them into the foreground.     

友伴关系与中学生的吸烟行为

友伴关系与中学生吸烟行为有非常直接的关系,然而,对此进行的研究却很少.社会网络结构分析技术的提出使研究者可以同时从友伴相互接纳和友伴地位两个角度对这一问题展开研究.从北京市1所普通中学和1所重点中学选取1091名初一至高三的学生为被试,运用NEGOPY软件包对中学生的友伴关系进行分析,结果发现,友伴相互接纳和友伴地位与中学生的吸烟行为都有显著的关系,为今后对中学生的吸烟行为进行预防和干预提供了非常重要的依据.     

The Effects of a Common In‐group Prime on Intentions to Help Indigenous and Homeless Australians

The article reports on research designed to test Australian attitudes towards helping impoverished members of the Australian society, in particular, indigenous and homeless people. Australian university students completed a questionnaire to measure their attitudes towards helping homeless and indigenous people under conditions that primed a common Australian identity. The findings showed that priming an inclusive identity led to relatively stronger intentions to help indigenous Australians but not homeless people. It was also found that participants preferred to endorse more autonomy than dependency help to both indigenous and homeless Australians. Whereas the findings indicate that helping intentions towards those living with poverty may be accentuated by priming a common in‐group, they also imply that helping attitudes vary with the type of help being sought and the way people perceive the cause of someone's poverty.     

Emotional Freedom Techniques

Abstract

Callahan (1985) developed a procedure of tapping on acupressure points for treating mental problems. Craig and Fowlie (1995) modified Callahan's procedure to a simplified version called Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). EFT is easy to teach and is effective with symptoms of PTSD. This article presents EFT as an adjunct to the Critical Incident Stress Reduction debriefing procedures. The use of EFT in debriefings results in shorter and more thorough sessions. It often reduces the emotional pain of the debriefing. This paper provides complete instructions and safeguards for using EFT when debriefing in disaster situations and with other applications. Included are references for further reading and training.     

Differential Effects of Anxiety Sensitivity Components in the Relation Between Emotional Non-Acceptance and Post-traumatic Stress Symptoms Among Trauma-Exposed Treatment-Seeking Smokers

Anxiety sensitivity (AS), defined as the extent to which individuals believe anxiety and anxiety-related sensations have harmful consequences, may play an important explanatory role in the relation between emotional non-acceptance and the expression of traumatic stress symptoms among trauma-exposed smokers. This investigation examined whether lower-order dimensions of AS (cognitive, physical, and social concerns) differentially explain the relation between emotional non-acceptance and post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptom clusters (re-experiencing, avoidance, hyperarousal) among trauma-exposed daily smokers (N = 169, 46% female; M_age = 41, SD = 12.3). AS and its lower-order facets of cognitive and social concerns were found to mediate the relations between emotional non-acceptance and avoidance and hyperarousal PTS symptoms. Using a multiple mediation model, the mediational effect of AS cognitive concerns for the relation between emotional non-acceptance and post-traumatic avoidance symptoms was found to be uniquely evident relative to social and physical concerns. All observed AS effects were evident above and beyond the variance accounted for by gender, number of traumatic event exposure types, negative affectivity, number of cigarettes smoked per day, and alcohol use problems. The present findings suggest cognitive-based AS concerns may play a mechanistic role in the relation between emotional non-acceptance and certain PTS symptoms among trauma-exposed daily smokers.     

Stability of Medical Students' Attitudes Toward Aging and Death

A representative sample from a nonclinical population was drawn to compare bingers and nonbingers across weight categories. Subjects were 112 women drawn from a cross-section of undergraduate classes at a large state university. Four groups were formed: obese bingers, obese nonbingers, normal-weight bingers (bulimics), and normal-weight nonbingers. Bingers, regardless of weight category, suffered higher levels of depression and anxiety and lower levels of self-esteem than nonbingers, regardless of weight category. Obese nonbingers were indistinguishable on these variables from normal-weight nonbingers, with both groups of nonbingers experiencing less emotional distress. Results support the position that the obese population should be conceptualized and treated as a diverse group with different psychological characteristics and needs.     

Relationship of Acculturation and Family Functioning to Smoking Attitudes and Behaviors Among Asian-American Adolescents

The primary objective of this study was to examine the combination of acculturation, family functioning, and parental smoking as predictors of smoking attitudes and behaviors among Asian-American adolescents. The participants were 106 Asian-American high school students whose ages ranged from 15 to 19 (51 male and 55 female, mean age = 16.30 years). Of the sample, 49% reported having tried smoking, and 27% identified themselves as regular smokers. The results indicated that smoking attitudes were significantly associated with smoking behaviors. Compared to nonsmokers, adolescent regular smokers had more positive smoking attitudes, lower acculturation, poorer family functioning and were more likely to have a father who smoked.     

Influence of temporal context on value in the multiple-chains and successive-encounters procedures

This set of studies explored the influence of temporal context across multiple-chain and multiple-successive-encounters procedures. Following training with different temporal contexts, the value of stimuli sharing similar reinforcement schedules was assessed by presenting these stimuli in concurrent probes. The results for the multiple-chain schedule indicate that temporal context does impact the value of a conditioned reinforcer consistent with delay-reduction theory, such that a stimulus signaling a greater reduction in delay until reinforcement has greater value. Further, nonreinforced stimuli that are concurrently presented with the preferred terminal link also have greater value, consistent with value transfer. The effects of context on value for conditions with the multiple-successive-encounters procedure, however, appear to depend on whether the search schedule or alternate handling schedule was manipulated, as well as on whether the tested stimuli were the rich or lean schedules in their components. Overall, the results help delineate the conditions under which temporal context affects conditioned-reinforcement value (acting as a learning variable) and the conditions under which it does not (acting as a performance variable), an issue of relevance to theories of choice.