General Health in Organizations: Relative Relevance of Emotional Intelligence, Trust, and Organizational Support.

This study examined the predictive ability of emotional intelligence (EI), trust, and organizational support in general health. The sample consisted of 250 middle-level executives from 2-wheeler manufacturing organizations. Results suggest that the dimension of EI termed positive attitude about life predicted both factors of general health positively: (a) sense of accomplishment and contribution and (b) botheration-free existence. Organizational support predicted sense of accomplishment and contribution, whereas vertical trust predicted botheration-free existence, accompanied by the assertiveness and positive self-concept dimension of EI. The implications of the results are discussed in terms of promoting the general health of employees through training on EI skills and through the creation of an atmosphere of trust and recognition within the organization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Emotional Integration of Childhood Experience: Physiological, Facial Expressive, and Self-Reported Emotional Response During the Adult Attachment Interview.

Attachment researchers claim that individual differences in how adults talk about their early memories reflect qualitatively distinct organizations of emotion regarding childhood experiences with caregivers. Testing this assumption, the present study examined the relationship between attachment dimensions and physiological, facial expressive, as well as self-reported emotional responses during the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Consistent with theoretical predictions, more prototypically secure adults behaviorally expressed and reported experiencing emotion consistent with the valence of the childhood events they described. Insecure adults also showed distinctive and theoretically anticipated forms of emotional response: Dismissing participants evidenced increased electrodermal activity during the interview, a sign of emotional suppression, whereas preoccupied adults showed reliable discrepancies between the valence of their inferred childhood experiences and their facial expressive as well as reported emotion during the AAI. Results substantiate a case that the AAI reflects individual differences in emotion regulation that conceptually parallel observations of attachment relationships in infancy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding and Predicting Parental Decisions About Early Childhood Immunizations.

This research investigated the factors that influence decisions about immunizations. Women in the third trimester of pregnancy (N=195) rated their likelihood of immunizing their child; stated their reasons for and against immunizing; and rated their perceptions of the benefits and risks of immunization, feelings of responsibility, and anticipated regret if harm occurred. Immunization status was determined at follow-up. Stepwise regression analyses demonstrated that immunization decisions are strongly influenced by omission bias factors such as anticipated responsibility and regret variance (which explained more than 50% of variance). It is suggested that parents may benefit from antenatal decision aids that address omission bias and encourage them to assess benefits and risks of immunizations on the basis of scientific evidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional reactivity across the adult life span: The cognitive pragmatics make a difference.

Previously, we found that during films about age-typical losses, older adults experienced greater sadness than young adults, whereas their physiological responses were just as large. In the present study, our goal was to replicate this finding and extend past work by examining the role of cognitive functioning in age differences in emotional reactivity. We measured the autonomic and subjective responses of 240 adults (age range = 20 to 70) while they viewed films about age-typical losses from our previous work. Findings were fully supportive of our past work: The magnitude of subjective reactions to our films increased linearly over the adult years, whereas there were no age differences on the level of physiological reactivity. We also found that the subjective reactions of adults with high pragmatic intelligence were of moderate size independent of their own age or the age relevance of the emotion elicitor. In contrast, the subjective reactions of adults low on pragmatic intelligence were more variable. Together, this evidence suggests that research on age differences in emotional reactivity may benefit from a perspective that considers individual difference variables as well as contextual variations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early Manifestations of Personality and Adult Emotional Functioning.

Developmental antecedents to adult emotional functioning were investigated in an epidemiologic study using theories of personality and emotion. The authors tested whether different types of adult emotional distress can be linked to childhood personality attributes. Using data from 3,138 children at age 7, measures of 4 childhood personality attributes were developed and validated: Behavioral Inhibition, Distress Proneness, Attention, and Inappropriate Interpersonal Self-Regulation. Sound psychometric properties of these scales are demonstrated by considering the measures across multiple samples and in comparison with established child behavior measures. Emotional distress measures were obtained for 694 of these individuals at age 35. Of the personality attributes, 3 of 4 (except behavioral inhibition) predicted general levels of distress as well as specific aspects of ioral adult emotional functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Change in Life Satisfaction During Adulthood: Findings From the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study.

Change in life satisfaction was modeled over a 22-year period in 1,927 men. A curvilinear relationship emerged. Growth-curve models indicated that life satisfaction peaked at age 65 and then declined, but showed significant individual differences in rate of change. Extraversion predicted variability in change, with higher levels associated with a high and flat life satisfaction trajectory. Time-varying physical health and marital status were associated with higher life satisfaction. Proximity to death was associated with a decline in life satisfaction. On measurement occasions that were within 1 year before death, trajectories showed steeper decline, and this effect was not attributable to declines in self-rated physical health. The findings are at odds with prior (cross-sectional) research showing that subjective well-being improves with aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Relations of Parental Expressivity and Support to Children's Coping With Daily Stress.

