Dissociation As a Mechanism of Risk for Interpersonal Victimization Among Adolescent Girls.

Childhood interpersonal violence exposure (IVE) is associated with repeated victimization in adolescence and adulthood. Research suggests dissociation, a psychological phenomenon characterized by alterations and disruptions to consciousness, memory, and perceptions of the environment, and out-of-body experiences, increases the risk of revictimization. Self-report data from a longitudinal study of 92 violence-exposed adolescent girls from a large, urban area were analyzed to assess whether dissociation predicts polyvictimization or exposure to multiple types of interpersonal violence across adolescence.

Two sides of the same coin: A mixed methods study of Black mothers' experiences with violence, stressors, parenting, and coping during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to systemic and structural inequities, the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacts the Black community, along with ongoing anti-Black racism and violence. Violence against women in the home, particularly Black women, was prevalent during shelter in place, along with the additional family responsibilities of Black mothers. Crenshaw's theory of intersectionality (1991) provides a foundation for examining Black mothers' experiences during shelter-in-place mandates.

Psychometric Properties of the Sexual Subjectivity Inventory among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Emerging Adults.

Research highlights the significance of positive sexual self-perceptions for general and sexual health. Yet, most research on the sexuality of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals has been risk-oriented, leaving a critical gap in knowledge about normative and healthy sexuality among sexual minorities. In part, this gap is due to a lack of sexual health measures with established psychometric properties for LGB individuals.

Using an Online Platform to Administer the Single-Session Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm: An Initial Examination of Feasibility and Validity.

Online platforms represent a cost-effective option for data collection; however, it is unclear whether online administration of certain kinds of tasks (e.g., behavioral measures of aggression) poses validity threats.

Caregivers as gatekeepers: Professional mental health service use among urban minority adolescents.

Mental illness among adolescents frequently goes untreated, especially among low income and ethnic minority families. We sought to examine parent and adolescent psychological factors influencing mental health service use among 120 urban adolescents (82% African American, Age 13-18 years, M = 14.29, SD = 1.

ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN EARLY MATERNAL DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOM TRAJECTORIES AND TODDLERS' FELT SECURITY AT 18 MONTHS: ARE BOYS AND GIRLS AT DIFFERENTIAL RISK?

The goal of this study was to evaluate whether there are sex differences in children's vulnerability to caregiving risk, as indexed by trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms assessed from 2 to 18 months' postpartum, and children's rated attachment security in toddlerhood, adjusting for maternal social support and demographic risk. Analyses utilized longitudinal data collected for 182 African American mother-child dyads from economically diverse backgrounds. Participants were recruited at the time of the child's birth and followed to 18 months' postpartum.

The effects of written emotional disclosure and coping skills training in rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized clinical trial.

Objective: Two psychological interventions for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are cognitive-behavioral coping skills training (CST) and written emotional disclosure (WED). These approaches have developed independently, and their combination may be more effective than either one alone. Furthermore, most studies of each intervention have methodological limitations, and each needs further testing.

Effects of placement type on the language developmental trajectories of maltreated children from infancy to early childhood.

This study describes the developmental trajectories of language skills in infants with substantiated maltreatment histories over a 5-year period and evaluates the effect of three different custodial placements on their language trajectories over time: in-home (remaining in the care of the biological parent/parents), nonkin foster care, and nonparental kinship care. Participants included 963 infants reported to child protective services prior to their first birthday and whose maltreatment was substantiated. Results from covariate-controlled growth modeling revealed no significant placement effects.

Infants placed in foster care prior to their first birthday: Differences in kin and nonkin placements.

Using data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, this study examines differences between kinship and foster placements for infants placed in out-of-home care prior to their first birthday. The differences examined include developmental status at time of placement, differences in the home and neighborhood environments, and the duration of time in placement. Participants included 457 infants placed in either kinship or foster care and their caregivers.

Does emotional disclosure about stress improve health in rheumatoid arthritis? Randomized, controlled trials of written and spoken disclosure.

Studies of the effects of disclosing stressful experiences among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have yielded inconsistent findings, perhaps due to different disclosure methods--writing or speaking--and various methodological limitations. We randomized adults with RA to a writing (n=88) or speaking (to a recorder) sample (n=93), and within each sample, to either disclosure or 1 of 2 control groups (positive or neutral events), which conducted four 20-minute, at-home sessions. Follow-up evaluations at 1, 3, and 6 months included self-reported, behavioral, physiological, and blinded physician-assessed outcomes.

Age-related differences in acquisition of perceptual-motor skills: working memory as a mediator.

Aging is associated with reduced performance on information processing speed, memory, and executive functions tasks. Although older adults are also less apt in acquiring new perceptual-motor skills, it is unclear whether and how skill acquisition difficulties are associated with age-related general cognitive differences. We addressed this question by examining structural relations among measures of cognitive resources (working memory) and indices of perceptual-motor skill acquisition (pursuit rotor and mirror tracing) in 96 healthy adults aged 19-80 years of age.

Comparison of 3 interventions to increase walking in sedentary women.

Objective: To increase walking activity in sedentary women.

Methods: Women (N = 253) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: video education/control, brief telephone calls with no counseling, and telephone calls with counseling. Assessments were made at baseline, 6 months, and 1 year.

Are genetically informed designs genetically informative? Comment on McGue, Elkins, Walden, and Iacono (2005) and quantitative behavioral genetics.

M. McGue, I. Elkins, B.

Assessing alexithymia and related emotional ability constructs using multiple methods: interrelationships among measures.

This study examined relationships among various measures of emotional ability reflecting different methods of assessment: self-report, clinical interview, collateral report, and emotion-relevant performance. On 140 young adults, the authors assessed self-reported alexithymia, emotional approach coping, and trait metamood skills; observer-reported alexithymia; interviewer-rated alexithymia; emotional awareness in response to vignettes; and emotional intelligence test performance. There were moderate magnitude correlations among the self-report measures, but correlations among other measures were relatively low.

Comparing practice differences of residency graduates: implications for curricular change.

Objective: To document and assess differences in the practice experiences and practice patterns of graduates from two similar sized but regionally separated community-based internal medicine residency programs.

Results: Sixty percent responded to the survey. Responses from graduates practicing general internal medicine were used in the analyses (Wichita n = 20; Baystate n = 23).

Child behavior problems and family functioning as predictors of adherence and glycemic control in economically disadvantaged children with type 1 diabetes: a prospective study.

Objective: This prospective study examined how child behavior problems and family functioning predict adherence behavior and glucose regulation (glycemic control) in a sample of economically disadvantaged children.

Methods: Children with type 1 diabetes (N = 116; 58.6% African American) were assessed for externalizing and internalizing behavior problems and family adaptability and cohesion and followed for a mean of 3.

Comparative psychology, a new perspective for the 21st century: up the spiral staircase.

This article responds to the continuing obituaries for Comparative Psychology. We understand the field to be a general psychology, a way of understanding the origins of all behavior of all species. We outline a methodological and conceptual foundation for comparative psychology to enter the new millennium-with an anagenetic and dynamic systems perspective.

Promotion criteria for clinician-educators.

Objective: Department of medicine chairs have a critical role in the promotion of clinician-educators. Our primary objective was to determine how chairs viewed: 1) the importance of specific areas of clinician-educator performance in promotion decisions; and 2) the importance and quality of information on available measures of performance. A secondary objective was to compare the views of department chairs with those of promotion and tenure committee chairs.