Self-analysis and post-termination improvement after psychoanalysis and long-term psychotherapy

Long-term follow-up studies of long-term psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy or psychoanalysis are extremely rare, and few have focused on the post-treatment process itself. In the Stockholm Outcome of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy project, one of the results was that patients in psychoanalysis continued to improve after termination to a higher degree than patients in long-term psychotherapy. In this study 20 patients selected from the project were interviewed on two occasions, one and two years after termination, in order to explore how they described their post-treatment processes. The interviews were studied qualitatively using a multiple case study design, and categories of different types of post-treatment development were created from these case studies. Results indicate that the variation within treatment groups is large, and that development may continue in several ways after termination. The most striking difference between psychoanalysis and psychotherapy was not, as hypothesized, in the self-analytic function, but in various self-supporting strategies described by former analysands but not by former psychotherapy patients. However, only self-analysis was significantly correlated with post-termination improvement across both treatments. Three patients improving after termination and three deteriorating are described in detail as illustrations. Some methodological constraints of the design limit the generalizeability of results.     

On the links between self-discrepancies, rumination, metacognitions, and symptoms of depression in undergraduates

The present study aimed to test the central components of Papageorgiou and Wells' (2003) non-clinical metacognitive model of rumination and depression that is grounded on the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model of emotional disorders [Wells, A., & Matthews, G. (1994). Attention and emotion: A clinical perspective. Hove, UK: Lawrence Erlbaum.]. A second aim of this study was to extend the non-clinical model with the concept of self-discrepancy in line with the S-REF model. Data of the current study were collected in a large sample of non-clinical Dutch undergraduates (N=196), who completed a battery of questionnaires including measures of rumination, positive and negative metacognitions, depressive symptoms, and self-discrepancy (i.e., actual-ideal, actual-ought, and actual-feared discrepancies). Hypothesized relationships among these variables were tested by means of structural equation modelling. Following some theoretically consistent modifications, the model was an adequate fit to the data. With respect to the second aim of the study, self-discrepancies were directly linked to symptoms of depression as well as indirectly via the cognitive processes involved in the metacognitive model of rumination and depression. Evidence was found for positive beliefs about rumination to partially mediate the relation between self-discrepancy and rumination. Clinical implications of the findings, including implementation of a metacognitive-focused cognitive therapy of depression, and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Traumatic loss and major disasters: strengthening family and community resilience

This article presents the core principles and value of a family and community resilience-oriented approach to recovery from traumatic loss when catastrophic events occur. In contrast to individually based, symptom-focused approaches to trauma recovery, this multisystemic practice approach contextualizes the distress in the traumatic experience and taps strengths and resources in relational networks to foster healing and posttraumatic growth. The intertwining of trauma and traumatic losses is discussed. Key family and social processes in risk and resilience in traumatic loss situations are outlined. Case illustrations, model programs, and intervention guidelines are described in situations of community violence and major disasters to suggest ways to foster family and community resilience.     

Identification of interindividual and intraindividual movement patterns in handball players of varying expertise levels

The authors examined the movement patterns of 5 left-handed handball players (ranging from beginner to national level) who threw a handball to different sections of a goal as if a goalkeeper were present. The authors used time-continuous, 3-dimensional kinematic data to assess interindividual movement patterns and considered participants' intraindividual differences relative to different targets. Cluster analysis yielded the highest assignment rates for level of expertise; a mean of 92% of trials was correctly assessed. The authors observed an interaction with expertise for the intraindividual movement patterns. Variability in the novice throwers was increased, whereas (a) advanced throwers experienced a period of stability, and (b) the expert thrower's variability was increased. The results indicate that random variability characterizes novice motor performance, whereas active functional variability may exemplify expert motor performance.     

