It is well known that stress among psychology graduate students can negatively impact academic performance, clinical skills, and personal well-being. However, less is known about factors related to stress management among psychology graduate students. The current study examined self-care practices and perceived stress among psychology graduate students Four hundred eighty-eight psychology graduate students from across the United States completed an anonymous survey of self-care practices and stress. Multiple regression analyses indicated that sleep hygiene, social support, emotion regulation, and acceptance within a mindfulness framework were significantly related to perceived stress. Results suggest that educating students about self-care practices can be an integral part of helping students manage stress associated with clinical training.

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Psychologists encounter many ethical quandaries in their work. These questions may arise because of psychologists' lack of familiarity with the American Psychological Association (APA) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (referred to hereafter as the APA Ethics Code; APA, 2017), practice standards, or state and federal laws. However, at other times psychologists encounter situations for which the APA Ethics Code or laws do not provide explicit direction on how to act. In these situations, having well-developed ethical-decision-making skills enhances the ability of psychologists to act in ways that are consistent with the moral principles of the profession.As discussed in Chapter 2, psychologists, like other moral agents, have a tendency to "think fast" when they encounter an ethical dilemma. That is to say, the situation may elicit System 1 thinking, which is thinking that is fast and automatic and occurs without effort. Although System 1 thinking is adequate for most types of situations, psychologists who face ethical ETHICAL DECISIon MAKIngCopyright American Psychological Association. Not for further distribution.practical ethics for psychologists dilemmas are encouraged to slow down and use System 2 thinking when making important ethical decisions. System 2 thinking is slow and deliberate and requires conscious effort (see Kahneman, 2011, for a more detailed description of System 1 and System 2 thinking).In this chapter, we review the areas related to ethics in which psychologists need to apply their System 2 thinking skills to decision making. We then present a five-step ethical-decision-making model (Bransford & Stein, 1993; Härtel & Härtel, 1997), which can be used for most ethical dilemmas. In later chapters, we demonstrate how to apply the five-step model to address specific ethical dilemmas. AREAS To APPLy ETHICAL-DECISIon-MAKIng SKILLSPsychologists need to use ethical-decision-making skills when one or more of the following circumstances are present: (a) an applicable ethical or legal standard requires them to use their professional judgment; (b) the APA Ethics Code or laws are silent; and/or (c) the APA Ethics Code conflicts with the law or organizational policies. Each of these areas is discussed in more detail in the sections that follow. Professional JudgmentMany standards of the APA Ethics Code require the use of professional judgment in their implementation. This is particularly true when the APA Ethics Code uses modifiers such as reasonably, appropriately, or potentially. For example, Standard 10.01a, Informed Consent to Therapy, states that "psychologists inform clients/patients as early as is feasible in the therapeutic relationship about the nature and anticipated course of therapy, fees, involvement of third parties, and limits of confidentiality." Consequently, psychologists have to determine when it is feasible to reach that agreement. Although the decision is routine in most situations, there are times, such as when patients are in severe distress, when psychologists m...

Cognitive interventions for bipolar disorder have received increased attention, but very few prospective studies have focused on whether cognitive variables predict the course of bipolar disorder. Available studies have yielded conflicting results concerning the effects of negative cognitions on mania. In this study, 60 individuals with bipolar I disorder completed monthly symptom severity interviews. At a 6-month follow-up, they completed the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale, the Negative Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire, and the Positive Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire. Participants then completed monthly symptom severity interviews for another 6 months. Cognitive scales were correlated with current depression and predicted increases in depression over time, but were not related to mania. Although results do not support negative cognitions as a predictor of mania, they do provide support for the increasingly common use of cognitive interventions to treat bipolar depression.

Despite the abundance of research that supports the efficacy of exposure therapy for childhood anxiety disorders and OCD, negative views and myths about the harmfulness of this treatment are prevalent. These beliefs contribute to the underutilization of this treatment and less robust effectiveness in community settings compared to randomized clinical trials. Although research confirms that exposure therapy is efficacious, safe, tolerable, and bears minimal risk when implemented correctly, there are unique ethical considerations in exposure therapy, especially with children. Developing ethical parameters around exposure therapy for youth is an important and highly relevant area that may assist with the effective generalization of these principles. The current paper reviews ethical issues and considerations relevant to exposure therapy for children and provides suggestions for the ethical use of this treatment.

Postpartum depression (PPD) affects nearly 1 in 8 mothers and has many negative implications. Studies show particular risk factors are linked with PPD. There are nearly 200,000 women serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, but little is known regarding PPD and active duty (AD) mothers. This study examined rates and risk factors for AD mothers and found that 19.5% were positive for PPD symptoms. Ten significant psychosocial factors were associated with PPD, including low self-esteem, prenatal anxiety, prenatal depression, history of previous depression, social support, poor marital satisfaction, life stress, child care stress, difficult infant temperament, and maternity blues. This study has implications for prevention, identification, and treatment of AD military women with PPD.