Autobiographical memory functions in young Japanese men and women

The present study examined whether the three major functions of autobiographical memory observed in Western societies (i.e., directing-behaviour, social-bonding and self-continuity) also exist in an East Asian society. Two self-report measures were used to assess the autobiographical memory functions of Japanese men and women. Japanese young adults (N = 451, ages 17–28 years) first completed the original Thinking About Life Experiences (TALE) Questionnaire. They subsequently received three TALE items that represented memory functions and attempted to recall a specific instance of memory recall for each item. Confirmatory factor analyses on the TALE showed that the three functions were replicated in the current sample. However, Japanese participants reported lower levels of all three functions than American participants in a previous study. We also explored whether there was an effect of gender in this Japanese sample. Women reported higher levels of the self-continuity and social-bonding functions than men. Finally, participants recalled more specific instances of memory recall for the TALE items that had received higher ratings on the TALE, suggesting that the findings on the first measure were supported by the second measure. Results are discussed in relation to the functional approach to autobiographical memory in a cross-cultural context.     

Correlates of coping with unemployment in young australians

The study reported is an investigation of the correlates of individual differences in coping with unemployment in young Australians. One hundred and twenty-six young people (66 males, 60 females) attending Commonwealth Youth Support Scheme (CUSS) centres in Melbourne were surveyed. Adjustment to unemployment was ad via self-reported physical and mental health problems and life satisfaction. Also assessed were a range of factors hypothesized, on the basis of stress theory, to mediate adjustment to unemployment including: duration of unemployment, economic deprivation, social support, cognitive irrationality, work values and range of leisure activities. Regression analyses indicated that all criterion measures of adjustment were associated significantly with the predictor variables. It was concluded that stress theory provides a useful conceptual framework for analysing individual differences in the impact of unemployment.     

Assessing young adolescents' personality with the five-factor personality inventory

The Five-Factor Personality Inventory (FFPI) assesses a person's position on the (Dutch) psycholexically based Big Five factors: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Autonomy. FFPI factor scores are reliable and valid if ratings are made by adults. The present study yields preliminary evidence of whether young adolescents provide reliable and valid self-ratings on this instrument or whether this depends on their cognitive ability level. The sample consisted of a large and representative cohort of youngsters with a mean age of 13 years. The adult structure of the FFPI was generally well replicated, across all ability levels represented in the study. The findings further suggest that young adolescents' factor scores are construct-valid and sufficiently reliable to be used in (group) research settings. However, for reports on individual profiles and decision making, an adolescent's cognitive ability level would need to be rather high. Even then, measuring Autonomy seems challenging.     

Correlates of age at first sexual intercourse in a national sample of young women

A subsample of 814 sexually experienced adolescent females from the 1979 U.S. National Survey of Young Women was analyzed to assess the correlates of age at 1st sexual intercourse. Multiple regression procedures were used to examine sets of variables sequentially. In the hierarchical regression model, the control variables (respondent's age, race, religion, and age at menarche), along with 3 independent variables (household income, ideal age at 1st marriage, and ideal age for 1st birth), predicted age at 1st intercourse. The control variables accounted for a major portion of the variance in the model. Of the controls, chronological age and age at menarche were highly significant across all models tested.     

Social life factors affecting suicide in Japanese men and women

To clarify the social life factors affecting suicide mortality in Japanese men and women, the relationship between a wide variety of social and demographic indicators and age-adjusted suicide mortality was assessed in 46 prefectures in Japan by stepwise multiple-regression analysis after classification of the indicators by factor analysis. The findings indicated that rural residence was the major factor for male mortality in both 1970 and 1975; over the interval between these years, a serious economic crisis (the oil crisis) took place, and the mortality significantly increased. In addition, in 1970 (a time of high economic growth), home help for the elderly (a possible indicator of social isolation in old people), depopulation by social mobility, and urban residence were positively associated with male mortality. In women, on the other hand, both the 5-year increase in suicide mortality and the effects of the social life factors were less significant. The unique position of Japan in comparison with Western countries regarding social risk factors for suicide is discussed in the light of these findings.     

A life history assessment of early childhood sexual abuse in women

Life history theory provided a framework for examining the relations among child sexual abuse (CSA), childhood adversity, and patterns of reproductive development and behavior. A community survey that assessed CSA, life history variables (e.g., age of menarche), and social and family background was administered to 623 women (mean age=26.9 years). Independent of social and family background, CSA was associated with earlier age of (a) menarche, (b) first sexual relationship, (c) desire to have children, (d) first childbirth, and (e) lower self-evaluated physical attractiveness. Cluster analyses revealed different patterns of experiential correlates of reproductive development within the group of abused women, suggesting CSA may operate in combination with other childhood circumstances to modify the timing and pattern of individual maturation.     

