How Therapists Discuss Causality with Families in an Integrated Family Management and Therapy Service, a Qualitative Study with Focus Groups

Family therapy (FT) and family management (FM) approaches to psychosis have been distinguished by their understanding of causality. FM holds a biological understanding which could have negative consequences for the person with psychosis. FT, with its focus on interactions, has been criticised for its potential for implying that families are to blame for their relative’s psychosis. Although these two approaches have been integrated, the manner in which causality is discussed in family sessions within an integrated approach has not been researched. Qualitative research was conducted with clinicians working in an established integrated family intervention service to explore how they discuss causality. Four focus groups were conducted and a framework approach to thematic analysis used. Four themes developed from the analysis: how a shared understanding of causality is constructed; the use of an ‘explorative conversational’ therapeutic style to discuss causality; factors that limited the exploration of causality; and the challenges of working with issues of blame. The stress-vulnerability model, genograms, interactional-cycles and formulation were identified as useful tools to develop a shared understanding of causality. The therapeutic style of ‘explorative conversation’–based in FT, integrated with the stress-vulnerability model–based in FM, was identified as key to the integrated model and clinicians felt these two aspects addressed the criticisms that have been levelled at each approach. Complex family problems, abuse and illicit drug use were factors that challenged causality discussions. Families feeling blamed/blaming themselves and attempts to transform blame made up a dominant theme of the research.     

Stressful segregation housing and psychosocial vulnerability in prison suicide ideators

Psychosocially vulnerable prisoners under stressful conditions of confinement are ill prepared to cope and at risk for developing suicide intention. The present study examined the relationships of depression, hopelessness, reasons for living, mental health problem history, suicide attempt lethality history, and stressful segregation housing with suicide ideation in 134 prisoners. Prisoners housed in segregation were found to have significantly higher levels of depression and suicide ideation than prisoners in general population. A hierarchical regression model of suicide ideation found significant interactions between mental health problem history, suicide attempt lethality history, and hopelessness with anticipated segregation stress, independent of depressed mood. Results of the study are discussed in terms of the stress-vulnerability model, various methodological limitations, and future research.     

Type A Behavior and Stress in College Males

Substantial inconsistency can be noted among studies that have considered the relationship between Type A status and subsequent cardiac pathology. This erratic prediction pattern could be partially explained by the failure to consider level of stress in Type As, because only Type As that experience excessive and sustained stress should be at special risk. A stress-vulnerability model for young Type A college students was proposed involving selected Type A characteristics and other personality moderator variables serving to elicit, augment, and sustain stress. We considered self-preoccupation as a stress moderator in Type A college males and found evidence that k serves this function. Self-preoccupied Type As reported excessive stress over the previous year, whereas less self-centered Type As did not. Self-preoccupation was of no importance in moderating stress in Type Bs.     

Concurrent validity of a stress-vulnerability model of suicidal ideation and behavior: a follow-up study

A follow-up study to test the concurrent validity of a stress-vulnerability model of suicidal ideation and behavior was conducted. A total of 202 college students (139 females, 63 males) completed self-report measures of life stress, loneliness, depression, dysfunctional cognitions, reasons for living, hopelessness, current suicide ideation, and predictions of future suicide probability. The results of a multiple-regression analysis indicated that 30% of the variation in suicide ideation scores could be accounted for by the linear combination of negative life stress, depression, loneliness, and few reasons for living. The linear combination of current suicide ideation, hopelessness, dysfunctional cognitions, and few reasons for living explained 56% of the variance in self-predicted future suicide probability. The results are interpreted as being supportive of the proposed model.     

Type A behavior and stress in college males

Substantial inconsistency can be noted among studies that have considered the relationship between Type A status and subsequent cardiac pathology. This erratic prediction pattern could be partially explained by the failure to consider level of stress in Type As, because only Type As that experience excessive and sustained stress should be at special risk. A stress-vulnerability model for young Type A college students was proposed involving selected Type A characteristics and other personality moderator variables serving to elicit, augment, and sustain stress. We considered self-preoccupation as a stress moderator in Type A college males and found evidence that it serves this function. Self-preoccupied Type As reported excessive stress over the previous year, whereas less self-centered Type As did not. Self-preoccupation was of no importance in moderating stress in Type Bs.     

大学生的冲动性特质与自杀意念的关系:一个有调节的中介模型

以应激-易感模型为依据考察冲动性特质与自杀意念的关系,并在此基础上提出一个有调节的中介模型,探讨负性生活事件影响的中介作用以及家庭环境的调节作用。采用巴瑞特冲动性量表、青少年生活事件量表、家庭环境量表、贝克自杀意念量表对902名大学生进行集体施测,旨在考察负性生活事件的影响对大学生冲动性特质与自杀意念的中介作用以及家庭环境的调节作用,结果表明:(1)冲动性特质和负性生活事件的影响能正向预测大学生的自杀意念;(2)负性生活事件的影响在冲动性特质和自杀意念之间起中介作用;(3)负性生活事件影响的中介作用和冲动性特质的直接作用受家庭环境的调节。这些结果对于综合解释环境与个体因素对自杀意念的作用与机制具有重要意义。     

