Obsessive compulsive personality disorder as a predictor of exposure and ritual prevention outcome for obsessive compulsive disorder

Despite elevated rates of obsessive compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), no study has specifically examined comorbid OCPD as a predictor of exposure and ritual prevention (EX/RP) outcome. Participants were adult outpatients (n = 49) with primary OCD and a Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) total score ≥ 16 despite a therapeutic serotonin reuptake inhibitor dose for at least 12 weeks prior to entry. Participants received 17 sessions of EX/RP over 8 weeks. OCD severity was assessed with the YBOCS pre- and post-treatment by independent evaluators. At baseline, 34.7% of the OCD sample met criteria for comorbid DSM-IV OCPD, assessed by structured interview. OCPD was tested as a predictor of outcome both as a diagnostic category and as a dimensional score (severity) based on the total number of OCPD symptoms coded as present and clinically significant at baseline. Both OCPD diagnosis and greater OCPD severity predicted worse EX/RP outcome, controlling for baseline OCD severity, Axis I and II comorbidity, prior treatment, quality of life, and gender. When the individual OCPD criteria were tested separately, only perfectionism predicted worse treatment outcome, over and above the previously mentioned covariates. These findings highlight the importance of assessing OCPD and suggest a need to directly address OCPD-related traits, especially perfectionism, in the context of EX/RP to minimize their interference in outcome.     

Can dialectical behavior therapy be learned in highly structured learning environments? Results from a randomized controlled dissemination trial

This study evaluated the efficacy of methods of training community mental health providers (N = 132) in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) distress tolerance skills, including (a) Linehan's (1993a) Skills Training Manual for Borderline Personality Disorder (Manual), (b) a multimedia e-Learning course covering the same content (e-DBT), and (c) a placebo control e-Learning course (e-Control). Participants were randomized to a condition, and the training took place in a highly structured and controlled learning environment. Assessments were completed at baseline, post-training, and 2, 7, 11, and 15 weeks following training. The results indicate that one or both of the active DBT conditions outperformed the control condition on all outcomes except motivation to learn and use the treatment. While clinicians preferred e-DBT over the Manual and found it more helpful and engaging, the active DBT conditions generally did not differ on the primary outcomes of knowledge and self-efficacy, with the exception that e-DBT significantly outperformed the Manual on knowledge at the 15-week follow-up. E-DBT also produced the highest rate of applying and teaching the newly learned skills in clinical practice. Overall, results from this study support the efficacy of e-Learning in disseminating knowledge of empirically supported treatments to clinicians, while also indicating that treatment manuals can be effective training tools.     

The Arguments of the Tombs of the Unknown: Relationality and National Legitimation

In the wake of the First World War, a new form of commemoration emerged internationally, but in each case focused upon a new kind of national “hero”—the unknown soldier or warrior. The first instances appeared in France and Britain in 1920, followed by the United States in 1921, and Belgium in 1922. Other nations followed suit over the years, with the most recent WWI Unknown Soldier monument dedicated in 2004, in New Zealand. The motivational calculus of these national tombs was, of course, the massive number of combatant dead whose remains could not be identified. This paper takes up the two very different arguments composed by these commemorative sites. The first argument was directed to surviving family members and was articulated most explicitly by the French as a hypothetical enthymeme “this could be your husband, your father, your brother,” etc. The second argument has been directed to national and international collectives as a constitutive proclamation of legitimated nation-state or Empire Although this argument is particularly explicit in postcolonial gestures of independence on the part of former dominions of old empires, it was evident in even the earliest cases of the tombs of the unknown.     

Child development in the context of adversity: experiential canalization of brain and behavior

The authors examine the effects of poverty-related adversity on child development, drawing upon psychobiological principles of experiential canalization and the biological embedding of experience. They integrate findings from research on stress physiology, neurocognitive function, and self-regulation to consider adaptive processes in response to adversity as an aspect of children's development. Recent research on early caregiving is paired with research in prevention science to provide a reorientation of thinking about the ways in which psychosocial and economic adversity are related to continuity in human development.     

