Physiological Reactivity to Infant Crying and Observed Maternal Sensitivity

Relations between maternal sensitivity and physiological reactivity to infant crying were examined using measures of heart rate (HR) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) in 49 mothers of second‐born infants. Using the Ainsworth Sensitivity Scale, an independent assessment of maternal sensitivity was made during maternal free play and bathing of their infants. Physiological reactivity was measured while mothers listened to three blocks of infant cry sounds in a standard cry paradigm. Mothers scoring high on sensitivity were compared to less sensitive mothers on both their physiological reactivity to the presented crying sounds and their physiological mean‐level differences. Significant interaction effects were found for both HR and RSA. Highly sensitive mothers showed a larger increase in HR and stronger RSA withdrawal in response to the first block of cry sounds compared to less sensitive mothers. Main effects showed that highly sensitive mothers had lower mean overall HR, and higher mean RSA levels across all three blocks of crying sounds compared to less sensitive mothers. RSA withdrawal and accompanying HR increases are discussed from a polyvagal perspective as indicative of a better capability in responding to infant signals of negative affect.     

Return to work: A comparison of two cognitive behavioural interventions in cases of work-related psychological complaints among the self-employed

We investigated the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and a combined intervention of workplace- and individual-focused techniques among self-employed people on sick leave owing to work-related psychological complaints (such as anxiety, depression, and burnout). Both interventions were based on CBT; however, one was conducted by psychotherapists and involved extensive CBT, while the other was delivered by “labour experts” and consisted of a brief CBT-derived intervention combined with both individual-focused and workplace interventions. One hundred and twenty-two self-employed people who had applied for sickness benefit from an insurance company enrolled in a randomized controlled design. These individuals were assessed before the intervention and then at 4 months and 10 months after the onset of the intervention. The outcome was assessed based on duration of sick leave until partial and full return to work and on psychological complaints. Significant effects on partial and full return were found in favour of the combined intervention: partial return occurred 17 and 30 days earlier in this group than in the CBT group and the control group, respectively. For full return to work, the difference was approximately 200 days. A decrease in psychological complaints was present in each condition but we found no significant interaction effects. The results suggest that work resumption should be addressed earlier in individuals receiving CBT. This insight is of value for the (scarce) literature concerning interventions for individuals who are on sick leave owing to work-related psychological complaints.     

How listeners shape what tellers tell: Patterns of interaction in lifestory interviews and their impact on reminiscence by elderly interviewees

How older adults reminisce about their lives to others depends in part on who is listening, and on the relationship that they and their listeners establish. To support this hypothesis, findings are presented from a narrative analysis of 12 lifestory interviews done by 3 interviewers (4 interviews each: 2 with males; 2 with females) with people 80 and older living in a largely rural area of Eastern Canada. The interviewers have distinctive listening styles and come from significantly different backgrounds. One is a man, and former minister, from the immediate region; another, a woman from a large European city; the third, a younger woman from an urban centre in Western Canada. The paper takes advantage of the opportunity inherent in having 3 interviewers rather than only 1 and compares patterns that characterized the various interviewer–interviewee interactions and the impact of such patterns on how interviewees talked about their lives. Speculations are offered concerning how different listeners might have elicited reminiscences on different themes or of different types from the same tellers.     

Conclusions: Adolescents' Preparation for the Future

The future of societies depends on their success in providing pathways whereby young people develop and prepare themselves to be contributing adults to their communities. When these pathways are well marked, stable, supported by the community, and inviting to adolescents, a society can be confident that new generations will join the ranks of adulthood well prepared. When these paths are hazardous, unpredictable, uninviting, or ill fitted to the demands of adulthood in that society, the future is insecure, both for adolescents and for society. This volume and the additional two volumes of this study group (Brown, Larson, && Saraswathi, 2002; Mortimer && Brown, 2002) suggest the following observations about the experiences of youth and how well they are being prepared for adulthood in the 21st century.     

