A Conceptual Model and Clinical Framework for Integrating Mindfulness into Family Therapy with Adolescents

Individual and group‐based psychotherapeutic interventions increasingly incorporate mindfulness‐based principles and practices. These practices include a versatile set of skills such as labeling and attending to present‐moment experiences, acting with awareness, and avoiding automatic reactivity. A primary motivation for integrating mindfulness into these therapies is compelling evidence that it enhances emotion regulation. Research also demonstrates that family relationships have a profound influence on emotion regulation capacities, which are central to family functioning and prosocial behavior more broadly. Despite this evidence, no framework exists to describe how mindfulness might integrate into family therapy. This paper describes the benefits of mindfulness‐based interventions, highlighting how and why informal mindfulness practices might enhance emotion regulation when integrated with family therapy. We provide a clinical framework for integrating mindfulness into family therapy, particularly as it applies to families with adolescents. A brief case example details sample methods showing how incorporating mindfulness practices into family therapy may enhance treatment outcomes. A range of assessment modalities from biological to behavioral demonstrates the breadth with which the benefits of a family‐based mindfulness intervention might be evaluated.     

Maternal Sensitivity and Anxiety: Impacts on Child Outcome

ABSTRACT

Children of anxious parents have been shown to be at an increased risk of developing an anxiety disorder. Thus, it is critically important to identify factors that increase or decrease that risk. The depression literature has shown that maternal sensitivity decreases negative child outcome associated with maternal depression. The current study was designed to determine whether maternal sensitivity may buffer children of anxious mothers in a similar way. Three hypotheses were tested. First, that anxious mothers would display less sensitivity than nonanxious mothers in interactions with their children; that there would be an interaction between sensitivity and anxiety on child outcome; and that sensitivity would account for variance in child outcome beyond that attributed to anxiety. One hundred and twenty-five mothers (75 anxious) and their children (ages 3–12) completed the study. Mothers were administered the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule-IV and Parent, and a subset also completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Children completed the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule-Child. Dyads also engaged in two interaction tasks (one cognitive, one social) which were coded for maternal sensitivity and three child outcome behaviors. Results showed that anxious mothers displayed less sensitivity in the social task but not in the cognitive task. An interaction between anxiety and sensitivity was found only when predicting child negativity in the social task. Finally, maternal sensitivity was found to account for variance in child outcome beyond that of anxiety. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

The role of cue familiarity in adults’ strategy choices for simple addition

Are adults’ decisions to use direct memory retrieval for simple addition influenced by the familiarity of problem operands? We manipulated the familiarity of a subset of operands by having adults repeatedly practise specific additions (two+five=?; Experiment 1) or magnitude comparisons (two five, choose the larger; Experiment 2). Both experiments provided evidence that pre-exposure to single-digit operands increased reported use of direct retrieval for new combinations of the familiarised operands. RT and error patterns across experiments also supported the conclusion that increased use of retrieval facilitated performance. These results show that operand familiarity potentially plays a significant role in adults’ strategy choices for simple addition.     

The Effects of Exploration on Preschoolers' Problem-Solving Ability

Specific contributions of exploration for divergent and convergent problem-solving ability in preschool children were investigated. Participants were identified as players or nonplayers based on naturalistic observations of free-play activities, and were assigned to either an exploration or nonexploration control condition prior to administration of two divergent and two convergent problem-solving tasks. No significant differences were found between the exploration and nonexploration groups on either divergent or convergent problem-solving tasks. Subjects in the exploration group, however, spent significantly less time in the related convergent problem-solving task than in the nonrelated convergent task. The player/nonplayer distinction was also nonsignificant.     

Increased Jump Height with an External Focus Due to Enhanced Lower Extremity Joint Kinetics

Sensorimotor abilities are crucial for performance in athletic, military, and other occupational activities, and there is great interest in understanding learning in these skills. Here, behavioral performance was measured over three days as twenty-seven participants practiced multiple sessions on the Nike SPARQ Sensory Station (Nike, Inc., Beaverton, Oregon), a computerized visual and motor assessment battery. Wrist-worn actigraphy was recorded to monitor sleep–wake cycles. Significant learning was observed in tasks with high visuomotor control demands but not in tasks of visual sensitivity. Learning was primarily linear, with up to 60% improvement, but did not relate to sleep quality in this normal-sleeping population. These results demonstrate differences in the rate and capacity for learning across perceptual and motor domains, indicating potential targets for sensorimotor training interventions.     

5-HTTLPR X Stress in Adolescent Depression: Moderation by MAOA and Gender

Depression surges in adolescence, especially among girls. Most evidence indicates that the short allele of a polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) interacts with stress to influence the onset of depression. This effect appears to be less robust in adolescents, particularly among boys, and may be moderated by other genetic polymorphisms. Seeking to explain the adolescent gender difference in depression, this study examined the effects of 5-HTTLPR (rs25531), the monoamine oxidase A-upstream variable number tandem repeat (MAOA-uVNTR), and negative life events (NLE). A community-based longitudinal sample of 309 adolescents reported depressive symptoms and NLE at ages 11, 13, and 15. 5-HTTLPR and MAOA-uVNTR genotypes were ascertained via buccal swabs. A significant four-way interaction of 5-HTTLPR, MAOA-uVNTR, NLE at age 13, and gender predicted depressive symptoms at age 15. Girls were most likely to exhibit elevated depressive symptoms when experiencing NLE if they possessed low-expression MAOA-uVNTR alleles and short 5-HTTLPR alleles, whereas low-expression MAOA-uVNTR alleles but long 5-HTTLPR alleles were implicated in boys. The results indicate that the commonly reported 5-HTTLPR by stress interaction for depression may be limited to individuals with low-expression MAOA-uVNTR alleles. These data also provide new evidence that the short allele of 5-HTTLPR confers susceptibility to stress differently for females compared with males.     

prison guard predators: an analysis of inmates who established inappropriate relationships with prison staff, 1995-1998

Recently, media accounts have shed light on a number of correctional employees who were terminated for engaging in "inappropriate relationships" with prisoners. This study employed face-to-face interviews of 32 inmate "turners" who were investigated for engaging in inappropriate relationships with security officers. We found that many inmate manipulators share similar attitudes and beliefs regarding inappropriate relationships. Our findings indicate that there are three distinct types of inmate "turners," each exhibiting an entirely different set of motivations and behavior from one another. We conclude that inmates are very persistent in attempting to initiate an inappropriate relationship with prison employees.