Self-Models and Relationship Threat: A Test of Risk Regulation Mechanisms

This study investigated a key claim of risk regulation theory, namely, that psychological internalizing of a relationship threat will serve as a mediator of the link between self-models (self-esteem and attachment anxiety) and relationship responses (moving closer to a partner vs. distancing from a partner). Participants (N = 101) received feedback that threatened their current romantic relationship (or no feedback) and then completed measures of internal–external focus, relationship closeness–distancing, and acceptance–rejection of the feedback. Results showed that participants with negative self-models responded to the relationship threat by becoming more internally focused and by distancing from their partners, whereas those with positive self-models became more externally focused and moved closer to their partners. Mediation analyses indicated that the link between self-models and relationship closeness–distancing was partially explained by internal focus

Effects of Daily Rejection on Health and Well-being

A daily diary methodology was used to investigate the effects of rejection on daily health and wellbeing as well as the moderating role of self-esteem. Participants completed an online diary for two weeks, reporting on rejection, mental well-being/resources, risky health behaviors, and healthrelated outcomes. Overall, daily rejection was associated with decreases in mental well-being/ resources but not with health behaviors or health-related outcomes. Additionally, self-esteem played an important moderating role. On high rejection days low self-esteem individuals were more likely to engage in risky health behaviors, and on the day following a high rejection day they reported decrements in health and well-being. Discussion centers on possible self-regulatory explanations for these findings and implications for the health of individuals with low self-esteem. Keywords: Daily diary; Health; Interpersonal rejection; Self-esteem; Self-regulation. People of all ages are most likely to thrive when they feel valued and accepted by others; but social acceptance is not always attainable. Even the most socially skilled people have experienced times when they felt socially excluded or rejected by others. These feelings of rejection are a common human experience that can lead to negative psychological consequences Despite the fact that rejection is normatively distressing, individuals differ in their responses to rejection, with some individuals displaying relative resilience following rejection and others displaying vulnerability to the poor outcomes associated with rejection. One factor that has been associated with resilience/vulnerability in the face of rejection is an individual's self-view. There is growing evidence that individuals with negative self-views (such as those with low self-esteem) respond to rejection in ways that are harmful to their psychological well-being (e.g., Responses to Rejection A number of theories assert that humans have a fundamental need to belong and that rejection is aversive because it threatens the fulfillment of this need Potential Pathways Linking Rejection and Health What are the mechanisms through which rejection might impact health and wellbeing? Rejection may impact health and well-being in at least three ways: (1) by triggering adverse cognitive, emotional, and physiological responses; (2) by shaping health-related behaviors; and (3) by interfering with restorative behaviors. Of these three possible mechanisms only the first one has received research attention. Thus, the goal of the current study was to extend research in two ways. First, we investigated the effects of rejection on health-related behaviors (pathway 2) and restorative behaviors (pathway 3). Second, we investigated the role of self-esteem in shaping health-related behaviors and restorative behaviors following rejection. Why might rejection influence health-related behaviors? A small number of laboratory studies have shown that rejection reduces self-regulatory ability Rejection may also impact health by affecting restorative behaviors, such as sleep. Although the association between rejection and sleep quality has not been explored there is evidence that other experiences that signify social devaluation, such as perceptions of social isolation and loneliness, are associated with poor sleep quality Self-esteem as a Moderator of Responses to Rejection Although rejection is normatively distressing, not everyone responds to it in the same way. There are important individual differences in sensitivity to subtle or ambiguous rejection cues, which are prevalent in everyday life. Some individuals have a lower threshold for appraising rejection cues as threatening to the self and are therefore more reactive to rejection. One variable that seems to play an important role in shaping reactivity to rejection is self-esteem. Specifically, individuals with low selfesteem (LSE) are more likely to see rejection as evidence of a flawed self Research findings are beginning to suggest that the response patterns exhibited by LSE individuals following rejection may make them vulnerable to both decrements in emotional well-being and poor health. For example, a recent longitudinal study of college students revealed that LSE was associated with poor health outcomes and that the association between LSE and poor health was mediated by interpersonal stressors The Present Study The current investigation had two main goals: (1) to examine the relationship between daily rejection and health and well-being; and (2) to examine the moderating role of SE on this relationship. To accomplish these goals we utilized a daily diary methodology in which participants answered questions about daily rejection, psychological well-being/resources (depressed mood, perceived stress, perceived ability to self-regulate behaviors), daily health-related responses (overeating, unsafe sex, substance use), and daily health outcomes (sleep quality, physical symptoms, and general feelings of health) each evening for two weeks. This methodology enabled us to conduct both within-person and between-person analyses. At the within-person level, we examined the normative effects of rejection on health by comparing participant's levels of health and well-being on their high rejection days versus their low rejection days. We predicted that rejection would be associated with decrements in psychological well-being, health behaviors, and health outcomes. At the between-person level, we examined SE differences in reactivity to rejection. We Self-esteem, Daily rejection, and Health 1

