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Why Some Soldiers Develop PTSD While Others Don’t
Pre-war vulnerability is just as important as combat-related trauma in predicting whether veterans’ symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will be long-lasting, according to new research published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Researcher Bruce Dohrenwend and colleagues at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health and the New York State Psychiatric Institute found that traumatic experiences during combat predicted the onset of the full complement of symptoms, known as the PTSD “syndrome,” in Vietnam veterans.
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Being Stoic for the Spouse’s Sake Comes at a High Cost
Among life’s many tragedies, the death of a child is one that is perhaps the greatest for parents. No matter what the age of the child or the cause of death, the irrefutable fact of the loss is one that shatters the normal cycle of life, leaving parents traumatized and often incapacitated by grief. Research on coping with bereavement has focused primarily on the individual, despite the fact that family and married relationships are all profoundly disrupted by the loss. But in the wealth of studies about parental grief, little attention has been paid to precisely how couples relate to each other as they struggle to come to terms with the death of a child.
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Powerful People Are Looking Out For Their Future Selves
Psychological research suggests that people who feel powerful are more likely to save money, in part because they feel a stronger connection with their future selves.
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Infants in Poverty Show Different Physiological Vulnerabilities to the Caregiving Environment
Some infants raised in poverty exhibit physical traits that make them more vulnerable to poor caregiving, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The combination of physiological vulnerability and poor caregiving may lead these children to show increased problem behaviors later in childhood. For infants growing up in poverty, the ability to adapt and regulate -- both biologically and behaviorally -- in response to various environmental pressures seems to be critical for successful development.
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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science. Within-Cohort Age-Related Differences in Cognitive Functioning Timothy A. Salthouse People born within the same range of birth years are often categorized as belonging to the same birth cohort. Age-related differences in cognitive functioning are assumed to be partly determined by generational influences associated with cohort membership. Individuals ranging in age from 18 to 97, born between 1907 and 1989 were assessed for five different cognitive abilities.
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Self-Objectification May Inhibit Women’s Social Activism
Women who live in a culture in which they are objectified by others may in turn begin to objectify themselves. This kind of self-objectification may reduce women’s involvement in social activism, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Psychological scientist Rachel Calogero of the University of Kent, Canterbury hypothesized that women who self-objectify -- valuing their appearance over their competence -- would show less motivation to challenge the gender status quo, ultimately reducing their participation in social action.