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Female substance abusers' attributions about the stability and globality of positive and negative life events were used as predictors of successful completion of a halfway-house treatment program. Instead of the typical beneficial effects associated with a self-serving attributional style, subjects who attributed their own recent negative life events to global (wide influence on life) and stable (always present) causes were more likely to successfully complete the treatment program. Subjects who perceived the cause of their first substance abuse (whether alcohol or another drug of abuse) as global and likely to affect substance abuse in the future also were more successful in completing the program. Not surprisingly, subjects who indicated that the cause of their quitting substance abuse was likely to lead them to stay off their drug of abuse in the future were more successful in completing the program. Finally, the amount and helpfulness of social support provided by a subject's AA sponsor were both significantly correlated with program completion. These results are interpreted as consistent with the program's Alcoholics Anonymous philosophical orientation.

SummaryEmotions associated with memories for the loss of a loved one and for negative events in general decrease in intensity more than memories associated with positive events, a phenomenon known as the fading affect bias (FAB). We tested whether FAB was cross‐culturally evident by collecting positive, negative, and memories for the deaths of loved ones from Filipinos. Memories were coded as violent/nonviolent and resolved/unresolved, and we predicted that resolved memories should show greater fading and that affective details should be lower in those memory accounts. FAB analyses revealed that negative affective intensity faded while positive affect remained constant, supporting FAB for positive and negative memories. However, there was no evidence of FAB in Filipinos' death memories. Filipinos' positive memories were distributed from the period of the reminiscence bump and focused on themes of childbirth and marriage, while negative and death memories did not cluster at any period of life.Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Background Extensive patient and family education is required at the time of a new diagnosis of pediatric cancer yet ittle data exist regarding the availability and linguistic competency of new cancer diagnosis education provided by pediatric oncology institutions. Procedure Using the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO) membership list, a web-based survey was conducted among a cohort of pediatric oncologists to determine pediatric oncologists’ assessment of institutional resources for new cancer diagnosis education and the availability of linguistically appropriate education. Results Of 1,294 ASPHO members sent email survey invitations, 573 (44.3%) responded with 429 meeting eligibility criteria. Oncologists at academic institutions reported their institutions had more availability of resources for new diagnosis education compared with those from non-academic institutions (Mean 78.6 vs. 74.3; 0 [not at all] – 100 [well equipped]; p=0.05). The mean score increased with volume of new cancer diagnoses/year: small (<75) = 73.4; medium (75 – 149) = 76.7; large (≥ 150) = 84.5 (p <0.001). Oncologists at large volume institutions reported more availability of an established patient education protocol (50.8% vs. 38.1%, p <0.001) and increased use of dedicated non-physician staff (79.9% vs. 66.1%, p=0.02), but less use of websites for patient education (17.2% vs. 33.3%, p=0.001). Availability of linguistically appropriate education improved with increasing institution size: small (76.4), medium (82.3) and large (84.0) patient volume (p <0.011). Conclusion According to pediatric oncologists, a disparity in educational and linguistic resources for new pediatric cancer diagnosis education exists depending on institution type and size.