Innovative Data Collection Strategies in Qualitative Research

This article provides an innovative meta-framework comprising strategies designed to guide qualitative data collection in the 21st century. We present a meta-framework comprising strategies for collecting data from interviews, focus groups, observations, and documents/material culture. We present a template for collecting nonverbal data during interviews and discuss the concept of debriefing the interviewer. We identify types of data that can be collected in focus groups in addition to the actual statements made by the participants and provide templates for categorizing these data. Also, we outline the role that social networking websites can play in focus group interviews. Further, we provide models for observations that include photographs and videos. Finally, we outline ways of accessing and collating documents/material culture that can be used for document analyses

Qualitative Analysis Techniques for the Review of the Literature

In this article, we provide a framework for analyzing and interpreting sources that inform a literature review or, as it is more aptly called, a research synthesis. Specifically, using Leech and Onwuegbuzie’s (2007, 2008) frameworks, we delineate how the following four major source types inform research syntheses: talk, observations, drawings/photographs/videos, and documents. We identify 17 qualitative data analysis techniques that are optimal for analyzing one or more of these source types. Further, we outline the role that the following five qualitative data analysis techniques can play in the research synthesis: constant comparison analysis, domain analysis, taxonomic analysis, componential analysis, and theme analysis. We contend that our framework represents a first step in an attempt to help literature reviewers analyze and interpret literature in an optimally rigorous way

Child care and employment turnover

This paper explores how the responsibilityof caring for children affects employment stability by studying the relationship betweenthe characteristics and stability of substitute caregivers and the risk of leaving of job. Thedata come from the 1990 National Child Care Survey (NCCS), a nationally representative surveyof households with children under age 13 conducted in late 1989 and early 1990, and AProfile of Child Care Settings (PCS), a nationally representative survey of center-based programsand licensed family day care homes in the U.S., conducted at the same time and in the same 144counties. The results show that the availability of care affects the job stability of all employedmothers. Other effects differ by maternal wage. The cost of care affects the employment exits ofmoderate-wage mothers (who earn $6 to$8 per hour), the stability of care affects the employmentexits of moderate- and high-wage mothers, and the flexibility of care affects the employmentexits of low-wage mothers. These results are discussed in the context of current public policies.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43521/1/11113_2004_Article_277206.pd

Working models of attachment shape perceptions of social support: Evidence from experimental and observational studies.