The socialization of sex-differentiated skills and academic performance: A mediational model

Using a multifactorial model, sex differences in academic performance were examined in a sample of 347 elementary school children. As expected, girls' academic performance averaged higher than boys'. Path analysis confirmed initial hypotheses that girls' advantage is partially due to their characteristic of greater responsiveness to social cues and compliance with adult direction. This advantage was partially offset in this model by boys' greater visual-spatial skill, which also was a predictor of academic success. Access to stereotypic masculine toys and activities at home was, for both sexes, a predictor of children's visual-spatial ability. As expected, socioeconomic variables, including mothers' occupation and fathers' level of education, also influenced the environmental, social, and cognitive factors predicting academic success. These results indicate that boys' and girls' differential development of specific cognitive and social skills may play an important role in establishing sex differences in academic performance.     

Reactions to stigmatized others: Response amplification vs sympathy

Four experiments examined the conditions under which responses to handicapped persons are characterized by sympathy or response amplification. The first two experiments tested the hypothesis that contact with a handicapped person would lead to amplified positive and negative responses in comparison to contact with a nonhandicapped person. The results indicated that mere contact was not sufficient to elicit response amplification. Instead, contact led to more positive evaluations of the handicapped than of the nonhandicapped other, regardless of whether she behaved in a positive or negative manner—a “sympathy” effect. The third and fourth experiments indicated that amplified positive and negative responses to the handicapped will occur when the behavior of a handicapped person is highly relevant to the evaluator. A two-stage model of responses to stigmatized others is proposed to account for these results.     

Beyond Fairness: The Criterion Problem in Research on Dispute Intervention1

Recent research has demonstrated that parties to a dispute attend to, and make evaluations of, the procedures that are used to resolve disputes. A central focus of this research has been on procedural and distributive fairness. Two studies were conducted in an attempt to identify criteria used by parties to organizational disputes to choose and evaluate dispute resolution procedures. Sixteen criteria were identified, including fairness. In a third study, these criteria were also found to be relevant to police officers involved in crisis intervention. Discussion focuses on the implication of these findings for theories of dispute resolution, for general issues in the psychology of fairness, and for practical concerns.     

The role of primary prevention in mental health services: A review and critique

Community psychology in the West has had a growing impact on mental health service provision. One facet of this development has been the advocacy of an increased focus on the primary prevention of mental illness. This paper reviews both theoretical and practical work in this area in order to assess the current role and relevance of primary preventive interventions. There is a discussion of primary prevention's historical and theoretical contexts, of its conceptualisations and definitions, of criticisms of its relevance and efficacy, and of examples of its practice. It is argued that primary prevention is inappropriately marginalised in current service provision and that there is a need to engage in the long-term planning and evaluation of primary preventive interventions in order to facilitate their fuller incorporation into national and local policies on mental health.     

The triadic model as applied to the treatment of conduct-disordered children: A review and critique

Conduct-disordered behaviour in children has long been recognised as an area of particular concern for counsellors, clinical and educational psychologists and other professionals, especially given its widespread incidence and poor long-term prognosis. In response to this concern, one recent development in the field has been the use of an applied social learning theory approach, utilising a triadic model of intervention. Such a model, rather than working directly with the child, firmly locates the parent or other caregiver as the agent of change. This paper reviews critically the work which has been carried out under the broad rubric of the triadic model, addressing specifcally the short- and longer-term efficacy of such interventions. In addition, certain shortcomings and limitations in existing practice are identifed. It is argued that, in order to optimise the effectiveness of interventions, this will in many instances require a consideration of and work on parental well-being and self-esteem, the role of family dynamics and the influence of the social context.     

Expanding the criterion domain? A quantitative review of the OCB literature

The authors investigate the construct validity of the organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)-task performance distinction by providing a quantitative review of the OCB literature. The authors extend previous meta-analytic reviews of the OCB literature by (a) using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to investigate the dimensionality of OCB, (b) using CFA to examine the distinction between OCB and task performance, and (c) examining the relationship between a latent OCB factor and task performance and attitudinal variables. Results support a single factor model of OCB that is distinct from, albeit strongly related to, task performance. In addition, results show that OCB consistently relates more strongly to attitudes than does task performance and shares a modest amount of variance with attitudinal correlates beyond task performance.