The relations of parents' emotional expressivity, mothers' support, and children's daily stress to children's constructive coping were examined in a sample of ninety-four 7- to 12-year-old children. For 2 weeks, children, together with their mothers, completed daily diaries of their stressful events. Mothers and fathers reported on their expression of positive, negative submissive, and negative dominant emotion. Although fathers' expressivity was not related to children's constructive coping, mothers' expression of negative emotion, particularly negative dominant emotion, was negatively related to children's constructive coping. Children's stress was negatively related to their constructive coping, and this relation was stronger for children exposed to low levels of parents' positive emotion and mothers' expression of negative submissive emotion. Children's constructive coping was positively related to mothers' supportive strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stability, Growth, and Decline in Adult Life Span Development of Declarative Memory: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Data From a Population-Based Study.

Five-year changes in episodic and semantic memory were examined in a sample of 829 participants (35-80 years). A cohort-matched sample (N=967) was assessed to control for practice effects. For episodic memory, cross-sectional analyses indicated gradual age-related decrements, whereas the longitudinal data revealed no decrements before age 60, even when practice effects were adjusted for. Longitudinally, semantic memory showed minor increments until age 55, with smaller decrements in old age as compared with episodic memory. Cohort differences in educational attainment appear to account for the discrepancies between cross-sectional and longitudinal data. Collectively, the results show that age trajectories for episodic and semantic memory differ and underscore the need to control for cohort and retest effects in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, respectively. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early manifestations of personality and adult health: A life course perspective.

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate whether individual personality or temperamental qualities that emerge early and persist over the life course, predict adult midlife health. Specific childhood personality attributes considered include distress proneness, behavioral inhibition, and ability to stay focused on a task. Design: Prospective data are from 569 individuals followed from birth into adulthood. Main Outcome Measures: Outcomes include two different measures of adult health: self-rated general health, and number of illnesses in adulthood. Results: Childhood personality attributes related to attention and distress were significantly associated with adult health, with stronger effects evident among women. Children with high attention reported better self-rated health (b = 0.12, p     

Adult Attachment, Affect Regulation, Negative Mood, and Interpersonal Problems: The Mediating Roles of Emotional Reactivity and Emotional Cutoff.

This study examined the mediating role of affect regulation among attachment, negative mood, and interpersonal problems. Participants were 229 college students at a large midwest university. Structural equation modeling indicated attachment anxiety and avoidance contributed to negative mood and interpersonal problems through different and distinct affect regulation strategies (i.e., emotional reactivity or emotional cutoff). The association between attachment anxiety, negative mood, and interpersonal problems was mediated only by emotional reactivity (not emotional cutoff). Conversely, the association between attachment avoidance, negative mood, and interpersonal problems was mediated only by emotional cutoff (not emotional reactivity). Furthermore, emotional reactivity and emotional cutoff explained 36% of the variance in negative mood; attachment, emotional reactivity, and emotional cutoff explained 75% of the variance in interpersonal problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Higher Perceived Life Control Decreases Genetic Variance in Physical Health: Evidence From a National Twin Study.

Physical health has been linked consistently with both income and sense of control, and the authors previously demonstrated that genetic variation in physical health measures decreased with increasing income (see W. Johnson & R. F. Krueger, 2004). Using a nationwide sample of 719 twin pairs from the MacArthur Foundation National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States, in this study the authors show that genetic variation in physical health measures (number of chronic illnesses and body mass index) also decreases with increasing sense of control. The authors integrate findings for income and control by demonstrating an interaction between genetic influences on sense of control and income in explaining physical health. They hypothesize that the mechanism underlying the interaction is the known biological relationship between metabolic efficiency and adaptation to stressful environments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Stage-Sequential Model of Reading Transitions: Evidence From the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study.

This study uses latent transition analysis to examine reading development across the kindergarten and 1st-grade year. Data include poverty status and dichotomous measures of reading at 4 time points for a large sample of children within the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. In each of 4 waves of the study, 5 latent classes were represented in different proportions: low alphabet knowledge, early phonological processing, advanced phonological processing, early word reading, and early reading comprehension. Transition probabilities were calculated for the full sample and for children living above and below poverty. The findings indicate that children living below poverty are less likely to experience successful reading transitions than their above-poverty peers. However, children in the below-poverty group who began kindergarten with at least early phonological processing experienced transition probabilities similar to their above-poverty peers. Researchers should target and test preschool interventions for their potential efficacy to mediate the effects of poverty on early reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conscientiousness and Health Across the Life Course.

This article provides an overview of the role conscientiousness plays in the health process over the life course. The authors describe their research on the underlying structure of conscientiousness and how conscientiousness predicts social environmental factors and health behaviors that have a known relationship to health and longevity. The authors then show that conscientiousness continues to develop in young adulthood, midlife, and even potentially in old age. Finally, they show that the life paths and health behaviors that are associated with health are also associated with changes in conscientiousness across the life course. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The Writing Cure: How Expressive Writing Promotes Health and Emotional Well-Being.

