Naturally occurring language as a source of evidence in suicide prevention

We discuss computational language analysis as it pertains to suicide prevention research, with an emphasis on providing non‐technologists with an understanding of key issues and, equally important, considering its relation to the broader enterprise of suicide prevention. Our emphasis here is on naturally occurring language in social media, motivated by its non‐intrusive ability to yield high‐value information that in the past has been largely unavailable to clinicians.     

Loving and angry? Happy and sad? Understanding and reporting of mixed emotions in mother–child relationships by 6‐ to 12‐year‐olds

The Evaluative Space Model of emotions allows for the coactivation of positive‐appetitive and negative‐avoidant systems, but few studies have examined mixed emotions in child development. Existing research suggests children's understanding of opposite valence emotion combinations emerges by approximately 11 years of age. However, it is not yet clear whether various opposite valence combinations are understood at different ages, nor whether children can understand them in others before they have experienced such mixed emotions themselves. Semi‐structured interviews with 97 children investigated whether they regarded six combinations of opposite valence mixed emotions as possible, could provide reasons for them, and report their own experience of each in the context of mother–child relationships. Both understanding that such combinations are possible and ability to provide reasons for them increased after age 6 and up to age 11, but were still incomplete in 12‐year‐olds. Understanding of different opposite valence combinations developed at different rates. At each age, fewer children who showed understanding of these combinations in others reported having had a similar experience themselves. The findings suggest a need to systematically examine a range of mixed emotions in order to develop a comprehensive theory of the development of mixed emotion understanding. They also suggest extending research into adolescence.     

A COMPARISON OF PEER-DIRECTED AND TEACHER-DIRECTED EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEW TRAINING FOR MENTALLY RETARDED ADULTS

Interview skills deficits may limit employment prospects of mentally retarded adults. Although numerous papers highlight the importance of interview skills, few have validated effective strategies for use with mentally retarded persons. Further, there has been a lack of research contrasting rival interview skills training strategies. The present study was conducted with two mentally retarded young adults. It contrasted peer-directed instruction, in which both participants were equally deficient in the target skills, with teacher-directed instruction. Results of the investigation indicated that instruction, rehearsal, and feedback may be effective strategies regardless of who provides instruction. Comparisons of teacher-directed and peer-directed instruction indicated little or no difference in the effectiveness of the two procedures. However, the peer-directed procedure involved considerably less staff time than did the teacher-directed procedure.     

Elaborative interrogation applied to small and large group contexts

The present study examined the application of elaborative interrogation (EI), a questioning strategy, to ecologically valid classroom contexts. Instruction was provided to individuals, small groups of five, and large groups of 20. Recall performance did not differ as a function of group size. For individuals, small and large groups, EI subjects outperformed repetition control subjects.     

Research-structured vs clinically flexible versions of social learning-based marital therapy

The purpose of this study was to compare our structured research-based version of marital therapy from a social learning perspective with a clinically flexible version of the same treatment where treatment plans were individually-based and there was no specific number of treatment sessions. Thirty distressed married couples were randomly assigned to one of these two treatments. Assessment of outcome was based on global marital satisfaction, spouse reports of functioning in specific areas, and direct observational measures of communication. At posttest there were no differences in efficacy between structured and flexible treatments, although both treatments led to significant improvements. At a 6-month follow-up couples treated with the structured format were more likely to have deteriorated and flexibly treated couples were more likely to have maintained their treatment gains.     

The "psychosomatic family" model: an empirical and theoretical analysis

Evolution of the Family Systems Paradigm has been constrained by the dichotomy between theory building and empirical research. This article integrates these two domains by presenting a theoretical analysis of the "psychosomatic family" model as it informs and is informed by an empirical research project. Forty families of children with Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC), and functional recurrent abdominal pain syndrome (RAP) were rated during standard, videotaped family interaction tasks, lunch, and interview. Laboratory scores of disease activity were associated with triangulation, marital dysfunction, and total "psychosomatic family" scores. Disease activity was not significantly correlated with enmeshment, overprotection, rigidity, conflict avoidance, or poor conflict resolution. Thus, the marital/triangulation and enmeshment/overprotection/conflict clusters may be subcomplexes of the "psychosomatic family" complex. CD, UC, and RAP groups differed in the relations among particular family patterns and disease activity. A heuristic family-psycho-somatic model is presented to facilitate future research.     

Counting On Blood Donors: Increasing the Impact of Reminder Calls

Two experiments were conducted to see if blood drive attendance could be increased by altering the content of reminder calls. In Experiment 1 college students received either a standard reminder (the place, time, and necessity of eating beforehand) or a commitment-enhancing reminder in which they agreed to be "counted on". Those in the latter condition were significantly more likely (p <.007) to attend a blood drive. Experiment 2 demonstrated that an alternate wording for the commitment-enhancing message was possible; that a verbal response was necessary to ensure the commitment; and that a message enhancing altruism was not as effective. The studies suggest that asking for an additional commitment during a reminder call can appreciably increase blood drive participation rates.     

Proximity and hierarchy: orthogonal dimensions of family interconnectedness

The purpose of this research was to develop logical and empirically valid conceptual tools for investigating relationships between family patterns of interconnectedness and psychosocial functioning of children in the family. The family systems concept of boundary was analyzed into two component concepts: Proximity (interpersonal boundaries) and generational Hierarchy (subsystem boundaries). These concepts were operationalized as dimensions, and eight families were assessed by means of interaction coding, interview, and Kinetic Family Drawing to yield empirical verification of these dimensions. Findings indicated that Proximity and Hierarchy are reliable, valid, and independent dimensions of family interconnectedness. Weak generational Hierarchy was associated with increased levels of psychological dysfunction for both identified patients and their siblings. High Proximity was similarly associated with psychological dysfunction, but only for identified patients. The hypothesis that enmeshment is a composite pattern of high Proximity and weak Hierarchy was disconfirmed. Suggestions for future research include systemic analysis of deviation-counteracting and -amplifying relationships between patterns of Proximity and Hierarchy, on the one hand, and psychosocial dysfunction, on the other.     

The Social Psychology of Caregiving: Physical and Psychological Costs of Providing Support to the Disabled1

The emphasis of much of the existing research on social support-health relationships has been on the availability and impact of support on the recipient, but social psychologists have paid little attention to the costs to the caregiver of providing that support. In an earlier study (Schulz & Decker, 1985), we found that the long-term coping of individuals experiencing chronic disability as a result of spinal-cord injury was facilitated by the availability of a primary support person, or caregiver. In this study we examined the determinants of well-being of the primary caregiver of the middle-aged and elderly spinal-cord-injured persons. Psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and depression were the dependent measures. The availability of social support, social contact, and feelings of control over one's life were important determinants of caregiver well-being, even after controlling for health and income. In addition, the amount of time spent each day assisting the disabled person was a strong independent correlate of depression, and the extent to which the caregiver felt burdened by the victim was significantly and negatively related to life satisfaction. These results are discussed in the context of a comprehensive stress-coping model. Since data were available from both disabled individuals and their primary support persons, we had the unique opportunity to compare the perspectives of both those giving and receiving daily care. We found no relationship in levels of psychological well-being and depression reported by the disabled person and caregiver; however, caregivers attributed to the victims affective levels similar to their own.