The relationship between life satisfaction, self-consciousness, and the Myers-Briggs type inventory dimensions.

The study was an investigation of the relationship between psychological well-being, life satisfaction, self-consciousness, and the four Myers-Briggs Type Indicator dimensions (MBTI; I. B. Myers & M. H. McCaulley, 1985). The participants were 97 college students (79 women and 18 men whose mean age was 31.4 years). All the students were administered four instruments, the Psychological Well-Being Inventory (C. D. Ryff, 1989), the Satisfaction With Life Scale (E. Diener, R. A. Emmons, R. J. Larsen, & S. Griffin, 1985), the Self-Consciousness Scale-Revised (M. F. Scheier & C. S. Carver, 1985), and the MBTI (Form G Self-Scoring). MANOVAs revealed significant differences on three of the four dimensions of the MBTI with extraverts showing higher psychological well-being and life satisfaction and lower self-consciousness than introverts. Intuition types scored higher in psychological well-being and lower in self-consciousness than Sensing types. Judging types scored higher in psychological well-being than Perceiving types. Correlational analyses showed that most dimensions of psychological well-being were negatively related to self-consciousness. The relationship between life satisfaction and personality variables is discussed.     

Modeling the Ecological Validity of Neurocognitive Assessment in Adults with Acquired Brain Injury

Neuropsychologists are increasingly asked to make judgments regarding treatment options and rehabilitation strategies in addition to evaluating the degree and scope of neuropsychological impairment following acquired brain injuries. The capacity to make informed clinical decisions relies upon research investigating the relationships between neuropsychological and psychosocial status (i.e., ecological validity). Unfortunately, much of this research employs exploratory analyses, an approach that can lead to theoretical ambiguity and ad-hoc interpretations. The current availability and accessibility of analytical tools, like structural equation modeling (SEM), however, permits the testing of specific hypotheses regarding ecological validity and promotes a-priori theory development. In the current study, a theory-driven model of the ecological validity of a neurocognitive assessment was tested against data obtained from individuals with acquired brain injury using SEM. The results provide confirmatory evidence for the ecological validity of neurocognitive constructs and empirical support for a theory-driven analytical approach to ecological validity research.     

An integrated model of group psychotherapy for patients with fibromyalgia

This study examined the effectiveness of an integrated model of brief group psychotherapy for treatment of fibromyalgia syndrome, using cognitive behavioral and supportive expressive techniques. In the context of an outpatient, multidisciplinary fibromyalgia treatment program, group psychotherapy was provided to 35 patients with 21 control patients. Pre-post treatment measures of depression, anxiety, fibromyalgia impact, pain, fatigue, and morning tiredness were obtained. Using a quasi-experimental design with validated psychometric instruments, the results showed a significant decrease in pre-versus post treatment measures of depression, fibromyalgia impact, fatigue, and pain for the treatment patients, suggesting that an integrated model of group psychotherapy may have beneficial psychological and functional effects for some patients with fibromyalgia.     

Recognizing the infant as subject in infant-parent psychotherapy

Drawing on Winnicott's view of infants as subjects entitled to an intervention in their own right, infants as the referred patient have been seen in infant-parent psychotherapy for 20 years at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. This is a radically different view of infant symptomatology than viewing it as only expressing an aspect of the mother's unconscious. The clinical pathway differentiates the therapy from much parent-infant psychotherapy. The author describes the theoretical model of a twofold approach to understanding the infant's experience through interactive dialogue between therapist and infant, and sharing this understanding with the parents, and illustrates it with cases of failure-to-thrive infants. She discusses two criticisms: first, that infant-parent psychotherapy may undermine the parents and, second, that brief parent-infant psychotherapy does not alter parents' insecure attachment status. Videotaped sessions often show rapid improvement; parents generally feel relieved. This approach potentially shapes not only parents' and infants' representations, but also their implicit knowledge of relationships-partly, it is suggested, through activating the mirror neuron system to bring about implicit memory change. Change may therefore be longer lasting than psychoanalytic theory presently conceives. The approach is relevant in an outpatient setting: gains were maintained long term in 90% of out-patient cases.     

