Warmth and contingency and their relationship to maternal attitudes toward parenting

In this study, the authors addressed the question of whether maternal parenting behaviors in terms of sensitivity, warmth, and contingency with respect to small infants were equally represented in attitudes toward parenting. Sixty mothers from central Germany with middle-class socioeconomic backgrounds were videotaped with their 1st born 3-month-old infant in a free-play and a caregiving episode in their home. The different maternal parenting components were behaviorally analyzed. Maternal attitudes toward parenting were assessed with self-report measures. The results showed that behavioral sensitivity was significantly associated with attitudes related to contingency, whereas behavioral warmth and contingency were not associated with maternal attitudes. The authors interpreted differential associations as a reflection of intuitive and explicit parenting strategies, with only sensitivity being explicitly represented.     

Development of Infant High-Intensity Fear and Fear Regulation from 6 to 24 Months: Maternal Sensitivity and Depressive Symptoms as Moderators

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - This study tested bidirectional relations between infant high-intensity fear and fear regulation over 1.5 years, and maternal sensitivity...     

Entrepreneurial Coaching: A Two-Dimensional Framework in Context

Coaching is increasingly used to support entrepreneurs across different stages of the entrepreneurial process. Due to its custom-tailored, active, and reflection-oriented approach, it has been suggested that it is particularly well suited to entrepreneurs’ complex job demands. However, in the entrepreneurial context, the term coaching lacks a clear definition and is frequently used interchangeably with other types of support. We therefore sought to characterize entrepreneurial coaching (EC) and to position it relative to related interventions. We conducted 67 interviews with coaches (n = 44) and early-stage entrepreneurs (n = 23) experienced in EC. Using qualitative content analysis, we specify outcomes, input, process, and contextual factors for EC. Among process factors, we identify seven coach functions that reflect specific coach behaviors. Contextual factors include entrepreneurial job demands and institutional boundary conditions of “embedded” EC. Based on our findings, we position EC within a two-dimensional framework, consisting of the expert- versus process-consultation approach and the individual-work-venture focus. We locate the seven coach functions within this framework. Relative to other interventions, EC stands between classical workplace coaching and start-up consultancy, closer to, yet distinct from, entrepreneurial mentoring and executive coaching. We derive practical implications for coaches, entrepreneurs, and organizational stakeholders and propose directions for future research.     

Potential traumatic events in early childhood and behavioural resilience: a longitudinal case control study

Abstract

Resilience can be evidenced when an exposure to potentially traumatic event (PTE) has no negative impact on behavior. This study explored the effects of exposure to PTE applying a longitudinal design with 592 children (mean age 4 years) followed across three years. Children who had experienced a PTE and those who had not, were compared over time. Behavioral difficulties and prosocial behaviour for children experiencing PTE did not differ from those who had not experienced a PTE suggesting resilience among the exposed children. PTE in itself seems to carry minimal risk for symptoms of behaviour difficulties among preschool children.     

A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for Body Image Dissatisfaction and Weight Self-Stigma in Adults

Body image dissatisfaction (BID) and weight self-stigma are prevalent and associated with physical and psychological ill-health. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is increasingly employed for both, yet little is known about its effectiveness. Searches of 12 databases identified six studies using online, face-to-face or self-help ACT interventions for BID or weight self-stigma, of varying duration and intensity. Their effectiveness and quality were evaluated. Two reported improved BID, three improved weight self-stigma, and one reported no impact on weight self-stigma. Methodological issues (small sample sizes, lack of allocation concealment, attention control and long-term follow up) impacted the validity of findings. Due to the small number of studies and poor study quality, the effectiveness of ACT for BID and weight self-stigma remains unclear. Nonetheless findings suggest psychological flexibility may facilitate reduction in BID and weight self-stigma and indicate that brief online as well as lengthy face-to-face delivery may be useful. Suggestions for further research are made.     

Accessibility of affective versus cognitive components of attitudes

Four studies investigated differences in accessibility of affective and cognitive components of attitudes. Accessibility was measured by response times on bipolar semantic differential evaluative adjectives (e.g. ‘positive–negative’) in response to how one felt and thought, respectively, about an attitude object. The evaluative items were accompanied by affective and cognitive context items, which were not analysed, but were meant to promote the retrieval of affective and cognitive evaluations respectively. Responses to affective evaluations were given faster than responses to cognitive evaluations, suggesting that affect-based evaluations are more accessible in memory than cognition-based evaluations. The results were obtained in two attitude domains, i.e. brand names and countries. The results support the validity of a two-component affect–cognition model of attitude. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Clients' Experiences of Obstructive Silence: Integrating Conscious Reports and Analytic Theories

The psychodynamic literature has associated clients' silences in psychotherapy sessions with a variety of processes. These processes include wishes to merge with the therapist, to gain control in session, to communicate the unsayable, to express helplessness and, most frequently, the intertwined processes of resistance and regression. Experiences of obstructive silence—that is, moments in which clients detached from the process of therapeutic inquiry—were examined in this study. A grounded theory analysis was used to explore clients' experiences of silences in psychotherapy across psychotherapeutic modalities. Two types of obstructive pausing processes, Disengaged pauses and Interactional pauses, were identified. The implications of delineating conscious aspects of these complex experiences are stressed and techniques are suggested for therapeutic intervention in moments of experienced threat.     

Psychobiological Aspects of Infant Crying

This study addresses the relationship between the amount of infant crying and maternal responsiveness to the infant's facial communicative cues during distress and non-distress situations. From an evolutionary perspective, the interpretation of infant crying as a communicative signal is preferred over its distance-regulating function. This view implies a relation between the amount of infant crying and parameters describing interactional regulation. Maternal responsiveness is operationalized by (a) the contingent reactions in a latency time span which define the intuitive character of parental behaviours (200–800 ms) and by (b) an event-based coding system of maternal inappropriate behaviour. Infant states (crying, fussing, sleeping and waking hours) were assessed by means of diaries kept by the mothers. In two samples (N=10, N=13, respectively), married, middle-class mothers were videotaped in free play situations with their healthy, firstborn children in their family homes. Results show that there is a strong intersituational consistency of maternal behaviour, but context-sensitive components of maternal behaviour could also be found. The contingency of maternal reactions during the free play situation can be regarded as a predictor of the duration of the infant's crying measured by a maternal diary. The whole pattern of the results confirms the regulatory function of infant crying in the context of early caregiver–child interactions.