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Objective: This proof-of-concept study was conducted to establish the feasibility of compiling Federal Interagency Traumatic Brain Injury Research (FITBIR) data pertaining to depression and suicide risk, with the secondary goal of improving understanding regarding these outcomes. FITBIR is a national repository of participant-level traumatic brain injury (TBI) data designed to address methodological limitations (e.g., small sample size, heterogeneity of injuries). Method: FITBIR studies with TBI severity and measures related to depression and suicidal ideation were identified. Data were harmonized across relevant studies and grouped to identify "probable depression" and suicidal ideation, resulting in a large, combined sample. Rates of probable depression and suicidal ideation were described across the available studies, considering the influence of demographic and/or injury-related factors on outcomes. Results: Cross-sectional studies meeting criteria included four studies with depression outcomes and two with suicidal ideation outcomes. Two studies reported data appropriate for comparative analyses on depression. Combined results suggested that approximately 71% of participants were categorized as having probable depression. Participants with a history of mild TBI had 2.54 greater odds of probable depression (95% confidence interval [1.93, 3.34]) than those without a history of TBI. Conclusions: Methods, harmonization code, and meta-databases related to TBI, probable depression, and suicidal ideation are now publicly available on the FITBIR website. Even with limited data, harmonization of FITBIR studies can serve as the basis for ongoing TBI and mental health research. Analyses will be more robust in the future as more studies with relevant outcome data are added to the FITBIR database. Impact and Implications: This study demonstrates the feasibility of harmonizing participant-level data from Federal Interagency Traumatic Brain Injury Research (FITBIR) into a single meta-database. Participants with mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) had greater odds of meeting criteria for probable depression than those without TBI. Methodological products including harmonization and data-analysis code and the TBI depression meta-data set have been made publicly available through the FITIBIR website. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Many young adults who are unemployed and not in school need support achieving employment goals. Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is an evidence-based employment practice for adults with serious mental illness, but its applicability to young adults with mental health conditions has not been well-researched. The present study prospectively assessed IPS effectiveness in a national sample of young adults enrolled in routine practice settings in the U.S. public mental health system. Method: Nine community agencies in five states participated in a 1-year follow-up study of young adults (aged 16−24) enrolled in IPS services. The study examined three outcomes: retention in services, employment, and education. State fidelity reviewers examined IPS fidelity using a new fidelity scale, the IPS-Y. Results: In a sample of 111 participants, the mean age was 19.2, 72 (64.9%) had never worked, and 76 (68.5%) had a diagnosis of depressive and/or anxiety disorder. Participants averaged 8 months of enrollment before terminating from IPS services. During follow-up, 51 (45.9%) participants obtained a competitive job (N = 50) or paid internship (N = 1); 14 (12.6%) achieved a new education outcome. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: IPS has promising outcomes for helping young adults with mental health conditions achieve positive employment outcomes, but its effectiveness in helping young adults achieve education goals has not been demonstrated. IPS should be offered to young adults with employment goals. Targeted funding for supported education and training for IPS specialists in delivering educational supports may be necessary to ensure optimal education outcomes in IPS. Impact and Implications: This is one of the first U.S. studies to examine the effectiveness of IPS for young adults with common mental disorders, such as depressive and anxiety disorders. Federal, state, and local administrators, service providers, parents, and young adults recognize the need for effective employment services for unemployed young adults with mental health conditions. Controlled studies are needed to assess whether the promising findings from this study hold up in rigorous research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As adults, we intuitively understand how others' goals influence their information-seeking preferences. For example, you might recommend a dense book full of mechanistic details to someone trying to learn about a topic in-depth, but a more lighthearted book filled with surprising stories to someone seeking entertainment. Moreover, you might do this with confidence despite knowing few details about either book. Even though we offer or receive such recommendations frequently as adults, we know little about how the ability to evaluate and recommend information sources to others develops. Two studies examined how children (6–9 years, Eastern U.S. residents, n = 311) and adults (U.S. residents, n = 180) select mechanistic and entertaining information sources for others depending on their goals. Participants recommended books containing mechanistic information to agents who wanted to learn and entertaining information to agents who wanted to have fun. In contrast to adults who strongly favored entertaining books, children recommended both kinds of books equally to a generally curious agent. These results suggest children can infer others' information-seeking preferences based on their goals and recommend appropriate information sources to satisfy those goals despite possessing