A prospective study of the parent–baby bond in men and women 15 months after birth

Objective: To prospectively examine the impact of parental mental health (PTSD, depression and anxiety), the couple’s relationship quality and the infant temperament on the parent–baby bond in first-time mothers and fathers. Background: Evidence suggests that poor parental mental health, difficult infant temperament and/or lower quality of the couple’s relationship may impede the parent–baby bond. However, little research has included both parents or followed these measures across time. Methods: 75 women and 66 men completed questionnaire measures during pregnancy, 3 and 15 months postpartum, assessing mental health symptoms, the parent–baby bond, the couple’s relationship and infant characteristics. The response rates at different time-points were 90%, 77% and 70%. Results: The parent–baby bond was associated with parental mental health, the couple’s relationship and infant characteristics. The most important predictors of the parent–baby bond three months postpartum for both men and women were the couple’s relationship during pregnancy and their baby’s temperament at three months. At 15 months postpartum, after accounting for the parent–baby bond at 3 months, only concurrent infant temperament remained a significant predictor for women. However, men’s bond with their baby at 15 months was predicted by their relationship with their partner in pregnancy and concurrent affective symptoms. Few significant gender differences were found, apart from women reporting more mental health symptoms than men. Conclusion: This study highlights the significance of the couple’s relationship in pregnancy and the infant’s temperament on the development of the parent–baby bond. Future research is needed to examine this in larger more representative samples

Moderated Network Models

Pairwise network models such as the Gaussian Graphical Model (GGM) are a powerful and intuitive way to analyze dependencies in multivariate data. A key assumption of the GGM is that each pairwise interaction is independent of the values of all other variables. However, in psychological research this is often implausible. In this paper, we extend the GGM by allowing each pairwise interaction between two variables to be moderated by (a subset of) all other variables in the model, and thereby introduce a Moderated Network Model (MNM). We show how to construct the MNM and propose an L1-regularized nodewise regression approach to estimate it. We provide performance results in a simulation study and show that MNMs outperform the split-sample based methods Network Comparison Test (NCT) and Fused Graphical Lasso (FGL) in detecting moderation effects. Finally, we provide a fully reproducible tutorial on how to estimate MNMs with the R-package mgm and discuss possible issues with model misspecification

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs Regarding Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening among Cambodian, Laotian, Thai, and Tongan Women

Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) groups have low rates of breast and cervical cancer screening. This study examined knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs (KABs) regarding breast and cervical cancer on AAPI women. A cross-sectional survey of 1,808 AAPI women was included. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were provided and 55.3%, 68.6%, and 71.9% had received mammograms, clinical breast exam, and Pap smears, respectively. KABs on breast and cervical cancer varied between the four ethnic groups. Understanding the KABs toward cancer screening among AAPI women holds promise for identifying barriers to early detection and could aid in the creation of interventions

Defining forgiveness: Christian clergy and general population perspectives.

The lack of any consensual definition of forgiveness is a serious weakness in the research literature (McCullough, Pargament &amp; Thoresen, 2000). As forgiveness is at the core of Christianity, this study returns to the Christian source of the concept to explore the meaning of forgiveness for practicing Christian clergy. Comparisons are made with a general population sample and social science definitions of forgiveness to ensure that a shared meaning of forgiveness is articulated. Anglican and Roman Catholic clergy (N = 209) and a general population sample (N = 159) completed a postal questionnaire about forgiveness. There is agreement on the existence of individual differences in forgiveness. Clergy and the general population perceive reconciliation as necessary for forgiveness while there is no consensus within psychology. The clergy suggests that forgiveness is limitless and that repentance is unnecessary while the general population suggests that there are limits and that repentance is necessary. Psychological definitions do not conceptualize repentance as necessary for forgiveness and the question of limits has not been addressed although within therapy the implicit assumption is that forgiveness is limitless.</p

Illness representations, psychological distress and non-cardiac chest pain in patients attending an emergency department

Objective: Many patients who attend an emergency department (ED) with chest pain receive a diagnosis of non-cardiac chest pain (NCCP), and often suffer poor psychological outcomes and continued pain. This study assessed the role of illness representations in explaining psychological distress and continued chest pain in patients attending an ED. Methods: ED NCCP patients (N = 138) completed measures assessing illness representations, anxiety, depression and quality of life (QoL) at baseline, and chest pain at one month. Results: Illness representations explained significant amounts of the variance in anxiety (Adj. R² = .38), depression (Adj. R² = .18) and mental QoL (Adj. R² = .36). A belief in psychological causes had the strongest associations with outcomes. At one month, 28.7% of participants reported experiencing frequent pain, 13.2% infrequent pain and 58.1% no pain. Anxiety, depression and poor QoL, but not illness representations, were associated with continued chest pain. Conclusions: The findings suggest that (i) continued chest pain is related to psychological distress and poor QoL, (ii) interventions should be aimed at reducing psychological distress and improving QoL and (iii) given the associations between perceived psychological causes and psychological distress/QoL, NCCP patients in the ED might benefit from psychological therapies to manage their chest pain

