Treatment of nocturnal headbanging by behavior modification techniques: a case report

The application of behavior modification techniques to the alleviation of maladaptive behavior occurring during the waking state is well documented (Bandura, 1969; Franks, 1969). Recently, several case studies have been reported which demonstrate the successful extension of behavior modification techniques such as the desensitization procedure to the modification of sleep state maladaptive behavior, e.g. recurrent nightmares (Cautela, 1968; Geer and Silverman 1966; Silverman and Geer, 1968) and sleep walking (Clement, 1969). The present case study illustrates that other sleep state maladaptive behavior, in this case nocturnal headbanging, is amenable to the same behavior modification techniques which are used to modify maladaptive behavior during the waking state. Case background     

Psychopathic personality traits in the workplace: Implications for interpersonally- and organizationally-directed counterproductive and citizenship behaviors

Relatively little is known about the relations between psychopathic traits and interpersonally-directed versus organizationally-directed workplace behaviors despite the implications of these traits for maladaptive (e.g., bullying, harassing, white-collar crime, slacking) and adaptive (e.g., improving the workplace, supporting others) workplace behaviors. In a sample of employed US-based community members (N?=?352), we investigated the relations between the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM) and an expanded version of the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (E-LSRP), on the one hand, and interpersonal and organizational counterproductive behaviors and citizenship behaviors directed towards co-workers and the organization, on the other. As predicted, we found stronger positive associations between impulsive-antisocial traits (Disinhibition, Antisocial) and both interpersonal and organizational workplace deviance; however, these traits did not relate significantly to citizenship behaviors. We further found that interpersonal traits (Boldness, Egocentric) may play an adaptive role in the workplace, as demonstrated by increased citizenship behaviors. Affective traits (Callous, Meanness) were related to lesser engagement in citizenship behaviors and higher engagement in some interpersonally-directed counterproductive behaviors. In several analyses, statistical interactions among triarchic psychopathy traits, but not E-LSRP traits, predicted adaptive and maladaptive workplace behaviors. Our results suggest that employees’ psychopathic traits bear differential implications for both adaptive and maladaptive workplace behavior, and that these traits may operate in concert to increase the likelihood of such behavior.

     

Dealing with Masochistic Behavior in Group Therapy from the Perspective of the Self

The self psychological understanding of masochism differs from traditional views in that it perceives masochistic behaviors as maladaptive attempts to experience vitalization, greater self-esteem and self-cohesiveness. Motivational systems theory may be especially useful in understanding the purposes served by masochistic behavior. Masochistic behavior in interpersonal relations is of particular importance to group therapy. Such behavior serves to maintain a relationship with the object as well as to gain selfobject experiences. Exhibitionism appears to be a prominent aspect of the behavior of individuals acting masochistically in group therapy. The group leader has the responsibility of establishing and maintaining an empathic atmosphere among the group members so that the individual engaging in self destructive behavior, as well as other members, can hear and understand their own and each other's subjective experiences.     

Attributions and behavior in marital interaction.

To examine whether spouses' attributions for events in their marriage are related to their behavior in interaction, spouses were asked to report their marital quality, to make attributions for marital difficulties, and to engage in problem-solving discussions. Study 1 demonstrated that spouses' maladaptive attributions were related to less effective problem-solving behaviors, particularly among wives. Study 2 showed that spouses' maladaptive attributions were related to higher rates of negative behavior and, for wives, to increased tendencies to reciprocate negative partner behavior. In both studies attributions and behavior tended to be more strongly related for distressed than nondistressed wives. These results support social-psychological models that posit that attributions are related to behavior and models of marriage and close relationships that assume that maladaptive attributions contribute to conflict behavior and relationship dysfunction.     

The association between infants' self-regulatory behavior and MAOA gene polymorphism

Self-regulatory behavior in early childhood is an important characteristic that has considerable implications for the development of adaptive and maladaptive functioning. The present study investigated the relations between a functional polymorphism in the upstream region of monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) and self-regulatory behavior in a sample of Chinese infants at 6 months of age. Self-regulation was assessed by observing infants' behavior of orienting visual attention away from a threatening event in the laboratory situation. The results indicated that regulatory behavior was associated with the functional MAOA gene polymorphism in girls, but not boys. Girls with 4/4 genotypes displayed significantly higher regulation than girls with 3/3 and 3/4 genotypes. The present study provided evidence for gender differences on the role of MAOA gene polymorphism in socioemotional functioning in the early years.     

