'Psychodynamic and Religious?' Religiously committed psychodynamic counsellors,in training and practice

This article supports a case for an increased research focus upon and within counsellor training with consideration of the counsellor's religious orientation. This aspect of professional diversity was investigated via in-depth interviews with eight religiously-committed psychodynamic counsellors. Their accounts of experiences in training, supervision, personal therapy and professional practice were subjected to qualitative analysis using grounded theory methods. Three major themes were identified: changes occurring in participants' religiosity; aspects of disclosure of personal religious commitment; and the non-inclusion of religious issues within the counsellor training process. The latter theme emerged considerably more forcefully than the others, and produced an array of questions to stimulate further research.     

Temperament and Psychopathy: A Dual-Pathway Model

ABSTRACT— The concept of psychopathy refers to a pattern of chronic antisocial behavior and personality features, such as emotional detachment, lovelessness, and guiltlessness, attributable in part to a temperament deficit. Historically, that deficit has been seen as a low reactivity to fear, but recent research has documented a second temperament deficit in adults that involves poor emotional and behavioral control. Both pathways are found in the child psychopathology literature, pointing to multifactorial developmental pathways from childhood to adult psychopathy.     

The survival and developmental outcome of extremely low birthweight infants

The purpose of this retrospective study is to compare the factors affecting the survival and developmental outcome of extremely low birthweight infants (ELBW; < 1,001 gms.). One hundred and forty of two hundred and twenty-three ELBW neonates (63%) from two Level III NICUs born between 1986 and 1988 survived until discharge. Lower birthweight, 5-minute Apgar ≤ 3, and no administration of surfactant were the best predictors of infant mortality as assessed via logistic regression (correct classification = 78%). The functioning of 34 of these infants was assessed at approximately 18 months of age with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Mean performance on the Mental Development Index (MDI) was 88.65 ± 21.75, with 35.3% and 20.6% of infants scoring, respectively, I (< 85) and 2 (< 70) standard deviations below the mean. Given survival, intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH, Grade III or IV) was the best predictor of MDI performance as assessed via stepwise multiple regression (adjusted R²=.23). Cerebral palsy affected one fifth of the sample and was also best predicted by IVH. Discussion focuses on the conceptual and practical implications of the finding that infant survival and infant developmental status were associated with different factors.     

Attachment avoidance to God exacerbates the negative effect of tangible resource loss on psychological resource loss

The present study examined the impact of losing tangible resources on psychological resources in a sample of college students (n?=?160) affected by Hurricane Katrina. The data was collected approximately five months after the storm. Based on conservation of resources theory, we tested whether the loss of tangible resources (e.g., food, water) would be positively related to the loss of psychological resources (e.g., optimism, hope), and whether this association would be exacerbated by having an insecure (anxious or avoidant) attachment to God. As predicted, loss of tangible resources was related to the loss of psychological resources, and this relationship was amplified in participants who had an avoidant attachment to God. We conclude by discussing implications of the present study and areas for future research.     

Emotional Support from Parents and In-Laws: the Roles of Gender and Contact

After the birth of a child, new mothers and fathers commonly have a substantial amount of contact with their parents and in-laws. However, this contact may not always result in emotional support. We tested if contact, rather than geographical distance, influenced emotional support received from parents and in-laws and whether there were gender differences in these associations. Online questionnaire data were collected in 2008 from a community sample of U.S. first-time mothers (n?=?93) and fathers (n?=?93) who were in a heterosexual relationship and living together. Results indicated that for new mothers, greater contact with own parents and in-laws was related to receiving more emotional support. However, for mothers, greater contact with parents also was related to less emotional support from in-laws. For new fathers, contact was not related to emotional support from either parents or in-laws. These findings suggest that receiving support as a result of contact with family members may be gendered, particularly for new mothers’ and fathers’ relationships with their in-laws. The current study highlights the importance of reducing stigmas about men and their emotional needs and of encouraging new fathers to seek and receive support from family during the transition to parenthood.     

The role of rapport in satisfying one’s basic psychological needs

Psychological need satisfaction is essential for daily human functioning and one of its sources is high quality interactions. Rapport is essential to high quality interactions and may be one way that various relationships types can provide the nutriments of healthy functioning. We hypothesized that when people perceive interactions to be higher in rapport, they will experience greater satisfaction of their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. We also explored whether this would be a basic process that would be altered by the relationship between interactants, testing this with multiple operationalizations. We conducted an event-contingent diary study in which participants (n_participants?=?124) responded to items at baseline, each time they experienced an interaction (n_interaction?=?1293), and at two-week follow-up. Supporting hypotheses, rapport in interactions was positively associated with need satisfaction within-persons, between-persons, cross-sectionally, and when examining temporal change. Moreover, rapport tended to predict the satisfaction of one’s needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness independently. Finally, relationships between interactants did not moderate these associations.

     

An outreach approach to high risk parents and their infants

This paper describes a special project designed to evaluate services to high risk parents and their infants. Twenty-three families were served by intensive outreach and home-based model of intervention. Sixty-one percent of these parents had significant mental health problems prior to referral. The paper describes the sample, outlines the approach to therapy and gives a specific case example. The data post-treatment is summarized and results detailed.     

Genetic and environmental influences on aggression in 4- to 7-year-old twins

Aggressive behaviors of 38 twin pairs (21 monozygotic [MZ], 17 dizygotic [DZ]) between the ages of 4 and 7 years were assessed through mothers' ratings and observations in their homes. An observation checklist was developed in which mothers were asked to observe and report each child's specific aggressive behaviors for a total of 6 hours spread over 3 days. In particular the observations focused on the following behaviors: rejection, destructiveness, negativism, noncompliance, teasing, physical negative, insult, verbal threat, and yelling. Biometrical genetic analysis evidenced significant heritable influences on composite aggression scores in both the observation checklist and the mothers' ratings; heritability estimates varied from.24 to.94 depending on the aggression nieasnre used, with scores from the mothers' observations demonstrating smaller genetic effect than those of the parental ratings of the environmental sources of variance, within-family factors were far more important than the between-family ones. The results also yielded significant sex and zygosity differences for means of some of the specific aggressive behaviors, where males and DZ twins scored higher than females and MZ twins. It was suggested that future studies should include more detailed investigations of the context in which specific aggressive behaviors occur and the sources toward which they are directed in order to determine the extent to which different types of aggression may have different etiologies.