Monitor on Psychology - November 2011 - (Page 14)

Upfront South Africa to host international psychology conference The 30th International Congress of Psychology will bring about 10,000 psychologists from around the world to Cape Town, South Africa, July 22–27, 2012. It’s an apt place for the conference, as our earliest ancestors evolved in South Africa more than 2 million years ago, says International Union of Psychological own field and other sciences, and about how psychology is applied and researched around the world, Silbereisen says. Attendees at the 2012 conference can, for example, attend a talk by noted Indian psychologist Gideon Arulmani, PhD, who will speak about how Western and non-Western traditions can work together to develop an empirically sound and culturally relevant psychology of counseling. Chinese psychologist Han Buxin, PhD, will discuss the mental health challenges facing his rapidly industrializing nation. And Tanzanian psychologist Augustine Nwoye, PhD, will share theories of grief counseling rooted in African culture. Conference attendees will also hear talks from top scientists, including Chinese psychologist Raymond Chan, PhD, who will discuss new research on the endophenotypes linking genetic and clinical phenotypes of schizophrenia. French researcher Ghislaine Dehaene-Lambertz, PhD, will share her findings on language acquisition, and American scientist Elizabeth Phelps, PhD, will give a talk on how emotion shapes memory. If you’d like to present at the conference, submit your abstract before Feb. 1 at www.icp2012.com. Conference registration for U.S. psychologists before Feb. 1 costs about $602 and student registration is about $168 (depending on exchange rates). —S. DiNGfElDER Photos.com Science president Rainer K. Silbereisen, PhD. “The birthplace of mankind is, by association, the birthplace of psychology,” he says. The international conference is also a great opportunity for psychologists to expand their knowledge — about their Study uncovers a reason behind sex differences in mental illness Researchers have long observed that men and women tend to experience mental illnesses at different rates, with women showing higher rates of mood and anxiety disorders, and men showing higher rates of antisocial personality disorder and substance abuse. A new study, published online in September in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, may have uncovered an underlying reason: A tendency among women to internalize distress (by ruminating on negative thoughts, for instance) and a tendency among men to externalize their distress (through, for example, aggressive or coercive behavior), says the study’s lead author Nicholas Eaton, a psychology doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota. The researchers analyzed data from a National Institutes of Health survey of 43,093 Americans and looked at which disorders tended to co-occur. They found that, for both men and women, the patterns of co-morbidity looked the same, with depression and anxiety disorders tending to go together, for instance. Overall, the disorders tended to cluster, with externalizing disorders going together and internalizing disorders co-occurring. The findings show that for men and women, mental illnesses have similar underpinnings, but the sexes differ in how they combine the elements, Eaton says. “You can think about it like a recipe for making something — say, stew,” he says. “Women and men both make stew from the same recipe. However, men might use twice as many ingredients as women, and therefore they’d wind up with twice as much stew at the end.” The findings suggest that prevention efforts might be able to target multiple disorders with a single intervention, for instance by teaching people who tend to internalize how to avoid dwelling on negative thoughts, and by teaching people who tend to externalize distress how to cope with negative emotions in more positive ways, perhaps through exercise or meditation. —S. DiNGfElDER 14 M o n i to r o n p s yc h o l o g y • n ov e M b e r 2 0 1 1 http://www.Photos.com http://www.icp2012.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Monitor on Psychology - November 2011

Monitor on Psychology - November 2011
Letters
President’s Column
Contents
Guest Column
‘Grand Challenges’ offers blueprint for mental health research
Documentary seeks to reach parents of LGBT kids
Treating veterans will cost at least $5 billion by 2020
Selfless volunteering might lengthen your life
Combat and stress up among U.S. military in Afghanistan
South Africa to host international psychology conference
Study uncovers a reason behind sex differences in mental illness
Navy psychologist gives a voice to combat trauma
In Brief
Psychologist suicide
On Your Behalf
Journey back to Heart Mountain
Psychology is key to pain management, report finds
ACT goes international
Judicial Notebook
Random Sample
Time Capsule
Questionnaire
Science Watch
Behavior change in 15-minute sessions?
Health-care reform 2.0
Perspective on Practice
Giving a heads up on concussion
Practice Profile
Searching for meaning
Inspiring young researchers
Aging, with grace
Public Interest
Thank you!
APA News
Division Spotlight
American Psychological Foundation
The man who gave Head Start a start
Personalities

Monitor on Psychology - November 2011