Parenting empathy: Associations with dimensions of parent and child psychopathology

Background. Parenting empathy, the understanding by parents, and the sharing in their child's perspective, represents an important element of competent parenting. The present study tested the hypotheses that maternal empathy might be lower where mothers or their children display symptoms of psychopathology. Method. Mothers (N = 268) of school‐aged children completed questionnaires on child‐directed empathy and egoistic personal distress and their own and their child's symptoms of psychopathology across a number of broadly defined domains. Results. Child conduct problems were associated with decreased child‐directed empathy and increased maternal egoistic distress. Maternal aggressive characteristics and maternal ADHD symptoms were each associated with increased egoistic personal distress. Conclusion. The findings indicate that symptoms of psychopathology in children and adults are associated with deficits in empathy and increased maternal egoistic personal distress. The implications of the findings for responsive parenting and child social behaviour are discussed.     

Aggression and psychopathology in adolescents with a preference for violent electronic games

Associations between a preference for violent electronic games and adolescents’ self‐perceptions of problem behaviors and emotions were examined. It was predicted that a preference for violent games would be associated with negative externalizing characteristics, in particular aggressive emotions and behaviors, on the Youth Self‐Report (YSR), a standardized self‐report measure of adolescent problem behaviors. Thirty‐two 11‐ through 15‐year‐olds (17 girls) listed and categorized favorite electronic games into one of six predetermined categories and completed the YSR. MANOVA revealed significant relationships between a preference for violent games and the Thought Problems subscale (P < .01) and YSR Total Score (P < .05), with trends noted for the Internalizing (P < .06) and Anxious‐Depressed (P < .08) subscales. Expected relationships with externalizing behaviors, including aggression, were not found. However, across all YSR subscales, children with higher preference for violent games had more clinically significant elevations than those with low preference for violent games. On the Total Problems subscale, of the eight children receiving scores in the clinically significant range, six were in the High preference group (three boys and three girls). The failure to find the expected relationships between a preference for violent games and aggressive, externalizing behaviors is puzzling. It is possible that individuals with a preference for violent games may have high exposure to all forms of media violence. Their perceptions of their own behavior, in comparison, may not seem sufficiently aggressive to justify endorsement of problems in this area. Or, playing violent electronic games may promote a disconnection between the emotions normally associated with violence and violent acts. These explanations are consistent with a desensitization model where exposure to media violence decreases sensitivity to aggression. Aggr. Behav. 28:134–144, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Validation of three dimensions of childhood psychopathology in young clinic-referred boys

Short measures of child inattention-overactivity (IO), aggression-defiance (AG), and anxiety-depression or emotionality (EM) derived through a double validation procedure are administered to mothers of 243 clinic-referred suburban New York boys between 6 and 10 years of age. Mother-rated IO is uniquely related to poor performance on cognitive and achievement tests; observed inattentive, hyperactive, and impulsive behaviors in a restricted academic setting; less father education and lower family income; and most mother-reported impairments and treatment use. Mothers of high-IO boys describe themselves and their sons as having similar childhood symptoms. AG is uniquely related to child-reported disruptive behavior and sensation seeking, many measures of family conflict and negative parenting styles, and mother-reported symptom pervasiveness and number of treatments. EM is uniquely related only to poorer cognitive and achievement test performance, living with one parent, parents who considered themselves too busy, and fewer friends. Each dimension also is associated with parallel teacher-rated factors.     

Linking dimensions and dynamics in psychopathology research: An example using DSM-5 instruments

The DSM-5 includes two measures to assess dimensions of personality pathology (Personality Inventory for DSM-5; PID-5) and cross-cutting symptoms of psychopathology (DSM-5 Cross-cutting Symptom Measure; CCS). Few studies have evaluated these measures in an ecologically valid context. Participants (N = 248, student sample) completed self-report versions of the DSM-5 measures, and then completed a two-week daily diary of internalizing and externalizing outcomes. The CCS scales evidenced convergent and discriminant validity with these outcomes, PID-5 Negative Affectivity and Detachment were related to internalizing outcomes, and PID-5 Antagonism was related to externalizing outcomes. We also demonstrated the benefit of linking static dimensions to temporally-dynamic processes by examining how PID-5/CCS dimensions moderated the within-person associations among daily cognitive distortions and internalizing and externalizing outcomes.     

