Mnemonics Strategy Development: Improving Alphabetic Understanding In Turkish Students,At Risk for Failure in EFL Settings

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of integrated mnemonics on consonant letter naming and consonant sound production for three 4th grade Turkish students, at-risk for failure in an English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) classroom. Mnemonic picture cards, where the target consonant letter was embedded as an integral part of the picture, were developed (e.g., the letter C as the clock, the letter D as the drum). Results showed that (a) all three students reached mastery on consonant letter naming, and (b) all three students showed marked improvement for consonant sound production, with one student reaching mastery. Letter-sound correspondence performance remained near instructional levels one week post-intervention. Generalization data showed students could produce some words that began and ended with consonant sounds, once consonant letter-sound correspondence was mastered.     

The Relation of Self-Hatred and Suicidality in People With Schizophrenia-Spectrum Symptoms

It is well known that depressive symptoms represent a risk for suicidality in general. It is less clear, however, that general depressive symptoms comprise a definite suicide risk factor for people with schizophrenia. Based on this, as well as on the early writings of E. Bleuler (1911/1987), it was hypothesized that there may be a particular aspect of depressive symptoms that combines with schizophrenia to encourage suicidality. Specifically, schizophrenia may impart to self-concept a quality of self-hatred that encourages suicidality in schizophrenic people. If so, then an index of self-hatred should be more correlated with suicidality among people with schizophrenia-spectrum symptoms than among people with fewer such symptoms. Two studies evaluated this possibility. In Study 1 on 243 suicidal outpatients affiliated with the military, self-hate and suicidality were more correlated among people with schizotypal symptoms than among other patients. In Study 2 on 113 VA psychiatric inpatients, self-hate and suicidality were more correlated among people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia than among patients with a diagnosis of major depression. Study limitations were noted, and it was suggested that self-hatred be a focus of suicide risk assessment in schizophrenic people.     

Comparing Correlates of Civic Engagement Between Immigrant and Majority Youth in Belgium,Germany, and Turkey

Drawing on data from a large-scale international project, this research examined predictors of civic engagement between immigrant (n = 599) and majority youth (n = 1,027) in Belgium, Germany, and Turkey. In all three countries immigrants were found to be more civically engaged than their majority peers. Further, based on the assumptions of the civic voluntarism model, civic engagement was predicted by resources, social experiences, and psychological engagement (i.e., internal political efficacy). The results showed that predictors differed by ethnic background. Although internal political efficacy beliefs were only found to be a significant predictor of civic engagement among majority youth, involvement in social networks was found to be a more meaningful predictor among immigrant youth. These results are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical implications.     

The Interpersonal Cognitive Distortions Scale: development and psychometric characteristics

In this study, an Interpersonal Cognitive Distortions Scale was developed to assess cognitive distortions in individuals' interpersonal relationships. The sample comprised 425 university students. A factor analysis yielded three factors: Interpersonal Rejection, Unrealistic Relationship Expectation and Interpersonal Misperception. To examine construct validity the correlations between the scores on the Interpersonal Cognitive Distortions Scale and the Automatic Thoughts Scale (.54), the Irrational Belief Scale (.54), and the Conflict Tendency Scale (.53) were estimated. The first factor, the second factor, and the total scale discriminated married individuals who had low and high conflict intensity and conflict frequency. The reliability of the scale was estimated by performing a test-retest correlation (.74). Cronbach internal consistency coefficient alpha was .67.     

Are Happy People Healthier? The Specific Role of Positive Affect in Predicting Self-Reported Health Symptoms

Previous empirical work sought to establish relationships between psychological variables and physical health. Research investigating the associations between positive and negative affectivity and physical health have produced mixed results, often suggesting that negative affectivity generally is more strongly associated with health symptoms. We investigated the role of both positive and negative affectivity in predicting self-reported health symptoms. Positive affectivity emerged as a significant predictor of good health, while negative affectivity failed to predict changes in health symptoms. Results are discussed in terms of the benefits of positive emotions in promoting health and improving physical health via psychological interventions.     

The Relative Specificity of Excessive Reassurance-Seeking to Depressive Symptoms and Diagnoses Among Clinical Samples of Adults and Youth

In addition to playing a role in the deterioration of depressed people's interpersonal environment, excessive reassurance-seeking may be implicated as a vulnerability factor for depression. If so, excessive reassurance-seeking should display relative specificity to depression versus other forms of psychopathology. Two studies of psychiatric inpatients (Study 1 on adults and Study 2 on children) tested this possibility. In Study 1 a Depressed group obtained higher reassurance-seeking scores than an Other Disorders group did. Similar findings were obtained in Study 2, such that depressed youth reported higher reassurance-seeking than nondepressed youth. Hence, these two studies of psychiatric inpatients provided reasonable support for the specificity of excessive reassurance-seeking to depression as compared to other forms of psychopathology.