The nature and treatment of social phobia in youth

A small proportion of children and adolescents experience a debilitating level of social anxiety, known as social phobia. Initially, we consider the phenomenology and aetiology of social phobia in children and adolescents. A number of age-sensitive assessment instruments or tools are briefly considered: a diagnostic interview, selj-report instruments, behavioural observations, cognitive assessment, self-monitoring and psychophysiological recording. We explore cognitive-behavioural strategies that have been found to be useful in the management of social phobia. Although there is much research support for the efficacy of cognitive-behavioural strategies for adults with social phobia, it is emphasized that controlled evaluations have yet to be undertaken with socially phobic youngsters.     

AN EXPLOSION OF DAZZLING FLASHES: TEILHARD'S UNITY OF FAITH AND SCIENCE

Abstract. Science and revelation have been presented as two books with the same “author,” their reconciliation being called “concordism.” Teilhard opposed concordism, insisting that supposed “revelations” be treated as scientific hypotheses to be verified or not in experience. Applying his criterion for truth (Does it bring “coherence and fecundity” to the phenomena?) to Christian revelation, he told of finding “an explosion of dazzling flashes.” So Teilhard spoke of the hypothesis as the supreme spiritual act wherein the dust of experience takes on form and is kindled at the fire of knowledge.     

Wishes, Motives, Goals, and Personal Memories: Relations of Measures of Human Motivation

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to compare measures of explicit and implicit motives. One hundred and one participants completed six measures of motivation, including Thematic Apperceptive stories, autobiographical memories, three wishes, personal striving lists, the Personality Research Form, and self-ratings. Stories, memories, wishes, and strivings were content-analyzed using Winter's (1989) system. Although overall correlations did emerge among explicit measures within the same motive, there were numerous correlations among methodologically similar measures of different motives. In general, explicit measures did not correlate with thematic measures of the same motives. Although correlations among measures were similar for men and women, explicit measures of power converged with thematic measures of power only for men. Exploratory factor analysis identified three factors: explicit achievement, explicit affiliation, and power. Implicit achievement motivation loaded negatively on the affiliation factor. Implications for research on implicit and self-attributed motivation are discussed.     

Aesthetic preference and DSM-IIIR personality disorders

This report tested whether those individuals with a cluster B DSM-IIIR personality disorder (narcissistic, borderline, antisocial or histrionic) had higher scores for aesthetic preference for visually complex drawings using the Barron-Welch Art Scale. In a sample of 141 patients and controls, the 56 subjects who met the criteria for one of the cluster B personality disorder diagnoses displayed higher Barron-Welch Art Scale Scores. A multiple regression analysis showed that narcissistic and borderline personality disorder contributed positively, while dependent personality disorder, negatively to preference for complexity. The findings support the notion that aesthetic choices and values reflected through the dimension of openness to experience may contribute to the behavioral manifestations of the personality disorders.     

Vibrotactile pattern discrimination and communality at several body sites

In a series of experiments, the effects of spatial layout on vibrotactile pattern perception were explored by testing the ability to discriminate between two sequentially presented patterns that share active elements in the same spatial locations. Two-dimensional displays were used in order to examine the functional relationship between discrimination performance and patterncommunality, defined as the sharing elements, on different body sites. Accuracy of discrimination judgments was inversely proportional to communality, regardless of the number of pattern elements. For compact arrays fitted to the finger, palm, and thigh, the effects of communality appeared equivalent. The similarity between finger and thigh functions is remarkable, considering the dramatic differences between these sites in receptor components and structure. When these data were compared with those from arrays with distributed contactors, performance was substantially better with well-separated pattern elements. Such findings help to explicate how information from apposed patterns can best be delivered to the skin through tactile communication systems.     

My place,your place,and no place: Behavior settings as a risk factor for HIV-related injection practices of drug users in Baltimore,Maryland

Information is sparse on the social context of illicit drug injection behaviors and their relationship to HIV infection. This study examined relationships between injection settings, injecting with others, and HIV risk behaviors of sharing needles and not cleaning contaminated needles in a sample of 630 inner-city injecting drug users in Baltimore, MD. Through open-ended interviews, five primary settings of injection behavior were identified. These settings included one's own, friends' and mother's residence, shooting galleries, and semipublic areas. Most participants reported injecting in their own residence (92%) and friends' residence (86%) in the prior 6 months. In a multiple regression analysis, injecting at friends' residence, in shooting galleries, and in semipublic areas and frequency of injecting with others were significantly associated with frequency of sharing uncleaned needles, “slipping” (i.e., failure to disinfect shared needles), and not always cleaning used needles before injecting. Results suggest that interventions may benefit from targeting settings as well as behaviors to reduce the spread of HIV. This research was supported by grants DA04334, DA05911, DA06313, and DA08985 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.     

“Subordination” and sensitivity to nonverbal cues: A study of married working women

Sex Roles - Women's superiority in decoding nonverbal cues of emotion has often been discussed as an adaptation to low status. To examine the relation of status to nonverbal sensitivity,...     

Interpersonal Correlates of Narcissism in Adolescents

Researchers investigated the relationship between measures of interpersonal behavior and narcissism. Eight octant measures of interpersonal behavior were constructed, and validity and reliability estimates were obtained. High school and junior high school students (N = 333) completed five measures of narcissistic vulnerability, eight octant measures of interpersonal behavior, and a measure of social desirability. Canonical correlational analysis indicated a specific pattern of interpersonal behaviors for individuals with differing levels and types of narcissistic vulnerability. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that scores on several of the scales were found to differ significantly by sex and by treatment for emotional, behavioral, or educational difficulties. Implications for counseling are considered.