Integrating Internal Family Systems and Solutions Focused Brief Therapy to Treat Survivors of Sexual Trauma

In a recent study 56% of women and 37% of men were survivors of childhood sexual abuse. These individuals who experience sexual trauma may experience depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or substance use disorders (Devlin et al., in Fam J 27(4):359–365, 2019). While there are several treatment approaches specifically developed to target trauma and its effects, (e.g., trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) we propose that integrating internal family systems therapy (IFS) and solution focused brief therapy (SFBT) offers a brief, systemic way to improve family relationship patterns in families where one member has experienced sexual trauma. A case vignette is used to show the integration of these two approaches.

     

COVID-19 Adaptations for Health Service Psychology Internship Training in a Medical School

Health service psychology internship directors confronted a myriad of training challenges in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, internship training directors were tasked with ensuring that interns received appropriate training in each of the nine profession-wide competency (PWCs) areas while also ensuring the physical and emotional well-being of staff and trainees. The purpose of this paper is to describe one internship’s approach to adapting the nine PWCs during COVID-19 in the context of an academic medical setting. Successes and challenges associated with training adaptations in the context of each of the nine PWCs will be shared along with considerations for improving academic medical training programs’ ability to support interns’ educational goals and training requirements throughout and following the COVID-19 pandemic.

     

Overlap of phonetic features as a determinant of the between-stream phonological similarity effect

Serial recall from working memory is known to be impaired by the presence of irrelevant background speech, but several prior studies have concluded that the magnitude of the impairment is independent of the phonological relationship between to-be-remembered (TBR) and to-be-ignored (TBI) sources of information. In the present study, we examined the influence of between-stream phonological similarity in serial recall while attending to a heretofore uncontrolled variable, the phonetic feature. We found that TBI items sharing many phonetic features with TBR items produced significantly stronger working-memory impairments than TBI items with minimal phonetic feature overlap. In addition, participants were more likely to report remembering incorrect items that incorporated phonological characteristics of the TBI stream in the high-overlap condition. These findings provide evidence for subphonemic between-stream interactions and suggest that multiple parallel processes contribute to the irrelevant speech effect. We propose that a 2-component model, which combines the assumptions of process- and content-based accounts for the irrelevant speech effect, offers the best explanation for these findings.     

Internet gambling, substance use, and delinquent behavior: an adolescent deviant behavior involvement pattern

Internet gambling among adolescents is a growing phenomenon that has received little attention to date. This study examines associations between Internet gambling and the severity of gambling, substance use (SU), and delinquent behavior among 1,870 Quebec students aged 14 to 18. The results show a higher proportion of Internet-gambling (IG) students reporting problematic substance use and delinquency, compared with nongamblers (NG) and non-Internet gamblers (NIG). Furthermore, a higher proportion of at-risk and probable pathological gamblers are found among IG compared with NIG. A moderating effect (Baron & Kenny, 1986) of the gambler categories (NIG, IG) was found in the relationship between the associated problems and the severity of gambling. Among IG, the severity of delinquency and of substance use contributes to explaining gambling severity whereas, among NIG, the severity of delinquency is the only factor that significantly contributes to such an explanation. Discussion of the results is based on Jessor, Donovan, and Costa's (1991) general deviance syndrome theory.     

If at first you don't succeed: the neuroendocrine impact of using a range of strategies during social conflict

Using a variety of cognitive or behavioral strategies to manage stressful situations may be more adaptive than relying on a narrow selection. Although research has explored the psychological benefits of a range of coping responses, the physiological impact within and across stressful situations has not been examined. Moreover, research has primarily relied upon self-reports of what people believe they generally do across stressful situations, which may be subject to recall bias. This study observed and coded the range of behavioral response strategies that young adults (n=74, mean age 18.1) used to manage a laboratory-based, interpersonal conflict task and collected self-reports of the cognitive strategies used to manage similar stressors. Analyses examined the impact of response range on cortisol activity during the task. Greater range of observed response strategies predicted lower cortisol reactivity (t(133)=2.65; p=.009), whereas the range of self-reported strategies was unrelated to cortisol reactivity (t(133)=.53; p=.60). Results support observational assessment as an important supplement to self-reports of responses to stress and suggest that the range of strategies used to manage the momentary demands of a stressful situation may help explain individual differences in the impact of stress on physiological systems.     

