Don't leave me: the effect of dependency and emotions in relationship conflict

Two studies examined how the effect of dependency and emotions on the dynamics of relationship conflict differs between men and women. In Study 1, 96 women and 67 men were presented with conflict situations that might occur in their relationship; the probability of aggression, anger, and dependency was measured. Results showed that anger mediated the relationship between dependency and the intention to use aggression, in men, but not in women. In Study 2, 95 women and 65 men wrote about a conflict situation that they had experienced with their partner; loyalty, guilt, and dependency were measured. Results showed that dependency predicted loyalty among women, and that this effect was mediated by guilt.     

Beliefs and environmental behavior: The moderating effect of emotional intelligence

Recent decades have seen a proliferation of studies aiming to explain how pro‐environmental behavior is shaped by attitudes, values and beliefs. In this study, we have included an aspect in our analysis that has been rarely touched upon until now, that is, the intelligent use of emotions as a possible component of pro‐environmental behavior. We applied the Trait Meta Mood Scale‐24 (TMMS‐24) and the New Environmental Paradigm scale to a sample of 184 male and female undergraduate students. We also carried out correlation and hierarchical regression analyses of blocks. The results show the interaction effects of the system of environmental beliefs and the dimensions of emotional intelligence on glass recycling attitudes, intentions and behavior. The results are discussed from the perspective of research on how the management of emotions guides thought and behavior.     

Out of the depths

A fundamental approach of theology as practiced within the palliative setting is care for the whole human being, with particular focus on spirituality and the spiritual dimension. Theology and medicine come together in palliative care in which the spiritual aspect is an important component together with the physical, psychological, and social. This article is based on a mixed methods study of spirituality among persons receiving palliative care. Findings revealed the importance of spirituality and its multidimensional elements by which spirituality was perceived as a complex phenomenon relating to religious and non-religious aspects of human life. Theological reflection based on the present findings indicates that a sharp distinction between the concepts of religion and spirituality is not beneficial. It also reveals the significance of the spiritual dimension and that theology has an important role in creating a deeper understanding of this complex part of human existence. Spiritual needs, expressed in various ways, were evident among the participants receiving palliative care. The findings confirm that the theological approach in palliative care, with its focus on the whole human being and emphasis on spirituality and the spiritual dimension, continues to be the hallmark of practicing theology within palliative care.     

Sexual Assault Training in the Military: Evaluating Efforts to End the “Invisible War”

Sexual assault is an insidious problem in the United States military. In 2005 the Department of Defense (DoD) created the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, which centralizes responsibility for sexual assault training. However, this training initiative has undergone little evaluation by outside researchers. Addressing this need, we analyzed responses from over 24,000 active duty personnel who completed the 2010 DoD Workplace and Gender Relations Survey. We assessed whether sexual assault training exposure (None, Minimal, Partial, or Comprehensive) predicted accurate knowledge of sexual assault resources and protocols. Using a social-ecological framework, we investigated whether institutional and individual factors influenced Service members’ training exposure and judgment of training effectiveness. According to our results, exposure to comprehensive training predicted lower sexual assault incidence and superior knowledge. However, comprehensive training differed as a function of military branch, rank, gender, and sexual assault history. Judgments of training effectiveness also varied across these dimensions. Our results highlight the importance of considering context, gender, and victimization history when evaluating institutional efforts to end sexual violence. The DoD’s 2010 annual report on military sexual assault concluded that “most Active Duty members receive effective training on sexual assault” (p. 104). Our results cast doubt on that assertion.     

Ockhamism without Thin Red Lines

This paper investigates the logic of Ockhamism, a view according to which future contingents are either true or false. Several attempts have been made to give rigorous shape to this view by defining a suitable formal semantics, but arguably none of them is fully satisfactory. The paper draws attention to some problems that beset such attempts, and suggests that these problems are different symptoms of the same initial confusion, in that they stem from the unjustified assumption that the actual course of events must be represented in the semantics as a distinguished history, the Thin Red Line.     

The role of thought-content and mood in the preparative benefits of upward counterfactual thinking

Upward counterfactual thoughts identify how a prior outcome could have been better and have been shown to improve subsequent performance. Both the identification of corrective actions (content-specific effects) and the more general mobilization of effort as a result of negative affect (content-neutral effects) have been suggested to underlie performance benefits. The results of three experiments presented here indicate that counterfactual thoughts have broad benefits for performance, independent of their content and beyond the effects of planning. These benefits were consistently dependent upon the experience of negative affect, but were eliminated when negative affect could be (mis)attributed to an intervening task. This misattribution effect is consistent with the operation of a mood-as-input process in which affect informs judgments of goal progress. Overall, the findings suggest that the benefits of upward counterfactual thinking reflect more broad attempts to improve following a subjectively unsatisfactory performance.     

