Internet use in the contemporary media environment

Although a significant amount of research has focused on traditional media choice and use, and even on some ‘new’ media, these studies have either neglected the Internet and World Wide Web or were conducted prior to their recent popularity. This study offers a novel exploration of individuals' use of three Internet functions (information retrieval, information giving, and conversation capabilities) in the context of the use of other communication media. Data from 684 individuals demonstrate that the Internet is a multidimensional technology used in a manner similar to other, more traditional media. Specifically, conversation features of the Internet align with mediated interpersonal technologies (the telephone and electronic mail), whereas the Internet's information‐retrieval and information‐giving features are used in ways similar to mass media channels (newspapers, television, and books and magazines). In addition, needs fulfilled by these channels cluster in ways consistent with past research, regardless of the technologies employed to meet them.     

The value of formative investment in organizational federations

Public goods theories highlight an incentive system that rewards ‘free riding’ on the contributions of early contributors toward collective actions. However, because such theories focus on creation of the good, they may underestimate returns that accrue to early contributors subsequent to the good's realization. The concept of formative investment is introduced here to describe the extent to which organizations help to create public goods such as interorganizational linkages like participatory federations. Data from the CEOs of 48 organizations involved in a participatory federation were used to assess how an organization's level of formative investment is related to later patterns of dependency and interaction among federation members. Findings suggest that from a long‐term perspective, and for goods that involve communication and interaction, the incentive structure may not be so favorable for free riders. To the extent that organizations with high formative investment have the capability to envision the future and communicate that vision to potential federation partners, they may be able to both reduce free riding and secure for themselves advantageous positions in the subsequent network of relations.     

Mini-Review; Stress Genes: An Introductory Overview

Molecular sequence data, made available in the last 15 years or so, have led to the classification of living cells into three phylogenetic domains: Bacteria, Archaea, and Eucarya. All the organisms that have been tested belonging to either domain were capable of mounting a stress response with essentially the same characteristics, regardless of the stressor. The protagonists in the cell's stress response are the stress genes and their protein products. Some of the latter are molecular chaperones. Under physiological conditions, these chaperones aid other cellular proteins to fold properly and achieve a native -functional- configuration, and to translocate from the place of synthesis to the cell's locale in which they will operate. In a stressed cell, the stress proteins that are chaperones protect other molecules from denaturation and help those partially damaged to regain a functional configuration. Thus, cell death is avoided and recovery is enhanced. The study of stress genes and proteins has progressed considerably in organisms belonging to the domains Bacteria and Eucarya. Less is known about the archaeal stress genes. Here, research with an organism from the Archaea is discussed, focusing on the stress genes of the hsp70 (dnaK) locus. Future perspectives for basic and applied research within the health sciences and biotechnology industries are presented.     

Compliance,opposition, and behavior problems in toddlers born preterm or low birthweight

Although children born preterm or low birth weight (PT LBW) are more likely to exhibit behavior problems compared to children born at term, developmental and family processes associated with these problems are unclear. We examined trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms in relation to toddler compliance and behavior problems in families with PT LBW infants. A total of 177 infants (93 boys, 84 girls) and their mothers enrolled in the study during the infant's NICU stay. Data were collected at five time points across 2 years. Assessments of maternal depressive symptoms were conducted at all time points, and toddler compliance and opposition to maternal requests and behavior problems were assessed at 2 years. Toddlers born earlier with more health problems to mothers whose depressive symptoms increased over time exhibited the most opposition to maternal requests during a cleanup task at 24 months, consistent with multiple risk models. Mothers with elevated depression symptoms reported more behavior problems in their toddlers. The study has implications for family‐based early intervention programs seeking to identify PT LBW infants at highest risk for problem behaviors.     

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy With Older Adults: Rationale and Considerations

Older adults are the fastest growing segment of the population. With these changing demographics, mental health professionals will be seeing more older clients. Additionally, older adults are an underserved population in that most older adults in need of mental health services do not receive treatment. Thus, it is essential that treatments for mental and behavioral health problems are empirically supported with older adults and that mental health professionals are aware of the special needs of older adult populations. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an emerging approach to the treatment of distress. The purpose of this article is to provide a rationale for using ACT with older adults based on gerontological theory and research. We also review research on ACT-related processes in later life. We present a case example of an older man with depression and anxiety whom we treated with ACT. Finally, we describe treatment recommendations and important adaptations that need to be considered when using ACT with older adults and discuss important areas for future research.     

Trajectories of Big Five Personality Traits: A Coordinated Analysis of 16 Longitudinal Samples

This study assessed change in self-reported Big Five personality traits. We conducted a coordinated integrative data analysis using data from 16 longitudinal samples, comprising a total sample of over 60 000 participants. We coordinated models across multiple datasets and fit identical multi-level growth models to assess and compare the extent of trait change over time. Quadratic change was assessed in a subset of samples with four or more measurement occasions. Across studies, the linear trajectory models revealed declines in conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness. Non-linear models suggested late-life increases in neuroticism. Meta-analytic summaries indicated that the fixed effects of personality change are somewhat heterogeneous and that the variability in trait change is partially explained by sample age, country of origin, and personality measurement method. We also found mixed evidence for predictors of change, specifically for sex and baseline age. This study demonstrates the importance of coordinated conceptual replications for accelerating the accumulation of robust and reliable findings in the lifespan developmental psychological sciences. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Social pressures on organizational website adoption

Innovation adoption research has demonstrated that organizational features and perceived benefits of innovations play significant roles in explaining organizational‐level decisions to adopt new technologies. Beyond such motivations, however, social pressures operating at the interorganizational level have been proposed to influence the decision to adopt innovations, even without regard to any proven or anticipated benefit from the innovation itself. To empirically determine the influence of organizational features, perceived benefits, and social pressures on organizations' innovation adoption decisions, this study examined the decisions of 288 organizations to adopt Internet websites. Organizational social pressures were found to be the most significant discriminators of adopters and non adopters, although they were not particularly important in predicting the likelihood of future adoption for those organizations currently without websites. This finding suggests that social pressures are significant in innovation adoption, but that they may have their strongest effect during the early phases of innovation diffusion. Organizational features and perceived benefits were also reasonable discriminators of adopters and nonadopters as well as effective predictors of the likelihood of adoption for nonadopters. To a lesser degree, these factors were also predictive of the stage of adoption for those organizations that have already adopted websites.     

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for generalized anxiety disorder in older adults: a preliminary report

Some evidence suggests that acceptance-based approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) may be well-suited to geriatric generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The primary goal of this project was to determine whether ACT was feasible for this population. Seven older primary-care patients with GAD received 12 individual sessions of ACT; another 9 were treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy. No patients dropped out of ACT, and worry and depression improved. Findings suggest that ACT may warrant a large-scale investigation with anxious older adults.