An analysis of the nature and justification of treatment decisions in inpatient settings.

83 mental health professionals employed at 2 inpatient settings participated in a study on the nature and justification of assessment and treatment decision making. Clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, a psychiatric nursing service staff group, social workers, nonpsychiatric physicians, physician assistants, mental health workers/psychiatric technicians who had at least a high school diploma, rehabilitation specialists, and psychiatric administrators completed a treatment decision questionnaire. It addressed several specific content areas relating to the types of assessment procedures, treatment goals, and treatment methods mental health professionals usually use, as well as the usual reason(s) for such procedures. Results showed that inpatient mental health professionals mostly relied on past success as well as logistical-practical factors in the determination and justification of assessment and treatment methods. Analyses of differences among inpatient institutions and mental health professionals are also presented. The conclusion was that, regardless of the specific assessment and treatment methods relied on, mental health professionals did use systematic decision procedures in choosing such methods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determinants of justification and self-control.

The authors propose that people use 2 routes in justifying self-gratification: 1st through hard work or excellence (entitlement) and the 2nd through the attainment of vices without depleting income. This framework was tested using real tasks and choices adopted from prior research on self-control. The results indicate that (a) higher effort and (bogus) excellence feedback increase preferences for vice rewards, but these effects are reversed or attenuated when the interchangeability of effort and income is implied; (b) willingness to pay in effort is greater for vices than virtues, but willingness to pay in income is higher for virtues; and (c) these effects are magnified among individuals with stronger (chronic or manipulated) guilt. The authors discuss the ability of the justification routes to explain the findings of prior self-control research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perspectives of children regarding their participation in psychoeducational decisions.

Presents a brief review of the literature regarding children's involvement in decision making. A study is reported in which statements about participation in psychoeducational decision making were elicited from 32 11–19 yr old students enrolled in a full-day school program for remediation of learning and behavior problems. As part of regular program planning for the next year, Ss were able to choose to be involved, over a period of 3–4 wks, in up to 6 planning and decision-making steps. Findings from pre- and postquestionnaires indicate that a high proportion of the Ss were interested in participating in the decision-making process, perceived themselves as competent to do so, and did not expect negative effects; in addition, the Ss were found to follow through on a high proportion of their choices and to judge their involvement as effective; only 3 Ss indicated experiencing any negative effects. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitude change and justification for compliance.

"This experiment has tentatively illustrated some of the processes involved in creating and reducing psychological dissonance and the implications of such dissonance for attitude change in compliance situations. It was hypothesized that increased justification for taking an opinion position discrepant from one's private opinion would lead to decreased dissonance and therefore decreased attitude change toward the discrepant position. Ss were asked to write an essay taking a stand opposite to their initial opinion on a given issue. One group of Ss was then given a number of reasons for compliance with the request (high justification condition). For another group (low justification condition) Ss were given no detailed justification for writing the essay. Attitude change was determined from a postexperimental questionnaire… . Attitude change tended to be greater where manipulated (and perceived) justification was least." From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:1GD76C. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ribozymes. Their functions and strategies for their use

A 6-week acute phase of an international 1-year double-blind study was conducted comparing three dose ranges of olanzapine (5 +/- 2.5 mg/day, 10 +/- 2.5 mg/day, and 15 +/- 2.5 mg/day) with a fixed dose of olanzapine (1.0 mg/day) and with a dose range of haloperidol (15 +/- 5 mg/day) in the treatment of 431 patients with schizophrenia. The purpose was to determine whether olanzapine demonstrated a dose-related ability to decrease overall psychopathology with minimal associated extrapyramidal symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. The high-dose olanzapine group showed statistically significantly greater improvement in overall psychopathology based on mean change in the CGI Severity score and statistically significantly greater improvement in positive psychotic symptoms based on mean change in both the BPRS positive score and the PANSS positive score compared with the 1.0-mg/day olanzapine group. Analyses indicated that an increasing dose-response curve was observed across the range of all olanzapine dose groups. Acute extrapyramidal syndromes were reported less frequently among all olanzapine groups compared with the haloperidol group. Endpoint mean change on both the Simpson-Angus Scale and the Barnes Akathisia Scale reflected improvement for all olanzapine treatment groups compared with worsening for the haloperidol group. Olanzapine was associated with weight gain but did not appear to have any clinically meaningful effect on vital signs. Although olanzapine was associated with some increase in prolactin concentrations, increases were transient, occurred less often, and were of lesser magnitude than those observed with haloperidol.     