The reviewer notes that this book (S. J. Lepore and J. M. Smyth [Eds.], 2002; see record 2002-01516-000) consists of 14 chapters exploring the therapeutic implications of expressive writing. The book succeeds in its efforts to present and evaluate current research on the health benefits of writing. The contributors chart new directions for future research and suggest the clinical and therapeutic applications of writing. One common theme running throughout the book is that writing facilitates cognitive integration. Another theme is that writing leads to self-mastery. The Writing Cure is a groundbreaking book, but the reviewer wishes that the editors had widened their focus to include research in the humanities, particularly literary studies and rhetoric and composition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's Achievement in Early Elementary School: Longitudinal Effects of Parental Involvement, Expectations, and Quality of Assistance.

In this prospective, longitudinal study, the authors examined the relations among parental behaviors, parental expectations, and children's academic achievement. Participants were 187 low-income children and their mothers, studied from birth of the child through 3rd grade. Mothers' quality of instruction prior to school entry had significant direct effects on IQ and indirect effects on achievement in 1st and 3rd grades. Parental expectations in 3rd grade had significant direct effects on parental involvement in 3rd grade. Children's achievement in 1st grade had significant direct effects on parental involvement and expectations in 3rd grade. Parental involvement in 3rd grade had a significant direct effect on achievement in 3rd grade. Results suggest that early parenting factors are important for children's academic achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parenting of adult children in an Israeli sample: Parents are always parents.

This qualitative study examines the role of parents with regard to their adult children, by exploring parents' experiences, meanings, and the underlying psychological processes of their parental role. In-depth interviews with healthy Israeli parents (N = 23) aged 56 to 69 explored their perceptions about their parental role. Narrative analysis techniques focused on the content and on the form of the narratives were applied. Five important internal dialectic dimensions emerged: emotional connection and separation; the child as narcissistic extension of the parent and the parent's desire to let the child individuate; growing importance of familial connections and the perceived generation gap; parents' balancing personal needs and the children's needs, and finally, maintaining a hierarchical stance and an equal stance. The results are integrated into the developing theory of intergenerational ambivalence, suggesting a dialectical configuration for the role of parent to adult children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional plasticity: Conditions and effects of improving emotional competence in adulthood.

This study aimed to investigate (a) whether it is possible to increase emotional competence (EC) in adulthood; (b) whether this improvement results in better mental, physical, and social adjustment; (c) whether this improvement can be maintained 1 year later; and (d) whether these benefits are accompanied by a reduction in stress-hormone secretion (i.e., cortisol). One hundred and thirty-two participants were randomly assigned to an EC-enhancing intervention (in group format) or to a control group. Participants in the intervention group underwent a specifically designed 15-hr intervention targeting the 5 core emotional competencies, complemented with a 4-week e-mail follow-up. Results reveal that the level of emotional competencies increased significantly in the intervention group in contrast with the control group. This increase resulted in lower cortisol secretion, enhanced subjective and physical well-being, as well as improved quality of social and marital relationships in the intervention group. No significant change occurred in the control group. Peer reports on EC and quality of relationships confirmed these results. These data suggest that emotional competencies can be improved, with effective benefits on personal and interpersonal functioning lasting for at least 1 year. The theoretical implications of these results as well as their practical implications for the construction and the development of effective emotional competencies interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of Parent Support and Peer Support in Adolescent Substance Use: A Test of Mediated Effects.

This research tested comparative effects of parent and peer support on adolescent substance use (tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana) with data from 2 assessments of a multiethnic sample of 1,826 adolescents, mean age 12.3 years. Multiple regression analyses indicated that parental support was inversely related to substance use and that peer support was positively related to substance use, as a suppression effect. Structural modeling analyses indicated that effects of support were mediated through pathways involving good self-control, poor self-control, and risk-taking tendency; parent and peer support had different patterns of relations to these mediators. The mediators had pathways to substance use through positive and negative recent events and through peer affiliations. Effects for gender and ethnicity were also noted. Mechanisms of operation for parent and peer support are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Unconscious Cost of Good Fortune: Implicit and Explicit Self-Esteem, Positive Life Events, and Health.

J. D. Brown and K. L. McGill (1989) found that positive life events were associated with better health only for people high in self-esteem. Among people low in self-esteem, positive life events were associated with poorer health. The authors of this study replicated this finding in a self-report survey of 61 male and 110 female college students. In addition, they showed that implicit self-esteem moderated the relation between positive life events and self-reported health in the same fashion as explicit self-esteem did. Whereas people high in implicit self-esteem reported being healthier when they experienced more positive life events, people low in implicit self-esteem reported being healthier when they experienced fewer positive life events. Moreover, the effects of implicit self-esteem were statistically independent of the effects of explicit self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)