The effect of modification of expressive displays on vicarious emotional arousal

Several recent experiments have demonstrated that modulation of the facial expressive response is accompanied by changes in autonomic arousal and subjective response to painful stimuli. The present study asked whether facial self-regulation may also bring about changes in covert vicarious emotional experience. Three groups of subjects were exposed to a videotaped model displaying intermittent pain to shock in a differential vicarious autonomic conditioning paradigm. Subjects in the inhibit and amplify groups were asked, respectively, (a) to inhibit their facial muscles or (b) to pose a facial response of pain when the model was shocked. It was predicted that the inhibit group would show less autonomic arousal to the model's expressive display (empathy) and less conditioning (as measured by skin conductance and heart rate change), and the amplify group more empathy and conditioning, than a third group who was given no facial instruction. In fact, the amplify group showed more skin conductance arousal, heart rate acceleration, and activity in response to the model's expressive display of pain than did the other two groups (which were not different from each other), but no more autonomic or facial conditioning. The overall pattern of physiological data is interpreted as generally supportive of a facial feedback theory of emotion: where significant between-groups' differences were obtained in facial activity, as in vicarious instigation, autonomic arousal differences also emerged; where no expressive differences were obtained, as in vicarious conditioning, no differences in autonomic arousal were found.     

Assessment of social anxiety: a controlled comparison among social phobics,obsessive-compulsives,agoraphobics, sexual disorders and simple phobies

The construct validity of the Willoughby Personality Schedule (WPS) as an index of social anxiety was established in the present study. The WPS correctly identifies social phobics from controls in 88% of the cases.     

Anxiety disorders research with African Americans: current status

Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric disorders in the general population of the United States. Recent findings indicate that the prevalence of certain anxiety disorders may be higher in African Americans. In addition, anxiety disorders in African Americans may be manifested differently. Despite the high prevalence and the suggestion of different patterns of manifestation, a paucity of research exists on anxiety disorders in this population. This may be due in part to the pattern of help-seeking behavior among African Americans, a negative perception of research by members of this community, the small number of African American researchers, and perhaps to some extent a general disinterest on the part of researchers. The available research on anxiety disorders in African Americans is critically reviewed, the need for research in the area is highlighted, and ways to facilitate such research are discussed.     

Factors facilitating adjustment to unemployment: Implications for intervention

Conducted a community survey in the Fall of 1984 in a sample of high unemployment blue-collar census tracts in southeastern Michigan. Results of earlier analyses using these data showed that involuntarily unemployed workers had significantly elevated levels of depression, anxiety, somatization, and self-reported physical illness relative to a stably employed comparison group (Kessler, House, & Turner, 1987). Results presented in this paper document that this relationship is modified by social support (as measured by social integration and the availability of a confidant), self-concept, and various coping processes. Further analyses allowed us to determine the way in which these modifiers operate. The modifying effects of social support and coping operate primarily by buffering the impact of unemployment-related financial strain on the health outcomes. Self-concept operates primarily by attenuating vulnerability to other stressful life events. The implications of these results for the design and implementation of preventive interventions are discussed.     

Teaching minority high school students to recruit helpers to attain personal and educational goals

Recruiting help from mentors and other potential helpers is a promising strategy for helping disadvantaged and minority youths meet their personal and educational goals. Three African-American high school seniors participated in a project designed to evaluate the effectiveness of training procedures that would allow them to ask for help in attaining educational and other personal goals. A behavioral training procedure that included instructional materials, role-play practice, praise, and feedback was used. Targeted skills included goal setting and 30 responses involved in the process of meeting with a potential helper. Role-play situations were used to evaluate participants' help-recruiting skills before and after training. Participants increased their help-recruiting skills from an average of 38% during baseline, to an average of 75% after training. Self-reported measures of goal attainment suggested that the students benefited from the training. Implications for mentoring programs designed to increase minority students' opportunities to reach educational goals were discussed.     

Parental defense style and child competence: A match-mismatch hypothesis

This study sought to explore the possible relationship between parental style of psychological defense and children's social competence in 50 families in which one parent had been hospitalized for a psychiatric disorder. Based upon a formal analysis of the logical transformations inherent in various defense mechanisms, three levels of complexity of defenses were identified, along with a counterpart set of cognitive operations necessary for decoding these defense levels. It was hypothesized that children lacking the requisite cognitive skills to grasp the logical complexities of their disturbed parent's primary mode of psychological defense would be less socially adjusted and judged less competent than children who could understand the defensive transformations of their parent. The results suggested that children who, due to their cognitive immaturity, are potentially     

PARENT REINFORCEMENT FOR CHILD ACHIEVEMENT: THE USE OF A LOTTERY TO MAXIMIZE PARENT TRAINING EFFECTS

This study describes and evaluates a reinforcement program in which parents earned lottery tickets and won prizes for the progress made by their handicapped children during home-based intervention. An ABAB reversal design replicated across three families was used to assess the effects of the lottery on the children's mastery of language skills. Results showed that the reinforcement of the parents for training accomplishments, as indexed by their children's achievements, produced clinically significant increases in the children's progress when compared with the children's progress under the routine supportive practices of the baseline condition. The implications of the findings for parent training programs in general are discussed.     

Effects of live modeling, covert modeling and rehearsal on assertiveness in psychiatric patients.

The present study evaluated the effects of live modeling, covert modeling, and rehearsal in unassertive psychiatric patients. Psychiatric patients scoring 19 or below on the Wolpe-Lazarus Assertiveness Scale were assigned to one of five conditions, with 10 subjects in each group: (1) Test-retest (no treatment). (2) Live modeling plus rehearsal. (3) Live modeling without rehearsal. (4) Covert modeling plus rehearsal, and (5) Covert modeling without rehearsal. All subjects were videotaped (pre- and post-test) while responding to eight interpersonal situations (four training scenes; four generalization scenes) requiring assertive responses. Pre- and post-test responses for all subjects were rated independently by judges on several verbal and non-verbal components of assertiveness. The results indicated that live modeling and covert modeling effected improvements in the assertive behavior of the patients, but that the two treatments were not differentially effective. Generally, the addition of rehearsal to live or covert modeling failed to enhance treatment. But on two measures, the covert modeling plus rehearsal condition was superior to the other treatments. There was evidence for transfer of treatment effects from training to generalization scenes. No differences were found among the groups on the Wolpe-Lazarus Assertiveness Scale and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. The results were discussed in light of prior findings with live and covert modeling procedures.     

Effects of assertive training on three dimensions of assertiveness

The relative effectiveness of several components of an assertive training program in shaping assertive responses on three dimensions of assertiveness (refusal, investigatory, commendatory) was assessed. Thirty-two unassertive females were randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups: coaching plus behavior rehearsal plus modeling, coaching plus behavior rehearsal, behavior rehearsal plus modeling, and placebo control. Five behavioral and three self-report inventories were used as dependent measures. Coaching plus behavior rehearsal appears to be the most essential treatment components. Training was effective in improving assertiveness on all three dimensions.