An Agonistic Model of Dialogue

In this article, Schellhammer's statements that learning is only possible in tension and that difference and diversity are prerequisites for tension are discussed in light of a certain event that occurred at a Summer School on Pluralism, Development, and Social Change. The article aims to explore Bildung, and especially learning in tension, through a concrete case study in which cultural diversity is a key issue. Reflecting on the case, psychological, philosophical, and sociopolitical perspectives are presented, each of which casts a different light on what happened. In the final reflection, we turn to the question of what dialogical self theory (DST) can offer when it comes to learning in tension, and how DST can be enriched and challenged by other approaches. We argue that DST facilitates the development of intercultural competence through dialogue with the unknown other in the self. Philosophical notions of cosmopolitanism and Socratic self-examination can shed further light on resistance to and conditions for transformative dialogues. They also place these in a historical and global perspective. We introduce an agonistic model of dialogue, in which the structural power inequalities and privileges people bring into dialogical spaces are explicitly addressed, thereby sowing the seeds of postdialogue transformative action in a personal and professional sense—for example, in transformative justice initiatives.     

The Abbreviated Dysregulation Inventory: Dimensionality and Psychometric Properties in Portuguese Adolescents

Psychological dysregulation is a complex and multidimensional construct encompassing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral dimensions. Research on psychological dysregulation emphasizes its importance in relation to several psychological disorders. However, assessing psychological dysregulation is often problematic because many of the existing instruments address a specific dysregulation dimension at a time, predominantly emotional dysregulation. The Abbreviated Dysregulation Inventory (ADI) was developed to assess three dimensions of psychological dysregulation: emotional, cognitive and behavioral. This study’s goal was to analyze the factor structure, internal consistency, and validity in relation to external variables of the Portuguese version of the ADI in a sample of 511 adolescents aged between 12 and 19 years old. The 3-factor solution was confirmed, and high internal consistency was found for the three subscales. Peculiar findings on the cognitive dysregulation subscale raised issues addressed in the discussion section. Results indicated that dysregulation associates positively with aggressive behavior and negatively with quality of life. Age and gender presented small influence on the cognitive and behavioral subscales scores, respectively. Findings suggested that ADI can be a valuable self-report measure to assess cognitive, behavioral or emotional dysregulation in youths, within research and psychological intervention settings.     

Eating Disorders: A Bond between Medicine,Culture and Psychoanalysis

Action in connection with the therapeutic process is often equated with acting out. The subtle behaviour that belongs to ?the complicated system of transmitting and receiving unconscious signals? (Sandler), with which the patient attempts to make the analyst behave as the object of transference or to fulfill an unconscious desire, is also described as acting out or micro-acting out (Treurniet). This fine-grained action, however, means nothing; it is not symbolic or communicative action. Its intention is, rather, to trigger effects and induce interactions. It occurs not only on the side of the analysand but also on that of the analyst, and is part of the unconscious communication in the therapeutic process. Presented here are some of the various interactive ways and means with which the analyst is prompted into unconscious action and certain, unnoticed, ways in that he turn ?treats? the patient. The analyst's action responses can bear the character of interpretations with which he may unintentionally reveal how he regards the behaviour of the patient.     

A Woman Is Being Beaten - Issues on Violence and Femininity

What kind of contributions can psychoanalysis make toward issues that concern violence and femininity, specifically the violence that women establish in the relations with the significant other and themselves? In this paper, the authors attempt to answer this question by dealing with concepts such as instinct, masochism and enjoyment. Additionally, they recognize the act of psychoanalytic listening as a genuine and valid manner of getting the unconscious to speak. This act of listening can be practiced either in the traditional psychoanalytic setting of private offices or in psychoanalysis applied to public institutions, for the principal tool is language as it permeates human relationships and proportions the structure of the unconscious mind.     

Long-term musical training may improve different forms of visual attention ability

Many studies have suggested that structural and functional cerebral neuroplastic processes result from long-term musical training, which in turn may produce cognitive differences between musicians and non-musicians. We aimed to investigate whether intensive, long-term musical practice is associated with improvements in three different forms of visual attention ability: selective, divided and sustained attention. Musicians from symphony orchestras (n = 38) and non-musicians (n = 38), who were comparable in age, gender and education, were submitted to three neuropsychological tests, measuring reaction time and accuracy. Musicians showed better performance relative to non-musicians on four variables of the three visual attention tests, and such an advantage could not solely be explained by better sensorimotor integration. Moreover, in the group of musicians, significant correlations were observed between the age at the commencement of musical studies and reaction time in all visual attention tests. The results suggest that musicians present augmented ability in different forms of visual attention, thus illustrating the possible cognitive benefits of long-term musical training.     

