Systems-centered training groups' process and outcome: a comparison with AGPA institute groups

In this quasi-experimental study we compared the process and outcome of six experiential Systems-Centered Training (SCT) groups to those of American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA) Institute groups from two prior studies (MacKenzie, Dies, Coche, Rutan, & Stone, 1987; Tschuschke & Greene, 2002). The SCT training compared well overall and the results provided preliminary, indirect support for the usefulness of "functional subgrouping" - SCT's conceptual and methodological bridge between the group-as-a-whole and the individual member. However, quasi-experimental design limitations make other interpretations equally plausible. Within-group change in the process variables for the SCT groups was also explored, as well as the relative contributions of these variables to post-training learning outcomes and anxious and depressive experience. The results partly corroborated prior studies, but also suggested that SCT may alter training group dynamics, learning, and emotional experience in ways consistent with SCT theory.     

Therapist empathy,homework compliance,and outcome in cognitive behavioral therapy for generalized anxiety disorder: partitioning within- and between-therapist effects

Although client-perceived therapist empathy relates to positive therapy outcomes, including in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), little is known about how empathy exerts its ameliorative effect. One possible way is by promoting clients’ subsequent homework compliance, a variable that also predicts positive outcomes in CBT. The present study sought to investigate simultaneously, in the context of 43 therapist–client dyads receiving 15 sessions of CBT for generalized anxiety disorder, (1) the association of early client-perceived therapist empathy (averaged over sessions 1, 3, 5) with mid-treatment client homework compliance (averaged over sessions 6, 8, 10); (2) the association of mid-treatment homework compliance on client posttreatment worry severity; and (3) the indirect effect of early perceived therapist empathy on posttreatment worry through mid-treatment homework compliance. Given that clients were nested within therapists, we examined both within- and between-therapist differences in clients’ ratings of therapist empathy and homework compliance, and tested both of these indices as predictors of the relevant dependent variables in a multilevel model. At the within-therapist level (i.e., differences between clients within a given therapist’s caseload), greater early empathy was associated with greater mid-treatment homework compliance. At the between-therapist level (i.e., differences between therapists across all of their cases), greater between-therapist homework compliance was related to lower posttreatment worry. Finally, homework compliance was not found to mediate the relationship between empathy and posttreatment outcome. The results underscore the importance of parsing client and therapist effects, and are discussed with regard to their training and research implications.     

Mental representations of attachment in day care providers

Mental representations of attachment of 31 day‐care providers were assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), and compared with established observational measures of their behavior with the children under their care. Contrary to expectation, there was no significant association between the caregivers’ mental representations of attachment and their observed behavior. Teacher‐report ratings of aggressive behavior were obtained for 135 children who had been under the care of these providers. Ten of the 13 children who scored in the clinical range for aggressive behavior were known to have been under the care of a provider with a secure mental representation of attachment for an extended period of time (average 14 months), but the average age of first exposure to such a provider in this study was 16 months. For center‐based day‐care providers, standardized observational assessments of caregiving behavior appear to be unrelated to mental representations of attachment. Children who, during the second year of life, were cared for by providers with secure mental representations of attachment were not necessarily protected from abnormally aggressive behavioral outcome.     

Electrophysiological differences in the processing of affective information in words and pictures

It is generally assumed that affective picture viewing is related to higher levels of physiological arousal than is the reading of emotional words. However, this assertion is based mainly on studies in which the processing of either words or pictures has been investigated under heterogenic conditions. Positive, negative, relaxing, neutral, and background (stimulus fragments) words and pictures were presented to subjects in two experiments under equivalent experimental conditions. In Experiment 1, neutral words elicited an enhanced late positive component (LPC) that was associated with an increased difficulty in discriminating neutral from background stimuli. In Experiment 2, high-arousing pictures elicited an enhanced early negativity and LPC that were related to a facilitated processing for these stimuli. Thus, it seems that under some circumstances, the processing of affective information captures attention only with more biologically relevant stimuli. Also, these data might be better interpreted on the basis of those models that postulate a different access to affective information for words and pictures.     

Development of a scale to measure leadership capacity of players in sports teams

This study describes the process of developing a scale to measure the leadership capacity of players in sports teams. Research into sports leadership has focused almost exclusively on the formal leadership of the coach, in which the studies by Chelladurai, with his five-factor model, have become an essential point of reference. Nevertheless, hardly any research has been carried out into the leadership that certain players exercise over the other team members. For this purpose, a sample of 143 male basketball players was used; these participants were asked to evaluate the characteristics of the sports leader over a total of 54 indicators. Firstly, explanatory factor analysis was performed with participants' responses, using principal axis and oblique rotation methods. The factor structure obtained was then subjected to confirmatory factorial analysis, enabling us to propose a Sports Leader Evaluation Scale (EELD, in Spanish) with 18 items grouped into 3 factors, denominated empathy and responsibility, assertiveness, and impulsiveness. Satisfactory fit indices were obtained for the model, for the reliability of items and for the internal consistency of factors.     

Quiet Ego Intervention Enhances Flourishing by Increasing Quiet Ego Characteristics and Trait Emotional Intelligence: A Randomized Experiment

Journal of Happiness Studies - The quiet ego—a personality construct characterized by empathy, inclusivity, non-defensiveness, and growth-mindedness in self-other relations—correlates...     

Group intervention for widowed survivors of suicide.

This study evaluates the effects of two group interventions, the Bereavement Group Postvention (BGP) and the Social Group Postvention (SGP), on the bereavement outcomes in widowed survivors of suicide. The goals were to determine if the group interventions would significantly decrease levels of depression, psychological distress, and grief, as well as significantly increase the level of social adjustment among widowed survivors of suicide. Sixty widowed survivors of suicide were randomized to either the BGP or SGP intervention for 1-1/2 hour weekly sessions over an 8-week period. Study participants were recruited through various media and community referrals and initiated telephone contact with the study investigators. Statistically significant changes were found on all measures when the SGP and the BGP were combined for analyses on posttreatment assessments at 3 to 5 days after completion of the group intervention, and 6 months and 12 months after the intervention. Participants experienced a significant reduction in overall depression, psychological distress, and grief, as well as an increase in social adjustment. Further research with tighter controls of confounding variables as well as the inclusion of a no-treatment control group is indicated.