A Trust-Based Home Intervention for Special-Needs Adopted Children: A Case Study

Research on the effects of abuse, neglect, and other traumas in early childhood has consistently demonstrated severe deficits that can be prevalent across the life span. Costs associated with addressing such deficits in special-needs children can strain families and are an immense financial burden to society. Trust-Based Relational Intervention® is an intervention modality that targets the attachment system as part of a dynamic system of development. Presented is a summary of the costs of addressing the sequelae of childhood abuse and neglect, a brief overview of Trust-Based Relational Intervention, and a case study demonstrating the efficacy of this intervention with an adopted special-needs child in a home-based setting.     

Childhood trauma and parental bonding among Japanese female patients with borderline personality disorder

The present study explored the relationship between borderline personality disorder (BPD) and childhood trauma and perceived parental behaviours among a sample of Japanese female outpatients. Participants were 45 female patients who were diagnosed with BPD and 45 female patients with a diagnosis of other nonorganic psychological disorders (aged 19 to 53). The participants completed surveys that assessed recollection of childhood abuse and neglect, perceived parental-rearing behaviours, and symptoms of BPD. MANOVAs and logistic regression analyses were conducted in order to analyse the data. The results showed that the patients with BPD reported more severe forms of childhood traumas, including emotional, physical, and sexual abuse and emotional and physical neglect, than did the non-BPD patients. This is consistent with previous findings in North America that have reported higher prevalence and greater severity of various childhood traumas in individuals with BPD compared with those with non-BPD disorders or nonclinical samples. This study also found that the patients with BPD recalled both of their parents as more overprotective/controlling and less caring than did the non-BPD patients. Last, logistic regression analyses found significant predictors of BPD diagnosis were reported emotional abuse and neglect as well as perceived paternal overprotection. Overall, these results indicate that whereas psychological risk factors in Japan are similar to those reported elsewhere, the same pathology can emerge from somewhat different causal pathways.     

Childhood trauma and marital outcomes in adulthood

Although existing research suggests that certain childhood traumas such as childhood sexual abuse are associated with interpersonal (e.g., marital) difficulties in adulthood, there has been limited research on interpersonal sequelae of other types of traumas. In addition, the association between childhood traumas and interpersonal outcomes has often been limited to a particular outcome such as divorce, and existing studies have rarely controlled for the co‐occurrence of other traumas when evaluating interpersonal outcomes. The current study sought to evaluate the associations between 7 childhood traumas and 2 marital outcomes—marital disruption (i.e., divorce and separation) and marital satisfaction—in a large, national probability sample. Results from univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that (a) probability of marital disruption was higher among people who during childhood had experienced physical abuse, rape, or serious physical attack or assault; and (b) current marital satisfaction was lower among people who during childhood had experienced rape or sexual molestation. Results support the importance of childhood traumas in predicting 2 important marital outcomes.     

Traumatic events and tonic immobility

Tonic immobility is a basic defense strategy which has not been studied in depth in humans. Data suggest that it may be a relatively frequent phenomenon in victims of rape and sexual abuse, but its occurrence has not been systematically explored in other types of trauma. We carried out a retrospective study in a sample of 100 university students to establish whether tonic immobility varies depending on the nature of the worst trauma experienced, defined subjectively by each participant. Immobility was assessed using the Tonic Immobility Scale and traumas were assessed using the modified Traumatic Events Questionnaire. Seventy percent of the sample had experienced trauma of some kind. There were no significant differences in tonic immobility between different types of trauma (e.g., physical abuse, assault or aggression, serious accident), except that the mean tonic immobility score was significantly higher in the group with trauma due to physical/psychological or sexual abuse than in the group with trauma due to receiving news of the mutilation, serious injury, or violent or sudden death of a loved one. We conclude tentatively that tonic immobility may be typical not only of sexual traumas, but of other kinds of directly experienced traumas as well.     

Maternal Intergenerational Transmission of Childhood Multitype Maltreatment

Previous research suggests that child maltreatment is transmitted across familial generations. However, extant studies focused exclusively on single maltreatment subtypes, instead of the more common experience of multitype maltreatment. This limitation is addressed in the first known study to examine the maternal intergenerational transmission of childhood multitype maltreatment among 104 mothers and their children. Findings demonstrated that mothers' childhood multitype maltreatment directly predicted their children's multitype maltreatment, instead of having indirect effects through maternal romantic attachment dimension, intimate partner violence, and psychological distress. Mothers' childhood multitype maltreatment was also related to intimate partner violence and anxious romantic attachment but unrelated to psychological distress. Our findings highlight the need for clinical attention to the long-term generational effects of diverse childhood traumas.     

Sexual trauma and personality: developmental vulnerability and additive effects.