little topical knowledge themselves. Public Significance Statement: The current findings demonstrate young children can reason about and recommend information sources to others despite often possessing little relevant knowledge themselves. These findings also highlight a potential decline in interest in causal mechanisms into adulthood, which is of potential importance to educators wishing to increase interest and curiosity toward science, technology, engineering, and mathematics topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We elucidate when and why men negotiate assertively. Threatening masculinity should increase men's willingness to negotiate assertively in salary negotiations, which are viewed as masculine, but not in negotiations about flexible working hours, which are viewed as feminine. In two experiments including men from Germany and the United States (U.S.; total N = 1,010), men were either threatened in terms of their masculinity or not. In Study 1, following the threat manipulation, men negotiated either salary or flexible working hours. The results from Study 1 revealed that threatened men (relative to nonthreatened men) reported more ambitious goals, intended to make more ambitious offers, and actually made more ambitious offers, but only when negotiating salary. In Study 2, men always negotiated salary, yet received different kinds of feedback involving threats to their masculinity. The results from Study 2 revealed that threatening feedback based on both men's prescriptions and men's proscriptions (e.g., a lack of assertiveness and pronounced weakness), in particular, led men negotiating salary to report more ambitious goals, intend to make more ambitious offers, and actually to make more ambitious offers. Altogether, our research revealed that men show heightened assertiveness when under a specific threat and negotiating a male-typed topic. An important question for future research is to what extent our findings generalize across different intersecting identities, demographics, and cultures. Public Significance Statement: In high-stakes and everyday negotiations, men often strongly assert themselves—a choice that can affect their own and other people's occupational life (e.g., when negotiating their pay or when representing an organization). Our two experiments illuminated in which situations men are particularly likely to negotiate assertively. Men made ambitious offers especially when they experienced a threat to their masculinity and when negotiating a topic that has a masculine connotation, such as salary (but not flexible working hours). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the social cognitive model of career self-management (CSM; Lent & Brown, 2013), we examined theory-based predictors of retirement planning goals, decisional anxiety, and level of decidedness. Participants were 525 older workers in the United States and Canada. We first examined the psychometric properties of new or revised social cognitive measures linked to retirement planning with part of the sample (n = 200) and then tested the stability of the factor structure with the remainder of the sample (n = 325). The measurement and structural models indicated good overall model-data fit in the larger sample and across most grouping variables (nationality, income level, and gender), and support was found for most of the paths predicting retirement planning, decisional anxiety, and level of decidedness. However, some gender differences were found in aspects of self-efficacy (confidence at time vs. financial management) that were predictive of decidedness. We consider the implications of the findings for future research and practice directions applying the social cognitive model to retirement planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The psychology of hope is used to conceptualize how college students successfully meet their personal and professional goals and ultimately persist to graduation. However, limited evidence has suggested that high levels of hope might have a paradoxical effect for Black college students when faced with experiences of discrimination. The present study examined the moderation effects of hope on the associations between experiences of discrimination and perceptions of stress and academic integration among a sample of 1st-year U.S. Black college students (N = 203) partly derived from secondary data. Structural equation modeling revealed inverse associations between hope and stress, as well as positive associations between hope and academic integration. However, latent variable moderation revealed that students with high levels of hope had the strongest positive associations between discrimination and stress, thus supporting a paradoxical effect. By contrast, the negative association between discrimination and academic integration emerged for only students with low levels of hope. Results suggest the psychological and academic benefits of hope are complex. Specifically, in the context of discrimination experiences, hope may have a paradoxical effect for Black students' mental health while still retaining a positive and buffering effect for their academic integration. Public Significance Statement: Academic retention is a critical concern for many colleges and universities and an issue that disproportionately impacts students of color. Black students are particularly likely to experience difficulties in college, partly due to experiences of discrimination. The present study found evidence that a core construct in positive psychology, hope, may not always protect Black students from experiencing the psychological sting of discrimination, but it was still beneficial to their academic well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meritocratic beliefs continue to be widely accepted in the United States; nonetheless, upward mobility is out of reach for many American women due to pervasive barriers to accessing decent work. The present study aims to explore