Family functioning characteristics involved in adolescent depressive symptoms

Research has shown that family functioning contributes to depressive symptoms in adolescents, with a wide range of family functioning characteristics associated to adolescent depressive symptoms. However, these family attributes have been studied through different studies, methodologies and theoretical frameworks, and do not allow envisaging a single whole picture of the family attributes associated to adolescent depressive symptoms. The objective of this study was to overcome this deficit. We followed a systematic approach and used the Family Assessment Device (FAD), which comprehensively identify six family variables in which healthy and unhealthy families differ: Problem Solving (PS), Communication (CM), Roles (RL), Affective Responsiveness (AR), Affective Involvement (AI) and Behaviour Control (BC). Independent regression analyses conducted for each variable showed that all the FAD variables significantly predicted BDI scores. However, when the six variables were introduced simultaneously in the same equation to control for the shared explained variance, only AR and AI showed significant effects, with BC approaching significance. These results were confirmed through Prat measure, which showed that the non-overlapping effects of AR, AI and BC accounted for virtually the whole variance explained by the FAD dimensions. Conclusions at both methodological and applied levels emerge from these results. At a methodological level, these results prove the need for controlling the shared variance between family variables before deriving any conclusion about their role. At an applied level, they showed that the family affective aspects are the most important regarding adolescent depression, with only behaviour control playing a role within the non-affective variables.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Family functioning, socio-economic status and adolescent’s depressive symptoms: the mediating role of hopelessness.

Research has shown that difficulties in family functioning contribute to developing adolescents’ depressive symptoms. Additionally, little research has been conducted in order to analyze socio-economic status (SES) differences in the relationship between family functioning and adolescent depressive symptoms. This study examined the relationships between the family variables included in the MacMaster Model of Family Functioning (MMFF), SES and depressive symptoms, as well as the mediating effects of hopelessness. Participants were 643 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years (49% male) drawn from secondary schools in Málaga (Spain). They completed the Family Assessment Device, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, and a socio-economic measure. We used conditional process analysis to test the moderation effect of gender and a dual mediation model with family functioning and hopelessness as mediators. Results showed that both family functioning as a whole and each MMFF variable, as well as SES, predicted adolescents’ depressive symptoms. In addition, gender moderated the relationship of roles assignment and behavioral control with adolescents’ depressive symptoms, which suggests the need for interventions directed to enhance family rules and boundaries, especially for boys. Finally, we found a serial mediational role of family functioning and hopelessness in the relationship between SES and depressive symptoms, suggesting that the effect of family SES on adolescents’ depressive symptoms through the development of hopelessness should also be targeted.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

CARMA observations of massive Planck-discovered cluster candidates at z>0.5 associated with WISE overdensities: strategy, observations and validation

We present 1-2 arcmin spatial resolution CARMA-8 31-GHz observations towards 19 unconfirmed Planck cluster candidates, selected to have significant galaxy overdensities from the WISE early data release and thought to be at z>1 from the WISE colors of the putative brightest cluster galaxy (BCG). We find a Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) detection in the CARMA-8 data towards 9 candidate clusters, where one detection is considered tentative. For each cluster candidate we present CARMA-8 maps, a study of their radio-source environment and we assess the reliability of the SZ detection. The CARMA SZ detections appear to be SZ-bright, with the mean, primary-beam-corrected peak flux density of the decrement being -2.9mJy/beam with a standard deviation of 0.8, and are typically offset from the Planck position by approximately 80 arcsec. Using archival imaging data in the vicinity of the CARMA SZ centroids, we present evidence that one cluster matches Abell 586-a known z~0.2 cluster; four candidate clusters are likely to have 0.3<z<0.7; and, for the remaining 4, the redshift information is inconclusive. We also argue that the sensitivity limits resulting from the cross-correlation between Planck and WISE makes it challenging to use our selection criterion to identify clusters at z > 1.Comment: 29 pages, MNRAS, in pres

