Social adjustment and symptomatology in two types of homeless adolescents: runaways and throwaways

Previous research on homeless adolescents has largely ignored the distinction between those who have left home on their own volition (runaways), and those who have been forced to leave (throwaways). Fifty-two homeless adolescents in Brisbane, Australia, were assessed to compare male and female runaways and throwaways for social adjustment and symptomatology. Differences for social adjustment (antisocial tendencies and aggression) and symptomatology (social isolation and depression) were predicted. Results indicated that male runaways were significantly more hostile than male throwaways (p less than .001), and significantly more socially isolated than female runaways (p less than .025). Female throwaways, however, were significantly more hostile than male throwaways (p less than .025) and female runaways (p less than .025). Yet homeless males overall had a significantly stronger urge to act out hostility than homeless females (p less than .025). In addition, female throwaways were significantly more antisocial than male throwaways (p less than .001). There were no significant differences for depression. A theory of inner social control (Hirschi, 1969), postulating absence of bonding in earlier socialization, was supported.     

Vulnerability to Stress: Self-Criticism and Stress-Induced Changes In Biochemistry

ABSTRACT It has been hypothesized that individuals who are high on the attribute of self-criticism are particularly vulnerable to failure stress. To test this hypothesis, we examined the relationship between self-criticism and changes in plasma homovanillic acid (HVA; the metabolite of dopamine) and emotion during exposure to an induced-failure task. Participants consisted of 21 women. Plasma HVA and emotion were assessed at three time points: baseline (T1), during stress exposure (T2), and 40 minutes after cessation of the stressor (T3). We found that self-criticism was significantly and positively related to changes in plasma HVA during stress exposure. In addition, the personality attribute was significantly and positively related to subjective ratings of stress and changes in scores on the Confusion-Bewilderment scale of the Profile of Mood States during the task. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report that self-criticism is related to stress-induced changes in biochemistry.     

Acquisition and extended retention of a conditioned taste aversion in preweanling rats

The time course of memory decay for infant rats may shed light on the processes responsible for infantile amnesia. A taste aversion conditioning procedure appropriate for both neonatal and adult rats was employed in four experiments to investigate the ontogeny of extended retention. In Experiment 1, rats trained at 1, 10, 20, or 60 days of age were tested for retention of the taste aversion 25 days later. At testing, only those rats conditioned when 20 or 60 days old demonstrated significant taste aversions. Experiments 2 and 3 established that rats 14-15 days old and older were able to retain significant taste aversions following a 25-day retention interval. Younger rats did, however, acquire and retain the aversion for several days and showed a gradual retention loss over progressively longer retention intervals (Experiment 4). These findings suggest that preweanling rats demonstrate initial consolidation, storage, and retrieval of conditioned taste aversions. It is only after this initial period that retention deficits become evident.     

Feeling and believing: the influence of emotion on trust

The authors report results from 5 experiments that describe the influence of emotional states on trust. They found that incidental emotions significantly influence trust in unrelated settings. Happiness and gratitude--emotions with positive valence--increase trust, and anger--an emotion with negative valence--decreases trust. Specifically, they found that emotions characterized by other-person control (anger and gratitude) and weak control appraisals (happiness) influence trust significantly more than emotions characterized by personal control (pride and guilt) or situational control (sadness). These findings suggest that emotions are more likely to be misattributed when the appraisals of the emotion are consistent with the judgment task than when the appraisals of the emotion are inconsistent with the judgment task. Emotions do not influence trust when individuals are aware of the source of their emotions or when individuals are very familiar with the trustee.     

It hurts both ways: How social comparisons harm affective and cognitive trust

Organizations often expect employees to collaborate with and trust the same coworkers with whom they compete for promotions and raises. This paper explores how social comparisons in self-relevant achievement domains influence affective and cognitive trust. We find that both upward and downward social comparisons harm trust. Upward comparisons harm affective trust and downward comparisons harm cognitive trust. We find no benefits of upward comparisons on cognitive trust, and we find no benefits of downward comparisons on affective trust.     

Towards international comparative research on the professionalisation of Religious Education

This article calls for international comparative research on the professionalisation of Religious Education (RE). To this end, it provides a rationale for focusing upon the concept of professionalisation and a theoretical justification for international comparative research, particularly identifying its significance in terms of the development of RE in England and Germany. The article outlines a methodology for exploring the concepts of professional knowledge, professional self-organisation and politics and professional development. The proposed methodology involves a systematic analysis of primary documentary sources including: (1) academic and professional journal articles and textbooks; (2) the archives of relevant institutions and organisations; and (3) external evidence, such as inspection and research reports. An analytical case study of two leading journals in each national context, Religion in Education in England and Der Evangelische Erzieher in Germany, in the immediate post-war era is appended to illustrate the benefits of implementing such a methodology across national boundaries.     

Tempo and Temperament: A Music Lesson on the Significance of Time for the Art of Pastoral Care

This article will focus on the relationship between tempo and temperament and the power of music to facilitate healing, especially for individuals who struggle with temperament or mood disorders, by examining briefly how individuals diagnosed with depression may be helped by listening to or performing music as a form of treatment. Current research into the “science” of music is providing concrete evidence for the reality that musicians and music therapists have long intuited to be true–music does have the capacity to facilitate healing by influencing brain activity and altering moods (Cambell and Doman 2011; Levitin 2007, 2008; Mannes 2011; Powell 2010; Pruyser 1983; Rose 2004). Insofar as music is an integral part of most worship traditions, it provides a common ground for conversation that may seem more natural and less formidable to ministers and lay people alike than the structures of conventional counseling or care-giving relationships, especially for those who have a tendency to be suspicious of all things psychological.     

The supervisory alliance: Comparison of measures and implications for a supervision toolkit

Background Clinical supervision lies at the core of the professional development of clinicians providing services within a range of service settings. The supervisory alliance is regarded as the most important construct in effective supervision which underlies the importance of metrics to assess this construct. Aims materials and Method A cross‐sectional self‐report questionnaire design was used to examine clinical supervision constructs. The study used two scales measuring the supervisory alliance (SRQ and SWAI‐T), a scale measuring supervision satisfaction (SSQ) and a scale measuring disclosure (TDS). The questionnaires were administered to 127 clinical psychology trainees who were undertaking a practicum placement. Results Both scales measuring the alliance were positively correlated with satisfaction with supervision and disclosure, with similar sizes of correlation for each alliance scale. There was also a large, positive correlation between the two scales of measuring the alliance. Discussion Both scales were designed for use in supervision and are related to supervision outcome measures in the expected directions. Conclusion The SRQ has some distinct advantages over the SWAI‐T that lend the SRQ to be potentially more useful in clinical and research settings.