Transformation of the discriminative and eliciting functions of generalized relational stimuli

In three experiments, match-to-sample procedures were used with undergraduates to establish arbitrary relational functions for three abstract visual stimuli. In the presence of samples A, B, and C, participants were trained to select the smallest, middle, and largest member, respectively, of a series of three-comparison arrays. In Experiment 1, the B (choose middle) stimulus was then used to train a steady rate of keyboard pressing before the A (choose smallest) and the C (choose largest) stimuli were presented. Participants pressed slower to A and faster to C than to B. Then B was paired with mild shock in a Pavlovian procedure with skin conductance change as the dependent variable. When presented with A and C, 6 of 8 experimental participants showed smaller skin conductance changes to A and larger skin conductance changes to C than to B. In Experiment 2, A was then used as a sample in a match-to-sample procedure to establish an arbitrary size ranking among four same-sized colored circle comparisons. One of the middle circles was then used to establish a steady rate of pressing before the other circles were presented. Five of 6 participants responded slower to the "smaller" circle and faster to the "larger" circle than they did to the "middle" circle. In Experiment 3, A, B, and C were then presented on a series of test trials requiring participants to pick the comparison that was less than, greater than, or equal to the sample. Novel stimuli were included on some trials. Results indicated that the relational training procedures produced derived relations among the stimuli used in training and that these allowed correct inferences of relative size ranking among novel stimuli.     

Categorical perception of tactile distance

The tactile surface forms a continuous sheet covering the body. And yet, the perceived distance between two touches varies across stimulation sites. Perceived tactile distance is larger when stimuli cross over the wrist, compared to when both fall on either the hand or the forearm. This effect could reflect a categorical distortion of tactile space across body-part boundaries (in which stimuli crossing the wrist boundary are perceptually elongated) or may simply reflect a localised increased in acuity surrounding anatomical landmarks (in which stimuli near the wrist are perceptually elongated). We tested these two interpretations across two experiments, by comparing a well-documented bias to perceive mediolateral tactile distances across the forearm/hand as larger than proximodistal ones along the forearm/hand at three different sites (hand, wrist, and forearm). According to the ‘categorical’ interpretation, tactile distances should be elongated selectively in the proximodistal axis thus reducing the anisotropy. According to the ‘localised acuity’ interpretation, distances will be perceptually elongated in the vicinity of the wrist regardless of orientation, leading to increased overall size without affecting anisotropy. Consistent with the categorical account, we found a reduction in the magnitude of anisotropy at the wrist, with no evidence of a corresponding localised increase in precision. These findings demonstrate that we reference touch to a representation of the body that is categorically segmented into discrete parts, which consequently influences the perception of tactile distance.     

The Relationship Between Frustration Intolerance,Unhealthy Emotions,and Assertive Behaviour in Italian Students

The aim of the present research was to investigate the relationship between frustration intolerance and emotional-behavioural problems. Specifically, the study explored whether frustration intolerance beliefs were associated with difficulties in assertive behaviour, anxiety, depression, and anger in a non-clinical student sample (N = 250). For this purpose an Italian version of the Frustration Discomfort Scale (FDS) was developed. The findings supported a multidimensional model of frustration intolerance and the relationship between specific frustration intolerance beliefs and emotional-behavioural problems. Regarding unhealthy emotions, structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses (model A) indicated that discomfort intolerance and emotional intolerance had a significant relationship with state anxiety, trait anxiety, and depression. The discomfort intolerance and entitlement sub-scales had a significant relationship with state anger and trait anger, while entitlement directly predicted trait anger. Regarding assertiveness, SEM analyses (model B) indicated that emotional intolerance had a significant relationship with distress when being assertive. More generally, the FDS full scale score (model C) was significantly related to unhealthy emotions and (model D) unassertive behaviour (distress). The present study provided evidence of the cross-cultural applicability of the FDS.     

A systematic review of the literature on counselling and psychotherapy for the prevention of suicide: 2. Qualitative studies

Scope of review: The paper reports a meta‐synthesis of 13 qualitative studies of counselling and psychotherapy with people at risk of suicide. Publication time span: The studies considered were reported between 1997 and 2006. Publication origin: Seven studies were conducted in the UK, four in the USA, one in Canada, and one in Sweden. Findings: Themes in clients' and therapists' accounts of the process of counselling or psychotherapy were therapist qualities; therapy components; theoretical framework; and therapy techniques. Themes in their accounts of the effectiveness of counselling and psychotherapy were decrease in self‐destructive behaviour, and quality of life. Themes in clients' views of barriers to effective counselling or psychotherapy were therapist characteristics; therapy components; secrecy; and transferring to the real‐life situation. Secrecy was also identified as a barrier by therapists, as were responsibilities of the profession; training; and the nature of suicide and self‐harm. Facilitators of successful counselling and psychotherapy as identified by clients were responsibility; support; and teaching therapy skills to family members, the latter also being identified by therapists.