Daily and Ethnic Discriminatory Experiences and Cognitive Control in Mexican-Origin Bilingual Language Brokers.

Few studies have considered bilingualism's impact on cognitive development within the sociolinguistic and cultural context of the immigrant communities where bilingualism is commonly practiced. In the United States, many Mexican-origin bilingual youth practice their bilingual skills by brokering (i.e., translating/interpreting between languages) for their immigrant parents who have low English proficiency. Meanwhile, these youth may also experience discrimination in their daily life. The present study focuses on Mexican-origin bilingual youth brokers (N=334) in order to examine how discriminatory experiences (i.e., daily and ethnic discrimination) and bilingual brokering experiences captured by profiles are related to cognitive control performance (i.e., attentional control and inhibition). We found no significant direct influence of either bilingual broker profiles or discriminatory experiences on cognitive control. However, the associations between discriminatory experiences and cognitive control performance depended upon brokering experiences. Specifically, greater discrimination was associated with lower cognitive control performance among moderate brokers (with moderate bilingual experiences), but the association was attenuated among efficacious brokers (with positive bilingual experiences). Findings highlight the need to consider the sociolinguistic heterogeneity of both discriminatory experiences and language use when investigating cognitive control performance in bilinguals.

"Not Now, I Am Too Stressed": Stress and Physical Intimacy in Early Marriage.

Stressful events can disrupt couples' emotional connection, yet prior research is mixed regarding whether stress also disrupts couples' physical intimacy. This study considered whether stress must reach a critical threshold before hindering couples' sexual activity and physical affection (i.e., a curvilinear association). Couples (N = 144 couples plus four additional wives) completed two 14-day daily diary tasks during the early years of marriage. Multilevel modeling revealed a within-person curvilinear association between daily stress and sexual activity. Contrary to expectations, the likelihood of sexual activity declined as stress increased from low to moderate, then leveled off as stress continued to increase. For physical affection, a linear effect emerged. On days of greater stress, women, but not men, reported less affection. Further analyses suggested that women's stress is more influential than men's stress for couple's physical intimacy. Findings highlight the nuanced ways in which stress is linked to a vital component of satisfying relationships.

Daily Experiences of Discrimination and Ethnic/Racial Minority Adolescents' Sleep: The Moderating Role of Social Support.

Using data from a 14-day diary study of 95 ethnic/racial minority adolescents, this study examined the within-person effect of daily discrimination tied to multiple social identities on adolescents' daily sleep quality and duration and whether daily support from important others (i.e., friends, parents, and teachers) would moderate these links. We found that daily discrimination was a low-frequency, but high-impact event associated with shorter sleep duration. Results pointed to the nuanced roles of daily support. Support from friends was negatively related to sleep duration, whereas support from parents appeared to be promotive to sleep quality. Support from teachers protected adolescents from the negative effects of discrimination on sleep duration. Implications for future interventions targeting sleep disturbances associated with discrimination are discussed.

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia as a dyadic protective factor in the transition to parenthood.

Considerable heterogeneity has been observed in couples' adjustment to the transition to parenthood (TTP). One potential yet understudied predictor of emotional adjustment to the TTP is the new parents' capacity for regulation. A widely accepted biological marker of this capacity is respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), which is closely tied to parasympathetic activation. In the present work, we sought to examine the role of tonic RSA and RSA reactivity as possible protective dyadic factors in the TTP. As part of a larger study, we recruited a sample (N = 100) of TTP couples. At 15 weeks postpartum, the couples took part in a lab session during which their RSA was assessed both at rest (tonic RSA) and during four affiliative dyadic interactions (RSA reactivity). Following this session, couples completed daily diaries over a period of 3 weeks, reporting their daily levels of negative affect and stress. A Multivariate Actor Partner Interdependence Model was used to examine the extent to which each partner's RSA predicted their own and their partner's negative affect (NA) level, as well as NA stress-reactivity (i.e., the strength of the within-person stress-affect association). New mothers' tonic RSA predicted their own lower NA level and NA stress-reactivity; both their tonic RSA and RSA reactivity predicted their (male) partners' lower NA level; and finally, new fathers' tonic RSA and RSA reactivity predicted their (female) partners' lower NA stress-reactivity. These results suggest that RSA may serve as a personal and dyadic protective factor.

Friendships in Old Age: Daily Encounters and Emotional Well-Being.

