Clarification of Religious Issues in Treatment Through Peer Supervision

This paper will review The Orthodox Jewish community's attitude towards mental health treatment, factors that facilitated attitudinal changes in the past decades, and the efficacy of a peer supervision group for therapists treating this population. A clinical vignette is included.     

Perceptions of Children's Credibility in Sexual Assault Cases1

Children's testimony often plays a central role in prosecutions of child sexual abuse. Nevertheless, research on jurors' perceptions of the credibility of child sexual assault victims remains limited. In three experiments, we examined mock jurors' reactions to children's testimony about sexual abuse. Participant jurors were exposed to videotaped or written scenarios of child sexual abuse trials and then rated victim credibility and defendant guilt. Analyses indicated that: (a) victim age was either inversely related or unrelated to perceptions of victim credibility, (b) women were more likely than men to find child victims credible, (c) corroborating testimony from a child victim increased the credibility of another child victim, and (d) exposure of participants to past criminal acts and other negative defendant character evidence heightened perceived victim credibility and defendant guilt. Implications for understanding jurors' reactions to child witnesses are discussed.     

Discomfort with space and motion: A possible marker of vestibular dysfunction assessed by the situational characteristics questionnaire

Space and motion discomfort (SMD) refers to the situational specificity of symptoms occurring in some patients with vestibular dysfunction, such as those with balance disorders and some with panic disorder. SMD occurs in situations characterized by inadequate visual or kinesthetic information for normal spatial orientation. We report the results of two studies of the construct validity of the Situational Characteristics Questionnaire (SitQ), which has two subscales, both of which measure SMD: the SMD-I and SMD-II. In Study 1, the SitQ was administered to members of a self-help group for balance disorders, a psychiatric sample consisting of patients with panic disorder, nonpanic anxiety disorders, depression, and a sample of normals. SMD levels were the highest in the self-help balance group, next to the highest in the panic groups, and lowest in the remaining groups. In Study 2, the SitQ was administered to otolaryngological patients with vestibular dysfunction and to patients with hearing loss. SMD levels were higher in the vestibular patients. Data on internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity are presented. The SitQ, particularly the SMD-II, is recommended for quantifying space and motion discomfort in patients with anxiety and/or balance disorders.Study 1 was funded by MH 40757. Study 2 was funded by a grant from the Upjohn Company and MH 19816.     

Familiar/interactive raters are not always best: The influence of sampling schedules and class of behavior

Retrospective rating scales are widely used for formal assessment of typical performance. Raters who are the most familiar/interactive with ratees are routinely recommended to maximize the quality of ratings. This caveat to use the most familiar/interactive raters fails to distinguish sampling parameters of the observations on which ratings are based that may be important to assessing different classes of behavior. We hypothesized that systematic observational schedules would be of greater importance to ratings of public events than familiarity/interaction, per se, while the caveat would hold for ratings of private events. We used the Psychotic Inpatient Profile (PIP), which provides separate factor scores for ratings of public and private events, to examine these hypotheses in a quasi-experimental study with adult inpatients of mental hospitals. A large multiinstitutional data set provided retrospective PIP ratings by two types of raters. The most familiar/interactive local clinical staff for each client completed the PIP after observing on an ad lib schedule, along with ongoing job duties. Unfamiliar, noninteractive raters completed the PIP for each client after observing on a systematic time-sampling schedule for purposes of coding an entirely different instrument. Data were selected so that each of 189 clients received PIP scores from four raters, reflecting functioning during the same time period based on day-shift observations by one rater of each type and evening-shift observations by one rater of each type. Analyses of variance, consistency/discriminability of ratings, and prediction of social-action outcomes all supported the hypotheses. We discuss alternative strategies that are better for assessing typical performance in most circumstances. We also provide recommendations for improving the adequacy of observations for those circumstances in which the standardized retrospective rating scale could be a cost-effective assessment strategy.This study was the basis of a master's thesis at the University of Houston by the senior author under the direction of the junior authors. Richard M. Rozelle served on the examination committee. This study was partially supported by grants to Gordon L. Paul from the National Institute of Mental Health, Public Health Service (MH-15353; MH-25464); the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities; the Joyce Foundation; the MacArthur Foundation; the Owsley Foundation; the Cullen Foundation; and the Center for Public Policy of the University of Houston.     