Two types of sexual trauma, sexual abuse in childhood and rape in adulthood, were investigated in terms of possible effects on personality. Four groups of participants were studied: women who had experienced sexual abuse in childhood, women who had experienced rape as adults, women who had experienced both of these sexual traumas, and a control group of women who had experienced no sexual trauma. Personality functioning was assessed using the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology. Groups who had experienced childhood sexual abuse displayed the highest degree of personality disturbance; however, the additive effects of repeated sexual trauma were limited. These findings may reflect the outcome of specific adversity in childhood on the psychobiological constructs underlying personality.     

Suicide Ideation among Adolescent American Indians: An Application of General Strain Theory

The objective of this study is to compare suicidal thoughts among American Indian/Alaskan Natives (AI/AN) to a series of non-AI/AN comparison groups, using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. This study uses general strain theory as the guiding framework for understanding differences between racial groups in their suicidal ideation. A statistically significant difference is present between AI/AN and comparisons in suicidal ideation. The factors that may explain these differences addressed in this study include: alcohol abuse, exposure to suicidal behavior of friends and family, depression, and gun access. Implications for prevention and treatment are discussed.     

The relationship between traumatic experiences, dissociation, and borderline personality pathology among male forensic patients and prisoners

In the present study the relationship between traumatic experiences, dissociation, and borderline personality disorder pathology is examined in a group of 39 male forensic patients and 192 male prisoners. Sexual and emotional abuse are significantly more common among forensic patients than among prisoners. Patients also report a broader range of different kinds of traumas. Prisoners report significantly more dissociative symptoms. Analyses of the relationship of type of trauma on the one hand and dissociation and borderline personality pathology on the other show that sexual abuse is significantly associated with borderline personality pathology but not with dissociation among the patients. In the prison sample these associations are found only for familial but not extrafamilial sexual abuse. When the subjects are grouped on account of presence or absence of a borderline personality disorder, highly significant differences on dissociation are found between both groups. The results from this study lend support to the hypothesis that sexual abuse is not related to dissociative symptoms but merely to borderline personality pathology. Because most subjects in this study are not patients, these findings are not likely to be confounded by false memories of traumatic events that are recovered by psychotherapy. Furthermore, dissociative symptoms are found to be related to borderline personality pathology and not to the experience of traumatic events.     

Gender differences in negative affect and well-being: the case for emotional intensity

Affect intensity (AI) may reconcile 2 seemingly paradoxical findings: Women report more negative affect than men but equal happiness as men. AI describes people's varying response intensity to identical emotional stimuli. A college sample of 66 women and 34 men was assessed on both positive and negative affect using 4 measurement methods: self-report, peer report, daily report, and memory performance. A principal-components analysis revealed an affect balance component and an AI component. Multimeasure affect balance and AI scores were created, and t tests were computed that showed women to be as happy as and more intense than men. Gender accounted for less than 1% of the variance in happiness but over 13% in AI. Thus, depression findings of more negative affect in women do not conflict with well-being findings of equal happiness across gender. Generally, women's more intense positive emotions balance their higher negative affect.     

How general is the “General Factor of Personality”? Evidence from the Texas Adoption Project

Using data from samples of 300 and 220 adoptive families from the Texas Adoption Project, aspects of generality of a “General Factor of Personality” (GFP) were examined: across different personality inventories, across different levels of analysis (items, scales) within an inventory, across self- and others’ judgments, and across sexes, ages, and generations. Considerable, though not complete, generality was found. The average correlation between GFPs from items and scales of a given inventory was .90; between GFPs from the scales of different inventories was .48. Also examined were the heritability of a GFP, its degree of correlation with a general cognitive factor, and its ability to predict real-life criteria such as educational level, marital stability, and substance abuse.     

Performance of Fourth-Grade Students with Learning Disabilities on Multiplication Facts Comparing Teacher-Mediated and Technology-Mediated Interventions: A Preliminary Investigation

Instructional applications (apps) are educational software programs that can be accessed via mobile technologies (e.g., iPad, smartphone) and used to help students acquire various academic skills, including mathematics. Although research suggests that app-based instruction (AI) can be effective, there is a paucity of research comparing AI, to teacher-directed instruction (TDI) or to a combination of instructional approaches (CI) involving both AI and TDI in tandem. In an alternating treatments design, we compared AI, TDI, and CI conditions during instruction targeting multiplication facts with six students with learning disabilities. Results were inconsistent across students, and no condition emerged as consistently better than the others. Students completed social validity rating scales, and all approaches were favored by at least one student. Our results support findings from previous research involving similar comparisons between these instructional formats in which no (or minimal) differences across conditions were detected. We conclude that there may not be a meaningful difference between the outcomes achieved using AI, TDI, or CI for many students. Results are discussed in terms of directions for the future research.     