OBJECTIVES: Having friends in old age is linked to higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction. Yet, we know little about older adults' emotional experiences when they encounter friends throughout the day. This study examined whether older adults reported (a) more pleasantness, (b) fewer conversations about stressful experiences, and (c) better mood when they had contact with friends compared to when they had contact with other social partners or were alone throughout the day. We also examined whether these experiences varied by the friendship closeness. METHOD: Adults aged 65+ (n = 313) from the Daily Experiences and Well-being Study provided background information and listed and described their close social partners. Participants then completed ecological momentary assessment (EMA) surveys every 3 hr for 5 to 6 days where they reported their encounters with social partners, rated the pleasantness and indicated whether they discussed stressful issues during these encounters, and rated positive and negative mood. RESULTS: Multilevel models revealed that encounters with friends were more pleasant and were associated with fewer discussions about stressful experiences compared to encounters with romantic partners or family members throughout the day. Encounters with friends were also associated with better mood, though this link only held for encounters with friends who were not considered close. DISCUSSION: Findings are discussed in terms of functionalist theory, socioemotional selectivity theory, relationship ambivalence, and the benefits of less close ties. This work facilitates the understanding of how daily contact with friends can promote older adults' emotional well-being.

Mom-and-Pop Narcissism: The Impact of Attention Seeking and Grandiosity on Couples' Experience of the Transition to Parenthood.

Various studies have demonstrated associations between personality disorders and relationship satisfaction. The authors examine the associations between attention seeking and grandiosity, both features of narcissistic personality disorder, and relationship satisfaction before and after the transition to parenthood. The authors then expand their analysis to parental satisfaction and postpartum depression (PPD). Nonclinical couples (N = 103 couples) expecting their first child completed measures of grandiosity, attention seeking, and relationship satisfaction before birth, and of relationship satisfaction, parental satisfaction, and PPD symptoms 3 months afterward. Attention seeking was associated with less parental satisfaction and more PPD symptoms, and with less prepartum relationship satisfaction for participants' partners. For men, attention seeking was also associated with prepartum relationship satisfaction. Grandiosity was associated with a decrease in relationship satisfaction after birth, although, surprisingly with fewer PPD symptoms for participants' partners. The authors discuss how these findings might be related to changes in social support and work-life balance during the transition to parenthood.

Fast and Slow Empathic Perceptions in Couples' Daily Lives Use Different Cues.

Empathic accuracy, the ability to infer another person's emotions, thoughts, and other fleeting mental states, has been linked to assumed similarity (wherein the perceiver assumes that another person's mental states are similar to their own) and direct accuracy (wherein the perceiver uses various external cues to reach their judgment). Previous research has linked this component model, as well as dual process models, to neuroscientific models of empathy, but has not linked these components with dual process accounts directly. Thus, we examined whether assumed similarity involves rapid (type-1) processing while direct accuracy involves slower (type-2) inferences. In three dyadic daily diary samples (total N = 262 romantic couples), we examined associations between both components and response times. As expected, direct accuracy, but not assumed similarity, was associated with slower response times. Our findings suggest links between previously disparate lines of research and identify situations which may tip the balance between the empathic components.

Reciprocal support and daily perceived control: Developing a better understanding of daily support transactions across a major life transition.

A paradox of social support has been well documented: believing that support is available and perceiving high levels of it has well-established mental health benefits, but the actual receipt of support is often found to be ineffective and even detrimental (see Gleason & Iida, 2015). Researchers have suggested that support receipt may be associated with negative mood because it is linked with a lack of self-efficacy or perceived control (Bolger & Amarel, 2007). Research on daily support transactions found that reciprocal emotional support exchanges counteracted the negative effects associated with support receipt, but there was significant variation between individuals in their reactions to support exchanges suggesting that a potential moderating variable of the support pattern exists. Using a daily diary study of 78 couples approaching a shared stressor, the transition to parenthood, associations between control, self- and partner-reported support, and mood were investigated. Couples were asked to complete three weeks of daily diaries at three different time points. Previous support pattern effects on mood were replicated for partners, but whereas reciprocity was beneficial for mothers, support receipt alone was not negative. Perceived control was found to be a moderator of this process such that the greater an individual's sense of perceived control, the more one is buffered from any negative effects of support transactions. Exploratory analyses also suggest that overall patterns of supportive reciprocity influence marital satisfaction across the transition to parenthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Acute salivary cortisol response among Mexican American adolescents in immigrant families.