Paternal Psychiatric Symptoms and Maladaptive Paternal Behavior in the Home During the Child Rearing Years

Data from the Children in the Community Study, a community-based longitudinal study were used to investigate associations between paternal psychiatric disorders and child-rearing behaviors. Paternal psychiatric symptoms and behavior in the home were assessed among 782 families during the childhood and adolescence of the offspring. Paternal anxiety, disruptive, mood, personality, and substance use disorders were independently associated with specific types of maladaptive paternal behavior in the home during the child-rearing years after paternal age, education, income, co-occurring paternal psychiatric symptoms, offspring age, sex, intelligence, temperament, and psychiatric symptoms were controlled statistically. Paternal psychiatric disorders that were present by mean offspring age 14 were associated with elevated risk for maladaptive paternal behavior in the home at mean age offspring 16, after prior maladaptive paternal behavior was controlled statistically. These findings suggest that paternal psychiatric disorder may be an important determinant of maladaptive paternal behavior in the home during the child-rearing years. Improved recognition and treatment of paternal psychiatric disorders may help to reduce the amount of maladaptive parenting behavior that many children and adolescents might otherwise be likely to experience.     

Using a Mindfulness-Based Procedure in the Community: Translating Research to Practice

Maladaptive behaviors, such as aggressive and disruptive behaviors, are a significant risk factor for maintaining community placement by individuals with intellectual disabilities. When experienced researchers provide training to individuals with intellectual disabilities on a mindfulness-based strategy, Meditation on the Soles of the Feet, the individuals are able to effectively self-manage their maladaptive behaviors. We investigated whether similar effectiveness would be found if community-based therapists provided the training to similar individuals living in the community. Three adults with mild intellectual disabilities and mental illness living in the community were taught by a community-based therapist to use this strategy to control maladaptive behaviors that included verbal aggression, disruptive behavior and physical aggression. They were taught to shift the focus of their attention from the negative emotions that triggered their maladaptive behavior to a neutral stimulus, the soles of their feet. All three individuals were able to reduce their maladaptive behaviors to near-zero levels and maintain their community placement that they had been at risk for losing, due to their maladaptive behavior. Subjective measures of various psychological symptoms showed a reduction in two of the individuals. Our study suggests that the demonstrated effectiveness of Meditation on the Soles of the Feet can be achieved by a community-based therapist.     

Repetitive Maladaptive Behavior: Beyond Repetition Compulsion

Maladaptive behavior that repeats, typically known as repetition compulsion, is one of the primary reasons that people seek psychotherapy. However, even with psychotherapeutic advances it continues to be extremely difficult to treat. Despite wishes and efforts to the contrary repetition compulsion does not actually achieve mastery, as evidenced by the problem rarely resolving without therapeutic intervention, and the difficulty involved in producing treatment gains. A new framework is proposed, whereby such behavior is divided into behavior of non-traumatic origin and traumatic origin with some overlap occurring. Repetitive maladaptive behavior of non-traumatic origin arises from an evolutionary-based process whereby patterns of behavior frequently displayed by caregivers and compatible with a child's temperament are acquired and repeated. It has a familiarity and ego-syntonic aspect that strongly motivates the person to retain the behavior. Repetitive maladaptive behavior of traumatic origin is characterized by defensive dissociation of the cognitive and emotional components of trauma, making it very difficult for the person to integrate the experience. The strong resistance of repetitive maladaptive behavior to change is based on the influence of both types on personality, and also factors specific to each. Psychotherapy, although very challenging at the best of times, can achieve the mastery wished and strived for, with the aid of several suggestions provided.     

"If only I had done better": Perfectionism and the functionality of counterfactual thinking

Although a recent update on the functional theory of counterfactual thinking suggests that counterfactuals are important for behavior regulation, there is some evidence that counterfactuals may not be functional for everyone. Two studies found differences between maladaptive and high personal standards perfectionism in the functionality of counterfactuals and variables relevant to behavior regulation. Maladaptive but not personal standards perfectionism predicted making more upward counterfactuals after recalling a negative event and was linked to a variety of negative markers of achievement. Maladaptive perfectionism was associated with making controllable, subtractive, and less specific counterfactuals. High personal standards perfectionism moderated the effects of maladaptive perfectionism on counterfactual controllability. Generating counterfactuals increased motivation for personal standards perfectionists relative to a noncounterfactual control group but had no effect on motivation for maladaptive perfectionists. The findings suggest a continuum of counterfactual functionality for perfectionists and highlight the importance of considering counterfactual specificity and structure.     

