Gender and ethnic differences in psychosocial stress and generalized distress among Hispanics

This study examined the relationship between gender, ethnicity, psychosocial stress and generalized distress in 593 Hispanic immigrants, Mexican Americans, and Anglo Americans using the Hispanic Stress Inventory (HSI) and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Findings revealed that immigrant females had higher scores on the Cultural/Family Conflict sub-scale of the HSI and on the CES-D than immigrant males. Also, higher levels of generalized distress and psychosocial stress associated with the immigration process were found among immigrants from Central America when compared with Mexican immigrants. Central Americans' stress appraisal ratings on specific HSI items related to pre-migration trauma were significantly higher than the ratings of Mexican immigrants. Our findings indicate that research and clinical service delivery models must be sensitive to the vast heterogeneity within the Hispanic population with respect to differences in the experiences of psychosocial stress as related to gender and ethnicity.This project was partially supported by Grant USPHS MH24854 to the third author from the National Institute of Mental Health, Division of Biometry and Applied Science, Minority Research Resources Branch.     

Chronometric evidence for memory retrieval in causal conditional reasoning: The case of the association strength effect

According to many models of conditional reasoning, correct responses to the uncertain forms affirmation of consequent (AC) and denial of antecedent (DA) rely on the retrieval of an alternative antecedent from semantic memory. The main prediction issuing from this hypothesis of online retrieval is that the associative strength of the relevant information in long-term memory affects the latency of its retrieval and then of the correct response of uncertainty to AC and DA. This prediction was tested in 64 adults who performed a syllogism evaluation task with familiar causal conditional premises. As predicted, correct responses of uncertainty to AC and DA were not only more frequent but also faster when the antecedent term was weakly rather than strongly associated with the consequent. In line with the semantic framework, we also observed that this strength effect in response times was reversed for incorrect responses of certainty to AC.     

Postmodernist theory and the physician-patient relationship

The author discusses the postmodernist claim that the grand theories have lost credibility, even in the field of medical science and practice. Rather than representing a shared reality among physician and patient, illness represents two quite distinct realities — the meaning of one being significantly and distinctively different from the meaning of the other. However, existential clinical narratives can function as important bridges between the world of the patient and the world of the physician. Such narratives provide important information regarding the patient's biographical situation and, particularly, the personal and cultural meanings which are a function of the biographical situation. At the same time, these narratives provide physicians with useful information for the practice of medicine.     

What is in a word? No versus Yes differentially engage the lateral orbitofrontal cortex

The words "No" and "Yes" are involved in conditioning to prohibit or encourage behavior, respectively. The authors, therefore, hypothesized that these words would be attributed to endogenous valence, activating neuronal circuits involved with valence and emotional control. Functional MRI (fMRI) at 4 Tesla was used to record regional brain activity while participants were exposed to emphatic vocalizations of the words. Results showed that No and Yes were associated with opposite brain-behavior responses; while No was negatively valenced, produced slower response times, and evoked a negative signal in the right lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), Yes was positively valenced, produced faster response times, and evoked a positive signal in a contiguous region of the OFC. Attribution of negative valence to No and trait anger control were associated with increased responsivity of the OFC to No. Inasmuch as sensitivity to the prohibitive command No develops during childhood through interaction with primary caregivers as the first social objects, our findings may implicate the lateral OFC in the neurobiology of emotion regulation and subsequent social development.     

On the nature of mental models of conditional: The case of If,If then,and Only if

It has recently been reported that forward inferences from if p then q sentences (i.e., from antecedent to consequent) were faster than backward inferences from consequent to antecedent (Barrouillet, Grosset, & Lecas, 2000). The standard mental model theory assumes that this directionality effect is a figural effect due to the order the information enters working memory, whereas we claim that it results from the nature of the mental models that represent oriented relations from hypothetical values introduced by the word If. We tested these hypotheses in an experiment in which adult participants evaluated conditional syllogisms from either if p then q, p only if q, or p if q statements. Contrary to the predictions resulting from the standard theory, the three forms of the conditional provoked a reversed directionality effect and denial inferences took longer to endorse than affirmative inferences for all the forms of conditionals. We argue from these results that mental models of the conditional represent oriented relations instead of mere co-occurrences between events.     

Coping with transphobia in employment: Strategies used by transgender and gender-diverse people in the United States

Background: Transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) individuals face stigma in the general public and in the workplace. Research has suggested that TGD individuals may demonstrate unique coping strategies in the workplace in order to manage transphobia in that setting; however, further research is needed to identify the specific strategies that transgender individuals use to deal with transphobia at work.

Method: The present qualitative study utilized the grounded theory methodology to identify the specific coping strategies utilized to deal with transphobia at work. Participants included 45 TGD participants from the northeastern United States.

Results: The results of the study include the identification of eight coping-strategy themes including gender-presentation strategies, gender detachment, relationship navigating, resource utilization, job-performance strategies, maladaptive coping strategies, structural strategies, and power-acquisition strategies.

Conclusions: Implications of the present study suggest the resilience and diverse coping strategies that mental health providers can help TGD workers draw from in dealing with transphobia at work. In addition, there is a need for greater remediation and prevention of employment-related transphobia, including leadership within employment settings, greater legal protections, and enforcement of these laws in the United States.     

The Relationship between Religiosity and Burnout of Principals: The Meaning of Educational Work and Role Variables as Mediators

The present study focused on the phenomenon of burnout amongst high school principals within three sectors: state-secular, state-religious, and ultra-Orthodox. Based on the cognitive approach of Lazarus (1996), the purpose of the work was to examine the relationship between religiosity and burnout, via mediator variables namely the meaning of the educational work and role variables (status, workload, wage, difficulties with teachers, and demands of parents). The sample consisted of 69 principals of three populations representing the structure of the Jewish educational system in Israel: 25 principals of the state-secular education sector, 23 of the state-religious education sector, and 21 of the ultra-Orthodox education sector. The data, collected through questionnaires, were analyzed by structural equation models. The findings which confirmed the main hypotheses, should encourage researchers and practitioners to focus more attention on understanding the phenomenon of burnout in a socio-cultural context.