OBJECTIVES: Though previous research has indicated that language brokering can be stressful, the findings are mixed, pointing to potential moderators of the association. Guided by an ecological perspective, we examined the role of individual, family, and environmental factors in Mexican American adolescents' acute cortisol responses to language brokering. METHOD: The study consisted of 46 Mexican American adolescents recruited around a metropolitan city in Central Texas. Participants translated a difficult medical document from English to Spanish for their parents, followed by an arithmetic task (modeled after the Trier Social Stress Test [TSST]). Participants' perceptions (perceived efficacy and parental dependence), parental hostility, and discrimination experiences were assessed via self-report and were examined as moderators of adolescents' responses to the task. RESULTS: Results revealed differential responses to the task based on individual, family, and environmental factors. High efficacy and low dependence-parental hostility-discrimination related to stress responses characterized by low baselines, steeper reactivity, and faster recovery. Low efficacy and high dependence related to greater baseline stress and a slower recovery. High levels of parental hostility related to a slower recovery. High levels of discrimination related to greater baseline stress. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrates that the modified TSST task can elicit an acute hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response, but the nature of this response is dependent upon participants' perceptions of language brokering (parental dependence and efficacy), parental hostility, and discrimination experiences. Adolescents' individual characteristics and contextual demands remain important considerations in understanding their acute stress responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Initial elevation bias in subjective reports.

People's reports of their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are used in many fields of biomedical and social science. When these states have been studied over time, researchers have often observed an unpredicted and puzzling decrease with repeated assessment. When noted, this pattern has been called an "attenuation effect," suggesting that the effect is due to bias in later reports. However, the pattern could also be consistent with an initial elevation bias. We present systematic, experimental investigations of this effect in four field studies (study 1: n = 870; study 2: n = 246; study 3: n = 870; study 4: n = 141). Findings show clear support for an initial elevation bias rather than a later decline. This bias is larger for reports of internal states than for behaviors and for negative mental states and physical symptoms than for positive states. We encourage increased awareness and investigation of this initial elevation bias in all research using subjective reports.

The Influence of Daily Coping on Anxiety Under Examination Stress: A Model of Interindividual Differences in Intraindividual Change.

Although much is known about people's attempts to cope with stressors, unmeasured heterogeneity in these stressors has made it difficult to assess the effectiveness of coping attempts. We remedied this problem by focusing on coping effectiveness in people preparing for a major, planned, uniform stressor, the Bar Examination. Within-person analyses of longitudinal data on anxiety in 321 persons over 35 days provided evidence on (a) coping effectiveness for the typical person, (b) how effectiveness changed across time, and (c) the extent to which individuals differed in their effectiveness. For the typical person, active coping and positive reinterpretation on one day were associated with reduced anxiety the next morning, whereas practical support seeking, venting, and mental disengagement were associated with increased anxiety. The effectiveness of planning, acceptance, and disengagement varied as a function of time to the stressful event. Finally, there were large individual differences in coping effectiveness across the sample.

The role of emotional capital during the early years of marriage: Why everyday moments matter.

Throughout a marriage couples will share countless ordinary moments together that may seem trivial, but which actually have potential to affirm and strengthen relational bonds. According to theories of emotional capital, the accumulation of shared positive moments in a relationship should serve as an essential resource for protecting the relationship against threats. To date, however, few empirical studies have explored the role emotional capital may play in shaping responses to negative relationship experiences. In the current study, newly married couples completed 3 14-day daily diary tasks assessing emotional capital, negative partner behaviors, and marital satisfaction over a 3-year period, for a total of 42 potential days of diary data. Contrary to predictions, emotional capital on a given day was not associated with reactivity to relationship threats on the following day. However, conceptually replicating prior work, individuals who accumulated more emotional capital on average across the diary tasks did exhibit lower reactivity to daily relationship threats; that is, on days of greater relationship threat (i.e., negative partner behaviors), those spouses who generally accrued more shared positive moments with their partner maintained greater feelings of marital satisfaction compared with spouses who accrued fewer positive moments. These findings contribute to a growing literature illustrating how positive shared activities between partners help sustain relationship quality over time. (PsycINFO Database Record

Prevalence of Personality Disorders at Midlife in a Community Sample: Disorders and Symptoms Reflected in Interview, Self, and Informant Reports.

