Loving styles: relationships with personality and attachment styles

We investigated the ability of the major personality dimensions, some of their underlying facet scales, and attachment styles to predict primary and secondary loving styles, as conceptualized by Lee. Personality was assessed using the International Personality Item Pool, and attachment styles through an inventory devised by Collins and Read. Respondents were 302 undergraduate students (212 females; 90 males) who participated in the study in exchange for course credit. Results of regression path analysis showed that N was the only personality dimension without direct predictive links to loving styles. Instead, the influence of N was through an anxious attachment style. There were no personality predictors of Agape, and similarities were also observed between these results and those obtained in Hong Kong. The results are discussed with reference to previous studies and some suggestions for further research are also noted. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Suicidality, clinical depression, and anxiety disorders are highly prevalent in men who have sex with men in Mumbai, India: findings from a community-recruited sample

In India men who have sex with men (MSM) are a stigmatized and hidden population, vulnerable to a variety of psychosocial and societal stressors. This population is also much more likely to be HIV-infected compared to the general population. However, little research exists about how psychosocial and societal stressors result in mental health problems. A confidential, quantitative mental-health interview was conducted among 150 MSM in Mumbai, India at The Humsafar Trust, the largest non-governmental organization serving MSM in India. The interview collected information on sociodemographics and assessed self-esteem, social support and DSM-IV psychiatric disorders using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Participants' mean age was 25.1 years (SD?=?5.1); 21% were married to women. Forty-five percent reported current suicidal ideation, with 66% low risk, 19% moderate risk, and 15% high risk for suicide per MINI guidelines. Twenty-nine percent screened in for current major depression and 24% for any anxiety disorder. None of the respondents reported current treatment for any psychiatric disorder. In multivariable models controlling for age, education, income, and sexual identity, participants reporting higher levels of self-esteem and greater levels of satisfaction with the social support they receive from family and friends were at lower risk of suicidality (self-esteem AOR?=?0.85, 95% CI: 0.78-0.93; social support AOR?=?0.76, 95% CI: 0.62-0.93) and major depression (self-esteem AOR?=?0.79, 95% CI: 0.71-0.89; social support AOR?=?0.68, 95% CI: 0.54-0.85). Those who reported greater social support satisfaction were also at lower risk of a clinical diagnosis of an anxiety disorder (AOR?=?0.80; 95% CI: 0.65-0.99). MSM in Mumbai have high rates of suicidal ideation, depression, and anxiety. Programs to improve self-esteem and perceived social support may improve these mental health outcomes. Because they are also a high-risk group for HIV, MSM HIV prevention and treatment services may benefit from incorporating mental health services and referrals into their programs.     

Counseling for the transition to adulthood as joint, goal-directed action

Transition is important in the career literature as it identifies times at which people are often likely to consult counselors about issues for which they need help. However, the counseling literature has not provided a conceptualization of, or research on, the joint, goal-directed actions and projects of the counselor and the client, which explicitly reflect the goal-directed nature of the transition itself. To address this issue, 12 counseling dyads, representing 37 counseling sessions, were studied. In these dyads, counseling was observed as the joint, goal-directed action between professional counselors and youth who sought assistance with their transition to adulthood. The data were collected using the action-project method. The counseling sessions were video-recorded, then immediately played back for the counselor and client separately to gather their recalled thoughts and feeling during counseling. Detailed qualitative analysis of the data set addressed the research question, “What are the goal-directed projects that counselors and their clients jointly construct, articulate, and enact relevant to the transition to adulthood?” The findings indicated the relationship and identity are intertwined goal-directed projects within counseling as well as outside of it. These projects contributed to the reframing and reorganization of clients' transition projects outside of counseling in occupational, educational, and familial domains. The findings suggest important implications for counseling youth in transition, that is, counselors and clients explicitly address their joint relationship and identity goals in an effort to realize a mutually satisfactory and important transition to adulthood.     

Bimanual reaching across the hemispace: Which hand is yoked to which?