THE EFFECTS OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL “ENRICHMENT” PROGRAM ON THE BEHAVIOR OF INSTITUTIONALIZED PROFOUNDLY RETARDED CHILDREN

This study determined the effects of procedures designed to “enrich” the physical and social environment of an institutional ward on the “adaptive” and “maladaptive” child, adult, self, and object-directed behaviors of five profoundly retarded ambulatory females. Behavior observed in two treatment conditions, an environment “enriched” with toys and objects and an “enriched” environment coupled with differential reinforcement of adaptive behavior, was compared to behavior occurring in corresponding baseline or “austere” conditions and during a period of noncontingent reinforcement. The results generally revealed: (1) little change in adaptive and maladaptive child and adult-directed behavior across conditions, (2) an overall higher incidence of adaptive object-directed behavior and reduced self-directed maladaptive behavior in each treatment condition from that observed in corresponding control conditions, and (3) the use of an “enriched” environment and differential reinforcement of adaptive behavior resulted in maladaptive self-directed behavior being reduced and adaptive object-directed behavior being increased beyond that observed in the “enriched” environment alone. These behavioral gains were largely maintained during a follow-up condition by continuing the “enriched” environment and transferring the responsibility for differential reinforcement to direct-care staff.     

图式治疗理论与实践

由于传统认知行为疗法治疗人格障碍面临许多问题和挑战,Young在认知行为疗法的基础上创建了图式治疗。图式治疗关注患者的早期适应不良图式和适应不良的应对方式,并通过一系列治疗策略,帮助患者改变早期适应不良图式,形成更健康的行为方式。图式治疗是在传统认知行为疗法的基础上,结合依恋理论、客体关系理论、格式塔理论和建构主义理论的整合治疗模型,其整合的优势为今后的发展带来很大空间     

Can Perceived Burdensomeness Explain the Relationship Between Suicide and Perfectionism?

The perception of being a burden to others has been associated with suicidal ideation and behavior. Maladaptive aspects of perfectionism have also been associated with suicidal thinking and behavior. The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether perceived burdensomeness would act as a mediator between maladaptive perfectionism and suicidal ideation. Results indicated that perceived burdensomeness mediated the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and suicidal ideation, which suggest that the perception of burdensomeness may be one aspect of the mechanism by which perfectionism can lead to such psychological distress that it becomes a predictor of suicidal ideation. Clinical implications of this relationship are discussed.     

Self-esteem, self-serving cognitions, and health risk behavior

The current article reviews prospective and experimental research on the relation between self-esteem and perceptions of vulnerability. These studies demonstrate that individuals with high self-esteem who engage in risk behavior often utilize a variety of self-serving cognitive strategies that protect them from fully acknowledging their vulnerability to the potential negative consequences of their behavior; e.g., they minimize their estimates of personal risk and overestimate the prevalence of the risk behavior among their peers. The article also provides data on an additional self-serving cognitive strategy employed by adolescents with high self-esteem--alteration of perceptions of others' reactions to their own risk behavior. Finally, the article reviews the emerging literature on the relation between these cognitive strategies and maladaptive health behavior, and proposes that whether these strategies are maladaptive depends on the nature of the threat and the availability of opportunities to engage in compensatory self-enhancement.     

Group psychotherapy of the characterologically difficult patient

A broad range of characterologically difficult patients present for treatment in psychotherapy groups. Despite different clinical presentations, including features of the schizoid, borderline, and narcissistic personality disorders, these patients share a common developmental failing. Specifically, these individuals have failed to attain object constancy and the associated stable internalization of tolerably ambivalent representations of the self, and of the other, in relationship with one another. Splitting mechanisms predominate over integrative ones, as primitive defenses are utilized to deal with the individual's powerful needs and fears related to engagement and intimacy. These maladaptive interpersonal styles are clearly illuminated in group therapy, but often to the exclusion of the latent, intrapsychic derivatives of this behavior, with detrimental effects. This paper examines the group therapy of such patients from the perspective of object relations and self psychology theories, models that provide the essential link between the interpersonal and the intrapsychic worlds.     

The relationship between self-consciousness and interpersonal effectiveness and a new scale to measure individual differences in self-consciousness

The purpose of this research was to explore the relationship between a dispositional tendency to become self-conscious and interpersonal effectiveness. It was hypothesized that excessive self-consciousness may be a significant component of social inadequacy and this prediction was confirmed in two experiments. In both studies, maladaptive self-consciousness was measured using a new scale and the development and validity for the test are reported. In the first study, the social skills of persons high or low in maladaptive self-consciousness were assessed using sociometric ratings made by acquaintances. Persons high in maladaptive self-consciousness were perceived by their peers as more socially inadequate. The second study was conducted in a controlled laboratory setting and involved placing persons high or low in maladaptive self-consciousness in a dyadic interaction with a randomly selected partner. Following this, both participants were asked to report their feelings and reactions during the interaction and to make behavioral ratings of their partner. Trained observers also made behavioral ratings of both interactants. It was hypothesized that maladaptive self-consciousness would be associated with ineffective social behavior, reduced sensitivity to one's partner, and a heightened self-perception of inadequacy. These predictions were confirmed and the implications of the relationship between maladaptive self-consciousness and social inadequacy are discussed.     

