Stress, race, and body weight.

Objective: Stress has been identified as a significant factor in health and in racial/ethnic health disparities. A potential mediator in these relationships is body weight. Design: Cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between stress, race, and body weight were examined in an ethnically diverse sample of overweight and obese women with Type 2 diabetes (n = 217) enrolled in a behavioral weight loss program. Main Outcome Measures: Stress (Perceived Stress Scale) was assessed at baseline only and body weight (body mass index) was assessed at baseline and 6 months. Results: Stress was not related to baseline body weight. With every 1 unit lower scored on the baseline stress measure, women lost 0.10 kg ± .04 more at 6 months (p     

Why was my major professor so busy? Establishing an academic career while pursuing applied work.

How do newly appointed academic psychologists with applied interests navigate the diverse and unique challenges of establishing themselves as academicians while pursuing clinical interests? Based on the experience of 4 new professionals, this article highlights the adjustments that must be made when making the transition from trainee to professional, the challenges encountered as a new faculty member, and the pursuit of applied interests as a junior faculty member. Strategies for avoiding the pitfalls that one may encounter when attempting to combine academic with applied interests are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pathways from child sexual abuse to adult depression: The role of parental socialization of emotions and alexithymia.

Objective: Depression is common among adult survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA), but the intervening processes responsible for this outcome have not yet been fully delineated. The present study investigated the mediating role of perceived parental emotion socialization and alexithymia (difficulties identifying and describing feelings) in explaining the link between CSA and adult depressive symptoms in female veterans. Method: Cross-sectional data were collected from 110 female veterans who completed self-report questionnaires measuring demographics, sexual victimization history, perceived parental emotion socialization, and current symptoms of alexithymia and depression. Results: Linear regression analyses showed that CSA predicted greater depression, which was partly accounted for by alexithymia. Less positive socialization practices by both parents fully mediated the relationship between CSA and alexithymia. When these factors were examined together in a path model, greater CSA severity predicted perceptions of fewer positive socialization practices by mothers, which, in turn, was associated with greater alexithymia and depression. Conclusions: Perceptions of early positive emotion socialization and current alexithymia may contribute to experience of depression among sexually victimized female veterans. Interventions aimed at targeting emotion regulation skills and perceptions associated with other salient childhood experiences such as emotion socialization by parents could help reduce adult depression among CSA survivors. Furthermore, encouraging positive parenting practices for caregivers of abused children could allay subsequent affective symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The path to licensure for academic psychologists: How tough is the road?

What obstacles are faced by academic psychologists seeking professional licensure? Data presented here from all U.S. jurisdictions suggests that licensure requirements vary greatly across states and in some areas may be quite difficult to fulfill within the context of an academic position. Results of a survey of training directors of clinical and counseling doctoral programs accredited by the American Psychological Association indicated that, although licensure is expected of most faculty, a number of challenges may impede this goal. Programmatic efforts to facilitate licensure of new faculty, as well as implications of our findings, possible remedies, and recommendations to new faculty, are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child maltreatment history among newlywed couples: A longitudinal study of marital outcomes and mediating pathways.

Participants included 202 newlywed couples who reported retrospectively about child maltreatment experiences (sexual abuse, physical abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect) and whose marital functioning was assessed 3 times over a 2-year period. Decreased marital satisfaction at T1 was predicted by childhood physical abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect for husbands; only neglect predicted lower satisfaction for wives. Increased maltreatment of various types was also related to T1 difficulties with marital trust and partner aggression. Dyadic growth curve analyses showed that the marital difficulties reported at T1 tended to remain over the course of the study. Further, in several instances, maltreatment exerted an increasingly detrimental influence on marital functioning over time, particularly for husbands. Examination of possible mediators between maltreatment and reductions in marital satisfaction revealed pathways through decreased sexual activity, increased psychological aggression, and increased trauma symptoms reported by husbands. These findings suggest that clinicians should consider how an adult’s history of child maltreatment may contribute to current marital dysfunction. The authors also identify possible targets for intervention when working with this population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

To Google or not to Google: Graduate students' use of the Internet to access personal information about clients.

The emergence of Internet search and social media sites now permits therapists to obtain a plethora of personal information about their clients online. These behaviors raise a number of ethical issues related to client privacy, self-determination, and informed consent. The purpose of this study is to examine student therapists' opinions and behaviors in regard to the use these websites to search for information about their clients. A national sample of 854 psychology doctoral students was surveyed in regard to their online activities, attitudes, and frequency of searching for client information online. Results showed that Internet usage is pervasive in this group, with the majority reporting daily use of search engine or social networking sites. Most participants reported that searching for information about clients online using search engines (66.9%) or social networking websites (76.8%) was “always” or “usually” unacceptable. Nevertheless, 97.8% of participants reported searching for at least one client's information using search engines in the past year; 94.4% reported searching for client information on social networking websites. Overall, student therapists reported searching for 16.5% of clients seen in the past year, using either search engine or social networking sites. The ethical and training implications of these results are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

How should the effectiveness of the EPPP be judged?

We join Brian A. Sharpless and Jacques P. Barber (see record 2009-11890-004) in calling for strengthening the evidence base supporting the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP), particularly in the areas of criterion and predictive validity. Although 1 clear purpose of the EPPP is to assess core areas of knowledge, materials from the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards are less clear as to whether the EPPP is also intended to predict future performance as a psychologist. If the EPPP is expected to protect the public from poorly trained psychologists, then data supporting its use for that purpose are urgently needed. Sharpless and Barber offer suggestions for evaluating the EPPP against this criterion. Although a step in the right direction, these suggestions do not fully satisfy the need for predictive validation. Our greatest difference with Sharpless and Barber concerns their recommendation for abandoning generic licensing in favor of specialty exams tied to subfields. Segmenting licensure in this manner would deviate from the profession’s long-standing commitment to broad and general training and would necessarily be accompanied by an undesirably narrowed scope of practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)