Revisiting the Worksite in Worksite Health Campaigns: Evidence From a Multisite Organ Donation Campaign

This article advances the beginnings of a general theory of organizational features to aid in understanding why health campaigns that work well in one organization may be ineffectual in another organization. The physical, social, and information structures of organizations are theorized to create an interaction environment that is distinct to each organization and that influences health campaigns. To test this argument, an organ donation campaign was conducted in 46 organizations. Multilevel modeling yielded mixed findings. Physical structure was negatively associated with signing an organ donor card. Social structure and information structure were positively associated with communication with coworkers about donation and communicative peer influence. Industry type was positively associated with knowledge change.     

Alternative modeling framework for pervious concrete pavement condition analysis

Pervious concrete pavement (PCP) is listed as one of the best stormwater management practices by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) due to its capacity to reduce impervious areas, capability to improve water quality, reduce runoff quantity, eliminate the need for detention basins, protect downstream channels, and reduce flooding (save lives and properties). Moreover, it is designated a “Green Asset” since it allows stormwater to seep through pavement to recharge ground water level. PCP may potentially improve skid resistance, reduce noise, decrease heat, and reduce water contamination. However, since PCP must have adequate permeability (porous structure), it can potentially be susceptible to freeze–thaw damage particularly in cold climates. To deploy the PCP in a transportation network, its performance should be thoroughly evaluated. For this purpose, the condition of PCP has to be defined and determined over time. Since PCP has not been widely investigated in cold climates such as Canada, no condition indices have been defined for it. This paper proposes a combined condition index for PCP to ensure that it will perform adequately over time. To develop a combined condition index, both a panel rating approach and objective measurements are employed to assess surface distresses and permeability rates of specific PCP sections. The panel rating method is applied due to the lack of long-term performance data to evaluate PCP sections’ conditions with regards to surface distress (e.g., raveling, spalling, and cracking) and functional performance (i.e., permeability rate). The objective measurements of surface distress and permeability rate (functional performance) of the same PCP sections are performed through the application of the adjusted Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) protocol and a permeameter, respectively. Regression analysis is used to relate surface objective measurements to the surface panel rating. As a result of statistical analyses, the panel rating method is successfully applied only in surface distress rating. Accordingly, a combined condition index is developed using surface distress ratings and objective functional performance measures.     

Maternal depression and the heart of parenting: Respiratory sinus arrhythmia and affective dynamics during parent–adolescent interactions.

Maternal depression is associated with problematic parenting and the development of emotional and behavior problems in children and adolescents. While emotional regulatory abilities are likely to influence emotional exchanges between parents and teens, surprisingly little is known about the role of emotion regulation during parent–child interactions, particularly in high-risk families. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) has been widely linked to emotion regulatory abilities in recent research, and the current study investigated RSA and maternal depression in relation to dyadic flexibility, as well as mutuality of negative and positive affect displayed during three discussion tasks between 59 mother–adolescent pairs (age 11–17 years). Dyadic flexibility was predicted by the interaction of maternal depression, maternal RSA, and teen RSA, with higher maternal RSA predicting greater dyadic flexibility, particularly in highest risk dyads (i.e., elevated maternal depression and lower teen RSA). Teen RSA interacted with maternal depression to predict mutual negative affect, serving as a protective factor. Finally, maternal and teen RSA interacted to predict mutual positive affect, with maternal RSA buffering against low teen RSA to predict higher mutual positive affect. Results support the role of RSA in affectively laden interactions between parents and adolescents, particularly in the face of maternal depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal spillover effects of conflict resolution styles between adolescent-parent relationships and adolescent friendships.

This study longitudinally investigated spillover effects of conflict resolution styles in adolescent-parent relationships and adolescent friendships. Questionnaires about conflict resolution styles with parents and best friends were completed by adolescents from two age cohorts: 559 early adolescents (mean age 13.4) and 327 middle adolescents (mean age 17.7). Path analyses on two waves, with a three-year interval, indicated that in the early-to-middle adolescent group positive problem solving and conflict engagement spilled over from adolescent-parent relationships to adolescent friendships and not from adolescent friendships to adolescent-parent relationships. In the middle-to-late adolescent group, we found bidirectional spillover effects for these two conflict resolution styles. For withdrawal, we found bidirectional spillover effects in both cohorts. This study showed that both parents and friends set the stage for exercising and learning conflict resolution styles and thereby shape adolescents' future conflict behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Glossopharyngeal nerve transection impairs unconditioned avoidance of diverse bitter stimuli in rats.