A practice-specificity-based model of arousal for achieving peak performance

The authors propose a practice-specificity-based model of arousal for achieving peak performance. The study included 37 healthy male physical education students whom they randomly assigned to a high-arousal (n = 19) or low-arousal group (n = 18). To manipulate participants' level of arousal, the authors used motivational techniques. They used heart rate and the Sport Competition Anxiety Test (R. Martens, 1977) to measure the level of arousal that participants achieved. At the determined and given arousal state, the 2 groups performed the task (basketball free throws) for 18 sessions. Both groups performed a retention test at the 2 arousal levels immediately after the last exercise session, in the posttest, and after 10 days. Results showed that both groups learned the task similarly and achieved their peak performance at their experienced arousal level. When tested at an arousal level that differed from the one that they experienced throughout practice sessions, participants' performance had deteriorated significantly. Performance of the task seemed to have integrated with the arousal level of the participants during the task learning. The findings of this study suggest a practice-specificity-based explanation for achieving peak performance.     

Ready to make nice: parental socialization of young sons' and daughters' prosocial behaviors with peers

In this study, the authors examined the extent to which maternal and paternal parenting styles, cognitions, and behaviors were associated with young girls' and boys' more compassionate (prototypically feminine) and more agentic (prototypically masculine) prosocial behaviors with peers. Parents of 133 preschool-aged children reported on their authoritative parenting style, attributions for children's prosocial behavior, and responses to children's prosocial behavior. Approximately 6 months later, children's more feminine and more masculine prosocial behaviors were observed during interactions with unfamiliar peers and reported on by their preschool teachers. Boys and girls did not differ in the observed and teacher-reported measures of prosocial behavior. Compared to other parents, fathers of boys were less likely to express affection or respond directly to children's prosocial behavior. Mothers' authoritative style, internal attributions for prosocial behavior, and positive responses to prosocial behavior predicted girls' displays of more feminine prosocial actions and boys' displays of more masculine prosocial actions toward peers. Relations were similar but weaker for fathers' parenting, and after accounting for mother' scores, fathers' scores accounted for unique variance in only one analysis: Teachers reported more masculine prosocial behavior in boys of fathers who discussed prosocial behavior. Overall, the results support a model of parental socialization of sex-typed prosocial behavior and indicate that mothers contribute more strongly than do fathers to both daughters' and sons' prosocial development.     

Quadriceps EMG in open and closed kinetic chain tasks in women with patellofemoral pain

The authors investigated whether the discrepancy noted in the literature regarding delayed and decreased activity in vastus medialis obliquus (VMO) in people with patellofemoral pain (PFP) depends on the nature of the open kinetic chain (OKC) and the closed kinetic chain (CKC) in the experimental task. They hypothesized that activity in VMO would be more delayed and decreased in CKC tasks than in OKC tasks. Women with PFP (n = 17) and healthy controls (n = 17) performed isometric quadriceps contractions in CKC and OKC tasks. The authors manipulated only the application of resistance. Electromyographs (EMGs) showed that participants with PFP reacted later and activated the quadriceps more in the CKC task but had intramuscular quadriceps coordination similar to that of controls. The nature of the OKC task or the CKC task does not seem to explain contradictory findings regarding VMO activation.     

The focusing effect of self-evaluation threat in coaction and social comparison

This article contends that the presence of a coactor leads to a focusing effect whenever this presence represents a threat or a potential threat to self-evaluation. Experiment 1 showed that attentional focusing appears in the presence of an actual (in the case of upward comparison) or potential (in the case of mere coaction) threat to self-evaluation but not in its absence (in the case of downward comparison). Experiments 2 and 3 confirmed that the presence of a coactor affects focusing because the coactor represents a potential threat and showed that introducing a threat in downward comparison can produce a focusing effect. Experiment 4 showed that removing the threat in upward comparison decreases the focusing effect. Experiment 5 confirmed that the effects observed in upward comparison are due to attentional focusing and not to an increase in effort. Contributions to social facilitation, social comparison, and attention research are discussed.     

Psychometric evaluation of the Brazelton Scale in a sample of Spanish newborns

This study analyses the data obtained from a sample of 220 healthy full-term neonates evaluated with the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale, NBAS, 3rd edition. Standard scores were obtained for each of the 35 behavioral items and analysis of the main components of all the clusters was performed. Similarly to the original scale, the five following factors were obtained: Autonomic and Motor Systems, Habituation, State Organization, State Regulation, and Social Interactive. The analysis of the reliability of these groupings reveals that it is between moderate and high (the average Cronbach's alpha coefficient was .78).