Efficacy of Online Training for Improving Camp Staff Competency

Preparing competent staff is a critical issue within the camp community. This quasi-experimental study examined the effectiveness of an online course for improving staff competency in camp healthcare practices among college-aged camp staff and a comparison group (N = 55). We hypothesized that working in camp would increase competency test scores due to opportunities for staff to experientially apply knowledge learned online. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyse the cross-level effects of a between-individuals factor (assignment to experimental or comparison group) and within-individual effects of time (pre-test, post-test #1, and post-test #2) on online course test scores. At post-test #2, the difference in average test scores between groups was ~30 points, with the treatment group scoring lower on average than the comparison group. Factors that may have influenced these findings are explored, including fatigue and the limited durability of online learning. Recommendations for research and practice are discussed

Sexual exploitation in children: Nature, prevalence and distinguishing characteristics reported in young adulthood

The aim of this study was to explore the nature and extent of sexual exploitation in a university student sample, whilst being clear that sexual exploitation is sexual abuse. Overall, 47% of participants (96 out of 204) reported having been approached by an adult in a sexual manner when they were under the age of 16. The study predicted that a number of individual characteristics would increase a young person’s vulnerability for sexual exploitation. These included low self-esteem, external locus of control, social loneliness and insecure attachment. Results indicated lower levels of self-esteem among those who had been approached sexually, although it is not clear in terms of causality. There were no differences in scores for locus of control or loneliness. Relationship anxiety was significantly linked with children having engaged in sexual behaviours with an adult. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of emerging individual characteristics relating to a risk of sexual exploitation

The role of pre-school quality in promoting resilience in the cognitive development of young children

The study reported here investigates the role of pre-school education as a protective factor in the development of children who are at risk due to environmental and individual factors. This investigation builds upon earlier research by examining different kinds of 'quality' in early education and tests the hypothesis that pre-schools of high quality can moderate the impacts of risks upon cognitive development. Cognitive development was measured in 2857 English pre-schoolers at 36 and 58 months of age, together with 22 individual risks to children's development, and assessments were made of the quality of their pre-school provision. Multilevel Structural Equation Modelling revealed that: the global quality of pre-school can moderate the effects of familial risk (such as poverty); the relationships between staff and children can moderate the effects of child level risk (such as low birth weight); and the specific quality of curricular provision can moderate the effects of both. Policy makers need to take quality into account in their efforts to promote resilience in young 'at risk' children through early childhood services

Effects of precompetition state anxiety interventions on performance time and accuracy among amateur soccer players: Revisiting the matching hypothesis

In this study, we tested the matching ypothesis, which contends that administration of a cognitive or somatic anxiety intervention should be matched to a participant's dominant anxiety response. Sixty-one male soccer players (mean age 31.6 years, s=6.3) were assigned to one of four groups based on their responses to the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2, which was modified to include a directional scale. Interventions were randomly administered in a counterbalanced order 10 min before each performance trial on a soccer skill test. The dominantly cognitive anxious group (n=17), the dominantly somatic anxious group (n=17), and the non-anxious control intervention group (n=14) completed a baseline performance trial. The second and third trials were completed with random administration of brief cognitive and somatic interventions. The non-anxious control group (n=13) completed three trials with no intervention. A mixed-model, GroupTreatment multivariate analysis of variance indicated significant (P0.05), or performance time or accuracy (P>0.05). The present findings do not provide support for the matching hypothesis for state anxiety intensity and direction, or for performance

Motivation profiles in sport: A self-determination theory perspective

The present study examined the link between motivation profiles among adult sports participants and the outcomes of enjoyment, effort, positive and negative affect, attitude toward sport participation, intention to continue sport participation, satisfaction, and persistence in sport. Two samples of participants (n = 590 and n = 555) completed the Sport Motivation Scale and a range of self-report measures to assess the outcome variables. Exploratory cluster analyses applied to Sample 1 and confirmatory cluster analysis applied to Sample 2 identified two clusters of sport participants. The first comprised participants with high scores on both non self-determined and self-determined motives. The second comprised participants with high scores on self-determined motives but low scores on non self- determined motives. Participants in the first cluster scored higher on all outcome variables. The results are discussed with reference to a more in-depth understanding of the motivation dynamics of sport participation based on Self-Determination Theory