This report is concerned with the prevalence of symptoms of specific personality disorders in a representative community sample and draws attention to the importance of different sources of diagnostic information. We recruited a sample of 1,630 people between the ages of 55 and 64 to participate in a study regarding personality and health. Using careful recruitment methods, our participation rate was 43 %. Participants completed the SIDP-IV interview as well as a questionnaire (self-report MAPP). Informants completed the same questionnaire (informant MAPP), describing the participant's maladaptive personality characteristics. According to the diagnostic interview, 7 % of participants met criteria for exactly one PD, 1 % met criteria for 2 or 3 PDs, and 2 % met criteria for PD NOS (defined as 10 or more miscellaneous criteria). Avoidant and obsessive compulsive PDs were the most common types. Correlations between the three sources of information indicated significant agreement among these measurement methods, but they are not redundant. In comparison to interview and self-report data, informants reported more symptoms of personality pathology (except for avoidant PD). Symptoms of personality pathology are continuously distributed, and subthreshold features may have an important impact on health and social adjustment. In this community sample, rates of co-morbidity among PDs and the proportion of PDNOS diagnoses are substantially lower than reported from clinical samples. Future research must evaluate the validity of diagnostic thresholds and competing sources of diagnostic information in relation to important life outcomes.

The role of locus of control in daily life.

Conceived of as a stable trait, locus of control has been linked with psychological and physical health outcomes. We investigated whether locus of control operates as a state variable, whether variation in daily locus of control is associated with anxiety and stressful events, and whether it predicts daily health behaviors and symptoms. Using a daily diary study of pregnant couples, we found daily variation in locus of control was predicted by daily hassles and anxiety such that high same-day and previous-day anxiety and hassles were associated with reports of lower levels of control. Furthermore, daily locus of control was positively associated with positive health behaviors and predicted negative health symptoms. These results provide evidence for a social learning perspective on the development and maintenance of individuals' sense of control and suggest that locus of control should be considered both a state- and trait-level construct in future research.

The enduring impact of maladaptive personality traits on relationship quality and health in later life.

Over the past 5 years, the St. Louis Personality and Aging Network (SPAN) has been collecting data on personality in later life with an emphasis on maladaptive personality, social integration, and health outcomes in a representative sample of 1,630 adults aged 55-64 living in the St. Louis area. This program has confirmed the importance of considering both the normal range of personality and in particular the role of maladaptive traits in order to understand individuals' relationships, life events, and health outcomes. In the current article, we discuss the explanatory benefits of considering maladaptive traits or traits associated with personality disorders when discussing the role of personality in social and health outcomes, with an emphasis on adults in middle to later life, and integrate these findings into the greater literature.

Symptoms of borderline personality disorder predict interpersonal (but not independent) stressful life events in a community sample of older adults.

Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) often experience stressful life events at a higher frequency than those without BPD. It is less clear what specific types of events are involved in this effect, and it has not been determined whether some features of BPD are more important than others in accounting for this effect. The latter issue is important in light of the heterogeneous nature of this diagnostic construct. These issues were examined in a large, representative community sample of men and women, ages 55-64. Ten Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev., DSM-IV-TR, Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 2000) personality disorders were assessed at baseline using the Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality: SIDP-IV (B. Pfohl, N. Blum, & M. Zimmerman, 1997, Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Press). Life events were measured at three sequential assessments following baseline at 6-month (N = 1,294), 12-month (N = 1,070), and 18-month (N = 837) follow-ups. Stressful life events were identified using a self-report questionnaire (LTE-Q; List of Threatening Experiences Questionnaire: A subset of prescribed life events with considerable long-term contextual threat by T. Brugha, C. Bebbington, P. Tennant, and J. Hurry, 1985, Psychological Medicine, Vol. 15, pp. 189-194.) followed by a telephone interview. Only borderline personality pathology was related to an increase in the frequency of interpersonal stressful life events. Three specific symptoms of BPD were largely responsible for this connection: unstable interpersonal relationships, impulsivity, and chronic feelings of emptiness (negative association). Symptoms of avoidant and schizoid personality disorders were associated with a reduced number of stressful life events that are considered to be outside a person's control (e.g., serious illness, injury, or death of a loved one). None of the personality disorders predicted an increase in the number of stressful financial events (e.g., major financial crisis). These findings suggest that, as individuals approach later life, certain features of BPD continue to serve as important risk factors for stressful life events of an interpersonal nature.

Borderline but not antisocial personality disorder symptoms are related to self-reported partner aggression in late middle-age.