Expressed emotion and familial interaction: a study with agoraphobic and obsessive-compulsive patients and their relatives

Patients with panic disorder with agoraphobia (n = 40) or obsessive- compulsive disorder (n = 61) participated in a 10-min problem-solving interaction with their primary relative. Relatives were categorized as hostile or nonhostile toward the patient on the basis of a measure of expressed emotion (EE). Observed interactions between patients and their hostile relatives, relative to those of dyads with a nonhostile relative, were marked by higher rates of relatives' criticism and of patients' negativity but not by higher rates of negative reciprocity. Analyses of sequences indicated that the dyads with a hostile relative had a higher rate of sequences in which the relative was first critical and the patient then negative than was the case for dyads with nonhostile relatives. Moreover, hostile relatives were more frequently critical than nonhostile relatives whether patients' preceding behavior was positive, negative, or neutral. The findings are consistent with the stress-vulnerability model of the effect of EE on mental health, in that patients living with a high EE relative appear to be exposed to higher levels of interpersonal stress.     

压力性生活事件对青少年主观幸福感的影响机制

在应对的交互作用模式、压力缓冲与压力易损性假说基础上提出一个有调节的中介模型,探讨应对方式在青少年压力性生活事件与主观幸福感之间的中介效应,以及情绪智力的调节效应。被试为1670名青少年,研究工具包括青少年生活事件量表、特质应对方式问卷、情绪智力量表和主观幸福感问卷。结果显示:(1)应对方式在压力性生活事件与主观幸福感之间起部分中介作用。(2)情绪智力在压力性生活事件对应对方式的影响中起调节作用:在低压力性生活事件下,高情绪智力的青少年应对方式较好,在高压力性生活事件下,不论情绪智力如何,应对方式都不好,情绪智力是压力易损因子。     

Perceived academic challenges of Jewish and Arab undergraduates during the first wave of COVID-19

This study examined differences between Arab and Jewish undergraduate students in their perceived academic challenges, COVID-19-related concerns, perceived social support and trust in the university and the government. It also examined factors associated with perceived academic challenges and the moderating role of trust in the university in the associations between COVID-19-related concerns and perceived academic challenges. The sample consisted of 2751 students: 2291 (83%) Jewish, 398 (15%) Arab and 61 (2%) ‘other’. Arab students reported higher COVID-19-related concerns and perceived academic challenges, and lower levels of perceived social support and trust in university and government than did Jewish students. Both Jewish and Arab students identified COVID-19-related concerns as a stress-vulnerability factor for perceived academic challenges, whereas perceived social support and trust in the university were identified as resources for perceived academic challenges. No support was found for the role of trust in government in the face of perceived academic challenges nor for the moderating role of trust in the university in the associations between COVID-19-related concerns and perceived academic challenges. In conclusion, the need of Arab students for emotional and academic support needs to be acknowledged as part of the efforts to promote academic success during the pandemic.     

Toward an integrative model of suicide attempt: a cognitive psychological approach.

Applying a cognitive approach, the purpose of the present study was to expand previous research on stress-vulnerability models of depression and problem-solving deficits, as it relates to suicide attempt. Structural equation modelling, involving latent variables, was used to evaluate (a) whether low self-esteem, a low sense of self-efficacy, loneliness, and divorce constituted vulnerability factors for the development of depression; (b) whether hopelessness and suicidal ideation mediated the relationship between depression and suicide attempt; and (c) whether problem-solving deficits mediated the relationship between the vulnerability factors and suicide attempt, separate from depression/hopelessness. A total of 123 individuals, aged 18-75 years, participated in the study (72 suicide attempters and 51 psychiatric outpatients with no history of suicidal behavior). The results indicated a two path model of suicide attempt. The first path began with low self-esteem, loneliness, and separation or divorce, which advanced to depression, and was further mediated by hopelessness and suicidal ideation which led to suicide attempt. The second path developed from low self-esteem and a low sense of self-efficacy and advanced to suicide attempt, mediated by a negative appraisal of one's own problem-solving capacity, and poor interpersonal problem-solving skills. The importance of addressing both depression/hopelessness, and problem-solving deficits when working with suicide attempters is noted.     

领悟社会支持对青少年生活满意度的影响

采用问卷法调查了1319名青少年,探讨了领悟社会支持对感恩与青少年生活满意度之间关系的中介效应以及压力性生活事件对此中介效应是否具有调节效应。结果发现：（1）领悟社会支持在感恩与青少年生活满意度之间起着部分中介作用;（2）领悟社会支持的中介作用受到压力性生活事件的调节,压力性生活事件调节了感恩 领悟社会支持 生活满意度这一中介过程的后半路径。因此,领悟社会支持对青少年生活满意度的影响是有调节的中介效应。研究结论对提高青少年的生活满意度具有重要的理论价值和参考价值。     

从人际关系看人格--认知-情感系统理论的视角

人格的认知—情感系统理论(cognitive-affective system theory of personality,简称CAPS)被视为是与大五人格理论齐名的一种人格理论。该文拟从个体外部的人际关系层面来阐述该理论,以加深对理论的理解。然后,又从CAPS与其它人际关系理论的契合说明该理论是一种整合性的人格理论。最后,指出了CAPS的优点和局限性,并由此对人格研究的未来发展方向进行了探讨。     

Theory in Religion,Aging, and Health: An Overview

This paper provides an overview of theory in religion, aging, and health. It offers both a primer on theory and a roadmap for researchers. Four “tenses” of theory are described—distinct ways that theory comes into play in this field: grand theory, mid-range theory, use of theoretical models, and positing of constructs which mediate or moderate putative religious effects. Examples are given of both explicit and implicit uses of theory. Sources of theory for this field are then identified, emphasizing perspectives of sociologists and psychologists, and discussion is given to limitations of theory. Finally, reflections are offered as to why theory matters.     