There is growing evidence of heterogeneity among responses to bitter stimuli at the peripheral, central and behavioral levels. For instance, the glossopharyngeal (GL) nerve and neurons receiving its projections are more responsive to bitter stimuli than the chorda tympani (CT) nerve, and this is particularly true for some bitter stimuli like PROP & cycloheximide that stimulate the GL to a far greater extent. Given this information, we hypothesized that cutting the GL would have a greater effect on behavioral avoidance of cycloheximide and PROP than quinine and denatonium, which also stimulate the CT, albeit to a lesser degree than salts and acids. Forty male SD rats were divided into four surgery groups: bilateral GL transection (GLX), chorda tympani transection (CTX), SHAM surgery, and combined transection (CTX + GLX). Postsurgical avoidance functions were generated for the four bitter stimuli using a brief-access test. GLX significantly compromised avoidance compared to both CTX and SHAM groups for all stimuli (p     

Bidirectional links and concurrent development of parent-child relationships and boys' offending behavior.

This study examined different types of longitudinal associations (i.e., directional links and overlapping developmental changes) between children's delinquency and the quality of parent–child relationships from middle childhood to late adolescence. We used 10-wave interview data of 503 boys, their primary caregivers, and their teachers. Our first aim was to unravel the direction of effects between parent–child relationships and children's offending. Cross-lagged panel models revealed bidirectional links over time between poorer quality parent–child relationships and boys' offending across late childhood (age 7–10), early adolescence (age 10–13) and middle adolescence (age 13–16). Second, we examined the associations between mean changes in delinquency, on the one hand, and mean changes in relationship quality, on the other hand. Although parent–child relationships improved during childhood, their quality decreased in early adolescence and remained stable in middle adolescence. Delinquency increased only in middle adolescence. In five out of six models, the slope factors of relationship quality and offending were strongly correlated, indicating that stronger increases in delinquency were associated with stronger decreases in parent–child relationship quality across childhood, early adolescence, and middle adolescence. The discussion focuses on the theoretical implications of these two types of longitudinal associations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

To use or not to use: Clinicians' perceptions of telemental health.

Equal access to mental health services is necessary for healthy individuals and communities. However, due to geographical distances and other barriers, some clients cannot easily access mental health professionals. Technologies such as videoconferencing for clinical purposes (i.e., telemental health) may help to bridge these gaps to connect clients and clinicians at geographically diverse locations. However, despite its potential utility, telemental health has not been widely adopted in Canada. This study is an exploratory investigation into mental health professionals' attitudes toward telemental health, factors that affect the frequency with which they use this technology, and their perceptions of individual characteristics that make clients more or less suitable candidates for telemental health. This study has a particular focus on remote and rural and Operational Stress Injury (OSI) contexts. One hundred sixty mental health workers across Canada participated in an online survey, and 25 mental health workers from Operational Stress Injury clinics across Canada participated in in-person interviews. The data were examined using qualitative and quantitative analysis methods. Findings suggest that mental health workers have overall positive attitudes toward the use of telemental health—particularly for clients in remote and rural locations. Additionally, receiving training in telemental health, being in the mental health field for longer, and perceiving the technology as easy to use are associated with more frequent use of telemental health. Finally, clinicians reported specific client characteristics that they perceive to make some clients unsuitable candidates for telemental health. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The history of broad and general education in scientific psychology: The foundation for professional psychology education and training.

The article provides the historical roots and rationale for providing professional psychologists with knowledge of the underpinnings in core scientific areas of psychology with two goals–knowledge of those scientific areas themselves and as the basis for further understanding the integration of science and practice to improve professional service delivery. This article discusses the early roots of the applied areas within psychology and the changes in curricular expectations in accreditation to the current provisions for the accreditation of doctoral programs in professional psychology. After the historical introduction, the article discusses the current use of the concept of broad and general training as the basis for current practice in accreditation of programs in professional psychology and for the practice as a licensed psychologist. Finally, the article provides some initial discussion of the different perspectives in the rest of the section regarding how best to provide students with appropriate knowledge for competence in scientific underpinnings of professional psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)