Why is the potential of augmentative and alternative communication not being realized? Exploring the experiences of people who use communication aids

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) holds the potential to enable people with severe oral communication impairments to participate more fully in society. However, despite the development of increasingly sophisticated communication aids, as well as recent UK policy initiatives aimed at improving access to them, some major obstacles stand in the way of the inclusory potential of AAC being realized to any significant degree. Drawing on findings of a research study that explored the experiences of people who use AAC, this paper looks at the various problems that people encounter in using communication aids. It identifies the lack of consistent, structured support as a key overarching issue. The author goes on to argue that for the potential of AAC to be realized attention needs to be given to the development of coordinated systems of support within the policy domains of education, health and social services.     

A Serpent in the Garden: Implications of Highway Development in Canada's Niagara Fruit Belt

This paper examines how long–term residents of the Niagara Fruit Belt of Ontario, Canada interpret the disappearance of prime farming land. The Queen Elizabeth Way, a highway development, is identified as one major initiative which has deeply affected the characteristics of the region and, importantly, has overshadowed perspectives of development and growth. An historical account of the development of the highway is presented to show how the event has become symbolic of urbanization and government interference. Participants in the study expressed little hope for the continuation of fruit farming in the region.     

Evaluating a multiple-family group access intervention for refugees with PTSD

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of a multiple-family group in increasing access to mental health services for refugees with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study investigated a nine-session multiple-family group called Coffee and Families Education and Support with refugee families from Bosnia-Herzegovina in Chicago. Adults with PTSD (n = 197) and their families were randomly assigned to receive either the intervention or a control condition. The results indicated that a multiple-family group was effective in increasing access to mental health services and that depression and family comfort with discussing trauma mediated the intervention effect. Further well-designed studies of family interventions are needed for developing evidence-based interventions for refugee families.     

Assessing the Unidimensionality of Psychological Scales: Using Multiple Criteria from Factor Analysis

Whenever one uses a composite scale score from item responses, one is tacitly assuming that the scale is dominantly unidimensional. Investigating the unidimensionality of item response data is an essential component of construct validity. Yet, there is no universally accepted technique or set of rules to determine the number of factors to retain when assessing the dimensionality of item response data. Typically factor analysis is used with the eigenvalues-greater-than-one rule, the ratio of first-to-second eigenvalues, parallel analysis, root-mean-square-error-of-approximation, or hypothesis testing approaches involving chi-square tests from Maximum Likelihood or Generalized Least Squares estimation. The purpose of this study was to investigate how these various procedures perform individually, and in combination, when assessing the unidimensionality of item response data via a computer simulated design. Conditions such as sample size, magnitude of communality, distribution of item responses, proportion of communality on second factor, and the number of items with non-zero loadings on the second factor were varied. Results indicate that there was no one individual decision-making method that identified unidimensionality under all conditions manipulated. Given the low communalities, all individual decision-making methods failed to detect unidimensionality for the combination where sample size was small, magnitude of communality was low, and item distributions were skewed. A set of guidelines and a new statistical methodology are provided for researchers.     

Strengthening Resource Mobilization Chains: Developing the Social Media Competencies of Community and Voluntary Organizations in New Zealand

There is potential for nonprofit organizations to increase effectiveness by mobilizing social media to help achieve goals. However, the sector is only just becoming aware of the possibilities for social media and lags behind other sectors in its use. We report a New Zealand initiative to enhance the capability of nonprofit organizations through action research that has implications for nonprofit organizations elsewhere. Borrowing from resource mobilization theory, we introduce the concept of resource mobilization chains to explain the requirements for and obstacles to taking advantage of social media. A survey and two in-depth case studies found that nonprofit organizations demonstrated extremely limited familiarity with and use of social media. Participants were enthusiastic about the potential of mobilizing social media to achieve organizational goals, but struggled to take concrete steps to implement their aspirations. Lack of resources was a key obstacle identified in both survey and case study research.