Clarifying the associations between Big Five personality domains and higher-order psychopathology dimensions in youth

In a large sample of youth (N = 942, 51% female), we found support for a 3 correlated factors model of psychopathology that comprised Distress, Fears, and Externalizing factors. Distress was positively associated with Neuroticism, Fears was not associated with Big Five dimensions, and Externalizing was negatively associated with Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. Relations between lower-order psychopathology dimensions and the Big Five were generally accounted for by the higher-order psychopathology factors. There was little evidence of hypothesized two- or three-way interactions among the Big Five dimensions in statistically predicting higher-order psychopathology factors. Together, our findings support the developmental structural continuity of personality and psychopathology, and suggest that at least in youth, personality relates to psychopathology in a largely non-specific manner.     

Need associations and psychopathology.

The 1960 Picture Identification Test (PIT) provides association scores for 210 need dyads derived from 21 Murray needs. Association scores for 16 clinical-control group pairs were analyzed for differences by t test. The clinical groups represented schizophrenic, neurotic, sex disturbance, and behavior disorder categories. Assertive needs produced the largest number od dyads which discriminated (p less than .05) clinical and control groups. Schizophrenic groups had the largest number of differences from normal controls. Schizophrenics tended to under-associate pairs of Assertive needs, as compared to normals, whereas other groups tended to over-associate these needs. Clinical groups in general over-associated 379 need dyads and under-associated 99 dyads (p less than .05). These results suggest that the frustations of maladjusted people, with regard to need association, are most generally related to insuficient conceptual differentiation of needs.     

Thought suppression and psychopathology.

Wegner's seminal investigations of effects of thought suppression on later thought frequency have had a significant impact on recent approaches to understanding emotional disorders characterized by the occurrence of persistent, repetitive, unwanted thoughts. Thought suppression has now been implicated as a etiological and/or maintaining factor in depression, generalized anxiety disorder, specific phobia, posttraumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. These developments are fairly new, and it has not been until recently that studies have investigated the effects of suppressing thoughts that are actually analogous to problematic thoughts characteristic of emotional disorder. This paper provides a review of this body of work, including the findings and their relevance for existing models of specific disorders. Directions for future research are suggested.     

自主选择偏好：表现、机制与应用

自主选择偏好指当面临自主选择或委托他人选择时, 人们总是偏好自主选择, 即使为此付出代价也在所不惜。自主选择偏好可能有过度自信、控制幻觉和模糊厌恶的原因, 但更多可能源于自主选择本身承载了某种内在价值。奖赏系统(纹状体、内侧前额叶)的神经活动是其关键的神经基础, 同时自主选择也受认知调控系统的调节。未来研究应在社会情景下揭示自主选择偏好的作用机制和调控因素, 并探索它在群体间的平衡机制, 以增进个体幸福和群体利益。     

Altered sleep in Borderline Personality Disorder in relation to the core dimensions of psychopathology

The aim of the study was to review the literature regarding sleep disturbances in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and to relate the reported sleep alterations to the underlying core dimensions of BPD pathology. We present a qualitative and theoretical review regarding the empirical studies that investigated objective and subjective sleep quality in BPD and in different psychiatric conditions showing high co‐morbidity with this disorder. We show that disturbed sleep including sleep fragmentation, alterations in Slow Wave Sleep and REM sleep, and dysphoric dreaming are prevalent symptoms in BPD. We provide a framework relating the specific sleep alterations to the core dimensions of BPD pathology in order to clarify the inconsistencies of the different findings. The specific sleep disturbances in BPD seem to be related to different dimensions of psychopathological functioning and may have detrimental consequences on waking affect and cognition. Investigating disturbed sleep in BPD in relation to waking symptoms and underlying neural functioning would shed more light on the nature of this complex disorder. Moreover, a stronger emphasis on sleep disturbances would enrich the treatment protocols of BPD.     

Temporal information processing and psychopathology.

