Neutralizing increases discomfort associated with obsessional thoughts: an experimental study with obsessional patients

Cognitive-behavioral theories suggest that the development of neutralizing is crucial in the development and persistence of obsessional problems (OCD). Twenty-nine patients with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., American Psychiatric Association, 1994) diagnosis of OCD were randomly allocated to 2 conditions. Both listened to repeated recorded presentations of their intrusive thoughts and either neutralized (experimental group) or distracted themselves (control). Discomfort was rated during this 1st phase and then during a 2nd phase without neutralizing or distraction. The experimental group showed a similar level of discomfort in the 1st phase, which significantly reduced during the period compared with controls. The experimental group experienced significantly more discomfort during the 2nd phase, and significantly stronger urges to neutralize and distract at the end of this phase than controls.     

Recombinative generalization of within-syllable units in nonreading adults with mental retardation

Two adults with mental retardation demonstrated the recombination of within-syllable units (onsets and rimes) using a spoken-to-printed-word matching-to-sample (MTS) procedure. Further testing with 1 participant showed comprehension of the printed words. Printed-word naming was minimal before, but greater after, comprehension tests. The findings suggest that these procedures hold promise for further basic and applied analyses of word-attack skills.     

The Life Attitudes Schedule-Short Form: psychometric properties and correlates of adolescent suicide proneness

The goals of the present study were to describe the psychometric properties of the Life Attitudes Schedule-Short Form (LAS-SF) in adolescents and provide criterion and construct validity data, including bivariate and multivariate associations with related risk behaviors. Anonymous questionnaires containing the LAS-SF and related measures were administered to 1,742 high school students in three states. Psychometric properties for LAS-SF items and total score were very good, and the LAS-SF was correlated with almost all of the examined risk behaviors, illustrating the broad range of problems measured by the instrument. LAS-SF total scores were associated with past suicide attempt, even after controlling for the impact of current depression. Clinical and research uses for the LAS-SF are discussed.     

Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire profiles of veterans with traumatic combat exposure: externalizing and internalizing subtypes

This study used the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ; A. Tellegen, in press) to identify personality-based subtypes of posttraumatic response. Cluster analyses of MPQs completed by combat veterans revealed subgroups that differed on measures relating to the externalization versus internalization of distress. The MPQ profile of the externalizing cluster was defined by low Constraint and Harmavoidance coupled with high Alienation and Aggression. Individuals in this cluster also had histories of delinquency and high rates of substance-related disorder. In comparison, the MPQ profile of the internalizing cluster was characterized by lower Positive Emotionality, Alienation, and Aggression and higher Constraint, and individuals in this cluster showed high rates of depressive disorder. These findings suggest that dispositions toward externalizing versus internalizing psychopathology may account for heterogeneity in the expression of posttraumatic responses, including patterns of comorbidity.     

Mothers' and fathers' depressive symptoms and conflict-resolution strategies in the marriage and children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors

The authors examined mothers' and fathers' avoidance and attacking conflict-resolution strategies in the marriage and their depressive symptoms as they related to children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors. A nonclinical community sample of 51 families and their children's 1st-grade teachers (N = 41) participated. Both mothers and teachers completed a behavior-problem checklist in order to evaluate the incidence of internalizing and externalizing behaviors in the children. Correlational statistics revealed significant associations between parents' avoidance and attacking strategies and their depressive symptoms. Also, parents' use of avoidance was related to more internalizing behaviors in the children. When hierarchical regression analyses were used to examine the contributions of the parents' attributes to children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors, mothers' avoidance and an interaction between mothers' and fathers' avoidance were identified as significant predictors of children's internalizing behaviors.     

Analysis and analogy in the perception of vowels

In two experiments, we investigated the creation of conceptual analogies to a contrast between vowels. An ordering procedure was used to determine the reliability of simple sensory and abstract analogies to vowel contrasts composed by naive volunteers. The results indicate that test subjects compose stable and consistent analogies to a meaningless segmental linguistic contrast, some invoking simple and complex relational properties. Although in the literature of psychophysics such facility has been explained as an effect of sensory analysis, the present studies indicate the action of a far subtler and more versatile cognitive function akin to the creation of meaning in figurative language.     

What Front-Line CBO Staff Can Tell Us About Culturally Anchored Theories of Behavior Change in HIV Prevention for Asian/Pacific Islanders

Few rigorously tested primary prevention programs have been developed to prevent HIV infection among immigrant communities in the United States. This is in part because of the lack of culturally specific behavioral theories that can inform HIV prevention for immigrant communities in the United States. This article aims to develop such theories for a population—Asian/Pacific Islanders (A/PIs) immigrant communities—who have been overlooked in theory development and program evaluation. Frontline community-based organization (CBO) peer educators, an underutilized source of expertise regarding cultural factors specific to HIV infection among A/PI communities, are the sample of study Asian/Pacific Islander peer educators working at an urban AIDS service organization devoted to health promotion for this population; (N=35). They were interviewed to examine (1) detailed narratives describing instances of behavior change and (2) culturally anchored theories of behavior change which the narratives imply. Theories of the influence of positive cultural symbols on the taboo of HIV/AIDS, moderators of the effectiveness of social network influences on behavior change, and setting- and community-level processes predicting HIV risk behavior were implicit in the peer educators' narratives. Implications for future research, methodology and prevention practice are discussed.