In 2012, there were an estimated 43.7 million adults in the United States that had a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder (US Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2013). Given the large frequency of disorders, it is beneficial to learn about what factors influence psychological distress. One construct that has been increasingly examined in association with mental disorders is time perspective. The current study will investigate whether or not time perspective, as measured by the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI), has a unique contribution to the prediction of psychological distress. Studies have shown that time perspective has been related to psychological symptomology. Also, previous studies have shown that time perspective has been related to the constructs of neuroticism and negative affect, which have also been shown to be related to psychological distress. I also included the deviation from an optimal time perspective (DOTP) as a predictor separate from the ZTPI scales. So, I investigated whether or not time perspective has a unique influence on psychological distress when controlling for the previously mentioned related constructs. I also controlled for gender and age by including them as covariates in the regression analyses. I found that the past positive sub-scale and DOTP were significant predictors of psychological distress. Implications of these findings are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to create a brief strength of religious
onreligious

worldview scale that has language inclusive for nontheistic populations. An exploratory

factor analysis was conducted using 207 participants from a major public southwestern

university and a public midwestern university in the United States. It was determined

that the Strength of Worldview Scale (SOWS) is a single-factor measure, which also

demonstrated high test-retest reliability. It was hypothesized that scores on the SOWS

would be negatively correlated with the Depression, Stress, and Anxiety Scale (DASS),

positively correlated with the Purpose in Life Subscale, and not correlated with the

Extraversion Subscale of the Big Five Inventory (BFI). Only a modest statistically

significant correlation between the SOWS and Purpose in life was found. A regression

analysis was also conducted with theistic/atheistic belief as a predictor of scores on the

SOWS. A curvilinear relationship was found, indicating that strong theists and atheists

score more highly in the SOWS than those who are unsure of their beliefs on the

existence of a God, Gods, or Higher Power. Preliminary results suggest that the SOWS

may be a promising measure for assessing strength of belief in both theist and nontheist

populations.

Mindfulness is a concept derived from the Buddhist discourses of the Satipattana. Interventions that draw on mindfulness have been shown to reduce psychologically distressing symptoms in clinical settings. It has become widely used as a therapeutic technique in counseling, so it is important to develop an instrument measuring mindfulness-related constructs. This study presents a new instrument measuring the importance of mindfulness-related constructs. Results from an exploratory factor analysis revealed a clear two-factor structure, with the factors named "Present Moment Awareness", and "Compassion and Ethical Behavior." These items were positively correlated with each other and, as expected, negatively correlated with depression. Finally, hours of meditation moderated this association such that the association was stronger among participants who reported higher levels of meditation practice.

Transgender individuals who seek counseling have diverse experiences, identities, and goals. In keeping with contemporary standards of care for counseling transgender individuals, effective counselors have fluid attitudes towards the treatment of transgender clients and are tolerant of diversity among transgender individuals. This paper explores transgender counseling attitudes among first year graduate students in counseling and clinical psychology, and presents results of an exploratory factor analysis of a scale measuring transgender counseling attitudes, provides data on its psychometric properties, and explores its association with counselors' beliefs in sex differences. Results revealed that the rigidity in transgender counseling attitudes scale was valid and reliable. The study found a significant association between belief in sex differences and transgender counseling attitudes. Additionally, sexual orientation moderated this relation such that higher belief in sex differences among heterosexuals was associated with more rigid transgender counseling. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

As the retention rate of college freshmen increases, Tinto's (1993) model of academic persistence conceptualizes several dimensions of students' voluntary dropout. This study examined both personal and parental factors that may impact the academic persistence decisions of freshmen college students: 1) parental educational attainment; 2) parental valuing of education; 3) high school grade point average (GPA); 4) residential status (on- versus off-campus); 5) educational self-efficacy; 6) self-esteem; 7) personal valuing of education; 8) perceived academic preparation; and 9) academic expectations. The study sample consisted of 378 freshmen college students at a large southwestern university who were recruited from 23 sections of a 100-level class intended to promote academic success. The participants in this cross-sectional study were restricted to freshman level students and 18 and 19 years old in accordance with Erikson's (1968) Identity stage of psychosocial development. A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that academic persistence decisions were predicted by residential status and self-beliefs, which consisted of: educational self-efficacy, self-esteem, personal valuing of education, perceived academic preparation, and academic expectations. Parental valuing of education was a significant predictor of academic persistence decisions until self-beliefs were added to construct the full model. Although self-beliefs were collectively the most powerful predictors of persistence decisions, accounting for 22.8% of the variance, examination of the beta weights revealed that self-esteem, educational self-efficacy, and personal valuing of education were the most powerful predictors, while academic expectations approached significance. Residential status was also a significant predictor and accounted for a small but significant variance (1.6%) in academic persistence decisions. A significant multivariate difference was found between students living on campus and those living off campus. Follow-up ANOVAs revealed differences in mother's education and in parental valuing of education. These findings suggest that researchers, counselors, and college policy-makers consider on-campus living variables as well as students' self-beliefs when considering academic persistence decisions in college freshmen.