Prior studies showed impaired temporal discrimination by schizophrenic and neurologic patients reflected in decreased information transmission. This report describes a study of 8 more carefully diagnosed schizophrenic patients, separating those with neurologic signs. Using temporal discrimination tasks involving two psychophysical methods, 8 schizophrenic patients with no organic signs did not differ from 17 nonpsychotic, nonorganic patients; and organic group (n = 5) transmitted less information than the other patient samples. It is suggested that prior results were a product of casual diagnosis that ignored organic factors; reduced efficiency of temporal processing is associated predominantly with neurologic impairment.     

Process,mechanism, and explanation related to externalizing behavior in developmental psychopathology

Advances in conceptualization and statistical modeling, on the one hand, and enhanced appreciation of transactional pathways, gene–environment correlations and interactions, and moderator and mediator variables, on the other, have heightened awareness of the need to consider factors and processes that explain the development and maintenance of psychopathology. With a focus on attentional problems, impulsivity, and disruptive behavior patterns, I address the kinds of conceptual approaches most likely to lead to advances regarding explanatory models in the field. Findings from my own research program on processes and mechanisms reveal both promise and limitations. Progress will emanate from use of genetically informative designs, blends of variable and person-centered research, explicit testing of developmental processes, systematic approaches to moderation and mediation, exploitation of natural experiments, and the conduct of prevention and intervention trials designed to accentuate explanation as well as outcome. In all, breakthroughs will occur only with advances in translational research—linking basic and applied science—and with the further development of transactional, systemic approaches to explanation.     

Rapid acquisition of preference in concurrent chains when alternatives differ on multiple dimensions of reinforcement

Pigeons responded in a concurrent-chains procedure in which terminal-link reinforcer variables were changed unpredictably across sessions. In Experiment 1, the terminal-link schedules were fixed-interval (FI) 8 s and FI 16 s, and the reinforcer magnitudes were 2 s and 4 s. In Experiment 2 the probability of reinforcement (100% or 50%) was varied with immediacy and magnitude. Multiple-regression analyses showed that pigeons' initial-link response allocation was determined by current-session reinforcer variables, similar to previous studies which have varied only immediacy (Grace, Bragason, & McLean, 2003). Sensitivity coefficients were positive and statistically significant for all reinforcer variables in both experiments. Analyses of responding within individual sessions showed that final levels of preference for dominated sessions, in which all reinforcer variables favored the same terminal link, were more extreme than for tradeoff sessions in which at least one reinforcer variable favored each alternative. This result implies that response allocation was determined by multiple reinforcer variables within individual sessions, consistent with the concatenated matching law. However, in Experiment 2, there was a nonlinear (sigmoidal) relationship between response allocation and relative value, which suggests the possibility that reinforcer variables may interact during acquisition, contrary to the matching law.     

Temporality and psychopathology

The paper first introduces the concept of implicit and explicit temporality, referring to time as pre-reflectively lived vs. consciously experienced. Implicit time is based on the constitutive synthesis of inner time consciousness on the one hand, and on the conative–affective dynamics of life on the other hand. Explicit time results from an interruption or negation of implicit time and unfolds itself in the dimensions of present, past and future. It is further shown that temporality, embodiment and intersubjectivity are closely connected: While implicit temporality is characterised by tacit bodily functioning and by synchronisation with others, explicit temporality arises with states of desynchronisation, that is, of a retardation or acceleration of inner time in relation to external or social processes. These states often bring the body to awareness as an obstacle as well. On this basis, schizophrenia and melancholic depression are investigated as paradigm cases for a psychopathology of temporality. Major symptoms of schizophrenia such as thought disorder, thought insertion, hallucinations or passivity experiences may be regarded as manifesting a disturbance of the constitutive synthesis of time consciousness, closely connected with a weakening of the underlying pre-reflective self-awareness or ipseity. This results in a fragmentation of the intentional arc, a loss of self-coherence and the appearance of major self-disturbances. Depression, on the other hand, is mostly triggered by a desynchronisation from the social environment and further develops into an inhibition of the conative–affective dynamics of life. As will be shown, both mental illnesses bear witness of the close connection of temporality, embodiment and intersubjectivity.