The impact of appearance-focused social comparisons on body image disturbance in the naturalistic environment: the roles of thin-ideal internalization and feminist beliefs

Drawing on Festinger's (1954) social comparison theory and its modern applications, this research investigated the relationship between upward appearance-focused social comparisons and body image disturbance using ecological momentary assessment, which allows for examination of these phenomena in their natural context. Participants were 91 undergraduate women who answered questionnaires five times per day for five days using Palm Personal Data Assistant (PDA) devices. Analyses were conducted using hierarchical linear modeling, which allows for examination of longitudinal data both within and across participants. Results revealed a positive relationship between upward appearance-focused social comparisons and body image disturbance. Upward appearance-focused social comparisons were associated with greater body image disturbance for those with higher levels of thin-ideal internalization and with greater body checking for women with lower levels of feminist beliefs. These findings further illuminate the nature of the relationship between social comparisons and body image disturbance.     

Ecological Design-Based Research for Computer Science Education: Affordances and Effectivities for Elementary School Students

Abstract

This article integrates an ecological approach and design-based research in computer science education research by following the simultaneous development of a computer programming environment and curriculum for elementary school age children over 2-1/2 years. We studied the alignment of the affordances provided by the programming environment and curriculum with the effectivities of students in 4th through 6th grade (9-12 years old). We used the computer science concept of initializing as a tracer idea and both qualitative and quantitative data to identify mismatches between the affordances provided by our programming environment and the learners’ effectivities. These included requisite mathematical skills, confusion between resetting and setting up, and incorrectly assuming that features of the programming environment conveyed information. We then describe how we addressed the mismatches by removing or adding functionality to the programming environment, adding signifiers, adapting the curriculum to include scaffolding related to the effectivities, or removing activities.     

Animist Intersubjectivity as Argumentation: Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute Arguments Against a Nuclear Waste Site at Yucca Mountain

My focus in this essay is Shoshone and Paiute arguments against the Yucca Mountain site that claim that because Yucca Mountain is a culturally significant sacred place it should not be used to store nuclear waste. Within this set of arguments for the cultural value of Yucca Mountain, I focus on arguments that claim that the proposed nuclear waste site will damage Yucca Mountain and its ecosystem—the mountain, plants, and animals themselves. These arguments assume that Yucca Mountain and its ecosystem are animate and will suffer. An understanding of Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute perspectives on the human relationship to nature, particularly adherence to the concept of animist intersubjectivity, is crucial towards interpreting these arguments. As such, my purpose in this essay is an in-depth analysis of the relationship between the cultural presumption of animist intersubjectivity and Shoshone and Paiute arguments against the Yucca Mountain site. In order to explore this relationship, I begin the paper by discussing concept of animist intersubjectivity as a cultural presumption and its relationship to arguments. Then, I analyze Shoshone and Paiute arguments against the Yucca Mountain site to reveal how animist intersubjectivity influences these arguments. I conclude the essay by explaining the implications of this analysis.     

Brief report: Relationship between performance testing and parent report of attention and executive functioning profiles in children following perinatal arterial ischemic stroke

Children with perinatal arterial ischemic stroke (PAIS) have increased rates of attention and executive functioning (EF) weaknesses. Research in other pediatric disorders has documented poor consistency between parent report of these skills and performance-based measures. We compared these data sources in children with PAIS. Forty full-term (≥37 weeks) children ages 3–16 (median = 7.2 years; 58% male) with PAIS completed neuropsychological testing and composite scores were created for seven attention and EF domains (Processing Speed; Attention; Working Memory; Verbal Retrieval; Inhibitory Control; Flexibility/Shifting; Planning). Parents completed “real-world” functioning questionnaires (ADHD Rating Scale-IV, BRIEF). Correlational analysis were used to compare parent and performance measures. Correlations between ADHD Rating Scale-IV scores and the performance-based Attention and Inhibition composite scores were nonsignificant. Significant negative correlations were found between the BRIEF GEC and performance-based Verbal Retrieval and Processing Speed composites, but remaining GEC/composite comparisons were nonsignificant. Analyses between parent report BRIEF index scores and the corresponding performance-based domain identified one significant negative correlation between the BRIEF Working Memory Index and the Working Memory composite score. While children with PAIS demonstrate difficulties in attention and EF on both parent report and performance measures, little significance was found in comparisons of these two types of measures. There may be several explanations for this dissociation: measures assessing different aspects of the same underlying construct; performance-based measures lacking ecological validity; and parents underestimating/underreporting their child’s deficits. Thus, multiple sources of informant and performance data are necessary to make more accurate conclusions about functioning in these domains.