Background: Adaptation is key to survival. An organism must adapt to environmental challenges in order to be able to thrive in the environment in which they find themselves. Resilience can be thought of as a measure of the ability of an organism to adapt, and to withstand challenges to its stability. In higher animals, the brain is a key player in…

Youth in pain often show self-defeating and destructive patterns of behavior which should be seen as calls for help and positive support. Instead, deep-seated brain programs and cultural beliefs about discipline can trigger angry or avoidant behavior by adults who deal with these young people. This brief introduction to the Conflict Cycle…

The article highlights the field of epigenetics and its relevance in determining the effects of maternal nurturing on behavioral patterns in offsprings. Results concluded that maternal behavior influences the offspring's behavior to stress in adulthood and the effects are transgenerational through epigenetic mechanisms.

On the basis of a three-year research project on the social-psychological aspects of divorce, characteristic patterns of individual and marital coping response to the stresses of divorce are described. Implications for clinical practice are discussed. (Author)

This article presents a model for analyzing the sources of stress which trouble clients, and for designing cognitive/behavioral counseling interventions pertinent to those sources. The concept of stress as responses to both pleasant and unpleasant stimuli and the consequences of inadequate coping processes are examined. Three major sources of…

A survey of published research determined that individual and group reactions to natural disasters differ greatly and depend partially on the predisaster personality. Four models are examined to explain individual and group reactions to natural disasters. A conglomerate model and a possible structure to future disaster research are offered.…

Although research has been conducted on who will relapse after having quit smoking in clinics, little has been done to determine the immediate precipitants of recidivism. A telephone hotline, manned by four experienced interviewers, was set up to receive calls from ex-smokers who had relapsed or who felt at high risk for relapse. A structured…

Little is known about the Type B behavior pattern which is allegedly antithetical to the coronary-prone Type A pattern. The purpose of this study was to develop a descriptive profile of individuals in middle adulthood who exhibit the Type B pattern. Cognitive/attitudinal characteristics, stress reactivity, and health status were examined in 98…

Subjects associated degrees of stress with experiences of social isolation and powerlessness. High internals reported higher stress than moderate or low internals. High internal clients reported lower self-esteem, higher stress, and less control over recent events than nonclients. (Author/BEF)

The conflict theory of decision making was examined by testing a conflict model which differentiated among three basic coping patterns in response to decisional conflict, i.e., defensive avoidance, panic, and vigilance. Male college students (N=53) were administered two decisional problems, "The Changing Work Procedures Case" and…

Clinicians and family theorists have speculated that men and women differ in their orientations to close relationships, although these stereotypic patterns have not been investigated empirically. To determine whether people's interactional experiences are characterized by distinctive, sex-linked orientations to expressiveness and caring, 252 men…

The curious association between romance and adverse circumstances is based on an extension of emotional attribution theory, which postulates that romantic notions are evoked when nonspecific physiological arousal is attributed to another person or to an interpersonal relationship. Data from a survey on stressful life events was examined to…

Outcome data on smoking cessation has emphasized that most people have difficulty not in quitting smoking, but in maintaining cessation. An attempt was made to develop a more meaningful typology of relapse-promoting situations using a sample of 183 exsmokers who called a telephone hotline seeking help to stay away from cigarettes. Two higher order…

Systematic investigations have verified the existence of a number of behavioral manifestations of the "Type A" behavior pattern. For example, brief exposure to salient uncontrollable stress has led to enhanced performance by Type A's on a subsequent task, whereas prolonged exposure has lead to performance deterioration. The ongoing experiences of…

Several counseling methods have attempted to help individuals change their behavior patterns. Techniques that teach control of the internal functions of the mind, body, and emotions are designed to allow the individual to reach his/her potential. Alpha training is one such method that is concerned with a brain wave pattern yielding an alert,…