Negative Life Circumstances Research Articles

Locating Breast Cancer in the Context of Women's Lives

Research has generally suggested that positive life circumstances may help alleviate the distress brought on by breast cancer. Little attention has been paid to the effects of negative life circumstances on women's adjustment to the disease. In this study, 110 women answered in writing an open-ended question about life circumstances (positive, negative, or both) that they perceived to have influenced their experience with breast cancer. Many women described both positive and negative circumstances, but negative circumstances were reported more commonly. The women described 28% of the negative circumstances as more salient or more distressing than breast cancer; these circumstances were coded as “negative distracting” circumstances. Exploratory regression analyses found that positive circumstances were associated with better adjustment and negative circumstances were associated with poorer adjustment. In addition, distracting circumstances were associated with better adjustment. Findings suggest that considering breast cancer in the context of women's lives is important.

The stability of attachment security from infancy to adolescence and early adulthood: general introduction.

Current attachment theory hypothesizes that attachment security during infancy influences individual differences in adult representations of attachment. We present three long-term longitudinal studies using three different samples relevant to this hypothesis. Each study assesses infant attachment by using the Ainsworth Strange Situation and adult attachment by using the Berkeley Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Attachment security was significantly stable in the first two studies. Discontinuity in all three studies was related to negative life events and circumstances. Comparison of the results across these complementary studies affords a degree of replication and sheds light on alternative interpretations. Various mechanisms underlying the stability and instability of attachment security are discussed.

Assessment of Cognitive-Behavioral Skills and Depression Among Female Prison Inmates

This study examined assessment of differences in self-reported cognitive-behavioral skills among 64 female prison inmates reporting either high or low levels of depressive symptomatology. This population was chosen for its exposure to negative life events inherent to a prison environment. Sixty-six percent of the sample could be classified as at least mildly depressed on the basis of Beck Depression Inventory scores. MANOVA results showed that participants with high depressive symptomatology had significantly higher mean scores on measures of aggression and dysfunctional attitudes, as well as significantly lower mean scores on measures of assertion and self-reinforcement. Results were interpreted in favor of a multivariate approach to assessment of depression and other responses to negative life circumstances.

U.S. Constitution doesn't guarantee gun ownership

It is time for all of us to accept the reasonable idea that the people have the right to establish behavior promoting community well-being. The people do this through their government, which, at least in our country is of, for and by the people. It is societally destructive and self-defeating to vilify the government for perceived negative life circumstances — unless of course we find our lives truly injured by society — such as those suffered by slaves and American Indians. Instead, we must work through the only agency we have, government, to live together as securely as possible.