Epistemological and ontological issues in counseling: Implications of social systems theory

Philosophical issues related to theoretical and methodological developments in counseling are addressed, especially related to epistemology (theory of knowledge) and ontology (theory of reality). Social systems theory is described as an epistemologically and ontologically significant challenger to psychological theory, which has traditionally predominated as a foundation for counseling approaches. Recent developments from cognitive biology are used to demonstrate how systems theory may be metatheoretical to the psychological point of view, accounting for all that psychological theory can account for, and more.     

Uniting model theory and the universalist tradition of logic: Carnap’s early axiomatics

We shift attention from the development of model theory for demarcated languages to the development of this theory for fragments of a language. Although it is often assumed that model theory for demarcated languages is not compatible with a universalist conception of logic, no one has denied that model theory for fragments of a language can be compatible with that conception. It thus seems unwarranted to ignore the universalist tradition in the search for the origins and development of model theory. This point is illustrated by Carnap’s early semantics and model theory, which he developed within a type theoretical framework and which stand out both for their universalistic treatment and for certain idiosyncratic technicalities by which the construction is supported. One special property is that individuals are context relative in Carnap’s system. This leads to a model theory in which the model domains are more flexible than has been suggested in the literature.     

Measuring needs with the thematic apperception test: a psychometric study

Three apperception theories that explain how people respond to Thematic Apperception Test cards are proposed: a simple apperception theory, an apperception theory with a dynamic component, and an apperception theory with 2 types of responses. Each theory is translated into an item response theory model and is applied to need for achievement (nAch) data. The analysis indicates that the best fitting model is provided by the apperception theory with 2 types of responses, also referred to as the drop-out apperception theory. The 1st type of response predicted by this theory is determined by the nAch level of the person and the achievement-response-eliciting value of the card; this response is diagnostic for the nAch level of the person. The 2nd type of response is not determined by the 2 aforementioned characteristics and is therefore not diagnostic of the person's nAch level. The results are cross-validated for need for power and need for affiliation.     

社会认同理论及其发展

社会认同理论是由Tajfel和Turner等人提出的，它对群体行为做出了新的解释，并成为群体关系研究中最有影响的理论。社会认同理论产生于对群体间行为解释，它认为个体对群体的认同是群体行为的基础。新近的研究也为社会认同理论提供了一定的证据。社会认同理论是欧洲心理学本土化的重要成果，对社会心理学具有重要的贡献，同时它也有待于进一步完善     

Why we can still believe the error theory

The error theory is a metaethical theory that maintains that normative judgments are beliefs that ascribe normative properties, and that these properties do not exist. In a recent paper, Bart Streumer argues that it is impossible to fully believe the error theory. Surprisingly, he claims that this is not a problem for the error theorist: even if we can’t fully believe the error theory, the good news is that we can still come close to believing the error theory. In this paper I show that Streumer’s arguments fail. First, I lay out Streumer’s argument for why we can’t believe the error theory. Then, I argue against the unbelievability of the error theory. Finally, I show that Streumer’s positive proposal that we can come close to believing the error theory is actually undermined by his own argument for why we can’t believe the error theory.     

Original and cumulative prospect theory: a discussion of empirical differences

This paper discusses differences between prospect theory and cumulative prospect theory. It shows that cumulative prospect theory is not merely a formal correction of some theoretical problems in prospect theory, but it also gives different predictions. Some experiments by Lola Lopes are re-analyzed, and are demonstrated to favor cumulative prospect theory over prospect theory. It turns out that the mathematical form of cumulative prospect theory is well suited for modeling the psychological phenomenon of diminishing sensitivity. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The relative importance of math‐ and music‐related cognitive and affective factors in predicting undergraduate music theory achievement

Based on research identifying relations between math and music, we aimed to identify the group of cognitive and affective factors related to math and music theory that best explained undergraduate music theory achievement. Using dominance analysis, we predicted the music theory course grades of 230 undergraduate music majors. Potential predictors were narrowed from measures of knowledge, aptitude, experience, confidence, and anxiety in both music theory and math as well as spatial skills and reading test scores. Results suggested that ACT math scores and music theory confidence were important predictors for Music Theories I and II grades. Music Theory I was also predicted by aptitude‐based music theory skills, and Music Theory II was also predicted by math course experience. These findings provide evidence for a relation between math and music theory and support the use of several readily available measures for college‐level music instructors to identify students who may struggle in music theory.