Tightness shifts in the U.S. and China: Implications of tightening or loosening norms during the coronavirus pandemic

Emergent research identifies cultural tightness-looseness as an important factor for understanding cross-national outcome differences during the coronavirus pandemic. Because perceived tightness-looseness can be measured as an individual-level difference rather than a nation-level difference, and because tightness-looseness may shift during large-scale crises, we investigated whether such shifts occurred early in the coronavirus pandemic in both China (a relatively tight nation, n = 3642) and the U.S. (a relatively loose nation, n = 3583) across three cohorts. Tightness increased across cohorts in China and reduced across cohorts in the U.S. These changes transmitted corresponding indirect effects whereby compliance and institutional trust (scientific and government) about the pandemic were increased in China across cohorts, but decreased in the U.S. across cohorts. These patterns extend advice that national governments can increase compliance and trust via “tightening” by cautioning against norm-setters signaling the reverse (that norms about compliance are loose) given the outcomes observed in the U.S. samples.     

The mediating role of anxiety in self-reported somatic complaints of depressed adolescents

This study examined the mediating role of anxiety in the self-reports of somatic complaints in 96 depressed adolescent inpatients. Sixty-four subjects with major depressive episodes and comorbid anxiety disorders (MDE-A) determined from the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents-Revised (DICA-R) reported significantly more somatic complaints than 32 adolescents having major depressive episodes without comorbid anxiety (MDE). An analysis of covariance demonstrated that, with anxiety symptoms controlled, MDE and MDE-A groups did not differ significantly in somatic complaints. A hierarchical multiple-regression analysis revealed that, with demographic and anxiety symptoms controlled, depressive symptoms did not contribute to the explanation or prediction of somatic complaints. The results suggest that anxious, but not depressive symptoms, are independently associated with somatic complaints. The results are discussed in light of new affective models of psychopathology.     

COVID-19, Sex,Addictions, Women's Health,Care of the Elderly,and Medical Education

Journal of Religion and Health -     

Towards a wider conception of autonomy support in adolescence: The contribution of reflective inner-compass facilitation to the formation of an authentic inner compass and well-being

Ample research has demonstrated the benefits of basic autonomy supportive practices (e.g., perspective-taking, choice, minimizing-control) for adolescents’ psychosocial functioning. Herein, we posit that there is one additional autonomy supportive practice with specific importance for adolescents’ development: Reflective Authentic Inner Compass facilitation. This practice is posited to contribute to the formation of an Authentic Inner-Compass: An action-guiding schema, informing youth on what they truly value, need, and want, and consisting of two parts: (1) A foundation including authentic values, interests, and life-aspirations, and (2) Autonomous commitment to future-oriented goals and decisions, based on the foundation. A longitudinal study of 18–19 year-old Israeli adolescents showed that perceived Reflective Authentic Inner Compass Facilitation by instructors uniquely predicted (beyond Basic Autonomy Support) adolescents’ experience of having an authentic inner-compass in the military domain, which then predicted autonomous engagement in plan-promoting activities. A cross-sectional study with 16?18 year-old Belgian adolescents showed that perceived Reflective Authentic Inner Compass Facilitation by parents uniquely predicted (beyond Basic Autonomy Support) the experience of having an authentic inner-compass, which then related positively to well-being. Implications of the notion of the authentic inner compass for the conceptualization of autonomy support and the experience of autonomy are discussed.

     

Gains v. losses,or context dependence generated by confusion?

Animal Cognition - Tversky and Kahneman introduced the term framing for the finding that people give different answers to the same question depending on the way it is posed. One form of framing...     

African Christian Scholars and the Study of African Traditional Religions: A Re-evaluation

The writings of African scholars who are committed to Christianity have been assessed negatively, particularly as regards the study of African traditional religions (ATRs). This article surveys the context that influenced African Christian scholars and illustrates why cultural nationalism features in some of their writings. While accepting the validity of some of the criticisms, this essay maintains that the writings of African Christian scholars remain important.     

Implementing Adlerian Sand Tray Therapy With Adult Male Substance Abuse Offenders: A Phenomenological Inquiry

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the perceptions of adult male substance offenders who experienced sand tray therapy as an adjunct to their cognitive behavioral rehabilitative treatment. Results indicate a positive experience for participants. Implications for counselors are discussed.     

Increased brain serotonin turnover in panic disorder patients in the absence of a panic attack: reduction by a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor

Since the brain neurotransmitter changes characterising panic disorder remain uncertain, we quantified brain noradrenaline and serotonin turnover in patients with panic disorder, in the absence of a panic attack. Thirty-four untreated patients with panic disorder and 24 matched healthy volunteers were studied. A novel method utilising internal jugular venous sampling, with thermodilution measurement of jugular blood flow, was used to directly quantify brain monoamine turnover, by measuring the overflow of noradrenaline and serotonin metabolites from the brain. Radiographic depiction of brain venous sinuses allowed differential venous sampling from cortical and subcortical regions. The relation of brain serotonin turnover to serotonin transporter genotype and panic disorder severity were evaluated, and the influence of an SSRI drug, citalopram, on serotonin turnover investigated. Brain noradrenaline turnover in panic disorder patients was similar to that in healthy subjects. In contrast, brain serotonin turnover, estimated from jugular venous overflow of the metabolite, 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid, was increased approximately 4-fold in subcortical brain regions and in the cerebral cortex (P < 0.01). Serotonin turnover was highest in patients with the most severe disease, was unrelated to serotonin transporter genotype, and was reduced by citalopram (P < 0.01). Normal brain noradrenaline turnover in panic disorder patients argues against primary importance of the locus coeruleus in this condition. The marked increase in serotonin turnover, in the absence of a panic attack, possibly represents an important underlying neurotransmitter substrate for the disorder, although this point remains uncertain. Support for this interpretation comes from the direct relationship which existed between serotonin turnover and illness severity, and the finding that SSRI administration reduced serotonin turnover. Serotonin transporter genotyping suggested that increased whole brain serotonin turnover most likely derived not from impaired serotonin reuptake, but from increased firing in serotonergic midbrain raphe neurons projecting to both subcortical brain regions and the cerebral cortex.