Internal consistency of a Spanish translation of the Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Christianity Short Form

This study evaluated the internal consistency of a Spanish version of the short form of the Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Christianity based on responses of 405 Colombian adolescent students ages 13 to 17 years. This translated short-form version of the scale had an internal consistency of .80. This estimate indicates suitable internal consistency reliability for research use in this population.     

Body image and risky sexual behaviors: an investigation in a tri-ethnic sample

The impact of negative body image on risky sexual behaviors has not been extensively investigated. The present study examined the relationship between two aspects of body image, appearance shame and appearance investment, and potentially risky behaviors. The study employed a tri-ethnic sample of 1547 women seeking services at two family planning clinics. Logistic regression was utilized to examine the relationship between potential risk behaviors and shame and investment. Results supported that these aspects of body image were significant predictors of inconsistent condom use, having multiple sex partners in the past year, and having sex after drinking alcohol or using drugs, and that demographic variables (e.g., age, marital status, ethnicity) could not fully account for these relationships. The importance of future research investigating the relationships among body image, perceived relationship security, affect-management strategies, and risky sexual behaviors is emphasized.     

Response perseveration in psychopaths: Interpersonal/affective or social deviance traits?

In order to clarify the role of the two broad components of psychopathy (interpersonal/affective and social deviance; R. D. Hare, 2003) in explaining maladaptive response perseveration in psychopaths, as well as the role of reflection after punished responses in this deficit, the authors administered a card perseveration task to 47 Spanish male inmates assessed using the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; R. D. Hare, 1991). Hierarchical regressions showed that psychopaths' maladaptive perseveration (more cards played and less money earned) was uniquely predicted by the social deviance features of psychopathy (PCL-R Factor 2)--particularly by its impulsive and irresponsible lifestyle facet (PCL-R Facet 3)--and not by its interpersonal/affective features (PCL-R Factor 1). Moreover, perseveration was related to a lack of reflection both after punishment and after reward feedback. The authors' results, in conjunction with previous evidence indicating perseverative deficits in several impulse control disorders, suggest that response perseveration may not be specific to psychopathy but rather is associated more generally with the externalizing dimension of psychopathology.     

Parents' experiences in Child Protective Services: analysis of a dialogical group process

The authors qualitatively examine parent experiences in groups for persons seeking parental rights through Child Protective Services (CPS). The study focuses on 16 custody-seeking parent figures who participated in dialogical groups designed from a Collaborative Language Systems perspective. The grounded-theory analysis shows that parents initially described overwhelming emotions and conflictual relationships with CPS. It also identifies five therapeutic group processes that appeared to influence perceptions of hope and personal power and contribute to how parents position themselves relative to CPS: validation, sharing practical information and networking, highlighting strengths and resources, supportive confrontation, and sharing stories of change. The analysis provides insight into CPS parents' experiences, suggests that dialogical approaches may have potential to assist in reshaping experiences in CPS, and draws attention to the need for interventions at the structural and administrative levels.     

Depression and the complete state model of health

Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. In order to specify the contents of this positive state, the Complete State Model of Health (CSMH) considers mental health as a series of symptoms of hedonia and positive functioning, operationalized by measures of subjective, psychological, and social well-being. This model has empirically confirmed two new axioms: (a) rather than forming a single bipolar dimension, health and illness are correlated unipolar dimensions, and (b) the presence of mental health implies positive personal and social functioning. In the present article, we have taken the CSMH as the theoretical framework for the study of depression. Confirmatory factor analyses did not support the first axiom. In fact, the model that posits that measures of mental illness and health form a single bipolar dimension provided the best fit to the data.     

Psychophysiological mechanisms involved in the affective regulation and food restriction of women at risk of suffering from bulimia nervosa

The aim of the study was to explore the effect of visualizing food images under different mood states and food restriction conditions on the emotional modulation of two defense reflexes (startle reflex and cardiac defense). 72 women at risk of suffering from bulimia nervosa were assigned to two groups: 1) a group under induced positive, neutral, or negative mood state and, 2) a 6-hour-food-deprived group or a non-deprived group. Second-by-second heart rate and electromyogram activity from the orbiculari oculi region were recorded after the auditory stimulus. The results showed that, while viewing food images, non-deprived women under negative mood state potentiated the cardiac defense response and the startle motor reflex. Results are discussed in the context of emotional eating theories and Peter Lang's motivational priming model.     

Theorizing the Narrative Dimension of Psychotherapy and Counseling: A Big and Small Story Approach

In this article, we develop a theoretically substantiated narrative framework for assessing psychotherapy practices, based on a big and small story approach. This approach stretches the narrative scope of these practices by making explicit and advancing small story counseling. We demonstrate how this framework can be a reflection tool by systematically applying six story dimensions to an example from army counseling. Small story dimensions one (multiple storytellers) and three (ways of ordering experience) draw attention to which persons and stories we do not engage with in counseling practices. Small story dimension two (future and on-going temporal orientation) marks a shift towards language of (future) potential, rather than a language of deficit. Small story dimensions four (low tellability) and five (fluent moral stance), reinstate the art of listening to client words, and remind us to resist the inclination to interpret these too easily in terms of a specific counseling theory or moral framework. Finally, small story dimension six (embeddedness) encourages counseling-on-the-move. Finally, we discuss the implications of widening the narrative scope of psychotherapy and counseling, such as the need to develop small story competence and to assess the therapeutic quality of everyday talk.