Search

In the past couple of decades, there have been numerous claims made about the increasing severity of college student mental health issues. While the question of increasing severity seems to be well documented by the perception-based surveys of university counseling center directors, very limited data exists to prove that this trend is actually occurring. This article reviews several studies that have attempted to substantiate this perceived trend, and alternative explanations are posed to account for the reasons that these perceptions have lingered in the absence of hard data. Implications for future research are discussed.

Personally held values play a fundamental role in business. As such, it is critical that students understand the nature of values pertaining to the workplace. Using an innovative classroom exercise, laddering, business students interview individuals to identify values that influence choices. Objectives are to help students understand the role of personal values in decision making, develop the ability to respond effectively to workplace demands, respect diverse perspectives, and achieve a better understanding of their own values. Measures used to assess these learning objectives revealed that many students gained valuable insights. After participating in the exercise, students wrote passages in which they articulated how their values affected their decision-making behavior, described in detail how the exercise improved their improvisational skills, and helped them gain respect for others' viewpoints. Furthermore, a quantitative survey provided evidence that students may have experienced a greater understanding of their own values after participating in the exercise. (Contains 4 tables.)

Rates of accurate recall of the Strong Interest Inventory (SII; L. W. Harmon, J. C. Hansen, F. H. Borgen, & A. L. Hammer, 1994) profile information varied with the amount of time elapsed since the interpretation, the type of SII scale, and whether immediate recall was elicited, but rates did not vary with the strategy used to provide the interpretation. Continuity of accurate recall over time was also observed. (Contains 5 tables.)

Reversible phenotypic flexibility allows organisms to better match phenotypes to prevailing environmental conditions and may produce fitness benefits. Costs and constraints of phenotypic flexibility may limit the capacity for flexible responses but are not well understood nor documented. Costs could include expenses associated with maintaining the flexible system or with generating the flexible response. One potential cost of maintaining a flexible system is an energetic cost reflected in the basal metabolic rate (BMR), with elevated BMR in individuals with more flexible metabolic responses. We accessed data from thermal acclimation studies of birds where BMR and/or Msum (maximum cold-induced metabolic rate) were measured before and after acclimation, as a measure of metabolic flexibility, to test the hypothesis that flexibility in BMR (ΔBMR), Msum (ΔMsum), or metabolic scope (Msum − BMR; ΔScope) is positively correlated with BMR. When temperature treatments lasted at least three weeks, three of six species showed significant positive correlations between ΔBMR and BMR, one species showed a significant negative correlation, and two species showed no significant correlation. ΔMsum and BMR were not significantly correlated for any species and ΔScope and BMR were significantly positively correlated for only one species. These data suggest that support costs exist for maintaining high BMR flexibility for some bird species, but high flexibility in Msum or metabolic scope does not generally incur elevated maintenance costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is associated with substantial morbidity. Few studies have addressed the natural history and mortality rates associated with HS. A higher risk of cardiovascular death in patients with HS has been reported. We investigated whether patients with HS have an increased overall risk of death compared with age‐ and gender‐matched referents. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, with incident HS between January 1, 1980, and December 31, 2008, and age‐ and gender‐matched referents. The main outcomes and measures were the overall and cause‐specific risks of death. Results: We identified 226 incident cases of HS and 678 age‐ and gender‐matched referents among Olmsted County residents during the study period. Compared to referents, patients with HS had a significantly higher risk of all‐cause death (hazard ratio [HR, 2.48; 95% CI, 1.53–4.03, P < 0.001) and cardiovascular‐ or cerebrovascular‐related death (HR, 2.85; 95% CI, 1.10–7.40, P = 0.03). However, these risks were attenuated by adjusting for smoking history: all‐cause HR, 1.65 (95% CI, 0.97–2.82, P = 0.07) and cardiovascular‐ or cerebrovascular‐related HR, 2.03 (95% CI, 0.71–5.81, P = 0.18). The 71% of patients were former or current smokers at the time of HS diagnosis. Conclusions: Hidradenitis suppurativa patients have a substantially increased risk of death from any cause, including cardiovascular or cerebrovascular causes; the risk is especially dependent on smoking history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By presenting their model of midcareer development, Power and Rothausen have turned counseling psychologists' attention to a set of lifespan career issues that have often been overlooked. I address three primary issues in this reaction to the model. First, their model highlights the unfortunate partitioning that has occurred in the study of career, resulting in a lack of communication and awareness across the multiple disciplines that focus on career issues. Second, a critical examination of their model indicates that it is not sufficiently connected to previous theory or research in vocational psychology, thereby undermining the model's potential utility. Third, the model is overly prescriptive, and appears to be focused on a narrowly defined group of individuals, further limiting the model's utility. Despite these limitations, Power and Rothausen's model does have implications for the theory, research, and practice of lifespan career development.

Includes two commentaries on the special section. Spokane, Fouad, and Swanson emphasize the importance of two dimensions of clients' cultural context: dominant/subordinate and individual/collective. Walsh highlights research needs related to career intervention and personality, culture, process, and socioeconomic status. (Contains 15 and 11 references respectively.) (SK)

This article discusses training issues related to the new paradigm proposed by Robitschek and DeBell, in which vocational topics in counseling psychology are viewed as primary issues and contextual factors in people's lives. Specifically, the new paradigm is conceptualized as a truly integrative career-personal perspective in the training of delivery of counseling services. Existing literature regarding the overlap of career and social-emotional counseling is reviewed in the context of the new integrative paradigm, with particular focus on evidence related to foundational assumptions underlying the paradigm. Suggestions for how to implement a truly integrative career-personal perspective throughout graduate training are offered.

Innovative rural development practices at community colleges are reviewed. Factors that can facilitate replication of these practices include the quality of college leadership, the state system in which community colleges operate, and funding mechanisms. Policy recommendations include increasing resources, supporting college networking, encouraging links with local stakeholders, and using community colleges as hubs for information technology. (TD)