Co-occurrence of non-suicidal self-injury and impulsivity in extreme weight conditions

The aims of the present study were to determine the prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in different eating disorder (ED) groups and morbid obesity, and to investigate whether NSSI in different ED/obesity groups co-occur with impulsivity. We assessed 535 individuals (365 ED and 170 obese patients) by means of a single item assessing lifetime NSSI and the Barratt Impulsivity Scale, which measures different dimensions of impulsivity. The results showed that 19.1% of the ED patients engaged in at least one act of NSSI during their life-time. NSSI was more prevalent in Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified compared to Anorexia Nervosa, Restrictive type and morbid obesity. Finally, ED/obese patients who engaged in NSSI scored significantly higher on the attentional, motor and non-planning subscales than patients without NSSI. The implications of these findings for the treatment of NSSI in binge/purging ED patients are discussed.     

Esquizofrenia: ¿Enfermedad crónica? I. Consideraciones teóricas

Resumen

Se revisa el concepto de Esquizofrenia en base a una síntesis de la literatura reciente sobre la evolución a largo plazo de la enfermedad. De acuerdo con el modelo de enfermedad de diátesis-stress, se analizan los indicadores de la vulnerabilidad, la influencia de los acontecimientos vitales, de los stressores psicosociales crónicos, especialmente de la Expresión Emocional familiar, y del mantenimiento con medicación antipsicótica, en el curso de la Esquizofrenia. Se sugiere la existencia de una relación entre la llamada «Esquizofrenia Crónica» y las influencias yatrogénicas.     

Esquizofrenia: ¿Enfermedad crónica? II. Implicaciones prácticas

Resumen

Se revisan las intervenciones terapéuticas en la Esquizofrenia, considerándola como una afección en la que diversidad de componentes congénitos y adquiridos conducen a una personalidad premórbida vulnerable, con una estructura poco clara de sistemas internalizados de referencia y enfrentamiento, con mecanismos distorsionados de procesamiento de la información y con una aumentada tendencia a las reacciones psicóticas frente al stress. Se considera esencial suministrar la mayor claridad, simplicidad y continuidad en todas las medidas terapéuticas con el paciente; crear una actitud cooperadora y no culpabilizadora con las familias, como principales cuidadores del esquizofrénico, y reducir la vulnerabilidad del paciente mediante la medicación psicotrópica, el aprendizaje social y el soporte social.     

Sexuality among wounded veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and Operation New Dawn (OND): Implications for rehabilitation psychologists

OBJECTIVE: The sexual lives of returning Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and Operation New Dawn (OND) veterans have only been discussed minimally in the psychological literature. Given the nature of military social and cultural contexts, the potential for exposure to combat-related stressors that may lead to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the risk of traumatic brain injury secondary to physical injury, the potential for significant psychological and relational ramifications exists. This article focuses on the intimate relationships and sexuality of returning OIF/OEF/OND veterans within the context of their personal cultural variables and the diverse experience of being a part of military life. CONCLUSIONS: Culturally competent assessment and evidenced-based treatment approaches are highlighted to offer clinicians initial strategies to begin treatment of sexuality issues within the returning Veteran population. These clinical tools are discussed within a positive psychology approach that emphasizes healthy sexuality as a part of overall satisfactory quality of life.     

The impact of cortisol reactivity to acute stress on memory: sex differences in middle-aged people

Stress has been identified as a main factor involved in the cognitive changes that occur during the aging process. This study investigated sex differences in the relationship between the magnitude of the acute stress-induced salivary cortisol response and memory performance among middle-aged people. To this end, 16 men and 16 women (aged 54-72 years) were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test and a control condition in a crossover design. Afterwards their memory performance was measured using a standardized memory test (Rey's Auditory Verbal Learning Test). Only among women, there was an acute impact of stress on memory performance and a significant relationship between a higher cortisol response to the stressor and poorer memory performance in both the stress and control conditions. Additionally, a poorer memory performance was related to earlier timing of sexual maturation (age at menarche), which was also marginally related to higher cortisol reactivity to stress. These results confirm that sex is a critical factor in the relationship between cortisol and poor memory performance. Furthermore, the findings emphasize a strong link between the individual cortisol response to stress and memory functioning among postmenopausal women.