Inferior or superior:social comparison in Dutch and Spanish organizations

SUMMARY Social comparison is an automatic and daily process through which individuals acquire information about themselves. Since Festinger (1954) postulated his assumptions on social comparison, extensive research has focused on understanding and explaining the social comparison process. In particular, the motives for social comparison direction have been widely investigated by researchers. When a motive for self-improvement is activated, individuals tend to prefer to engage in comparisons with others who are doing better, assumedly because they may learn from such others. Nevertheless, when individuals are threatened on a particular dimension, they may prefer to compare themselves with others who are thought to be worse than themselves on that dimension, presumably to feel better about themselves. In addition, in line with the identification-contrast model, we assume that upward as well as downward comparisons may be interpreted in a positive or negative way, depending on whether an individual contrasts or identifies oneself with the comparison target. The purpose of this dissertation was twofold: 1) to deepen our understanding of the relationship between social comparison from an identification-contrast perspective and specific psychological processes in the academic and work areas; and 2) to contribute to the literature exploring cultural differences in the identification and contrast processes, and expanding not only cultural, but also context and gender differences in basic aspects of social comparison including direction, dimensions and target choice of comparison. In Chapter 2, in a study among university students, we examined how goal orientation, social comparison responses, self-efficacy and academic performance were related. In this chapter, the data were analyzed by employing structural equation modeling. The results showed that individuals with a promotion goal orientation had positive self-efficacy perceptions, whereas individuals with a prevention goal orientation had negative self-efficacy perceptions. In addition, individuals who contrasted themselves with better-off others had negative self-efficacy perceptions. Finally, the results revealed that upward contrast was a mediator between prevention goal orientation and self-efficacy, and next, that self-efficacy was positively related to academic performance. These findings support the idea that goal prevention orientation may directly influence self-efficacy perceptions, and also indirectly through an upward contrast process, and next this may undermine academic performance. In Chapter 3, we examined the independent role of social comparison responses and coping styles with respect to burnout over time. We conducted a longitudinal study among 558 teachers in primary and secondary schools. The results showed that identifying oneself with worse-off others and contrasting oneself with better-off others was positively related to burnout. Identification with worse-off was also associated with an increase in burnout over time. In addition, individuals with a more direct coping style experienced less burnout, whereas individuals with a palliative coping style experienced more burnout. Moreover, the results showed that a direct coping style was associated with more downward identification, more upward contrast, and less upward identification. These findings suggest that there is an independent relationship between social comparison responses and coping styles with respect to burnout. In Chapter 4, we investigated among Dutch and Spanish workers the relationship between social comparison responses and organizational commitment and identification. Data were collected in private and public organizations with 404 respondents from The Netherlands and Spain. The results showed cultural differences in the social comparison responses. In particular, compared to the Dutch, the Spanish engaged more in upward and downward identification, whereas the Dutch engaged more in downward contrast. In addition, there was a relationship between social comparison responses and organization commitment and identification. However, culture moderated this relationship. That is, upward identification was related to organizational commitment and identification among the Spanish, but not among the Dutch. In addition, upward contrast was negatively related to organizational commitment among the Dutch, and positively related to organizational commitment and identification among the Spanish. In Chapter 5, we focused on studying not only cultural, but also organizational context and gender differences in basic aspects of social comparison such as direction, dimension and target choice. The results showed that the Spanish compared themselves more often upward than the Dutch, that workers in private organizations compared themselves more often downward and upward than workers from public organizations, that Spanish women compared themselves upward more often than men, and that Dutch men compared themselves upward more often than women. Men in private organizations engaged more frequently in upward comparison, whereas women in public organizations engaged more often in upward comparison. Regarding the social comparison dimensions, we found that workers in private organizations were the most focused on both inputs (e.g., performance) and outcomes (e.g., salary) dimensions of comparison, and that compared to the Dutch, the Spanish compared more often their outcomes than their inputs. Particularly, Spanish women in the private organization were the most focused on outcomes dimension of comparison. Finally, the results evidenced that women in private organizations compared themselves more often with men than women in public organizations, and that Spanish women compared themselves more often with men than Dutch women. Thus, these results support the idea that individuals may present differences in social comparison depending on which culture individuals live in, which context they work in and if they are men or women. In the last chapter, we highlighted that identification and contrast responses in social comparison are relevant in the academic and work areas. After discussing the major weaknesses and strengths of the present dissertation, we conclude that we have shown how the positive and negative responses derived from identification and contrast are related to functional processes as self-efficacy, coping, organizational commitment and identification; and to dysfunctional processes as burnout. Further, we suggest that the present dissertation contributes to the literature on social comparison by showing evidence for cultural, context and gender differences in the direction of social comparison, the dimensions of social comparison, and the choice of comparison targets. Finally, we conclude on the basis of the identification-contrast model, that social comparison is a relevant factor to explain individuals’ interaction with the social world

Graphical Model for Three-Way Living Donor Kidney Exchange

Kidney transplantation is the treatment of choice for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). There are three possible organ sources for these transplants; cadaver, living, and good samaritan donors. The living donors are usually friends or relatives of the patient. The benefits of living donors in kidney exchanges are to increase the patients’ chance of receiving an organ sooner than patients waiting for cadaver donors, as well as providing them with a higher graft survival rate. In cases where a living donor is incompatible with their loved-one in need of a transplant, kidney paired exchanges are possible. Kidney paired exchanges involve two donor-recipient pairs where each donor cannot give a kidney to the intended recipient because of immunological incompatibility, but each recipient can receive a kidney from the other donor. This type of exchange offers a lifesaving alternative to waiting for a kidney from a deceased-donor waiting list. We explore how three-way exchanges can expand the opportunity for incompatible pairs to find compatible donors for their recipients and also how it can ease the burden for reciprocal compatibility. In this project, we generate a simulated population of incompatible donor-recipient pairs using data from the U.S. general population and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. We assign each individual in a pair a blood type. From these assignments, we create a directed graph, where nodes represent incompatible pairs and directed edges represent possible exchanges determined by blood type. In addition to blood type, the model includes other kidney allocation considerations, such as the age of the recipient, immunologic sensitization and the hospital or treatment location of incompatible pairs. We assign these factors as priorities or weights to the nodes and to the directed edges of the graph. We find all possible three-way exchanges in the graph and present an algorithm to identify maximum weighted kidney three-way exchanges from the simulated population of incompatible pairs

Could Annual Killifish Help Us Treat Macular Degeneration with Carmen Rodriguez

In this episode of PDXPLORES, Carmen Rodriguez, a Ph.D. student in the biology department, discusses the Annual Killifish--a remarkable organism with the ability to survive long periods without oxygen or water--and how the unusual biology of this fish could unlock treatments for macular degeneration. Click on the Download button to access the audio transcript