Correlates of low frustration tolerance in young adolescents

148 young adolescents who reported low frustration tolerance also reported more trait anger, state anger, and hostility.     

Working with Bangladeshi young women

The author describes once-weekly psychoanalytically informed work in a child mental health setting with young Bangladeshi women making the transition to adulthood. She argues that the prevalent notion of 'culture conflict' used to account for patterns of emotional disturbance and self-harm in these young women is reductionist and represents a denial of severe family dysfunction and individual psychic pain. She shows how, despite cultural differences, psychoanalytically informed thinking can provide a basis for understanding these young women's experience and facilitate their emotional growth. However, faced with complex unconscious processes, the worker has to remain alert to her countertransference in order not to be drawn into an unhelpful collusion or denial of reality. Organizational defences may also operate to protect staff and their institutions from awareness of such high levels of emotional distress, which therefore remain hidden. The author is grateful to the two young women who consented to publication in the hope that it might help others. Details have been changed to protect their anonymity.     

Borderline personality traits in nonclinical young adults

The main purpose of this study was to explore the dimensionality of the borderline personality disorder in nonclinical young adults by means of the Borderline Personality Questionnaire (BPQ; Poreh et al., 2006). We also studied the phenotypic expression of the borderline personality traits as a function of participants' gender and age, and the relationship between BPQ subscales and measures of depressive symptoms, anxiety, stress, hallucinatory predisposition, and paranoid ideation. The sample comprised 809 young adults, 562 (69.5%) were women, with a mean age of 20.2 years (SD = 2.9). The results indicate that the BPQ self-report has adequate psychometric properties. The levels of internal consistency for the BPQ subscales ranged between .78 and .93. Analysis of the internal structure of the BPQ subscales yielded a one-dimensional solution. In contrast, second-order principal components analysis at the item level yielded a five-dimensional solution. Likewise, statistically significant differences in the mean scores of the borderline personality traits as a function of participants' gender and age were found. The BPQ subscales correlated significantly with measures of depression, anxiety, stress, paranoid ideation, and hallucinatory predisposition. These results help to improve our understanding of the dimensional structure of the borderline personality in the general population. Future research should continue to identify participants who are at risk for the development of borderline personality disorder and facilitating the development of early detection and prevention programs.     

Adverse caregiving in early life: The trauma and deprivation distinction in young children

Knowledge and understanding about the impact of cumulative adverse experiences on the health and wellbeing of children, adolescents, and adults has rapidly expanded over the past 30 years. Despite the invaluable attention and support this proliferation has drawn to the importance of early childhood experiences, we believe that it is time to move beyond broad indices of risk and toward more specific and individualized understanding of how risk exposures are linked to clinical outcomes in young children. Within infant and early childhood mental health, there is a need for greater specificity in linking adverse caregiving experiences in early life to psychopathology in children. We highlight a framework distinguishing experiences of trauma from experiences of deprivation and use the examples of posttraumatic stress disorder and reactive attachment disorder to demonstrate how greater specificity in our understanding of early adverse caregiving can lead to more accurate and targeted diagnosis and treatment for young children. Both researchers and clinicians benefit from an approach to gain a greater appreciation of the links between specific types of experiences and outcomes in the children that we serve.     

Correlates of life satisfaction among military wives

Military life includes constant change. This study explored the relationship of life satisfaction among military wives with the individual attitudinal and personality variables of perceived social support, locus of control, and temperament. Sixty wives of noncommissioned military personnel were selected as participants. Life satisfaction was found to be related to high levels of perceived social support from family and from friends, to an internal locus of control, and to low levels of emotionality-stress and emotionality-fear. The results supported the role of individual resources for mediating adjustment and enhancing life satisfaction during the changes inherent in military life. Implications for identifying and helping high-risk women emerged.     