Parents' informed consent decisions regarding psychotherapy for their children: Consideration of therapeutic risks and benefits.

Explores parents' use of informed consent information through an analog procedure in which parents were asked to make decisions regarding treatment. Three informed consent conditions with varying therapy risk and benefit information, and 2 case studies with different levels of child problem severity, were used. The effects of other variables, such as attitudes toward treatment and previous therapy experience, were also explored. Although the therapy risk and benefit information did not appear to influence the parents' decisions about entering treatment, child problem severity and parent attitude toward treatment were both positively associated with the likelihood of seeking treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Judging the credibility of historic child sexual abuse complainants: How judges describe their decisions.

Criminal prosecutions of child sexual abuse alleged to have occurred in the distant past raise myriad challenges. One significant challenge involves assessing the credibility of complainants. In the present study, 51 bench trials involving 87 complainants were coded into categories related to complainants’ memory for the offense, as well as credibility of the complainant, reliability of the evidence, and judicial inferences. A total of 4,827 judicial comments were identified and categorized. Judges were more likely to describe the allegations specifically than generally; however, they were sensitive to the predictably impoverished nature of memory after such a long delay. Consistent with psychological evidence, there were more judicial comments about inconsistencies in acquit cases than in convict cases and more comments about corroboration in convict than in acquit cases, although neither inconsistencies nor corroboration were strongly associated with verdict. Of some concern was the apparent and considerable judicial interest in complainants’ behavior and emotions around the time of the alleged abuse and around the time of disclosure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Linking workplace and homeplace: Relations between the nature of adults' work and their parenting behaviors.

A total of 188 employed mothers and fathers and their 5–7 yr-old child participated in a study of the relations between the nature of adults' work and their parenting attitudes and behaviors (a line of research influenced by both socialization and stress perspectives). In general, positive features of work (i.e., complexity of work with people, challenge, and stimulation) tended to be associated with both self-report and observational measures of developmentally sound parenting (e.g., less harsh discipline, more warmth and responsiveness). Interaction effects indicated that gender of parent and child further condition these relations. Analyses partially support the interpretation that conditions of work influence parenting through their effect on mood but also suggest that certain conditions of work may directly socialize behavior in the parental role (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hope: Its nature and measurement.

Hope is a powerful emotion that has been largely neglected by the social sciences. In this paper, we introduce a theory of hope drawn from multiple disciplines, including psychology, philosophy, theology, and medicine. Our integrative approach features four components: the attachment, mastery, and survival motives, as well as spiritual beliefs. In addition, we describe four different empirical analyses aimed at the development and refinement of a comprehensive set of scales for measuring state and trait hope. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group decisions.

Cites the example of decision making regarding the location of 118 overseas plants by US firms to show that decisions made by either a task force or the board of directors were rated as more effective than were those made by a single executive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Costs of Anxiety Disorders and their Treatment: A Commentary.

Comments on two review papers by Koerner et al (see record 2004-17185-001) and by Roberge et al (see record 2004-17185-002): one examining the economic burden of anxiety disorders, and the other the economic benefit of cognitive behaviour therapy for anxiety disorders. It is evident from both these papers that Canadian data on the direct and indirect costs of treating and not treating anxiety disorders are lacking and sorely needed. In addition to demonstrating the importance of addressing cost-related issues in Canadian mental health research, the authors of these papers present basic concepts of economic evaluation. They also identify the areas more in need of cost analysis and discuss the implications of the Canadian findings for health-care policy and research in Canada. Overall, the two articles have the potential of convincing Canadian psychologists to become more active in cost research and, thus, to contribute to advocacy efforts for better mental health services in Canada. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality measurement and employment decisions: Questions and answers.

