John: Some thoughts on mourning

The perennial question, “Do children mourn?”, forms the backdrop to this discussion of a treatment which spans a 10-year period. Both clinical as well as cultural factors are examined and an effort is made to assess the effect of the loss on the patient's character.     

The Various Roles of Animal Models in Understanding Human Development

In this article, the authors take a very conservative view of the contribution of animal models to an understanding of human development. We do not think that homologies can be readily documented with even our most closely related relatives’ behavior and psychological functioning. The major contribution of animal models is their provision of food for thought (hypotheses, not facts) about human development and general principles of development, and we describe some of the more significant and interesting of these at length. We also briefly discuss the other applications of animal research toward understanding the development and evolution of behavior, more generally speaking.     

Private Financial Transfers,Family Income,and the Great Recession

Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 4,701; 1998–2010), the authors studied whether the unemployment rate was associated with private financial transfers (PFTs) among urban families with young children and whether family income moderated these associations. They found that an increase in the unemployment rate was associated with greater PFT receipt and that family income moderated the association. Poor and near‐poor mothers experienced increases in PFT receipt when unemployment rates were high, whereas mothers with incomes between 2 and 3 times the poverty threshold experienced decreases. Simulations estimating the impact of the Great Recession suggest that moving from 5% to 10% unemployment is associated with a 9‐percentage‐point increase in the predicted probability of receiving a PFT for the sample as a whole, with greater increases in predicted probabilities among poor and near‐poor mothers.     

Healthcare-Related Financial Burden Among Families in the U.S.: The Role of Childhood Activity Limitations and Income

This study examined the impact of childhood activity limitations on family financial burden in the U.S. We used ten complete panels (1996–2006) of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) to evaluate the burden of out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures for 17,857 families with children aged 0–17 years. Multivariate generalized linear models were used to examine the relationship between childhood activity limitation status and both absolute and relative financial burden. Families of children with limitations had higher absolute out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures than families of children without limitations ($594.36 higher; p < 0.05), and were 54% more likely to experience relative burden (p < 0.05). Substantial socioeconomic disparities in financial burden were observed. Policies are needed to enable these families to access appropriate and affordable healthcare services.     

System Therapy: Epistemology, Paradigm and Pragmatics

In this paper the author presents a model of therapy which he proposes to call 'system therapy.' Episteme, some basic concepts, stages of the therapeutic process and the training of system therapists are discussed. This paper is meant to be an introduction into system therapy and does not claim to attempt an exhaustive presentation of a complex subject.     

Residential Adjustment of Elders: Learning from Experiences With Parents and Peers

The ways elders learn from the experiences of their parents and peers in coping with declining health can affect residential adjustments they make themselves to minimize their exposure to long-term-care risks. Experiences of parents and peers can affect predisposition toward residential options, and parental and peer experiences sometimes can have major influences in elder residential choices. Drawing on qualitative interviews with community-residing elders, we illustrate how elders critically assess how their own parents and peers responded to declining health. We then show how these assessments influence the residential thinking and adjustments of these elders in anticipation of their own declining self-care capacity.     

Electronic Cigarette Use Among College Students: Links to Gender,Race/Ethnicity,Smoking, and Heavy Drinking

Abstract

Objective: Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use continues to rise, and current data regarding use of e-cigarettes among college students are needed. The purpose of this study was to examine e-cigarette use and the relation of such use with gender, race/ethnicity, traditional tobacco use, and heavy drinking. Participants and Methods: A sample of 599 college students enrolled in General Psychology at a state university completed a self-report questionnaire. Results: Twenty-nine percent of students reported prior use of e-cigarettes, with 14% reporting use in the past 30 days. E-cigarette use was linked to male gender but not to race/ethnicity. Dual use (ie, concurrent use of both traditional and e-cigarettes) was related to heavier use of traditional and e-cigarettes, and nicotine use was linked to pronounced rates of heavy drinking. Conclusions: E-cigarette use among college students is exponentially on the rise, and its co-use with alcohol may contribute to negative outcomes in this population.