American women's work aspirations and beliefs in the American Dream (the premise that no matter where people come from, with hard work, they can achieve prosperity) in light of the gap between this notion and the social inequalities in their working lives. We conducted semistructured interviews with 17 American women from diverse racial, educational, and work backgrounds to examine these women's work aspirations and beliefs on the American Dream. Qualitative content analysis yielded 3 domains: (a) aspiring for work that fulfills essential human needs, (b) multilayered influences on women's work aspirations, and (c) making sense of work aspirations in relation to beliefs on the American Dream. Our findings highlight the importance of relationships and systemic factors in shaping women's work aspirations. In addition, women's beliefs on the American Dream reflect complex interactions between endorsing meritocratic beliefs and their personal experiences. Implications for counseling psychology theory, research, and practice are discussed. Public Significance Statement: This study shares voices of American women from diverse backgrounds by documenting women's work aspirations and beliefs in the American ethos of meritocracy in relation to their working lives. It provides insights on individual, interpersonal, and systemic factors that affect women's work-related experiences and aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examined a cultural socialization model in which differences in Chinese and American parents' goals for children foster differences in children's emotional distress via parents' responses to children's performance. Chinese and American mothers and their children (N = 397; Mage = 13.19 years) participated in a 2-wave study spanning a year. Mothers reported on their self-improvement (i.e., children striving to improve) and self-worth (i.e., children feeling worthy) goals, as well as responses to children's performance. Children reported on their emotional distress (e.g., anxiety and depression). Chinese (vs. American) mothers' greater endorsement of self-improvement goals predicted their more frequent use of failure-oriented responses (e.g., highlighting children's mistakes), which accounted for Chinese (vs. American) children's heightened emotional distress over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developmental theory historically viewed demanding roles (at home, job) as important developmental contexts. However, adolescents' participation in these roles has fallen. This qualitative research examined role experiences in United States youth development programs. A central question among others was, "How can youth experience internal motivation fulfilling externally imposed role obligations?" We interviewed 73 youth with substantive work roles (e.g., Leader, Reporter, and Teacher) in 13 arts, science-technology, and leadership programs. Youth (51% female) were 14- to 18-years-old and ethnically diverse. We used grounded-theory methods suited to understanding youth's active learning processes in context. Findings illuminated youth's experiences in 4 important transactions or "steps." Youth: (a) accepted roles based on personal goals, (b) encountered difficult challenges similar to adult roles (e.g., conflicting viewpoints, role strain), (c) drew on resources to overcome challenges and fulfill role demands, and (d) learned through these experiences. Across these steps, findings suggested 3 powerful development processes. First, youth experienced multiple sources of internal motivation (e.g., agency within roles, personal and social investment, and "good pressure"), which fostered high engagement in role performance and learning. Second, experiences grappling with and fulfilling difficult role demands helped youth build important competencies for action (e.g., strategic thinking, perseverance). Third, youth's experience of accountability to others served as a powerful driver of responsibility development: Because youth were invested, they took ownership of obligations to others and learned responsive modes of thinking and acting, which they transferred to family, school, and elsewhere. We propose that teens would benefit from more opportunities for role experiences like these. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What it means to be man is shaped by racial, ethnic, and cultural factors. In this paper, we explore what determines and comprises middle-aged and older African American men's definitions of manhood. Using a thematic approach, we examined the semantic differences noted in the verbs chosen to define a man, the characteristics that were most important to how they saw themselves, and the characteristics that were most important to them to portray to others. Analyzing data from 64 interviews with urban African American men 35-76 from the Southeastern United States, we found that manhood was a concept that reflected key characteristics and traits, demonstrated deeper qualities or attributes, and revealed their inherent nature or character. While previous research sought to identify attributes of manhood that defined adult African American males, the current study was conducted to characterize how middle-aged and older African American men defined manhood and its key components through exploring how they wanted to see themselves and what traits they wanted to portray to others. What a man is or should be was defined by attributes that reflected a foundation of character that not only exemplified gendered values, goals, and roles, but that also demonstrated religious and cultural values and beliefs. For these men, manhood was more than a compilation of traits but a reflection of who they were at a deeper level. These ideals were rooted in an amalgamation of gendered ideals, cultural norms, religious doctrine and beliefs, and age-related priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined mostly lower-middle-income Latino (37%) and African American (33%) adolescents' (N = 90, Mage = 15.90) conceptions of how U.S. wealth is and ought to be distributed, and whether these judgments are related to adolescents' views about societal and legal fairness and their immediate academic plans. Individually administered multipart interviews assessed conceptions regarding (a) actual and ideal U.S. wealth distribution and related "Rawlsian" judgments, (b) social system and legal fairness, and (c) adolescents' near-term life goals. Overall, adolescents underestimated actual levels of U.S. wealth inequality while also preferring a more egalitarian distribution than was believed to exist. Adolescents' wealth-related reasoning was mostly unrelated to other societal or personal judgments, whereas societal and legal fairness judgments were related to personal academic plans. Although adolescents had generally negative views of societal and legal fairness, having more positive fairness conceptions was related to a greater emphasis on academic plans. Compared with their younger peers, older adolescents preferred somewhat more wealth inequality for motivational and economic reasons and preferred living in a society with some inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achievement goal theory (Dweck, 1986) initially characterized mastery goals and performance goals as opposites in a good-bad dualism of student motivation. A later revision (Harackiewicz, Barron, & Elliot, 1998) contended that both goals can provide benefits and be pursued together. Perhaps both frameworks are correct: Their contrasting views may stem from differences in how they define performance goals. The traditional framework favors a goal orientation model in which performance goals entail demonstrating competence ("appearance goals"). The revised framework favors a goal standard model in which performance goals entail outperforming peers ("normative goals"). The present studies test whether the 2 performance goals function differently, each promoting educational outcomes that support its guiding framework's view of performance goals. These studies also unify the earlier models through the emerging goal complex model, which assumes that the normative goal's effects depend on students' reasons for pursuing the goal. University students (Ns = 168 and 160) completed measures of their appearance, normative, and mastery goals; their reasons for pursuing normative goals; and several educational outcomes. When pursued for autonomous reasons (e.g., enjoyment or challenge seeking), normative goals predicted adaptive outcomes (self-efficacy and interest) and also proved more compatible with mastery goals (all ps < .05). However, when pursued for controlling reasons (e.g., rewards), normative goals behaved exactly like appearance goals, each predicting maladaptive outcomes (help avoidance and self-handicapping). These findings help resolve the long-standing debate about performance goals, showcase the goal complex model's potential as a unifying framework, and unveil multiple new research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students’ social goals—reasons for engaging in interpersonal relationships with peers—are consequential for students’ interactions with their peers at school and for their well-being. Despite the salience of peer relationships during adolescence, research on social goals is generally lacking compared with academic goals, and it is unknown how these social goals develop over time, especially among high school students. The aim of the study was to assess trajectories of students’ social goals and to determine how relevant individual and contextual variables predicted initial levels and trajectories of students’ social goals. Participants were 9th through 12th grade students (N = 526) attending a U.S. high school. Students filled out surveys of their social goals (social development, social demonstration-approach, and social demonstration-avoidance) 6 times across 2 school years. Nonlinear growth curve analyses and piecewise growth curve analyses were used to assess trajectories of social goals across time. Students’ initial levels of social goals differed based on their gender, grade level, prior achievement, and perceptions of classroom goals structures and peer climate. Furthermore, despite substantial stability over time, the shapes of these goal trajectories were predicted by students’ gender, grade level, and perceptions of classroom goal structures and peer climate. In particular, students who perceived an increase in performance-avoidance classroom goals maintained higher demonstration social goals and decreased in developmental social goals over time, and students who perceived an increase in positive peer climate decreased in demonstration-avoidance social goals. Implications and directions for future research on social goals are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a longitudinal sample of 1,452 African American and European American adolescents and their parents, parenting practices (i.e., monitoring, warmth, and autonomy support) at 7th grade had significant indirect effects on college enrollment 3 years post high school, through their effects on aspirations, school engagement, and grade point average (GPA). All 3 parenting practices were related to aspirations and behavioral engagement at 8th grade, with 2 of the 3 parenting practices related to the emotional (monitoring and warmth) and cognitive (autonomy support and warmth) engagement. The reciprocal relations between aspirations and engagement/GPA were significant, although the effects from 8th aspirations to 11th engagement were stronger than the reverse path. Ethnic differences were found only for parenting practices: monitoring had stronger associations with GPA and behavioral engagement for African Americans, whereas autonomy support had stronger associations with GPA for European Americans. For African American parents, a delicate balance is needed to capture the benefits of higher levels of