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.

The current study investigates the relationship between school connectedness and academic achievement and whether this relationship is moderated by ethnic identity. Participants included 436 Mexican-origin youth attending a middle school in a southwestern U.S. state. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze whether school connectedness is predictive of academic achievement, measured as standardized test scores, and whether ethnic identity moderates the association in this sample of Mexican-origin youth. Findings revealed that after controlling for age, lunch status, generational status, and gender, school connectedness was a positive predictor of standardized test scores in reading and math. Results also indicated that ethnic private regard moderated the association between school connectedness and standardized test scores in reading. These findings underscore the importance of possessing a positive ethnic identity for Mexican-origin youth in predicting academic outcomes.

The purpose of this study was to determine how a profile owner's (PO's) response to a

friend's comment on Facebook impacts social attractiveness of the PO. A 3 (response type: denial, humble, no response) x 2 (sex of the participant) between-subjects experiment was conducted using 297 participants who were recruited from a large public university and a community college in the southwest United States. It was hypothesized that being humble and accepting of implied negative behavior statements would increase the social attractiveness of the profile owner compared to denial or no response. A one- way ANCOVA with social desirability as the covariate was used to analyze the data. Results were non-significant for the main effects of response type but were significant for the main effects of the sex of the participant with male participants finding the profile owners more socially attractive than female participants. The results suggest that a PO's response to a negative Friend comment does not impact the PO's social attractiveness.

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.