AN INTERVENTION TO REDUCE FEAR OF FALLING AND ENHANCE ACTIVITY: WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO BENEFIT?

The reasons for sources of inactivity among older adults can be both physical and psychological. Fear of falling is a common psychological source of restricted activity. The efficacy of a group intervention to reduce fear of falling and associated activity restriction was established in a randomized controlled trial by the authors and their colleagues. The objective of this analysis was to investigate who was most likely to benefit from this intervention. Data from baseline and 12-month follow-up were used to identify predictors in change of two targeted attitudes - fear of falling and ability to manage falls - that were considered to precede change in activity level. The predictors of the two outcomes were similar. Subjects who reported less physical and social dysfunction, more concerns about falling, and greater self-efficacy in doing something about their concerns were most likely to benefit from the intervention. Men were more likely than women to achieve greater ability to manage falls. These findings can be used to target the intervention to persons in greatest need or to modify the intervention to better meet the needs of others.     

Readability and Basic Course Hybrid Textbooks in Human Communication: A Disparity of Reading Difficulty

Parents play a pivotal role in the gender development and sex-typing of children. It is important to discover whether gender role communication differences exist based on the sex of the child or parent. The present study aimed to discover differences in gender role messages communicated between mother-daughter, mother-son, father-daughter, and father-son dyads. Participants (n = 630) completed a modified version of Bem's Sex Role Inventory. Two key results were discovered: mothers communicate significantly more feminine messages to children, regardless of child sex; and the modified BSRI identifies respondents as weak vs. strong gender identity rather than masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated.     

The State of Media Literacy: A Rejoinder

Based on the uses and gratifications framework, this study examined associations between motivations for using Facebook among college students, their concern for impression management, Facebook intensity, and psychological outcomes including sense of belonging and satisfaction with campus life. Using data from an online survey (N = 246), the study found that four motivations—entertainment, relationship maintenance, self-expression, and communication—together with impression management, were significantly associated with Facebook intensity. However, the impacts of Facebook intensity on psychological consequences were relatively limited. Theoretical implications of the study were discussed.     

Communicating resilience in actual and imagined boundaries: narrative plots and meanings of retention in organizations

The paper examines the narratives of STEM (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics) career pathways constructed by women scientists and engineers through the theoretical lens of resilience. Based on in-depth interviews conducted with 45 women who are currently employed in STEM organizations in Singapore, I explore the narrative actions women deploy to survive in largely masculine STEM organizations. Using narrative analysis, I explore the stories women craft as strategies of resilience when negotiating STEM career pathways. Given the critical role of storytelling in resilience, the study points to the role of communication in enabling networks, and in making available opportunities for circulating stories. Moreover, the cultural and structural challenges to women’s work in STEM suggest the key role for communication interventions that are directed at changing sociocultural attitudes toward women’s work in STEM.     

College Adjustment Difficulties and the Overt and Covert Forms of Narcissism

Overt narcissism correlated negatively with emotional distress and interpersonal difficulties among female, but not male, students. After controlling for self‐esteem, overt narcissism correlated positively with depression among female students and with emotional distress and interpersonal difficulties among male students. Covert narcissism correlated positively with emotional distress and interpersonal and academic difficulties among both male and female students. Associations between covert narcissism and emotional distress and interpersonal difficulties remained after controlling for self‐esteem.     

How birds fly together: The dynamics of flocking

We explain the physical motivation for studying the collective coherent motion of large numbers of self-propelled biological organisms. Starting from a well-known discrete model, we discuss the fundamental microscopic mechanisms leading to collective behavior in bird flocks, and how appropriate behavioral rules for the individuals can determine specific features of the aggregation at the group level. We further discuss the theoretical, experimental, and computational effort undertaken to explore this phenomenon together with possible directions for future research in this area.