Contributions of a supportive work environment to parents' well-being and orientation to work

Examined the joint and unique contributions of informal social support in the workplace and formal, family-responsive benefits and policies provided by employers to the job-related attitudes and personal well-being of employed parents with a young child. Eighty married men, 169 married women, and 72 single women with a preschool child completed a survey concerning social support from co-workers and supervisor, utilization of family-responsive benefits and policies, readiness to leave the employer for additional benefits, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, role strain, and health symptoms. Among the findings: (a) Fathers and mothers expressed equal levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment, but mothers reported more role strain and health symptoms; (b) nearly 48% of married women's organizational commitment was accounted for by measures of support in the workplace; (c) informal social support at work was significantly more important to men's well-being than that of women; and (d) formal, family-responsive policies appeared more consequential for the prediction of women's role strain, perhaps because of women's greater responsibility for adjusting work life to meet the demands of family roles.     

Cultural differences in the predictors of depression

This study examined a number of psychosocial factors thought likely to contribute to depression among ethnic Korean and Caucasian students. As hypothesized, Koreans (n = 61) were more depressed than Caucasians (n = 69). Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed different models for predicting depression in the two groups. Value orientations, a neglected element in the prevailing stress paradigm, contributed substantially to variation in depression, especially among Koreans. Two measures of parental values and three coping strategies accounted for a striking 44% of the variance in Korean youths' depression. Perceived parental traditionalism, the strongest predictor, was associated with higher depression; and perceived parental modernism, with lower depression. For Caucasians, in contrast, only 13% of the variance in depression could be accounted for; and the two significant predictors were academic stress and respondents' own modern values (the latter associated with fewer symptoms). The findings of this study argue for greater attention to the importance of values in studying adaptation to stress.     

Three Views of Artful Practice in Psychosocial Occupational Therapy

This qualitative study explored artfulness in the psychosocial practice of three occupational therapists through in-depth observation and interviews. Analysis focused on the therapist-client relationship, activity use, self-reflection, and the change process. Each therapist established an interpersonal connection while offering meaningful, engaging activities. In addition, each brought a distinct and unique personal view to treatment. Findings suggest that the art of practice in occupational therapy is constructed by the therapist's integrated balance of substance, form, and vision to achieve a coherent whole, which positively influences the personal views of substance, form, and vision in clients.     

Modeling the Relationship Between Pay Level and Pay Satisfaction

The relationship between pay level and pay satisfaction was modeled in a field study with 456 employees of nursing departments in a large hospital. After controlling for person, job, and pay system characteristics, pay satisfaction variance was better explained by treating pay level as a power function rather than a linear function. This result was expected given the low wage rate relative to the market, the lack of a formal rewards system, and the high level of tenure in the workforce. Implications of this finding for theory, research, and practice were discussed.     

Understanding depressed mood in the context of a family-oriented culture

This study examined the contribution of individual and family variables to depressive symptoms among youths in a family-centered culture. Participants were 262 Mexican adolescents (mean age = 15.9 years). At the individual level, gender (being female) and higher levels of perceived stressfulness of life events and ruminative coping style were correlated with higher frequency of depressive symptoms. At the family level, higher levels of perceived parental warmth and acceptance and parental monitoring were correlated with lower levels of depressed mood, whereas higher levels of parent-adolescent conflict were associated with greater frequency of depressive symptoms. Regression analyses confirmed our prediction that both individual factors (gender, ruminative coping) and family factors (parental warmth and parental monitoring) would make unique contributions to depressive symptoms. The model comprised of individual and family variables accounted for 50% of the variance in depressed mood. Moreover, parental warmth and acceptance attenuated the impact of ruminative coping style on adolescents' depressive symptomatology. Findings are discussed in relation to previous research on adolescents in another family-centered culture (China), and directions for future research are proposed.     

Developmental neuropsychological assessment of 4- to 5-year-old children born following Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD): A pilot study

The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate developmental neuropsychological profiles of 4- to 5-year-old children born after Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD). Twenty-seven participants received a neurological examination and a battery of neuropsychological assessments including Wechsler Preschool & Primary Scale of Intelligence - Third Edition (WPPSI-III; cognitive development), Preschool Language Scale, Fourth Edition (PLS-4; language development), Wide Range Assessment of Visual Motor Abilities (visual motor abilities), Childhood Autism Rating Scales II (a screening test for autistic spectrum disorders), and the Miles ABC Test (ocular dominance). Parental questionnaires included the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function Preschool Version (BRIEF-P; executive function), Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Carey Temperament Scales Behavioral Style Questionnaire (socioemotional development and temperament), and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Interview Edition, Second Edition (general adaptive behavior). Subjects’ tests results were compared to each test’s norms. Children born after PGD demonstrated scores within the normal or above-normal ranges for all developmental outcomes (mean ± SD): WPPSI-III-VIQ 107.4 ± 14.4 (p = .013), PLS-4-Total 113.2 ± 12.4, p < .001), CBCL-Total 41.1 ± 8.6 (p < .001), BRIEF-P-Global Executive Composite 44.8 ± 9.5 (p = .009). Twelve (44%) of the PGD children had a significant difference between their VIQ and PIQ scores (compared to 27% in the general population). One subject was found to show possible signs of autistic spectrum disorder, although a family history of autism was noted. In conclusion, in this pilot study, children assessed at age 4–5 years and conceived after PGD displayed developmental neuropsychological outcomes within normal limits as compared to their chronologic peers. A larger study is needed to evaluate and follow the neuropsychological development of children born after PGD.     

Emotion experience and regulation in China and the United States: How do culture and gender shape emotion responding?

Culture and gender shape emotion experience and regulation, in part because the value placed on emotions and the manner of their expression is thought to vary across these groups. This study tested the hypothesis that culture and gender would interact to predict people's emotion responding (emotion intensity and regulatory strategies). Chinese (n=220; 52% female) and American undergraduates (n=241; 62% female) viewed photos intended to elicit negative emotions after receiving instructions to either "just feel" any emotions that arose (Just Feel), or to "do something" so that they would not experience any emotion while viewing the photos (Regulate). All participants then rated the intensity of their experienced emotions and described any emotion-regulation strategies that they used while viewing the photos. Consistent with predictions, culture and gender interacted with experimental condition to predict intensity: Chinese men reported relatively low levels of emotion, whereas American women reported relatively high levels of emotion. Disengagement strategies (especially distancing) were related to lower emotional intensity and were reported most often by Chinese men. Taken together, findings suggest that emotion-regulation strategies may contribute to differences in emotional experience across Western and East Asian cultures.     

PAINTING A STORY: ARS‐POETICA AND IDEOLOGY IN A STORY BY BENJAMIN TAMMUZ AND A PAINTING BY NAHUM GUTMAN

The article discusses the story “Our National Artist” by Benjamin Tammuz, in which the hero is an artist and a pioneer whose ideas do not conform to Zionist ideology. The present author’s claim is that this is an implied ars poetic‐ideological story in which Tammuz hints at his own beliefs regarding Zionism, namely his severe reservations about it. He allows his artist hero to express what he himself could not openly express at that time. The article goes on to discuss a well‐known painting by Nahum Gutman which Tammuz chose for the cover of his collection, The Bitter Scent of Geranium, in which “Our National Artist” appears, and which serves as an allusion to the “non‐Zionist” nature of this collection. Tammuz’s choice of Gutman’s painting testifies to his conception: in this painting he “reads” the pre‐Zionist or the non‐Zionist space as a dominant “text”, thus shifting attention from the Zionist consensus to its margins and beyond.