Early Life Stress: Effects on the Regulation of Anxiety Expression in Children and Adolescents

This study examined children's (N = 79; 9–10 years) and adolescents’ (N = 82; 15–16 years) ability to regulate their emotion expressions of anxiety as they completed a modified version of the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST‐C). Approximately half in each age group were internationally adopted from institutional care (N = 79) and half were non‐adopted, age‐matched peers (N = 82). Institutional care was viewed as a form of early life stress. Coders who were reliable and blind to group status watched videos of the session to assess anxiety expressions using the Child and Adolescent Stress and Emotion Scale developed for this study. Children exhibited more expressions of anxiety than adolescents, and youth adopted from institutions showed more expressions of anxiety than their non‐adopted counterparts. The role of early life stress on observed anxiety expressions remained significant after controlling for differences in age, physiological stress responses measured through salivary cortisol reactivity, and self‐reports of stress during the TSST‐C. This suggests possible deficits in the regulation of expressive behavior for youth with early life stress histories, which cannot be explained by experiencing the task as more stressful.     

Infants Use Category Label Knowledge to Interpret Absent Reference

This research investigated infants’ (16 and 20 months) use of category information in responding to references to absent objects. Infants were asked to find an object in the box (e.g., “Find an apple!”). When allowed to search, they found either an object from the mentioned category (a plastic apple) or a different object. Infants in both age groups searched again in the box trying to find another object more often on nonreferent than on referent trials (Experiment 1). However, when nonreferents were categorically related to referents, only older infants detected a mismatch and searched again (Experiment 2). These findings suggest that infants use category knowledge when processing references to absent objects.     

Partners in the Spiritual Dance: Learning Clients’ Steps While Minding All Our Toes

We present four case illustrations highlighting the complex interplay of therapists’ and clients’ spirituality in therapy. Complexity, in these cases, results from (a) degrees of similarity and difference, both real and perceived, between clients’ and therapists’ spiritual beliefs and practices; (b) degrees of spiritual disclosure; (c) characteristics of the therapeutic relationship; and (d) geographic and cultural influences. Practicing therapists and therapist training programs can benefit from addressing how therapist and client spirituality intersect and influence therapy, how both similarity and difference present obstacles and opportunities, and how ambiguity and assumptions can contribute to misunderstandings. We believe that both the therapist’s and the client’s spiritualities are key influences in therapy that can contribute to the frustration, and the growth, of clients and therapists alike.     

Clicking Toward Better Grades: The Use of Student Response Systems in Social Work Education

Faculty members at universities are increasingly shifting their pedagogical focus from traditional lectures to active learning by integrating academic technology such as clickers (i.e., student response systems) into classrooms. However, few studies have examined the effect of clickers on learning outcomes such as test grades, and even fewer studies have evaluated this technology in social work education. This study examined the effect of clickers on learning outcomes in an undergraduate social work course. Findings indicated that frequency of clicker use significantly contributed to increased test scores after controlling for important covariates, suggesting that clickers may be an effective tool in actively engaging social work students and promoting learning. Instructors guidelines for integrating technology into future social work courses are discussed.     

Profiles of adult survivors of severe sexual,physical and emotional institutional abuse in Ireland

Adult survivors of institutional abuse were interviewed with a comprehensive assessment protocol which included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Institutional Child Abuse Processes and Coping Inventory, the Structured Clinical Interviews for Disorders of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV axis I disorders and personality disorders, the Trauma Symptoms Inventory, a Life Problems Checklist, the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory and the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Profiles were identified for subgroups that described severe sexual (N = 60), physical (N = 102), or emotional (N = 85) abuse as their worst forms of maltreatment. Survivors of severe sexual abuse had the most abnormal profile, which was characterised by higher rates of all forms of child maltreatment and higher rates of post‐traumatic stress disorder, alcohol and substance abuse, antisocial personality disorder, trauma symptoms and life problems. Survivors of severe emotional abuse were better adjusted than the other two groups. The profile of survivors of severe physical abuse occupied an intermediate position between the other two groups. A thorough assessment of abuse history and current functioning should be conducted when providing services to adult survivors of institutional abuse, since this may have important implications for the intensity of services required. Survivors of severe sexual abuse may require more intensive services. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Couple Differentiation: Mediator or Moderator of Depressive Symptoms and Relationship Satisfaction?

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether differentiation at the couple level would act as a moderator or a mediator in the association between marital satisfaction and depressive symptoms over time. In a sample of 412 couples, a latent profile analysis was performed to determine how couple differentiation scores were clustered. An Actor/Partner Interdependence Model was then estimated via a group comparison procedure in structural equation modeling. There was no evidence of a moderating effect of differentiation. A mediating model was then estimated and there was evidence that differentiation mediated the association between depressive symptoms and relationship satisfaction via actor and partner effects.