The study is an exploratory attempt to examine family and life satisfaction of 212 noncustodial fathers 3 years following divorce, using path analysis to validate the hypothesized ordering among six dependent variables suggested by resource theory. Results indicated the significant predictors of family and life satisfaction were perceived economic well-being, cooperative communication during conflict and during coparenting, low importance of resource deprivation, and low frequency of conflict. Involvement with children was not a significant predictor of family and life satisfaction. Resource theory was helpful in generating the variables for the study and explaining noncustodial fathers' perceptions of the relationship dynamics between former spouses who are coparenting children.

Stress has a strong influence on mental health around the world. Decades of research has sought to identify mechanisms through which stress contributes to psychiatric disorders such as depression, to potentially guide the development of therapeutics targeting stress systems. The hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis is the key endocrine system that is responsible for coordinating body-wide changes that are necessary for survival under stress, and much of the research aimed at understanding the mechanisms by which stress contributes to depression has focussed on HPA axis dysfunction. Corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH) neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) sit at the apex of the HPA axis, integrating signals relevant to stress and external threats, to ensure HPA axis activity is appropriate for the given context. In addition to this, emerging research has demonstrated that neural activity in PVN CRH neurons regulates stress related behaviours via modulation of downstream synaptic targets. This review will summarize convergent evidence from preclinical studies on chronic stress and clinical research in mood disorders demonstrating changes in PVN CRH neural function, consider how this may influence synaptic targets of PVN CRH neurons, and discuss the potential role of these PVN CRH synaptic pathways in the development of maladaptive behaviours following chronic stress that are relevant to depression. We will also highlight important questions for future research aimed at precisely dissecting endocrine and synaptic roles of PVN CRH neurons in chronic stress, their potential interactions, and therapeutic opportunities for the treatment of stress related disorders.

Stress has a strong influence on mental health around the world. Decades of research have sought to identify mechanisms through which stress contributes to psychiatric disorders such as depression, to potentially guide the development of therapeutics targeting stress systems. The hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis has been the focus of much of this research, as the key endocrine stress response system that is responsible for coordinating the changes throughout the body that necessary for survival under stress. Corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH) neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) sit at the apex of the HPA axis, integrating signals relevant to stress and external threats, to ensure HPA axis activity is appropriate for the given context. In addition to this, emerging research has demonstrated that neural activity in PVN-CRH neurons regulates stress related behaviours via modulation of downstream synaptic targets. This review will summarize convergent evidence from preclinical studies on chronic stress and clinical research in mood disorders demonstrating changes in PVN-CRH neural function, consider how this may influence synaptic targets of PVN-CRH neurons, and discuss the potential role of these PVN-CRH synaptic pathways in the development of maladaptive behaviours following chronic stress that are relevant to depression. We will also highlight important questions for future research aimed at precisely dissecting endocrine and synaptic roles of PVN-CRH neurons in chronic stress, their potential interactions, and therapeutic opportunities for the treatment of stress related disorders.

Impaired motivational drive is a key feature of depression. Chronic stress is a known antecedent to the development of depression in humans and depressive-like states in animals. Whilst there is a clear relationship between stress and motivational drive, the mechanisms underpinning this association remain unclear. One hypothesis is that the endocrine system, via corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN; PVNCRH), initiates a hormonal cascade resulting in glucocorticoid release, and that excessive glucocorticoids change brain circuit function to produce depression-related symptoms. Another, mostly unexplored hypothesis is that the direct activity of PVNCRHneurons and their input to other stress- and reward-related brain regions drives these behaviours. To further understand the direct involvement of PVNCRHneurons in motivation, we used optogenetic stimulation to activate these neurons one hour/day for 5 consecutive days and showed increased acute stress-related behaviours and long-lasting deficits in the motivational drive for sucrose. This was associated with increased Fos-protein expression in the lateral hypothalamus (LH). Direct stimulation of the PVNCRHinputs in the LH produced a similar pattern of effects on sucrose motivation. Together, these data suggest that PVNCRHneuronal activity may be directly responsible for changes in motivational drive and that these behavioural changes may, in part, be driven by PVNCRHsynaptic projections to the LH.

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? and Other Conversations About Race is a 2017 revised and updated edition to Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum’s original book written in 1997. The book explores decades of research on the psychology of racism, with an emphasis on the psychology of racial identity in Black, White, and other ethnic and cultural identities. The author helps readers gain a better understanding of historic and modern racism and the implications it has on individuals today. The book also contains important messages for people who work with diverse groups of adults and particularly of youth.