A comparison of maladaptive behaviors of athletes and nonathletes.

A comparison of maladaptive behavior tendencies of men and women who were athletes and nonathletes was undertaken. Participating students (N = 200) were divided into four groups: male athletes, male nonathletes, female athletes, and female nonathletes. Maladaptive behavior tendencies were determined from responses on C. MacAndrew's (1965) Alcoholism Scale. The statistical analysis used was an independent groups 2 x 2 analysis of variance to determine significant main effects and interaction effects. The mean maladaptive behavior score (MBS) for athletes (M = 21.87) was significantly higher (p < .05) than the MBS for nonathletes (M = 20.24). The MBS for the men (M = 21.68) was significantly higher (p < .05) than the MBS for the women (M = 20.43). No significant interaction (p > .05) between gender and athletic status was found. Male athletes are more likely than the other 3 groups to have maladaptive behavior tendencies. Research directed toward greater understanding and the development of preventive and coping techniques for this population is needed.     

Moving beyond the trait conceptualization of self-esteem: The prospective effect of impulsiveness, coping, and risky behavior engagement

Past research has largely focused on examining self-esteem as an independent as opposed to a dependent variable. At the same time, research suggests that during adolescence, self-esteem is subject to yearly, monthly, as well as daily change, and consequently, it is important to identify underlying vulnerability factors and behaviors, which shape self-esteem lability. In the current multi-wave, longitudinal study, 142 adolescents between the ages of 12-18 completed monthly assessments across 4 months. At the initial assessment, adolescents provided self-report data pertaining to impulsiveness, maladaptive coping, risky behavior engagement, and self-esteem. At each of the follow-up assessments, adolescents provided information about risky behavior engagement and self-esteem. Results of time-lagged, idiographic multilevel mediation analyzes indicated that risky behavior engagement mediated the relationship between impulsiveness/maladaptive coping and subsequent low self-esteem. Critically, when included in the same model, impulsiveness was significant above and beyond maladaptive coping. Additionally, the reverse model with self-esteem as the predictor and risky behavior included as the dependent variable was not significant suggesting that our effect was unidirectional. As a whole, these findings suggest that impulsive youth may engage in behaviors, which ultimately precipitate negative self-evaluations and transient declines in self-esteem.     

The Relations of Temperament and Emotion Self-regulation with Suicidal Behaviors in a Clinical Sample of Depressed Children in Hungary

Although major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with suicidal behaviors, some depressed individuals are not suicidal and others evidence various forms of suicidality. We thus investigated whether aspects of temperament and self-regulation of dysphoria represent risk factors for DSM-IV suicidality (recurrent thoughts of death, recurrent suicidal ideation, suicidal plan, and suicide attempt) in depressed youths. Using a sample of children with MDD (N = 407; ages 7-14 years), recruited from clinical sites across Hungary, we tested the hypotheses that: (a) suicidality is related to higher levels of trait negative emotionality as well as more maladaptive and fewer adaptive regulatory responses to dysphoria and (b) as the severity of suicidal behavior increases, levels of trait negative emotionality and dysfunctional emotion regulation also increase. We also explored if other aspects of temperament relate to suicidality. Children's DSM-IV diagnoses were based on semi-structured interviews and best-estimate psychiatric consensus. Parents independently provided ratings of their children's temperament, and children separately completed an inventory of emotion regulation (ER). Using multivariate models, we failed to confirm the hypothesized relations of negative trait emotionality and suicidality, but confirmed that high maladaptive and low adaptive ER response tendencies increase the odds of suicidal behaviors, above and beyond the risk posed by depressive illness severity. Unplanned interaction terms between temperament dimensions (other than negative emotionality) and ER suggested that at some high-extremes of temperament, ER has no impact on suicidality but in their absence, adaptive ER lowers the risk of suicidality. The practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Accepting Threatening Information: Self–Affirmation and the Reduction of Defensive Biases

Why do people resist evidence that challenges the validity of long–held beliefs? And why do they persist in maladaptive behavior even when persuasive information or personal experience recommends change? We argue that such defensive tendencies are driven, in large part, by a fundamental motivation to protect the perceived worth and integrity of the self. Studies of social–political debate, health–risk assessment, and responses to team victory or defeat have shown that people respond to information in a less defensive and more open–minded manner when their self–worth is buttressed by an affirmation of an alternative source of identity. Self–affirmed individuals are more likely to accept information that they would otherwise view as threatening, and subsequently to change their beliefs and even their behavior in a desirable fashion. Defensive biases have an adaptive function for maintaining self–worth, but maladaptive consequences for promoting change and reducing social conflict.