When both hands perform concurrent goal-directed reaches, they become yoked to one another. To investigate the direction of this coupling (i.e., which hand is yoked to which), the temporal dynamics of bimanual reaches were compared with equivalent-amplitude unimanual reaches. These reaches were to target pairs located on either the left or right sides of space; meaning that in the bimanual condition, one hand's contralateral (more difficult) reach accompanied by the other hand's ipsilateral (easier) reach. By comparing which hand's difficult reach was improved more by the presence of the other hand's easier ipsilateral reach, we were able to demonstrate asymmetries in the coupling. When the cost of bimanual reaching was controlled for the contralateral reaching left hand's performance was improved, suggesting that the left hand is yoked to the right during motor output. In contrast, the right hand showed the greatest improvements for contralateral reaching in terms of reaction time, pointing toward a dominant role for the left hand in the processes prior to movement onset. The results may point toward a mechanism for integrating the unitary system of attention with bimanual coordination.     

Stress management interventions for HIV+ adults: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, 1989 to 2006.

OBJECTIVE: Numerous studies document that stress accelerates disease processes in a variety of diseases including HIV. As a result, investigators have developed and evaluated interventions to reduce stress as a means to improve health among persons living with HIV. Therefore, the current meta-analysis examines the impact of stress-management interventions at improving psychological, immunological, hormonal, and other behavioral health outcomes among HIV+ adults. DESIGN: This meta-analytic review integrated the results of 35 randomized controlled trials examining the efficacy of 46 separate stress management interventions for HIV+ adults (N=3,077). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Effect sizes were calculated for stress processes (coping and social support), psychological/psychosocial (anxiety, depression, distress, and quality of life), immunological (CD4+ counts and viral load), hormonal (cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate [DHEA-S], cortisol/DHEA-S ratio, and testosterone) and other behavioral health outcomes (fatigue). RESULTS: Compared to controls, stress-management interventions reduce anxiety, depression, distress, and fatigue and improve quality of life (d+s=0.16 to 0.38). Stress-management interventions do not appear to improve CD4+ counts, viral load, or hormonal outcomes compared with controls. CONCLUSION: Overall, stress-management interventions for HIV+ adults significantly improve mental health and quality of life but do not alter immunological or hormonal processes. The absence of immunological or hormonal benefits may reflect the studies' limited assessment period (measured typically within 1-week postintervention), participants' advanced stage of HIV (HIV+ status known for an average of 5 years), and/or sample characteristics (predominately male and White participants). Future research might test these hypotheses and refine our understanding of stress processes and their amelioration.     

Evaluating the method of levels

An investigation of the method of levels (MOL) was undertaken. Based on the principles of perceptual control theory (PCT), MOL is a way of helping people to reduce psychological distress. MOL assumes that psychological distress results when people are unable to control experiences that are important to them. The approach was implemented over six months in a large urban GP practice. Patients attended for between one and six sessions. Patients who attended for more than one session demonstrated significant reductions in scores of symptomatology on a standardized questionnaire. Effect sizes of these differences were relatively large. There appeared to be no relationship between the number of sessions a patient attended and the amount of reduction in symptomatology that was recorded. Similarly, there was no relationship between the number of sessions a patient attended and their recorded level of symptomatology at their first appointment. Although the study has important limitations we suggest that these findings might offer new directions for future research and might provide a way of unifying the specific and common factors as well as understanding the Dodo Bird effect.     

Moral Injury,Chaplaincy and Mental Health Provider Approaches to Treatment: A Scoping Review

Journal of Religion and Health - The aim of this research was to describe the evidence examining the approaches taken by mental health providers (MHPs) and chaplains to address symptoms related to...     

Nursing specialty and burnout

We examined the relationship between perceived control and burnout among three nursing specialties: nurse practitioners, nurse managers, and emergency nurses. Survey data were collected from 228 nurses from 30 states. Findings indicated that emergency nurses had the least control and the highest burnout, whereas nurse practitioners had the most control and the least burnout. Mediational analyses showed that expected control, hostility, and stressor frequency explained differences between specialties in burnout. The implications of these findings for interventions that reduce burnout and promote nursing retention are discussed.