Approach-avoidance responses to infant facial expressions in nulliparous women: Associations with early experience and mood induction

Infant expressions are important signals for eliciting caregiving behaviors in parents. The present study sought to test if infant expressions affect adults’ behavioral response, taking into account the role of a mood induction and childhood caregiving experiences. A modified version of the Approach Avoidance Task (AAT) was employed to study nulliparous female university students’ implicit responses to infant faces with different expressions. Study 1 showed that sad, neutral and sleepy expressions elicit a tendency for avoidance, while no tendency for approach or avoidance was found for happy faces. Notably, differences between approach and avoidance response latencies for sad faces and participants’ negative caregiving experiences were positively correlated (r = 0.30, p = 0.04, Bonferroni corrected), indicating that individuals who experienced insensitive parental care show more bias toward sad infant faces. In Study 2, we manipulated participants' current mood (inducing sad and happy mood by asking to recall a happy or sad event of their recent life) before the AAT. Results showed that sad mood enhanced the bias toward sad faces that is buffered by positive mood induction. In conclusion, these findings indicate that implicit approach avoidance behaviors in females depend on the emotional expression of infant faces and are associated with childhood caregiving experiences and current mood.     

Psychosexual fixation and defense mechanisms in a sample of young Japanese women: a preliminary study

The present pilot study examined psychosexual fixations and defense mechanisms in a sample of young Japanese women. The Lexical Rorschach count and the Defense Mechanisms Inventory were administered to 24 female college students. Sadism on the Lexical Rorschach count was positively correlated with Reversal of Affect. Phallic fixation on the Lexical Rorschach count was positively correlated with Projection. Psychoanalytic hypotheses about the associations between psychosexual fixations and defense mechanisms were partially confirmed.     

Congruence of personality and life events in depression

Consistent with the personality-event congruence hypothesis, highly sociotropic depressed patients (n = 19) reported more recent negative interpersonal events than negative autonomy events and more negative interpersonal events than did highly autonomous depressed patients (n = 22), for whom the hypothesis was not supported. There was no evidence of such congruence among nondepressed schizophrenic patients (n = 44). In a second study, there was significant personality-event congruence in dysphoric students (n = 26) but not in nondysphoric students (n = 56). Both the high-sociotropy and high-autonomy dysphoric groups separately yielded nonsignificant trends consistent with congruence. These findings add to the growing support for the importance of the sociotropy construct in depression and weaker support for the autonomy construct or its measurement, and they suggest that the congruence effect does not generalize to all psychopathologies.     

Substance use and violent behavior in women with antisocial personality disorder

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between substance abuse and dependence and violent behavior in a sample of incarcerated women with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Among male populations, substance dependence is associated with aggression and criminal behavior. Individuals with ASPD have more severe substance dependence, including higher symptom counts, earlier age of onset, and more frequent co-morbidity. Incarcerated women have a high prevalence of ASPD and substance dependence, but there has been little detailed work regarding addiction severity. Similarly, work on association of substance abuse and dependence with specific violent behaviors has been limited. This study examined a group of 41 mid-sentence female felons with a diagnosis of ASPD to determine associations with substance abuse and dependence. Data were gathered through administration of the Semi-Structured Assessment of the Genetics of Alcoholism II (SSAGA II). Substance dependence was highly prevalent (i.e., alcohol dependence, 56.1%; opiate dependence, 48.8%; cocaine dependence, 61.0%). While specific diagnoses were not associated with violent behavior and offending, symptom severity (i.e., age of onset, symptom count, co-morbidity) was associated with violent behavior in women dependent on opiates, alcohol, and cocaine. Arrest for an assault 1 was associated with alcohol dependence and opiate dependence. These data suggest that measurement of symptom severity and co-morbidity is important in assessing violent behavior in incarcerated women with ASPD. These findings are potentially important in examining non-incarcerated, substance-dependent women.     

Work experiences and personality development in young adulthood

This longitudinal study provides an analysis of the relationship between personality traits and work experiences with a special focus on the relationship between changes in personality and work experiences in young adulthood. Longitudinal analyses uncovered 3 findings. First, measures of personality taken at age 18 predicted both objective and subjective work experiences at age 26. Second, work experiences were related to changes in personality traits from age 18 to 26. Third, the predictive and change relations between personality traits and work experiences were corresponsive: Traits that "selected" people into specific work experiences were the same traits that changed in response to those same work experiences. The relevance of the findings to theories of personality development is discussed.     

A longitudinal study of personality change in young adulthood

The present research examined personality continuity and change in a sample of young men and women assessed at the beginning and end of college. Two-hundred seventy students completed measures of the Big Five personality traits when they first entered college and then 4 years later. Analyses indicate small- to medium-sized normative (i.e., mean-level) changes, large rank-order stability correlations, high levels of stability in personality structure, and moderate levels of ipsative (i.e. profile) stability. Overall, the findings are consistent with the perspective that personality traits exhibit considerable continuity over time, yet can change in systematic ways.