The role of self-esteem in the experience of envy

It is the thesis of this paper that although analysts have always recognized that narcissistic injury may trigger envious feelings, the significance of self-esteem as both a motivator and response to envious feelings has not yet been sufficiently explored. Traditional drive-defense or object instinctual explanations tend to diminish awareness of the importance of self-esteem in the experience of envy. The focus on drives or repetition of early patterns of object relations does not always take into account the significance of the cycle in which damaged self-esteem leads to envy, the component parts of which may cause further damage to self-esteem, leading to more envy, and so on. I am suggesting that it is often an attempt to avoid painful injury to one's self-esteem, as well as the related attempt to maintain a positively colored sense of self, and not a repression of drives or a repetition of some aspect of early object relationships which must be understood in order to fully comprehend both feelings of envy and the need to keep such feelings out of conscious awareness.     

Characteristics of adolescents at risk for compulsive overeating on a brief screening test

As part of a large survey of addictive behavior in high school students, 43% of a sample of 278 (26% of the males, 57% of the females) scored above the cutoff point set by Overeaters Anonymous on their scale for assessing compulsive overeating. While this at-risk group did not report poorer general adjustment, health, or school achievement than did the students not at risk, they did significantly more often perceive their life quality and relationship with the person closest to them as less positive. The at-risk subsample indicated the defensive effectiveness of overeating in their significantly more frequent report of dissociative experiences while eating, and less severe ratings of insecurity, worrying, and daydreaming. One of the most salient findings was the at-risk students' more frequent report of addictive problems in their parents (overeating, alcohol and drug use, and gambling).     

Delinquent youths and family

This study investigates the relationship of several demographic variables, family structure (number of siblings in house, family intactness, sibling rank, number of persons in household) and family environment (family relationship, personal growth, and family system maintenance). The family environment variables are dimensions of the Family Environment Scale (Moos, 1974). The subjects reported a fairly good reliability on the scale (Cronbach's alpha = .753). The data collection for the present study represents 198 youths: 68 official chronic delinquents and 130 official nondelinquents. A discriminant analysis was used to determine which of the demographic and family environment variables had the most predictive power in discriminating between the groups. The general analysis indicated that ten of the variables explained 49% of the variance between the chronic delinquent and nondelinquent groups. Personal growth was found to have the most discriminating power, followed by number of siblings, race, sex, and system maintenance.     

Psychoanalysis, marital therapy, and object-relations theory

This paper attempts to indicate why psychoanalysts should be interested in marital therapy. It discusses the clinical advantages and disadvantages of marital therapy as compared to psychoanalysis, describes the contributions of the classical psychoanalytic viewpoint to marital therapy, and finally, attempts to complement the classical psychoanalytic viewpoint with an object-relations viewpoint which can illuminate marital dynamics and provide interpretive content during the course of marital therapy.     

Transference across gender lines

Four clinical examples of oedipal-based transference across gender lines are presented with the aim of illustrating (1) its existence, (2) the defenses against its emergence, and (3) the use of the analyst's gender as both an organizer of and resistance to certain transference manifestations. Factors that contribute to the availability for analysis of cross-gender transference are discussed, as are the resistances and other obstacles to its actualization.     

The long-term evaluation of a behavioral treatment program for child molesters

Recidivism data derived from various sources over a follow-up period of 1–11 yr, provided the basis for appraising the effectiveness of a comprehensive cognitive-behavioral treatment program for familial and nonfamilial child molesters. Unofficial records held by police and Children's Aid Societies proved to be the best data for estimating recidivism. These data revealed increases in recidivism with longer follow-up periods, but there were consistent advantages for the treated over the untreated patients. Men who had sexually abused the daughters of other people demonstrated the clearest treatment benefits. The younger offenders and those who had engaged in genital-genital contact with their victims were more likely to reoffend even if they were treated. Contrary to the expectations of behavior therapists, indices of deviant sexual preferences did not predict outcome.