monitoring for promoting GPA and behavioral engagement and the benefits of autonomy support for developing aspirations and cognitive engagement. Parental warmth was equally beneficial for supporting aspirations, engagement, and achievement across ethnicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topic: Evidence-based Individual Placement and Support (IPS) supported employment provides opportunities to individualize supports for parents with mental health conditions who are vulnerable to financial insecurity and family instability. Purpose: Adults living with serious mental health conditions may have goals related to both work and parenting. IPS employment specialists can capitalize on our understanding of the challenges faced by parents living with serious mental health conditions to improve the economic wellbeing of these individuals and their families. Sources Used: Data include a summary of analyses of the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health as well as first-person accounts from parents and employment specialists. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: Empirical and anecdotal evidence support the relevance of discussing goals for parenting and family life with adults living with mental health conditions in the context of job assessment, placement, and support to promote goal achievement in both role domains--employment and parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined whether social goal orientation (i.e., demonstration-approach, demonstration- avoid, and social development goals) predicts changes in ethnic segregation among 4th and 5th grade African American and European American children (n = 713, ages 9-11 years) from fall to spring. Segregation measures were (a) same-ethnicity favoritism in friendships, (b) same-ethnicity favoritism in peer group affiliations, and (c) cross-ethnicity dislike. Social goal orientation was asymmetrically associated with ethnic segregation for the 2 groups. Among African Americans, aspiring to achieve high social status predicted increases in same-ethnicity favoritism and cross-ethnicity dislike. Among European Americans, aspiring to achieve high social status predicted decreases in same-ethnicity favoritism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines motivational precursors of social status and the applicability of a dual-component model of social competence to middle childhood. Concurrent and longitudinal relationships between self-reported social goals (social development, demonstration-approach, demonstration-avoid goal orientations), teacher-rated prosocial and aggressive behavior, and peer nominations of social status (preference, popularity) were examined over the course of an academic year among 980 3rd- to 5th-grade children. Findings support dual-component expectations. Confirmatory factor analyses verified the expected 3-factor structure of social goals and 2-factor structure of social status. Structural equation modeling (SEM) found that (a) social development goals were associated with prosocial behavior and increased preference, and (b) demonstration-approach goals were associated with aggressive behavior and increased popularity. Demonstration-avoid goals were associated with a popularity decrease. SEMs were invariant across grade, gender, and ethnicity. Discussion concerns the potential risks of high social status, extensions to the dual-component model, and the generality of an achievement goal approach to child social development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why are American landscapes (e.g., housing developments, shopping malls) so uniform, despite the well-known American penchant for independence and uniqueness? We propose that this paradox can be explained by American mobility: Residential mobility fosters familiarity-seeking and familiarity-liking, while allowing individuals to pursue their personal goals and desires. We reason that people are drawn to familiar objects (e.g.. familiar, national chain stores) when they move. We conducted 5 studies to test this idea at the levels of society, individuals, and situations. We found that (a) national chain stores do better in residentially mobile places than in residentially stable places (controlling for other economic and demographic factors; Study 1); (b) individuals who have moved a lot prefer familiar, national chain stores to unfamiliar stores (Studies 2a and 2b); and (c) a residential mobility mindset enhances the mere exposure and familiarity-liking effect (Studies 4 and 5). In Study 5, we demonstrated that the link between mobility and familiarity-liking was mediated by anxiety evoked by mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overview: Much of today's psychological research and practice is relevant to our national health agenda and can serve the public interest. President Obama's landmark health care reform success provides an unprecedented opportunity to revolutionize society's definition of "quality care" and highlight rehabilitation's potential. Advocacy, vision, and a public policy presence with persistence are critical. Those involved often focus exclusively upon specific issues (e.g., reimbursement, research funding, or graduate student support). Summary: By developing a "bigger picture" approach addressing society's real needs and embracing the changes technology will ultimately bring, psychology can have a more lasting impact. There are unlimited opportunities to advance the profession through personal involvement in the public policy arena. It is essential that psychology's next generation receives relevant mentoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the influence of goal instability on adjustment and health of disabled people in the United States. Lack of data on psychoanalytic constructs in the adjustment of individuals with physical disability; Determinants of optimal adjustment during life transitions; Significance of a flexible but durable goal orientation.