Two studies examined the association between attachment style and perceptions of social support. Study 1 (N ϭ 95 couples) used an experimental paradigm to manipulate social support in the context of a stressful task. Insecure participants (anxious and avoidant) who received low-support messages appraised these messages more negatively, rated a prior behavioral interaction with their partner as having been less supportive, and performed significantly worse at their task compared with secure participants. Study 2 (N ϭ 153 couples) used a similar paradigm except that partners were allowed to send genuine support messages. Insecure participants (especially fearful) perceived their partners' messages as less supportive, even after controlling for independent ratings of the messages and relationship-specific expectations. These studies provide evidence that individuals are predisposed to appraise their support experiences in ways that are consistent with their chronic working models of attachment, especially when the support message is ambiguous

Exploring Voice as Integration: A Direction for Assessing Student Work in Learning Communities with Composition

Kennesaw State University’s team of interdisciplinary scholars qualitatively assessed student learning within theme-based learning communities to determine whether content from one discipline was evident in student work produced within another discipline. Faculty concluded that they were likely expecting more disciplinary integration than first-semester college students were capable of providing, and that they were likely not asking for the integration they were expecting. By examining student work as evidence, the researchers became more acutely aware of the assignment instructions, prompting them to work more closely with colleagues in their future learning communities to develop interdisciplinary assignments with explicit expectations for integration

Adenovirus infection in the lung results in graft failure after lung transplantation

AbstractObjectives: Our goal was to examine the relationship between viral pneumonia and outcome in pediatric patients undergoing lung or heart-lung transplantation. Methods: Prospective surveillance for common respiratory viruses of childhood was performed in all patients undergoing lung or heart-lung transplantation. Specimens were examined for the presence of replicating virus (by culture), viral genome (by polymerase chain reaction), and viral antigen (by immunofluorescence and immunohistochemical staining). The relationship between viral infection and outcome was examined. Results: Sixteen patients underwent 19 transplants during the study period, with follow-up of 1 to 26 months. Virus was identified in the transplanted lung in 29 instances; adenovirus was identified most commonly (8/16 patients) and had the greatest impact on outcome. In 2 patients with early, fulminant infection, adenovirus was also identified in the donor. Adenovirus was significantly associated with respiratory failure leading to death or graft loss and with the histologic diagnosis of obliterative bronchiolitis (P ≤ .002 in each case). Conclusions: Adenovirus infection in the transplanted lung is significantly associated with graft failure, histologic obliterative bronchiolitis, and death. Health care personnel and families must be vigilant in preventing exposure of transplant recipients to this virus. Availability of a rapid and reliable test for adenovirus in donors and recipients would have an impact on management and could improve outcome for pediatric lung recipients. (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1998;116:617-23

Overexpression of a Prefoldin β subunit gene reduces biomass recalcitrance in the bioenergy crop Populus.

Prefoldin (PFD) is a group II chaperonin that is ubiquitously present in the eukaryotic kingdom. Six subunits (PFD1-6) form a jellyfish-like heterohexameric PFD complex and function in protein folding and cytoskeleton organization. However, little is known about its function in plant cell wall-related processes. Here, we report the functional characterization of a PFD gene from Populus deltoides, designated as PdPFD2.2. There are two copies of PFD2 in Populus, and PdPFD2.2 was ubiquitously expressed with high transcript abundance in the cambial region. PdPFD2.2 can physically interact with DELLA protein RGA1_8g, and its subcellular localization is affected by the interaction. In P. deltoides transgenic plants overexpressing PdPFD2.2, the lignin syringyl/guaiacyl ratio was increased, but cellulose content and crystallinity index were unchanged. In addition, the total released sugar (glucose and xylose) amounts were increased by 7.6% and 6.1%, respectively, in two transgenic lines. Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses revealed that secondary metabolic pathways, including lignin and flavonoid biosynthesis, were affected by overexpressing PdPFD2.2. A total of eight hub transcription factors (TFs) were identified based on TF binding sites of differentially expressed genes in Populus transgenic plants overexpressing PdPFD2.2. In addition, several known cell wall-related TFs, such as MYB3, MYB4, MYB7, TT8 and XND1, were affected by overexpression of PdPFD2.2. These results suggest that overexpression of PdPFD2.2 can reduce biomass recalcitrance and PdPFD2.2 is a promising target for genetic engineering to improve feedstock characteristics to enhance biofuel conversion and reduce the cost of lignocellulosic biofuel production