Maternal limit setting during toddlerhood,delay of gratification,and behavior problems at age five

In this study, self‐regulation was examined in relation to maternal limit setting during toddlerhood. Observational coding of limit‐setting interactions was carried out at 12, 24, and 36 months using the Prohibition Coding Scheme (Houck & LeCuyer, 1995; LeCuyer‐Maus & Houck, 2002). At five years, self‐regulation was assessed by observation of self‐imposed delay‐of‐gratification (Shoda, Mischel, & Peake, 1990), and behavior problems were measured by maternal report on a behavior checklist (CBCL; Achenbach, 1991). Maternal limit‐setting patterns at every age differentiated subsequent duration of delay, but not behavior problems. A power‐based maternal pattern in limit setting adversely affected later self‐imposed delay. Although an indirect limit‐setting pattern optimized the child's delay duration, a teaching‐based pattern yielded more consistently positive outcomes at 36 months and normative delay durations at age five years. ©2004 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Unconscious fantasy in context: The work of Jacob A. Arlow

For Jacob A. Arlow, understanding unconscious fantasies was central to his clinical work. These fantasies are to be found at the core of those eruptions that break without warning into our ordinary lives, whether in the form of hysterical symptoms, daydreams or nightmares. What, however, could an unconscious fantasy be on a theoretical level, beyond a vehicle for discharge? Although partly unconscious, such fantasies are sometimes composed of fixed verbal content with a high degree of internal organisation. Unconscious fantasies therefore pose many challenges to understanding.     

Empathy's Relation to Appraisal of the Emotional Child Witness

When observing others, we often try to determine how they ‘really feel’ deep down inside (emotional feeling) regardless of their outward expression (emotional appearance). We examined whether child victim empathy predicts appraisal of a child sexual assault victim's emotional feelings and, in turn, child and defendant believability and verdict decisions. Undergraduates (N = 50) rated photographs of 5‐ and 13‐year‐olds' degree of sadness. Then, a new group of undergraduates (N = 354), randomly assigned within a 2 (victim age) × 2 (victim gender) × 3 (victim sadness: low, medium, and high/teary) factorial design, read trial scenarios accompanied by one of the photographs. Participants rated the victim's emotional feeling and emotional appearance, victim and defendant believability, defendant guilt, and confidence in their verdict. A structural equation model that included a relation between empathy and emotion appraisal fit the data well: Empathy predicted appraisal of the victim's feelings, which, in turn, predicted perceived believability. Implications are discussed.Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

God-mediated control beliefs and the Epstein-Barr virus: Is more God-mediated control always better?

Research on the locus of control construct conveys the impression that more control is always better. However, some studies suggest that very high levels of control are associated with negative outcomes. The purpose of this study was to see if this is true of religiously oriented feelings of control (i.e., God-mediated control). The outcome was antibody titers to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). The findings suggest that very high God-mediated control is associated with higher EBV values. However, this finding was only observed among young adults (age 18–40), but not among middle-aged (age 41–64), or older adults (aged 65 and older).     

Social representations of refugees: Place of origin as a delineating resource

This study investigated social understandings of refugees from Africa in a regional town in NSW, Australia. Drawing from Social Representations Theory (Moscovici, 1984 ), the study investigated whether place of origin (Africa) mediated understandings held about refugees. Two studies were conducted. In the first study, a between‐subjects manipulation using word association tasks revealed that the super‐ordinate term Refugees, and Refugees from Africa shared a common core of elements (poor, war). Although sharing a core, these representations were differentiated by peripheral elements which concurred with social understanding of Africa (e.g. disease), and media portrayal of refugees/asylum seekers (e.g. boat). The salience of these meanings in the community was further explored using a self‐report questionnaire. Results suggested that place of origin, manifested as peripheral representational elements, may play an important role in differentiating, orientating and linking specific refugee groups to particular socio‐political contexts. Further, we contend that place of origin may be understood as a discursive resource, deployed for rhetorical ends. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.