Reported childhood trauma and suicide attempts in schizophrenic patients

Childhood traumas are associated with suicidal behavior but this aspect has not been examined in relation to schizophrenia. In this study, 50 chronic schizophrenic patients who had attempted suicide were compared with 50 chronic schizophrenic patients who had never attempted suicide for their scores on the 34-item Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). It was found that schizophrenics who had attempted suicide reported significantly higher CTQ scores for emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, and physical neglect than schizophrenics who had never attempted suicide. Therefore, childhood trauma may be a risk factor predisposing schizophrenic patients to attempt suicide.     

On the cultural constitution of collective memory

The study of collective memory needs to take into consideration the cultural context in which the remembering takes place. In this article, I analyse how functional variations of collective memory across cultures may influence the processes, practices, and outcomes of collective remembering. I then discuss the transitory nature of culture in affecting collective memory across an individual's lifespan as well as across time and generations. I borrow recent findings from cross-cultural research on autobiographical memory to illustrate the cultural effects, and propose a new approach to studying collective memory in which the individual, the collective, and the culture are treated as a single unit of analysis.     

Directory of Members of the Society for Projective Techniques as of March 1, 1962

This study investigated MMPI characteristics of adult female outpatients in a behavior therapy clinic (N = 110). Those reporting histories of childhood sexual or physical abuse or both differed from those who did not on global Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI; Hathaway &; McKinley, 1943) indices of psychopathology and on Scales F, K, L, 4, 7, and 8. Subjects reporting abuse also reported high rates of other early traumas: witnessing family violence, parental alcohol abuse, and parental divorce. Physical abuse history was the best predictor of adult maladjustment as assessed by the MMPI. Findings suggest the potential utility of the MMPI for assessing long-range trauma effects and highlight the importance of considering multiple early-risk factors for the development of psychological disturbance.     

Childhood trauma and suicidal behavior in male cocaine dependent patients.

A consecutive series of 100 male cocaine dependent patients were interviewed about suicidal behavior and completed the 34-item Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) to determine whether childhood trauma is associated with suicidal behavior in cocaine dependent men. Patients who had attempted suicide (n = 34) reported significantly higher scores for childhood emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional and physical neglect than patients who had never attempted suicide (n = 66). In this study, various childhood traumas were found to be significantly associated withsuicidal behavior among adult male cocaine dependent patients.     

Social cognitive theory of posttraumatic recovery: the role of perceived self-efficacy

The present article integrates findings from diverse studies on the generalized role of perceived coping self-efficacy in recovery from different types of traumatic experiences. They include natural disasters, technological catastrophes, terrorist attacks, military combat, and sexual and criminal assaults. The various studies apply multiple controls for diverse sets of potential contributors to posttraumatic recovery. In these different multivariate analyses, perceived coping self-efficacy emerges as a focal mediator of posttraumatic recovery. Verification of its independent contribution to posttraumatic recovery across a wide range of traumas lends support to the centrality of the enabling and protective function of belief in one's capability to exercise some measure of control over traumatic adversity.     

Early Childhood Traumatic Development and Its Impact on Gender Identity

The author clarifies issues of gender identity typical to contemporary Western societies. Nowadays, we tend to emphasize self-autonomy as the main target of the individual's development. In adolescence this may cause many questions as to the adolescent's conception of his or her gender and sexual identity. These questions are the outcome of early development, and thus early traumas may impact the entire gender development. In this context, trauma includes not only major violations such as sexual abuse, terror attacks, and so forth, but also comprises events heretofore considered minor.     

THE DETERMINANTS OF DISCIPLINARY DECISIONS: THE CASE OF EMPLOYEE DRUG USE

This study examined the disciplinary decision rules that managers employ when responding to substance abuse violations. We suggested that because of competing perspectives about the role and purpose of disciplinary systems, substantial inconsistency is likely to exist across managers in how they respond to violations. Using policy capturing techniques, we found substantial diversity across the 93 managers studied in how they respond to violations. Further, cluster analysis indicated that we could group the 93 managers into retributive, corrective, individual rights, and mixed clusters. The results also suggest that the type of decision rule that a manager employs is influenced by his/her attitude toward punishment and toward drug use. The implications of these findings for disciplinary programs in general and substance abuse policies in particular are discussed as well.     

WOMEN'S AMBITIONS: A THREE-GENERATIONAL STUDY

The purpose of this study was (a) to describe the nature of women's ambitions across three generations of women within families, (b) to assess the women's perceptions of factors influencing their ambitions, and (c) to determine their estimates of success in attaining their ambitions. In addition, influence of the generations upon each other and relative similarity of ambitions within families versus within generations was evaluated. Subjects were 10 women who were seniors at a large, midwestern state university, their mothers, and their maternal grandmothers. The most prevalent categories of ambitions across all generations were marriage/family, educational, and vocational. Change in women's roles and a trend toward greater economic affluence across generations had the greatest influence on ambition development and attainment. Influences of one generation on another were apparent for adjacent, but not for nonadjacent, generations. In general, women's ambitions were more similar within generations than within families.