Boys’ and Girls’ Relational and Physical Aggression in Nine Countries

Distinguishing between relational and physical aggression has become a key feature of many developmental studies in North America and Western Europe, but very little information is available on relational and physical aggression in more diverse cultural contexts. This study examined the factor structure of, associations between, and gender differences in relational and physical aggression in China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. Children ages 7–10 years (N = 1,410) reported on their relationally and physically aggressive behavior. Relational and physical aggression shared a common factor structure across countries. In all nine countries, relational and physical aggression were significantly correlated (average r = .49). Countries differed in the mean levels of both relational and physical aggression that children reported using and with respect to whether children reported using more physical than relational aggression or more relational than physical aggression. Boys reported being more physically aggressive than girls across all nine countries; no consistent gender differences emerged in relational aggression. Despite mean‐level differences in relational and physical aggression across countries, the findings provided support for cross‐country similarities in associations between relational and physical aggression as well as links between gender and aggression. Aggr. Behav. 38:298‐308, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Facial affect recognition deficits: A potential contributor to aggression in psychotic illness

The current literature suggests a relationship between psychosis and the likelihood of engaging in aggressive behavior, though the factors involved are unclear. In this paper we use a social information processing framework to consider mediators of aggressive behavior in psychosis, especially facial affect recognition (FAR) deficits. The theoretical underpinnings of aggressive behavior are explored using the General Aggression Model (GAM) and FAR deficits are posited as a possible contributor to increased aggression in psychosis. Current research investigating the relationship between FAR, psychosis, and aggression is critically examined, and the role of potential confounding variables including positive symptoms, psychopathic personality traits, childhood trauma, and substance use briefly explored. In conclusion, we argue that socioemotional processing deficits, such as impaired FAR, are a fruitful area for research aimed at understanding, and hence reducing the risk of violence in psychosis.     

Working through the question of the phallus to the other side commentary on Bracha Lichtenberg‐Ettinger's paper

The work of Bracha Lichtenberg‐Ettinger implicates psychoanalysis as a political, clinical, and aesthetic project and draws theoretically from each of these domains. As part of her challenge to psychoanalysis, Lichtenberg‐Ettinger questions the Lacanian and Freudian preoccupation with the phallus. She queries the degree to which the psychical amplification of the phallus remains blindly tied to the penis and a masculine incarnation. She supplements this phallogocentric positioning with the concept of a matrixial subjectivity grounded in the intrauterine coexistence of mother and child. The womb and its possibilities indicate another relationship between the I and the non‐I based on forms of relating that do not revolve around the dichotomy of exclusion and merger. As part of her critique of phallogocentrism, the author repudiates the absoluteness of a phallic presence versus castrated absence and the binaries in conceptualization to which this configuration leads.

The following commentary is deeply in sympathy with this project and appreciates the great reach of Lichtenberg‐Ettinger project. Her project requires great care, however, as it tries to redefine formations of subjectivity through the Real of bodily difference. Further, it is not fully clear how matrixial subjectivity is situated with respect to certain questions raised by the phallus. More specifically, if the phallus represents a moment that structures one's relationship to speaking and to repression, a clearer articulation of the place of these moments in a matrixial subjectivity might create a more productive dialogue with the most innovative aspects of Lacanian psychoanalysis.     

Early Negative Affect Predicts Anxiety, not Autism, in Preschool Boys with Fragile X Syndrome

Children with fragile X syndrome (FXS) face high risk for anxiety disorders, yet no studies have explored FXS as a high-risk sample for investigating early manifestations of anxiety outcomes. Negative affect is one of the most salient predictors of problem behaviors and has been associated with both anxiety and autistic outcomes in clinical and non-clinical pediatric samples. In light of the high comorbidity between autism and anxiety within FXS, the present study investigates the relationship between longitudinal trajectories of negative affect (between 8 and 71 months) and severity of anxiety and autistic outcomes in young males with FXS (n?=?25). Multilevel models indicated associations between elevated anxiety and higher fear and sadness, lower soothability, and steeper longitudinal increases in approach. Autistic outcomes were unrelated to negative affect. These findings suggest early negative affect differentially predicts anxiety, not autistic symptoms, within FXS. Future research is warranted to determine the specificity of the relationship between negative affect and anxiety, as well as to explore potential moderators. Characterizing the relationship between early negative affect and anxiety within FXS may inform etiology and treatment considerations specific to children with FXS, as well as lend insight into precursors of anxiety disorders in other clinical groups and community samples.     

“Part of me feels like there must be something missing”: a phenomenological exploration of practising psychotherapy as a clinical psychologist

The experience of practising psychotherapy as a clinical psychologist was explored through a small number of in-depth interviews. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, three main themes were identified: “Feeling there’s something missing”, “Being able to get in there emotionally” and “Needing somewhere to go for support”. This study suggests that training for psychotherapy work can be experienced as piecemeal and fragmented, contributing to professional self-doubt, with clinical psychologists seeking more structured, cohesive training in this area. It also suggests that engagement in personal therapy can contribute to greater emotional capacity as a psychotherapy practitioner, although clinical psychologists can fear engaging in something that is unfamiliar. In addition, the psychologists highlighted the felt necessity of safe and satisfying supervision for resilient practice.     

Mood-congruent true and false memory: Effects of depression

The Deese/Roediger-McDermott paradigm was used to investigate the effect of depression on true and false recognition. In this experiment true and false recognition was examined across positive, neutral, negative, and depression-relevant lists for individuals with and without a diagnosis of major depressive disorder. Results showed that participants with major depressive disorder falsely recognised significantly more depression-relevant words than non-depressed controls. These findings also parallel recent research using recall instead of recognition and show that there are clear mood congruence effects for depression on false memory performance.     

Watching over your own: How surveillance moderates the impact of shared identity on perceptions of leaders and follower behaviour

In two studies we investigate how level of surveillance moderates followers' responses to leaders with whom they either do or do not share identity. Study 1 (N = 80) demonstrated that imposing high surveillance where identity is shared with a leader undermined perceptions of the leader as a team member, reducing levels to that of leaders without a shared identity. Study 2 (N = 84) replicated this finding, also demonstrating that willingness to work for the group declined when leaders with shared identity used high surveillance (compared to a low surveillance condition). This process was partially explained by perceptions that surveillance was an invasion of privacy. Together, these studies illustrate that the benefits of shared identity are easily undermined when a leader uses surveillance in a context where it is unnecessary. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.