We examined the relationship between personality pathology and the frequency of self-reported psychological and physical partner aggression in a community sample of 872 adults aged 55-64. Previous research suggests that antisocial and borderline personality disorder (PD) symptoms are associated with partner aggression. Controlling for gender, education, alcohol dependence, and other personality pathology, we found that borderline PD symptoms, which include abandonment fears, unstable identity, and affective instability, were significantly related to the frequency of self-reported aggression toward one's partner. This relationship was observed regardless of whether the participant's personality was described by a clinical interviewer, the participant themselves, or an informant chosen by the participant. Further, the relationship between borderline PD symptoms and self-reported partner aggression was moderated by gender such that women were driving the association. Conversely, antisocial PD symptoms, which include deceitfulness, irresponsibility, disregard for rules, and lack of remorse did not significantly account for variance in self-reported partner aggression.

Physicians' Use of Patients' Daily Reports of Quality of Life to Evaluate Treatment Response in Phase I Cancer Trials.

For cancer patients on Phase I trials, one of the most important physician decisions is whether or not patients are deriving benefit from therapy. With an increasing number of cytostatic treatment agents, the criteria to determine patient response to Phase I treatment has become harder to define. Physicians are increasingly looking to patient-reported outcomes (PROs) such as quality of life (QOL) to help evaluate treatment response. Electronic daily diary (EDD) devices can be used by patients to report their QOL over extended periods of time, thereby providing a more accurate picture of how patients are affected by treatment on a daily basis. However, questions remain about how to integrate this patient-reported information into decisions about Phase I treatment. This study investigated how physicians use patients' daily QOL reports to evaluate patient response to Phase I treatment. Data were collected over a 4-month period from Phase I patients (N = 30) and physicians (N = 3) in an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center. Patients completed daily QOL reports using EDD devices and physicians were provided with a summary of patients' QOL before each visit. After the visit, doctors recorded their treatment decision and also rated the importance of four biomedical factors (Toxicity, Imaging, Labs, and Performance Status) and QOL in their treatment decision for that visit. Although physicians rated QOL as being very important in evaluating treatment response, in practice, when predictors of their decisions were analyzed, results showed they relied exclusively on biomedical data (Toxicity, Imaging) to make Phase I treatment decisions. Questions remain about the utility and effective integration of QOL and biomedical data in clinical decision-making processes in Phase I clinical trials.

The enduring impact of borderline personality pathology: risk for threatening life events in later middle-age.

Both neuroticism and borderline personality disorder (BPD) are associated with increased frequency of stressful life events in young adults. It is not clear, however, whether this effect extends to later life because BPD is apparently diminished in frequency and severity when people reach middle adulthood. This issue was examined in a representative, community sample of men and women between the ages of 55 and 64 (N = 1,234). Ten DSM-IV PDs and neuroticism were assessed at baseline using a semistructured interview (SIDP-IV) and questionnaire (NEO-PI-R). Life events were measured 6 months later with a self-report questionnaire (LTE-Q) followed by a telephone interview. BPD features and neuroticism predicted increased frequency of life events, based on both self and interviewer-adjusted reports of negative life events. Avoidant and paranoid PD features predicted decreased frequency of negative life events. Approximately 42% of events reported on the LTE-Q were discounted following the telephone interview; higher scores on BPD symptoms were associated with more adjustments to self-report of threatening experiences. These findings indicate that symptoms of BPD and neuroticism continue to have a harmful impact on the lives of older adults.

Variation in question asking during cancer clinical interactions: a potential source of disparities in access to information.

OBJECTIVE: to investigate whether patient demographic characteristics and patients' companions influence variation in patient question asking during cancer clinical interactions, thus representing a potential disparity in access to information. METHODS: data included 109 oncologist-patient-companion interactions video recorded at a comprehensive cancer center. Interactions were observed and analyzed using the Karmanos Information Seeking Analysis System (K-ISAS). RESULTS: significant relationships were found between patient race/ethnicity and question asking. Black patients asked fewer questions and a smaller proportion of direct questions (relative to the total frequency of questions) than White patients. Black patients were also less likely to have companions present during the interaction, which resulted in fewer questions asked on Black patients' behalf. CONCLUSION: differences in question asking by Black and White patients suggest that Black patients may receive less information from their oncologists than White patients. PRACTICE/RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS: patients should be encouraged to ask more questions and more direct questions and to bring a companion to the interaction to assist them in gaining information from their physician. Future research is needed to investigate ways to eliminate this potential source of disparities in access to information.