Aaron T. Beck developed a rudimentary theory of dreams in the early years of cognitive therapy (1969-1971) that he presented to both psychoanalysts and behavior therapists. This article will examine the historical conditions that fostered Beck’s cognitive dream theory. Beck’s early psychoanalytic dream research taught him the virtues of social science research and catalyzed his shift towards the cognitive model. Once the cognitive model was in place he returned to dreams to help position himself politically in the national therapeutic scene. The 1971 article reprinted in this special issue is evidence of his effort to reach out to psychoanalysts with his new cognitive model. Beck’s dream work, once he allied with behavior therapists, fell out of public view, but the current interest in psychotherapy integration has brought renewed attention to dreams in cognitive therapy.

Although negative life events are a risk factor for developing depression, cognitive control can help maintain one's mental health. However, whether thought-control ability (TCA) can alleviate the adverse effects of negative life events on depression is unclear. Therefore, two studies were conducted to test if it does, by having participant's complete measures of negative life events, TCA, and depression. Study 1, which included 140 healthy young adults, showed TCA mediated the relationship between negative life events and depressive symptoms, and that TCA also moderated the relationship between negative life events and depressive symptoms. Study 2 recruited patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) to test whether the findings could be generalized to individuals with MDD. Study 2 found TCA also mediated the relationship between negative life events and symptoms of MDD. Suggesting that improving the ability to control negative thoughts in daily life help maintain mental health and prevent depressive symptoms.

Starting from a person–environment fit framework, this study investigates whether ethnic congruence—the percentage of co-ethnics in a school—relates to school misconduct and whether congruence effects differ between ethnic minority and majority students. Moreover, we investigate whether eventual associations are mediated by friendship attachment, perceived teacher support, and general school belonging. Multilevel analyses of data from 11,759 students across 83 Flemish secondary schools show that higher ethnic congruence is associated with lower levels of school misconduct but only for ethnic minority students. This effect was not mediated by friendship attachment, nor by teacher support, but it was mediated by general school belonging. We conclude that ethnic minority students in schools with a higher percentage of peers of co-ethnic descent are less likely to break the school rules because they feel more contented in the school context, which is congruent with the person–environment fit framework.