Acceptability of virtual reality interoceptive exposure for the treatment of panic disorder with agoraphobia

Interoceptive exposure (IE) is a standard component of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for panic disorder and agoraphobia. The virtual reality (VR) program ‘Panic-Agoraphobia’ has several virtual scenarios designed for applying exposure to agoraphobic situations; it can also simulate physical sensations. This work examines patients' acceptability of the IE component as applied in two different ways: using VR versus traditional IE. Additionally, it explores the relationship between users' treatment expectations and satisfaction and clinically significant change. Results showed that VR and traditional IE were well accepted by all participants. Furthermore, treatment expectations predicted efficacy.     

Advancing an Understanding of the Anxiety Control Questionnaire for Children (ACQ-C) in Clinically Anxious and Non-Anxious Youth: Psychometric Properties,Incremental Prediction and Developmental Differences

A lack of perceived control over anxiety-related situations is theorized to be characteristic of anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. In the current study we tested several theoretical predictions and developmental variation with the Dutch translation of the Anxiety Control Questionnaire for Children (ACQ-C). The theoretical factor structure of anxiety control was tested using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) in 548 non-referred children (8–18 years old, M?=?12.5 years; 50.7 % girls). The incremental predictive validity of perceived control for anxiety status was assessed using logistic regression in 141 clinically anxious children (age M?=?12.6 years; 56.7 % girls) and 298 non-referred non-anxious children (age M?=?12.6 years; 52.7 % girls). CFA showed that both a one-factor model and two-factor model (perceived control over internal reactions and external events) fit well. The one-factor model proved invariant across age and gender. Internal consistency was excellent (Cronbach’s α?=?.93). Two-month test-retest reliability was adequate. The ACQ-C was able to incrementally predict diagnostic status, even after controlling for age, gender and self-reported anxiety symptoms. Finally, both younger children and girls reported less perceived control, independent of anxiety level. Findings advance the understanding of the psychometric properties of the ACQ-C, the role of control in childhood anxiety and point to the potential utility of the ACQ-C in both clinical and community samples. The Dutch translation of the ACQ-C demonstrated sound psychometric properties.     

Assessing Fear of Storms and Severe Weather: Validation of the Storm Fear Questionnaire (SFQ)

To date, research on storm phobia has been limited by a lack of validated self-report measures for evaluating the severity of anxiety, phobic avoidance, and distress associated with storms and severe weather. The current research presents the development and validation of the Storm Fear Questionnaire (SFQ), a 15-item self-report questionnaire that assesses the cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects thought to be associated with Storm Phobia in adults. Three studies were conducted to assess 1) the factor structure, internal consistency, and convergent and discriminant validity of the SFQ, 2) the test-retest reliability of the SFQ, 3) the extent that scores on the SFQ were associated with subjective anxiety ratings during a Behavioral Approach Test (BAT) involving exposure to a virtual thunderstorm, and the extent to which SFQ scores distinguished community participants with versus without a fear of storms. Exploratory factor analyses supported a one-factor model with good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α?=?.95), good convergent and discriminant validity with self-report measures of anxiety, worry, depression, and other specific phobias, and acceptable test-retest reliability. Moreover, there was a significant positive association between SFQ scores and anxiety ratings following the BAT involving exposure to a virtual thunderstorm and participants with a high fear of storms reported significantly higher SFQ scores than those with a low fear of storms. In sum, the SFQ has good psychometric properties and appears to be a valuable tool for assessing the severity of fear associated with storms and severe weather. Research evaluating the diagnostic and clinical utility of the SFQ is still needed.     

Discussion of Ron Bodansky’s Case Presentation: How We Explain Psychoanalytic Improvement in Patients Who Have Been Severely Traumatized

In this article, I discuss Ron Bodansky’s presentation (this issue), “Release from Developmental Arrest,” from a Viennese perspective. Vienna, Kohut’s birthplace, the town in which he spent his childhood and adolescence, where he studied and had his first analysis with August Aichhorn, was the place to establish the first Self Psychological Training Institute in Europe: the Vienna Circle for Psychoanalysis and Self Psychology, a state recognized Training Institute, founded in 1987.

Which direction has Self Psychology been taking in Austria since then? We began with the exploration of self-structure, moved via empathy to a focus on selfobject experiences and then many of us joined in the appreciation of the importance of intersubjectivity theory. My discussion reflects this particular theoretical orientation, an orientation that makes the attempt to observe and understand both the ongoing process of mutual influence that is at the heart of intersubjectivity theory, as well as the self object needs and transferences that become mobilized in the patient within this process.