Relations Between Emotion Regulation, Parenting, and Psychopathology in Young Maltreated Children in Out of Home Care

Young maltreated children, birth to three years, represent the age group with the highest rates of maltreatment in the United States (ACYF 2007). There are few studies to date that have investigated early childhood maltreatment and its effects on emotion regulatory processes and psychopathology. In response, the current investigation uses a dyadic assessment procedure to examine the relationship between parenting, emotion regulation, and symptoms of psychopathology among maltreating and non-maltreating parent–child interactions. The participants in this study were 123 children (66 maltreated and 57 nonmaltreated) from ages 1–3. Child and parent affect and child effortful control were observed during a parent–child interaction task. Symptoms of psychopathology were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist. The maltreated children exhibited more anger, more internalizing symptomatology, and less positive affect compared to non-maltreated children. Among maltreated children, emotion dysregulation was associated with internalizing symptomatology. Moreover, these data reveal parental positive affect was associated with lower child internalizing symptomatology and parental anger was associated with higher child internalizing symptomatology in the entire sample. This investigation offers evidence that emotion dysregulation subsequent to poor dyadic interactions is associated with early child maltreatment. These data suggest that maltreated children experience difficulties in emotion regulation which may be related to their higher levels of behavioral symptomatology.     

The Role of the Group in Individual Functioning: School Identification and the Psychological Well-Being of Staff and Students

Many studies have demonstrated that organisations exert a powerful impact on their members, but the mechanisms through which this occurs are not well understood. In the present paper, using social identity and self-categorisation theories as theoretical frameworks, we explore the role that social identity plays in affecting individual well-being of staff ( N = 113) and students ( N = 693) in two Australian high schools. Well-being includes positive aspects of personal functioning, such as self-esteem, positive affect, and job involvement, but also negative aspects, such as depression, anxiety, loss of emotional control, aggressive and disruptive behaviour. In line with predictions, social identification was significantly related to, and mediated the relationship between, organisational factors and individual psychological well-being. This work provides a bridge between social psychological concepts and the clinical and educational domains. It reinforces the need to integrate the role of the social self and social identity processes in understanding the (individual) psychology of the person.     

Book reviews

A stor , J ames Michael Fordham; Innovations in Analytical Psychology
K ast , V erena . Joy, Inspiration, and Hope
K ugler , P aul (ed.). Jungian Perspectives on Clinical Supervision
R obertson , R obin . Jungian Archetypes: Jung, Gödel, and the History of Archetypes
R oss , L ena B, & R oy , M anisha (eds). Cast the First Stone: Ethics in Analytic Practice
H acking , I an . Rewriting the Soul: Multiple Personalities and the Sciences of Memory     

Investigations of perception and imagery using CAEs: The role of experimental design and psychophysical method

Orientation-contingent color aftereffects (CAEs) were measured using 174 observers ran-domly allocated to one of eight experimental conditions formed by the factorial combination of three two-level factors. These were experimental design (pretest and posttest measures taken vs. posttest measures taken alone), psychophysical method (forced-choice vs. magnitude estimation), and inspection procedure (inspection of real contours vs. inspection of imagined contours). In addition to color responses, written introspective reports of the strategies used in providing color responses were obtained. As a basis for the rejection of observers using inappropriate strategies, reported strategies were coded as appropriate or inappropriate. An analysis of the color reports of all observers was performed, as well as two analyses of the color reports of only those observers identified as using appropriate response strategies. In all cases, the results showed that CAEs were reported after inspection of real contours irrespective of the experimental design or psychophysical method used. There were no significant CAEs reported in any conditions that involved the imagination of contours. A separate analysis of the relationship between observers’ response strategies, the coding of these strategies, and observers’ actual color reports revealed some problems concerning the use of such introspective techniques. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of theoretical assumptions about the nature of imagery and perception.     

Conservatism,Locus of Control and Life Satisfaction: A Person/Environment Fit Analysis

Pettigrew's (1958) hypothesis that quality of psychological adjustment is partly a function of the fit between a person's political values and those of the surrounding social milieu was tested using student samples from Queensland and South Australia. The measures of psychological adjustment were two factors of locus of control (political and general) and general life satisfaction. As predicted, in the Queensland sample conservatism was positively associated with higher general life satisfaction while this correlation was reversed for the South Australian sample. Results for the locus of control measures failed to support the hypothesis. The results provided support for the general Person/Environment fit model and indicated the feasibility and value of studying regional differences in Australia.     

Pastors,parishioners, and pets

Case examples of how three parishioners in one congregation dealt with pet loss are examined. Each person discusses reasons for owning a pet, relates personal reactions to the loss, explains who was and who would have been supportive during the grief process, and illustrates why such support was needed. Suggestions for how a local minister might provide outreach to parishioners dealing with grief over a pet's death are presented.     

Human/companion animal therapy

Human/Companion Animal Therapy is a single process in that it introduces a companion animal into the life of a person to enhance his emotional well being. There are, however, various ways in which the companion animal may be used. These are: a) as a psychotherapeutic adjunct, b) as the sole therapist, c) as a catalytic agent for change, d) as a means of contact with nature, one's unconscious and the universe. These uses are all interrelated, and it is understood that in all of them, contact comfort is either present or is easily available.     

认知与情绪过程的脑诱发电位研究——情绪的适应性假说

本研究观测了30名女性被试在月经周期中的不同激素时相对图像刺激的情绪价值的主观评估和脑诱发电位反应。调节刺激的情绪价值的五类幻灯片分别为普通人像、婴儿像、皮肤病人像、男模特儿像和女模特儿像。实验发现只有脑诱发电位的P3成份随刺激的情绪价值和激素的时相而变化。被评为喜爱与不喜爱的图像(婴儿像和皮肤病人像)所诱发的P3波在幅度上均明显高于中性图像(普通人像)所致的P3反应。在高孕激素时相,对婴儿像和男模特儿像的P3反应高于在低孕激素时相对同类刺激的P3反应。高孕激素时相还伴有对各类图像性感程度评估值的降低。对各类图像喜爱程度的评估则随雌激素水平的上升而增高。上述实验结果表明,P3波敏感于刺激的情绪价值并反映了认知与情绪过程中受生理状态调节的适应性变化。