The invisible college of psychologists who do research with measures of normal personality now largely agrees about the structure of personality; this group also agrees that competently developed personality measures are valid predictors of real world performance. Outside that college, however, there is still considerable skepticism regarding the meaning and validity of these measures. This article attempts to summarize the data needed to answer the most frequent questions about the use of personality measures in applied contexts. Our major conclusions are that (a) well-constructed measures of normal personality are valid predictors of performance in virtually all occupations, (b) they do not result in adverse impact for job applicants from minority groups, and (c) using well-developed personality measures for preemployment screening is a way to promote social justice and increase organizational productivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

System justification and the defense of committed relationship ideology.

A consequential ideology in Western society is the uncontested belief that a committed relationship is the most important adult relationship and that almost all people want to marry or seriously couple (DePaulo & Morris, 2005). In the present article, we investigated the extent to which the system justification motive may contribute to the adoption of this ideology. In Studies 1 and 2, we examined whether a heightened motive to maintain the status quo would increase defense of committed relationship values. In Study 3, we examined the reverse association, that is, whether a threat to committed relationship ideology would also affect sociopolitical system endorsement. As past research has found that the justification of political systems depends upon how much these systems are perceived as controlling, in Study 4 we tested whether the defense of the system of committed relationships would also increase when framed as controlling. Results from Studies 1–4 were consistent with our hypotheses, but only for men. In Study 5, using cross-cultural data, we sought to replicate these findings correlationally and probe for a cause of the gender effect. Results from more than 33,000 respondents indicated a relationship (for men) between defense of the sociopolitical system and defense of marriage in countries where the traditional advantages of men over women were most threatened. In Studies 6 and 7, we investigated when this gender difference disappears. Results revealed that when we measured (Study 6) or manipulated (Study 7) personal relationship identity rather than relationship ideology, effects also emerge for women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Empirical evaluation and justification of methodologies in psychological science.

The purpose of this article is to describe a relatively new movement in the history and philosophy of science, naturalism, a form of pragmatism emphasizing that methodological principles are empirical statements. Thus, methodological principles must be evaluated and justified on the same basis as other empirical statements. On this view, methodological statements may be less secure than the specific scientific theories to which they give rise. The authors examined the feasibility of a naturalistic approach to methodology using logical and historical analysis and by contrasting theories that predict new facts versus theories that explain already known facts. They provide examples of how differences over methodological issues in psychology and in science generally may be resolved using a naturalistic, or empirical, approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of justification in disputes with mother and sibling.

The development of children's use of justification in disputes with their mothers and siblings and its relation to the social and emotional context of family disputes were studied in a longitudinal study of 43 children observed at home at 18, 24, and 36 months. By 36 months, children used justifications in about one third of their disputes with both mother and sibling, chiefly in terms of their own feelings, but also in terms of social rules and the material consequences of actions. Children's emotional behavior and use of justification differed according to the topic of dispute: Anger and distress were most often expressed at 18 months, and justification at 36 months was most often given by children in disputes about rights and conventions. Mothers, too, were more likely to justify in disputes over rights, and there was a significant association between child and mother justification. The significance of emotional experience and of family discourse in the development of reasoning about social issues is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Discounting behavior and environmental decisions.

Discounting plays a major role in the life cycle of environmental and natural resource policies. Evaluating centuries-scale problems like climate change with standard discount rates yields results that many find ethically unacceptable. Paradoxes abound. Low discount rates are urged for determining the net benefits of climate change, while households fail to undertake energy conservation actions that have payback periods of only a few years. Efforts to uncover discount rates from revealed and stated preferences suggest that a variety of confounding factors may be simultaneously in play. Common property resources provide an example of how market failures can lead to behavior consistent with extreme discounting that can be addressed through effective policy. Finally, politicians who make ultimate policy decisions may have incentives to act in accordance with discount rates not socially optimal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)